so how excited should i be about udoka?

[td4mvp3]

i know defense and 3s are supposed to be his thing, so was he the best defender available in fa this year? will he be able to handle josh howard and let bowen do his thing on dirk? can nash be dealt with and leave bowen on marion? this guy is actually the thing i'm most excited about for the coming season. how enthused should i be?

[AFBlue]

i know defense and 3s are supposed to be his thing, so was he the best defender available in fa this year? will he be able to handle josh howard and let bowen do his thing on dirk? can nash be dealt with and leave bowen on marion? this guy is actually the thing i'm most excited about for the coming season. how enthused should i be?

I'd say the best available defender in FA is still out there....in Ruben Patterson. But then again, there's a whole bag of issues that comes with him...and he's not a great shooter.

Udoka is a good enough defender to have drawn the top player of the opposing team as his defensive assignment night in and night out last year for Portland. I don't think anyone should be comparing him to Bowen, but he's apparently a very "heady" defensive player with good fundamentals and intensity....think Raja Bell as a better comparison.

My concern with Udoka isn't on his defense, but rather his shooting. He shot 40% from behind the arc last season and over 45% from the field, which is solid. But that's far and away his best statistical performance and I'm wary of it being somewhat of a fluke.

I hope I'm proven wrong, but I'll wait until regular game situations (b/c training camp hype is just that...hype) to form an opinion.

[nfg3]

I think Udoka will be a solid addition to the Spurs. A lockdown perimeter defender on the second team will only improve the Spurs next year. He fits into the system way better than most that were available - within the Spurs price range that is. Pietrus is a better athlete but Udoka's BB IQ is so much higher -IMO. Our system isn't for everyone. The Spurs have been successful plugging in pieces that fit Pop/RC's philosophy. And you can't fault that seeing how it has earned 4 LB trophies.

But having said that there is one concern which will become self evident as the season progresses. Was his FG% an indication of things to come or a one time happening? If the trend continues then the Spurs rock but if not then the $$ consequence will be nominal. The risk/reward is very good.

[Demo Dick Marcinko]

I think Udoka will be a solid addition to the Spurs. A lockdown perimeter defender on the second team will only improve the Spurs next year. He fits into the system way better than most that were available - within the Spurs price range that is. Pietrus is a better athlete but Udoka's BB IQ is so much higher -IMO. Our system isn't for everyone. The Spurs have been successful plugging in pieces that fit Pop/RC's philosophy. And you can't fault that seeing how it has earned 4 LB trophies.

But having said that there is one concern which will become self evident as the season progresses. Was his FG% an indication of things to come or a one time happening? If the trend continues then the Spurs rock but if not then the $$ consequence will be nominal. The risk/reward is very good.

Too lazy to go do the research, but I bet you a grill sandwich and a diet coke that his shooting percentage goes up. Having those nice and easy open looks because Tim is being double and triple teamed has a way of enhancing the shooting percentages. This will be a marriage made in heaven. All of Udoka's strenghts play to the Spurs philosophy.

[td4mvp3]

I think Udoka will be a solid addition to the Spurs. A lockdown perimeter defender on the second team will only improve the Spurs next year. He fits into the system way better than most that were available - within the Spurs price range that is. Pietrus is a better athlete but Udoka's BB IQ is so much higher -IMO. Our system isn't for everyone. The Spurs have been successful plugging in pieces that fit Pop/RC's philosophy. And you can't fault that seeing how it has earned 4 LB trophies.

But having said that there is one concern which will become self evident as the season progresses. Was his FG% an indication of things to come or a one time happening? If the trend continues then the Spurs rock but if not then the $$ consequence will be nominal. The risk/reward is very good.

Too lazy to go do the research, but I bet you a grill sandwich and a diet coke that his shooting percentage goes up. Having those nice and easy open looks because Tim is being double and triple teamed has a way of enhancing the shooting percentages. This will be a marriage made in heaven. All of Udoka's strenghts play to the Spurs philosophy.
shooters who come to the spurs usually suck their first year, though maybe in more years considering barry, finley and hedo weren't knocking things down like folks thought they would with duncan's doublee teams.

[remingtonbo2001]

Has everyone forgotten about our SECRET WEAPON :eyebrows Chip! This leads me to believe that Udoka is in good hands. We shoot the ball pretty well. Our problem isn't our shooting. The culprit is usually turnovers, offensive rebounding, and freethrows. If something is wrong with Udoka's shot, Chip will fix it. Even Jacque was starting to knock down shots towards the end of the season.

[Bruno]

I'm not really worried about his shooting. He wasn't shooting great in Europe or DLeague but he likely wasn't taking at all the same shots than in nba. In nba, he only take wide open 3's while he was shooting more and taking more difficult shoots in DLeague/Europe.

I don't have high expectation for Udoka but I think that he will be able to play 15-20 solid mpg with some D, hustle, rebounding and 5 ppg. If he does that, he will be a big steal given his contract.

And a little trivia about Udoka : he had had a workout with Spurs in January 2006 to get a contract but Spurs decided to sign someone else. Who is the player chosen over Udoka ?

[Solid D]

And a little trivia about Udoka : he had had a workout with Spurs in January 2006 to get a contract but Spurs decided to sign someone else. Who is the player chosen over Udoka ?

Melvin Sanders.

[Oh, Gee!!]

about as excited as you were for nazr mohammed

[SenorSpur]

My concern with Udoka isn't on his defense, but rather his shooting. He shot 40% from behind the arc last season and over 45% from the field, which is solid. But that's far and away his best statistical performance and I'm wary of it being somewhat of a fluke.

I hope I'm proven wrong, but I'll wait until regular game situations (b/c training camp hype is just that...hype) to form an opinion.

It's true that Udoka doesn't have a vast body of work in which we can evaluate a trend. If a player shots 40% from the arc and 45% from the field for a game or even a series of games, that's one thing. However the ability to do so over the course of an entire season, is truly something else.

I don't ever see Udoka being anything more than a 3rd or 4th scoring option whenever he's on the floor. Personally, I don't see why his shooting would deteriorate here - especially when playing alongside the league's best post player.

Furthermore, I believe that because Udoka's developmental arrow is pointing up, his shooting percentages will not be aberration.

[Bruno]

Melvin Sanders.

Correct answer.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

I think a little excitement is warranted. His two biggest assets (perimeter D and outside shooting) could very well improve from having Tim Duncan working the paint on both ends of the court.

He could be someone who makes the Spurs a little bit better, but he's certainly not going to make them any worse.

[Solid D]

Udoka should be a nice addition, however, it will become obvious that his height and length are a limitation against some of the longer wings in the league....just as it was a limitation for Devin Brown and Melvin Sanders.

[Darkwaters]

I don't ever see Udoka being anything more than a 3rd or 4th scoring option whenever he's on the floor. Personally, I don't see why his shooting would deteriorate here - especially when playing alongside the league's best post player.


The only time I think he'd be higher is if we had a lineup like:

Jacque Vaughn
Marcus Williams
Ime Udoka
Ian Mahinmi
Francisco Elson

At that point I might think that Udoka would our go to guy!

[ChumpDumper]

so how excited should i be about udoka?Mildly.
Melvin SandersHe's got a better three point shot.

[DR WU]

If he plays good spot-up defense and turns in 8/4 each night on 20 minutes...I'll take it. His knees are the bigger concern to me.

[timvp]

i know defense and 3s are supposed to be his thing, so was he the best defender available in fa this year?No, there were better defenders out there. However, for the price and lack of baggage, Udoka was the best buy.


will he be able to handle josh howard and let bowen do his thing on dirk? I'd rather have it the other way around. Bowen doesn't guard Dirk that well because Dirk can dominate him on the boards. Udoka is a better rebounder ... so hopefully he can have more luck.


can nash be dealt with and leave bowen on marion?I highly doubt Udoka can guard Nash. Bowen is a freak of nature in that he can guard four positions. Most everyone else in league history can guard two ... maybe three at most. Again, I'd imagine Bowen on Nash and Udoka on Marion.


this guy is actually the thing i'm most excited about for the coming season. how enthused should i be?As long as his offense stays afloat, he should be pretty good. It might be tough for him to get minutes at times considering how deep the Spurs are at the wing positions. He heads into training camp as the fifth wing. If he bombs in training camp and preseason, he could find himself out of the rotation.

That said, I think he'll do well. It's tough to say how big of an impact he'll have but I can easily imagine him becoming a Pop favorite.

[Solid D]

If he plays good spot-up defense and turns in 8/4 each night on 20 minutes...I'll take it. His knees are the bigger concern to me.

When someone plays "good spot-up defense", does that mean they do a good job of defending people who take spot-up jumpers?

[ducks]

tp should be on nash not bowen

[polandprzem]

When someone plays "good spot-up defense", does that mean they do a good job of defending people who take spot-up jumpers?

If they are on the same spot then yes


:smokin

[SequSpur]

Udoka sucks..

[ducks]

you are right on beno but that was it

[SequSpur]

you are right on beno but that was it

I'm right all the time you ding dong.

[td4mvp3]

for me, the three shooting is nice but the thing is the defense. spurs live and die on that, so a good addition is big for me. i'm also skeptical about all the talk i hear about "long threes" or some such. of the ones i can think of, none really seem to produce much in the playoffs. tashaun prince did well but who else considered a long three has really proven to be much of a big deal more so than any other player?

[AFBlue]

Furthermore, I believe that because Udoka's developmental arrow is pointing up, his shooting percentages will not be aberration.

I hope you're right....

[AFBlue]

tp should be on nash not bowen

Nash is their best player and quickness is not his best asset, but rather his floor vision and passing. If Bruce is quick enough to hang with him while denying him passing lanes and the ability to see his target, then he should be with Nash. This is especially true when the Suns use Barbosa in conjunction with Nash....because then Parker's quickness matches up with Barbosa.

[Supreme_Being]

I'm pretty excited about Udoka myself. Pity we didn't get Splitter.

[ducks]

Nash is their best player and quickness is not his best asset, but rather his floor vision and passing. If Bruce is quick enough to hang with him while denying him passing lanes and the ability to see his target, then he should be with Nash. This is especially true when the Suns use Barbosa in conjunction with Nash....because then Parker's quickness matches up with Barbosa.
true with barbosa playing at the same time
in the playoffs this past season tp on nash was better then bowen