Mike Wilks

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Looks like we got ourselves a player.

[Guru of Nothing]

Can't ask for any more at backup PG than what the Spurs have in Beno and Wilks.

Beno looks very good, and a bit flashy too, and Wilks looks very reliable (as reliable as a third string PG can look). Wilks does not strike me as being athletic as Jason Hart, but he looks a lot smoother.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Wilks looks like he might be as fast as Tony. Strong as a bull, but he makes it look effortless.

[Marcus Bryant]

A bit early but it would appear that the Spurs have plenty of depth at the 1. Factoring in Barry's playmaking abilities this is a rather significant 180 from last season.

[ShoogarBear]

Damn, and we let go Jason Hart (19 points, 12 assists, 3 steals, 2 TO vs. Milwaukee tonight)

[TheWriter]

Yeah, he would of so got that tonight against GS with all those minutes he would of had...

[ShoogarBear]

Hear that whoosing sound? That's the point sailing over your head.

[SequSpur]

Beno is not very good.

[mattyc]

Free Wilks? ;) :elephant

Seems to have a knack for finding the scoresheet too. If he can run the play and still find opportunities to score - well, you can't ask for much more from a 3rd stringer.

[Solid D]

Beno is not very good.
Watching the stat sheet to draw your conclusions, or the game Sequ.

Parker goes out after failing to run the club, much less make shots, and the Spurs holding a 5 point lead. In comes Beno to run the offense and play decent positional defense and the lead balloons back up to 11 following a clutch 3 by Beno.

The Spurs went on from there to take the lead to 21 and close out another home win.

I'd say that Beno kid is a pretty nice addition, with Wilks there for veteran support and foul-trouble protection.

[timvp]

Beno was horrible defensively in the first half ... but turned it around in the second half.

And for Wilks, it's hard not to root for him. He's tiny, but he looks like he can fill the role as a third PG.

[Kori Ellis]

Beno sucked in the first half -- he was lost on offense and demolished by Speedy on D. Wilks came in and played strong minutes in the 2nd quarter when Tony was on the bench with 3 fouls.

But in the second half, Beno redeemed himself. He remained composed on the floor and as Solid D just explained ran the offense and built the lead back up.

[grjr]

Beno was horrible defensively in the first half ... but turned it around in the second half.

And for Wilks, it's hard not to root for him. He's tiny, but he looks like he can fill the role as a third PG.

Beno got called for two fouls that would have been charges on the other player if Beno wasn't a rookie so i thought he did a decent job. Tony wasn't exactly staying in front of speedy either.

Speedy would be an All-Star if the season were 20 games long. :lol

[Taco]

He looked pretty smooth

But he looks like he should be in jr high school :lmao

[Jimcs50]

Wilks+Beno >TP

[Marcus Bryant]

Beno bounced back in the 2nd half, which is a good sign for a young player. Wilks was impressive, but it was a Jason Hart of last year kind of impressive. He can fill the role, but his game is limited. The good thing about Wilks is that he was just thrown into the fire and he was able to perform.

[FromWayDowntown]

Funny -- some were calling for Wilks to be summarily dumped in favor of a Hawks or Clippers camp cast-off just a couple of days ago . . . .

[PeterBurns]

WTF TimVP.
Stealing my..."Beno looked bad on defense" line.

[Jimcs50]

Beno bounced back in the 2nd half, which is a good sign for a young player. Wilks was impressive, but it was a Jason Hart of last year kind of impressive. He can fill the role, but his game is limited. The good thing about Wilks is that he was just thrown into the fire and he was able to perform.


By limited, you mean what? Hart is limited because he looks to pass first, shoot second? Hmm, what inovative idea, a point guard that looks to get his teammates involved first, to let the game came to him as it developes, to actually avearge 10+ assists a game, to not jack up 3s early in the shot clock??

Until TP starts doing all of that, the Spurs will have problems in the playoffs at the worst times. If not for Speedy coming in for a very ineffective Parker in 03, the Spurs would not have won the championship. It is virtually impossible for a PG on this Spurs team to NOT average 10-12 assists....you have to work at it. I guarantee you, that had Hart been utilized all year last year, the Spurs would have beaten LA when TP's game went south. Parkers needs to start passing the ball by dribble penetrating a lot more often instead of missing layups.

[FromWayDowntown]

By limited, you mean what? Hart is limited because he looks to pass first, shoot second? Hmm, what inovative idea, a point guard that looks to get his teammates involved first, to let the game came to him as it developes, to actually avearge 10+ assists a game, to not jack up 3s early in the shot clock??

Hart is limited because he struggles to make a shot beyond 10 feet and has a hard time creating shots for himself. If you didn't pick up on that last season, you didn't watch very carefully. I agree he's a more traditional point than Parker, but if he's not a scoring threat in any regard, he's going to struggle over the long haul to create shots for his teammates.

As for Wilks, he stroked a nice jumper from the corner last night, but I'm skeptical about his ability to hit a jumper with any regularity. That's a limitation similar to Hart's. Still, I think Wilks has a role on this team, and stick to my position that this roster is in greater need of Wilks (or another point guard) than it is in need of a less-than-mediocre wing.

[Jimcs50]

Hart is shooting 55%, averaging 12.7 pts and 9.7 assists on a team that is full of castoffs except for their draft picks. TP is shooting 30% on a team with the best player in the league whereupon he gets open looks at a rate of 2-1 over Hart.

BTW, Hart shot the exact same % as TP last year, despite playing very limited mins.

[Marcus Bryant]

Different offenses.

[GoSpurs21]

Always liked Hart, back to the first time he played with the team. I thought Pop went away from him too much late in the season last year after Jason played well early on. I still dont understand why. But I think Pop should have played Jason more in the playoffs against the lakers.

I still like Jason Hart and anyone that thinks he sux doesnt know shit. He may not be in the top ten, but you can't suck and be a starter in the league

[Jimcs50]

Different offenses.


WTF does that mean? We want an offense that has the PG shoot 33%? We do not want a PG that makes his teammates better by getting them the ball where they are best with it? TP needs to be a passer and set up man, he needs to shoot the open shot like AJ did, to keep the defenses honest, but he needs to think like a Stockton or a Kidd a lot more, and a lot less like a Marbury or a Francis, who have a much better polished offensive games, btw.

[Marcus Bryant]

The Spurs run a motion offense which means that TP is giving up the ball early in the shot clock.

The thing I find interesting is that as much as Pop publicly wants Parker to develop as a playmaker there is a disconnect from that stated desire and the offense he expects Parker to run. If it isn't the motion, it's posting up TD.

[Jimcs50]

We had the same offense with DRob for years and AJ had no problem averaging a much higher assists total with fewer TOs.

[Marcus Bryant]

Pop gave AJ free reign. With Parker it's been a different story.

[TheWriter]

We ran no motion offense with DRob...

[Jimcs50]

We ran no motion offense with DRob...

I am talking about the postup offense, and the high low.

[Marcus Bryant]

The thing you remember about AJ at point is how often he alone had the rock in his hands. He dominated the offense. With Parker that's not so and I think that's not his choice.

[T Park]

because parker has yet to prove he can run an offense on his own like AJ could.

Jim ragging parker for not passing the ball, but yet, his favorite jerk off partner Steve Francis is a notorious ball hog.

Hypocrisy at its finest.

[Jimcs50]

WTF does that mean? We want an offense that has the PG shoot 33%? We do not want a PG that makes his teammates better by getting them the ball where they are best with it? TP needs to be a passer and set up man, he needs to shoot the open shot like AJ did, to keep the defenses honest, but he needs to think like a Stockton or a Kidd a lot more, and a lot less like a Marbury or a Francis, who have a much better polished offensive games, btw.

TPark, what did I post about in this post???

Parker does not have the offensive skills that come close to Francis or Marbury, so he therefore should not be trying to be them. I see you shut your mouth yesterday when Kori and I showed you were wrong about Steve not having a higher rebound total than any Spur not named TD. :lol Francis is actually #26 in the NBA in rebounding. Frncis also has more assists than TP, so how can you call him a ball hog???

Also points per attempt for the two:

Francis 1.11 pts/attempt
Parker 0.88 pts/attempt

Who is the bigger ball hog???

[ShoogarBear]

So what if Hart develops into the second coming of AJ? Not that he will, but can anyone say that they expected numbers like he is currently getting for the Bobcats?

The question remains, if Hart continues playing like he is for Charlotte, did the Spurs make a mistake by letting him go instead of keeping and developing him?

[Jimcs50]

So what if Hart develops into the second coming of AJ? Not that he will, but can anyone say that they expected numbers like he is currently getting for the Bobcats?

The question remains, if Hart continues playing like he is for Charlotte, did the Spurs make a mistake by letting him go instead of keeping and developing him?


Yes, they made a mistake.