How would y'all feel about moving Mills to SG and letting CoJo remain backup PG?

[SpursFan86]

With as well as CoJo has been playing, I feel like it'd be a shame for him to go back to the role he had last year where he hardly played outside of garbage time. How do you guys feel about essentially playing Mills at backup SG, and letting Joseph remain the backup PG? Obviously they'd be undersized and that's the main worry, but I think we need to find a way to keep Joseph in the rotation even once Mills returns (assuming Joseph continues to play as well as he has).

His defense could really be helpful come playoff time, and he's really impressed me with his slashing and mid-range shooting this year. If only he could develop a reliable 3-point shot.

[Brazil]

doin so... you give Manu minutes to Mills ? :lol

[SpursFan86]

doin so... you give Manu minutes to Mills ? :lol

Main bench unit would be Joseph/Mills/Manu/Diaw/Baynes. So Belinelli would be the odd man out, but it's not like there wouldn't still be minutes for him (and as always, it'd depend on certain matchups). He'd just be seeing a bit less.

[testies]

No. The healthy solution is less Parker minutes

[lefty]

No

[lefty]

No. The healthy solution is less Parker minutes
And this.

[playblair]

cojo = the right choice for back up pg.............. patty is an spark plug off the bench when needed.........a line up of cojo/manu/allen/diaw/baynes or
manu/allen/beli/daye/baynes will be the rotation...............

[Richie]

A Joseph/Mills back court is way too small.

[BillMc]

A Joseph/Mills back court is way too small.

Yeah. It'd be nice to give them both playing time but Richie is right.

[urunobili]

Cojo was the backup in 2013
Mills was the backup in 2014
Make the numbers...

[Darkwaters]

I'm curious how much money CoJo will demand this offseason? After the Spurs committed so much money to Mills, theres basically no chance that CoJo stays. But I'm still curious what his going rate would be.

[PingPong]

Nah. ReEgular season is one thing. Playoffs are another thing.

[Richie]

I'm curious how much money CoJo will demand this offseason? After the Spurs committed so much money to Mills, theres basically no chance that CoJo stays. But I'm still curious what his going rate would be.

I think we will tender a qualifying offer and let the market decide his value. If he signs with a team early or or too much, I expect we'll let him go. We can withdraw the qualifying offer if we need his cap space to sign a free agent but if we don't bring anyone in I expect we'll extend him on a Mills-level deal around $3m per.

[Tuddy]

Would be good for small lineups. Like Westbrook/Jackson, Ellis/Harris. Mills already plays off the ball predominantly so that wouldn't change

[Malik Hairston]

Joseph is pretty bad at creating for others(relative to other PGs), tbh..

You would have to play Manu at the 3, but a Joseph/Mills/Ginobili backcourt would probably get killed defensively, even against opposing benches..

[100%duncan]

No. Why the need to destroy what's working/worked?

[Raven]

:lol that's how it has always been, mills has never played pg with the spurs(unless you count those stretches when he was getting blown out on the defensive end). Manu is the de-facto playmaker pg and everyone else moves without the ball, that is why he plays off the bench, otherwise he would start alongside parker. What will happen after manu/timmy are gone, that is a whole different question, but generally speaking, mills is a shooter and can't defend pgs so it's strange that anyone would consider him at pg. He is a great guy, but you can't call him pg just because he's small.

[ElNono]

:lol that's how it has always been, mills has never played pg with the spurs(unless you count those stretches when he was getting blown out on the defensive end). Manu is the de-facto playmaker pg and everyone else moves without the ball, that is why he plays off the bench, otherwise he would start alongside parker. What will happen after manu/timmy are gone, that is a whole different question, but generally speaking, mills is a shooter and can't defend pgs so it's strange that anyone would consider him at pg. He is a great guy, but you can't call him pg just because he's small.

Debatable. Just re-watching some the Finals games the last couple of days, he largely played the backup PG role. For stretches, without Manu out there. Patty is certainly a scorer (so is Tony Parker), but he played the PG position his entire career. He isn't a situation like when Neal had to play backup PG, which was more of a cameo and you really needed a safety valve out there if things got ugly.

That said, the position is a bit overrated for the Spurs. Outside of Gino who has the green light to do whatever he wants in the creation department, the Spurs offense is highly choreographed. You do need a guy that has good handles and just plays hard on defense (I though Patty showed some improvements in that area last season)

[Fireball]

We know that Mills will not be backup PG immediately when he comes back. Pop takes it slowly and we have to see how Pattys shot is looking after the injury. If he looks solid again, more experimentation by Pop may follow even if it is the second half of the season already. But I do not think we will see much Cojo and Patty on the court together ...

[Raven]

Debatable. Just re-watching some the Finals games the last couple of days, he largely played the backup PG role. For stretches, without Manu out there. Patty is certainly a scorer (so is Tony Parker), but he played the PG position his entire career. He isn't a situation like when Neal had to play backup PG, which was more of a cameo and you really needed a safety valve out there if things got ugly.

That said, the position is a bit overrated for the Spurs. Outside of Gino who has the green light to do whatever he wants in the creation department, the Spurs offense is highly choreographed. You do need a guy that has good handles and just plays hard on defense (I though Patty showed some improvements in that area last season)

Miami is a special team, in that their pg is the sf meaning mills could hold his own(big understatement) against pg since they were pretty much shooters. That isnt likely to happen much this year or the year after, the likes of reggie jackson would eat him alive.

[exstatic]

Patty already is a SG. Manu is the bench PG.

[dbestpro]

I wish CoJo much success as he might be our best trade chip come the deadline. We need help in the post if Splitter does not recover, and or a SF who can hit the three when coming off the bench.

Mills instant offense is more valuable as a bench player, while CoJo may actually be better as a starter on another team.

[tmtcsc]

You can call them what you want but our point guards are all 1.5's - a mix of 1's and 2's. They handle the ball, are relied upon to score, and are pretty much interchangeable.

[ElNono]

Miami is a special team, in that their pg is the sf meaning mills could hold his own(big understatement) against pg since they were pretty much shooters. That isnt likely to happen much this year or the year after, the likes of reggie jackson would eat him alive.

That's called matchups. Patty actually guarded Ray Allen most of that series, and he did an admirable job at it. That's why when the playoffs come around, we let Green guard Curry and CP3, etc... the reality is Spursfan now has a fairly distorted view of what the average defense in the perimeter looks like when you have two elite defenders there in Danny and Kawhi. Patty was "poor" prior to last season, but I thought he reached "average" last season, which really is enough to play against 80% of the league.

[downunder]

I am staggered by this blog. Joseph cannot offer this team something extra. Mills wins games with his 3 point shot. He is vital to Spurs especially if the veterans are injured, Parker or Ginobli have an off day with their shooting etc Their shooting is inconsistent already. With their age & given a long season, the vets will fade . Sounds like Pop also needs to be handled with kid's gloves.

[BackHome]

All I remember is that Patty was getting a lot of steals and he was one of the reasons we won last year. So do the Spur organization as they signed him to a pretty decent contract. As far as CoJo well I wish him the best but I don't see the need to sign him as we have needs at other positions. However, if Manu decides to hang it up I could easily see the Spurs offering him a contract.

[Malik Hairston]

:lol Joseph is a very useless player with a very low ceiling, tbh..

He's a PG that can't pass, and his off-ball impact is reduced by his terrible 3-point shooting..he relies on mid-range jump shots off the screen like we're still in the 90s:lol..not to mention the lack of confidence that has plagued him his entire career until this season(small sample size)..

Awful, awful player..

[cd021]

A Joseph/Mills back court is way too small.

Not really

OKC played Westbrook and Jackson together to close out games last season and occasionally even Fisher in place of Westbrook (when he was injured). GSW would be the only team that could exploit it with their team of freak guards.

The Clippers have Paul, Reddick, Farmar and Crawford at guards.

I'd rather have a Cojo-Mills-Ginobili-Diaw-Baynes or Cojo-Mills-Ginobili-Bonner(spot minutes)-Splitter. That would make Belinelli expendable or an insurance policy for Manu.

[cd021]

:lol Joseph is a very useless player with a very low ceiling, tbh..

He's a PG that can't pass, and his off-ball impact is reduced by his terrible 3-point shooting..he relies on mid-range jump shots off the screen like we're still in the 90s:lol..not to mention the lack of confidence that has plagued him his entire career until this season(small sample size)..

Awful, awful player..

His advanced stats have been very good so far. 17 P.E.R +16 Net Rtg .188 win shares per 48 minutes. By all 3 metrics he has been an above average player this season. He's playing with confidence. He can't shoot from 3 but can attack the rim and knock down mid range jumpers. His rebounding and defense are definitely a plus at the guard spot.

[TMC]

Patty already is a SG. Manu is the bench PG.

[cd021]

Joseph is pretty bad at creating for others(relative to other PGs), tbh..

You would have to play Manu at the 3, but a Joseph/Mills/Ginobili backcourt would probably get killed defensively, even against opposing benches..

If they are playing against opposing bench guards they should be fine but if they are playing against 2 starting guards (unlikely) then that might be an issue) More likely it will be one starter and one bench guard. A Westbrook and Jackson lineup could cause that pairing problems, but it really depends who the bigs are behind them.

There really isn't a ton of backup SFs that could cause Manu problems. Maybe Iggy but he hasn't been very good this season. Our bench wasn't good defensively last season, but buried teams because the offense was superior. Belinelli is probably a better fit over Joseph because of his shooting and cutting but Cojo's defense and scrappy play is hard to keep on the bench. I could see one of those two being moved at the deadline.

I'd prefer to have Splitter anchor the bench if Cojo-Mills and Ginobili share the floor but will vary series to series in the PS.

[lurker23]

It will be interesting to see if Pop can find a way to get both Mills and Joseph minutes. Perhaps it will be purely situational, with Mills getting minutes when the offense needs a shot in the arm, and Joseph getting minutes when they need better on-ball defense for a while.

In the long run, I think they view Patty as a potential 6th man in the Manu mold, providing energy and shooting to the 2nd unit. That doesn't really solve the problem of Joseph/Mills likely being too small of a backcourt to thrive for extended periods, but it would explain why they might retain Joseph after this year, if they view Joseph as a better fit for getting 18 minutes directly backing up Parker.

[Jwash_1986]

:lol Joseph is a very useless player with a very low ceiling, tbh..

He's a PG that can't pass, and his off-ball impact is reduced by his terrible 3-point shooting..he relies on mid-range jump shots off the screen like we're still in the 90s:lol..not to mention the lack of confidence that has plagued him his entire career until this season(small sample size)..

Awful, awful player..
I feel you though kinfolk

[spurraider21]

Mills is a Gary Neal that can at least adequately defend point guards. Like Neal, he is listed at PG even though Manu babysits the offense as the de facto point guard. as long as Manu is around and playing well, Mills should absolutely be the reserve "pg"

Joseph will still be useful if he plays as well as he's been playing lately, but more situationally

[TheGreatYacht]

How about moving Cojo to the bench in the playoffs while Mills and Manu run the offense

[SpursFan86]

Yeah I'm a dumbass. CoJo is too much of a ball-stopper. It's one thing when Parker does it...he's earned the right to be ball-dominant at times. But when CoJo does it it makes me want to pull my hair out.

I still think he'll have his uses playing spot minutes in the playoffs when we need defense against some of the better guards.

[Johnny RIngo]

The Mills/Manu duo was dominant in the playoffs last year. Doesn't make sense to tamper with that just to accommodate a janky ass point guard that does nothing but shoot mid range jumpers.

[SpursFan86]

But just to respond to the people here: I wasn't advocating less minutes for Mills. I was proposing the idea of Joseph and Mills playing together with Manu at the 3. I definitely don't think CoJo should take Patty's spot in the rotation.

[Hoops Czar]

But just to respond to the people here: I wasn't advocating less minutes for Mills. I was proposing the idea of Joseph and Mills playing together with Manu at the 3. I definitely don't think CoJo should take Patty's spot in the rotation.

Then, there'd be no ball sharing. Neither of them like to give the ball up.

[TheGreatYacht]

But just to respond to the people here: I wasn't advocating less minutes for Mills. I was proposing the idea of Joseph and Mills playing together with Manu at the 3. I definitely don't think CoJo should take Patty's spot in the rotation.
Pop will probably leave Belinelli and Joseph out in the playoffs again. He'll play Green as a backup 3 to go with Manu and Mills

[SpursFan86]

Pop will probably leave Belinelli and Joseph out in the playoffs again. He'll play Green as a backup 3 to go with Manu and Mills

Yeah that's the best idea. I don't think there should ever be a moment where both Kawhi and Green aren't in the game come playoff time (aside from garbage time obviously). At least one of them should be in at all times to ensure we have an elite defender who can guard the opposing team's best wing player.

[cd021]

Pop will probably leave Belinelli and Joseph out in the playoffs again. He'll play Green as a backup 3 to go with Manu and Mills

Kind of hope he does. No reason why Green can't start at the 2 and come back in for Kawhi. Joseph will have a role but it will be hard to predict how much playing time he will receive. If Mills is getting burned, then I could see Pop pulling him for Cojo or to start a quarter and harass players like Paul.

[concan1]

Joseph was a complete turnover machine in the 4th qtr. of the Philly game today. He was absolutely pathetic. Can't wait for Mills to come back. His defense was also not good. He was the reason the game was so close!

[RD2191]

Cojo is a beast. Mills is a chucker. Nothing to see here folks. When was the last time Patty dunked on Ibaka? Yeah, that's what I thought.

[TheGreatYacht]

Kind of hope he does. No reason why Green can't start at the 2 and come back in for Kawhi. Joseph will have a role but it will be hard to predict how much playing time he will receive. If Mills is getting burned, then I could see Pop pulling him for Cojo or to start a quarter and harass players like Paul.
Yeah I agree, if the team is playing "gutless", Pop can always bring in Cojo to spark a run and send a message... He's just not a good enough shooter to be in the rotation

[spurman123]

could be a useful lineup for small ball

[wildbill2u]

Cojo plays hero ball too much. The last few games where he's had to play a lot exposed his deficiencies at PG. The ball stops moving while he dribbles around and tries to find an opening for himself. And when he gets into trouble, he's prone to getting trapped or making TOs. He almost lost the lead and the game for us last night in the 4th. And when he has to switch to a bigger player, fuggetttaboutit.

[ElNono]

Cojo plays hero ball too much. The last few games where he's had to play a lot exposed his deficiencies at PG. The ball stops moving while he dribbles around and tries to find an opening for himself. And when he gets into trouble, he's prone to getting trapped or making TOs. He almost lost the lead and the game for us last night in the 4th. And when he has to switch to a bigger player, fuggetttaboutit.

That's his offensive game though. The ISO drive is his strength. His overall court vision and passing is still D-League level.

[Horse]

One bad game and everyone wants him banished to the bench. Yeah he choked a bit last night. But there's no doubt he's improved a lot and getting more time while mills is out will only help. As long as he's decisive and confident he does his job as a backup point guard.