A little feel-good article about Ray McCallum's development

[sexinthatsx]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25474506/spurs-hoping-ray-mccallum-can-be-their-next-d-league-success-story

Good to know that Spurs have invested time and effort into Ray McCallum and is in their long term plans. Hope this guy learns the Spurs plays and is able to contribute in the future.

[SAGirl]

He appears to have the right mindset, and is enjoying the opportunity to play and get better. He definitely has shown improvement. He was very lost in sets in the beginning.

Comments from coach McDonald:

the Spurs are invested in McCallum as his frequent trips to Austin shows. They want him to develop into a stronger playmaker and floor general. So when McCallum heads to Austin, he is given a simple directive: run the team and be aggressive. And he has done just that, averaging 17.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds in his nine D-League appearances.
“His job is to run the team,” McDonald said. “There are times out of timeouts, I want him to score because he has that ability. There's times he has a little leash to go get himself a basket because he is very athletic and very fast.”

Things they have him work on:


McDonald knows that the Spurs want him to “work on early play calls” and “being a leader on the court,” so he gives the third-year guard a lot of playing time (38.6 minutes a game) to focus on those aspects of his game.

Also a lot of credit given in that article to Cory Joseph... who established a blueprint as he got better after he famously requested to be sent to Austin himself.

thanks for sharing OP.:toast

[UNT Eagles 2016]

I think he plays solid defense, and is a better shooter than Joseph by far.


Makes mr. Nick Van Mills expendable, imo. 3–10 from three and yet he keeps jacking them up in transition instead of deferring to an open guy near the paint :lol don't think this guy will ever learn

[Darius Bieber]

I think he plays solid defense, and is a better shooter than Joseph by far.


Makes mr. Nick Van Mills expendable, imo. 3–10 from three and yet he keeps jacking them up in transition instead of deferring to an open guy near the paint :lol don't think this guy will ever learn

I don't know if it Mills expendable, having Ray your second PG behind Parker makes for one of the worst PG rotations in the league..

[wildbill2u]

I'm glad that something good is happening with him in Austin. We don't get enough info about players who go there and try to improve their game. It had begun to look like a wasted trade for an important backup position. Let's hope the extra work in Austin will help him succeed.

[loveforthegame]

Fantastic read. Thanks. :tu

Ray was one of the few bright spots in Sacramento so I'm happy the Spurs are invested in him. It's no surprise he's wanting to put in the work to be better too.

[sasaint]

Fantastic read. Thanks. :tu

Ray was one of the few bright spots in Sacramento so I'm happy the Spurs are invested in him. It's no surprise he's wanting to put in the work to be better too.

Ray has really grown on me. I have remarked in several game threads since December that he shows very good composure on the floor. His shot seems to be improving, too. I don't know that he makes anybody expendable or is ready to replace anybody this season, but after another full training camp, he might just develop into a rotation player next season.

[SAGirl]

Ray has really grown on me. I have remarked in several game threads since December that he shows very good composure on the floor. His shot seems to be improving, too. I don't know that he makes anybody expendable or is ready to replace anybody this season, but after another full training camp, he might just develop into a rotation player next season.
I wanted to see Pop give some minutes to Ray this past Lakers game bc Tony was terrible. He lacked energy, wasn't playing defense and was lazily walking the ball up not calling sets and getting into dangerously close shot clock violations. Seriously, Ray would have been better compared to how Tony was playing.

I guess for Ray it's probably next season that we'll see him more. I have liked him defensively. Although he doesn't have length, he's athletic and he's dedicated. He's been much better in the offense, he was really lost to start but has been good. Will not forget the job he did on Oladipo an how he helped us in that Magic game. Like I said, Tony should have given some minutes to RAy.

[sasaint]

I wanted to see Pop give some minutes to Ray this past Lakers game bc Tony was terrible. He lacked energy, wasn't playing defense and was lazily walking the ball up not calling sets and getting into dangerously close shot clock violations. Seriously, Ray would have been better compared to how Tony was playing.

I guess for Ray it's probably next season that we'll see him more. I have liked him defensively. Although he doesn't have length, he's athletic and he's dedicated. He's been much better in the offense, he was really lost to start but has been good. Will not forget the job he did on Oladipo an how he helped us in that Magic game. Like I said, Tony should have given some minutes to RAy.

I agree. Ray would have "showed up" unlike several of the other guys - most noticeably, Tony.

[Spurtacular]

Black Ollie won't be on the squad next season. Spurs would do well to look for better options now.

[ChumpDumper]

Not Corpse Jimmer, you racist pig.

[sexinthatsx]

Glad you guys liked the article! :toast

It's just hard to get a glimpse of how much he's improved because of the lack of playing time. If you look through his Youtube highlights there's practically none as a Spur, but he had a lot during his days with the Kings. More notably, Ray to me is a hybrid of Cory Joseph (with the hustle and the pretty hard-nosed defense), and a little bit of Patty Mills (the way he's able to shoot right off the screen or quick pick and roll).

Like the article says, since he's learning the plays, it can help him learn the offensive sets and know exactly when to shoot the ball or when to pass.