Spurs assign Mahinmi to Austin

[djohn14]

Spurs assign Mahinmi to Austin


February 1, 2008
SAN ANTONIO (TICKER) -- The San Antonio Spurs on Friday assigned rookie center Ian Mahinmi to Austin of the D-League.

Mahinmi was recalled by the Spurs on Monday but did not appear in a game. He has appeared in six games this season, averaging 3.5 points.

In 24 games with the Toros, Mahinmi is averaging 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.20 blocks

[objective]

too bad, I'd rather he get three minutes a game than Elson

Other teams are making moves, it'd be nice of the Spurs to speed along Mahinmi's development.

[djohn14]

I know. I wish I would have got to see him play instead of Matt "I fuck everything up and picked up 3 fouls in 1 minute" Bonner or Francisco "I just stand around and cant play basketball" Elson.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Can they finally make a correct assessment on this guy?

This must mess up Ian's head royally.


I think they've let him know that he is part of their future. I doubt being called up and sent back down occassionally is scarring him as a player. Obviously this is just to open a spot for Damon.

At least they haven't cut/re-signed him several times. Playing in the D-league, knowing you're under contract w/ the Spurs and knowing they want to keep you around I'm sure doesn't deflate his ego or shatter his confidence in himself.

[whottt]

It's more like he was tearing up the D-league so maybe Pop wanted to get a closer look at him...

And now he's gotten a closer look at him, in practice, and figures he's better off getting more time in the d-league.

[MoSpur]

It was only to be able to let him hang out with the team during the road trip.

[ancestron]

wtf man. I think Pop is just screwing with the guys on the Toros. Drinking wine during the evening, laughing. "Hey lets call this guy up! Let em get all excited, and then send him back down! That'll shatter his ego, eh? haha!"

[Spurminator]

I think they've let him know that he is part of their future. I doubt being called up and sent back down occassionally is scarring him as a player. Obviously this is just to open a spot for Damon.

At least they haven't cut/re-signed him several times. Playing in the D-league, knowing you're under contract w/ the Spurs and knowing they want to keep you around I'm sure doesn't deflate his ego or shatter his confidence in himself.


People act like these guys hear about their status the same way we do.

Mahinmi looks up Spurs.com... "Mahinmi reassigned to Toros" ... Mahinmi - "WTF? I thought this was my chance! I wish they'd told me they weren't bringing me up permanently! We never talk!"

[boutons_]

I guess Pop couldn't see any way to give him significant PT, which he will be getting in Austin.

[AFBlue]

I don't get this move...

Not that I expected Mahinmi to stick on the big club for the rest of the year, but there is PRIME opportunity for Mahinmi to get practice with the squad over the next 5 days.

I get that they would send him down, but why after only one or two practices with the team? Something's fishy....

[Bruno]

Mahinmi going back to Austin after the first leg of the RRT was planed since he has been called up.

Mahinmi was call up just before the Utah game and Mike Monroe wrote in the post game notebook :


Ian Mahinmi was back on the roster for the Spurs for Monday's game against the Utah Jazz, called up Monday morning from the Austin Toros of the D-League.

He also was back on the inactive list, sitting behind his teammates in a black suit and tie.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Mahinmi is on the first leg of the rodeo road trip, a three-game stretch that goes from Salt Lake City to Seattle to Phoenix, strictly for the camaraderie he will gain with his teammates.

"We just wanted to bring him up and spend some time with the team," Popovich said. "He can make friends with the guys and enjoy himself a little bit. It's more that, a personality thing for him to be around the guys."

Popovich wants Mahinmi, a 21-year-old, 6-foot-10 rookie who was the team's first-round draft pick in 2005, to get all the seasoning he can in Austin. Mahinmi has played well for the Toros, and joined the Spurs after a 32-point, nine-rebound performance in Austin on Sunday.

"I was happy," Mahinmi said, "not so surprised. I've been working hard."

Mahinmi said he understands he likely will return to Austin when the first leg of the trip is complete, but he believes he has improved to the point he could help the club if called on.

"I just keep improving on my offensive game and defensive game," he said. We run a couple of Spurs sets, too, so I think my understanding of the game is better, playing a lot and getting experience. I think I have improved on every aspect of the game."

Link (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA012908.04D.BKNspurs.mahinmi.2f805ee.html)

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Mahinmi said he understands he likely will return to Austin when the first leg of the trip is complete, but he believes he has improved to the point he could help the club if called on.
Right on. :tu

[Spurminator]

But what if he never saw that article? What if he forgot about it? We cannot risk damaging his fragile confidence.

[ChumpDumper]

This is all by design. Ian has a couple of NBA players to play against tonight. It's good for him.

[picnroll]

At least he got to scope out some Krispy Kreme stores in Utah, Seattle, and Phoenix.

[T Park]

By the looks of him he could use a few KKs.

[remingtonbo2001]

By the looks of him he could use a few KKs.

If he needs to put on a few pounds, San Antonio is definitely the place to be!

[T Park]

:lol

The good ones though.

Not the ones that Me and some of the my fellow San Antonian's have :lol

[Bruno]

I don't know what Spurs plan to do with Mahinmi but I doubt they still want that he gains a lot of weight. After all, Mahinmi is a PF and not a C.

[SenorSpur]

Sure would've been nice if Ian could've "sniffed" a few minutes.

[ChumpDumper]

Pop was at the game tonight to watch Ian.

[whottt]

Ian looked pretty good at the game tonight. It was cool that Pop was there.

[timvp]

Ian looked pretty good at the game tonight. This is all we get? :madrun

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is all we get? :madrun

I posted it in another thread, but here you go:


Ian was in foul trouble for most of the game. When he wasn't, he had trouble getting in the paint against Fesenko (the Ukraine center that the Jazz drafted).

When he did get the ball down low, he either threw up a baby hook or took a shitty shot. He doesn't have a good back-to-the-basket game yet. His best plays were "scrap" plays...offensive rebounds, blocks in transition.

He was solid on defense. Got muscled out on the boards, but did a great job protecting the rim. There were few layups for Utah when Ian was in the game.

[whottt]

To be fair...Fesenko is the size of a freaking house. He's prety solid. I'd imagine muscling guys around is one thing he does well.




We got to meet him after the game, seemed like a nice kid.

Edit: A nice kid who is as big as a house.



To me Ian looked like he's put on a lot of muscle compared to most of the videos I have seen of him. He's built a lot like DRob or Elson though...not like Duncan. He's always going to have to fight for position without having a wide base.

[Spaceman Spiff]

To be fair...Fesenko is the size of a freaking house. He's prety solid. I'd imagine muscling guys around is one thing he does well.

No kidding...and he's what, 19? He's going to be 7'3" or something when he's done. I imagine he'll have a build like post-injury Sabonis over time.

[timvp]

I've seen Fesenko and that kid has a chance to be pretty damn good. Whoever is drafting for the Jazz needs a raise.

2007 - Fesenko and Almond (who has scored > 50 twice in D-League)
2006 - Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap
2005 - Deron Williams, CJ Miles
2003 - Mo Williams
2001 - Jarron Collins
1999 - Andrei Kirilenko

The amazing thing is Fesenko, Millsap, Miles, Mo Williams and Collins were all second round picks and Kirilenko was a late first rounder.

[urunobili]

i told y'all he would never c the floor on this trip... it was just a familiarization experience for Mahimni...

[Bruno]

Mahinmi doesn't look too disappointed to have been send down to Austin without having been able to play for Spurs.

From today's French newspaper :

Who is the last Spur with a hope to participate at the ASG week end ? Ian Mahinmi. The other French player of SA doesn't know at all his odds to be a D-league all star. He recognized having other concerns while he went back to Austin to join Toros. After falling to enter on the court, Mahinmi kept his smile after Spurs wake up against Suns despite a personal case less bright : "Pop has asked me to be ready for tonight. In the case of... It will be for next year.".

[ChumpDumper]

Hmmm....The Toros lost to Tulsa again yesterday. Kris Lang didn't play but Kenton Paulino did after coming back from his injury.

Now if you look at the roster page (http://www.nba.com/dleague/austin/roster/), Paulino's name has been added as well as that of availble pool player Serge Angounou. The total number of players listed is 12, one more than the Toros could actually carry.

My working theory is Lang had a contract in Europe waiting for him and took it once his kid was born and everything was cool with his wife and child. Eric Dawson is still a few weeks from being able to play so they injury waived him and picked up Angounou to fill in.

[Quasar]

Mahinmi doesn't look too disappointed to have been send down to Austin without having been able to play for Spurs.

From today's French newspaper :

Hi Bruno,

Is that an e-newspaper or a physical one?

Which news paper is it? Le Monde? I live in France now but seldom buy newspapers :)

[Bruno]

Hi Bruno,

Is that an e-newspaper or a physical one?

Which news paper is it? Le Monde? I live in France now but seldom buy newspapers :)

I haven't the intellectual level to read Le Monde. :)
It comes from "L'Equipe" from 02/02/08.

The paper version isn't available anymore but you can download for 1€ the PDF version on "L'Equipe" website.

[Bruno]

My working theory is Lang had a contract in Europe waiting for him and took it once his kid was born and everything was cool with his wife and child.

It seems that your theory is the right one. Word is that lang will soon sign in Turkey with Turk Telecom.

[ChumpDumper]

Well, that's one less ballhog taking shots away from Ian. Angounou isn't a big scorer and developed a decent college three point shot his senior year. The best thing about having Lang around was that when they played together, Ian would get the more outside/perimeter defensive assignments. It could work out that way if they bring Dawson back as well when he's healthy.

[timvp]

It seems that your theory is the right one. Word is that lang will soon sign in Turkey with Turk Telecom.Nice :tu

Lang was hurting Mahinmi's development. Although ballhog Justin Reed isn't a whole lot better. Actually, Kevin Pittsnogle was the perfect complement to Mahinmi. The Toros looked the best this season when Pittsnogle had the starting spot and then they would go small ball if needed.

With Pittsnogle, the Toros were 13-4. Since waiving him, they're 4-6. Pittsnogle wasn't that good but in retrospect he was an unselfish player who would let the entire offense run through Mahinmi. Now with players like Lang and Reed, they fight Mahinmi for touches and the whole team suffers.

[tomcat]

Too many chiefs and not enough indians! :smokin

[timvp]

I thought Serge Angounou was already in the D-League :huh

[ChumpDumper]

I thought Serge Angounou was already in the D-League :huhHe got waived by Albuquerque when Jamaal Thomas became available to them. They needed more scorers - we can actually do better with fewer. Like I said I think he's just a placeholder since the Toros waited so long to waive Dawson who told me Saturday night he's just a couple of weeks away from playing again.

[timvp]

Austin, TX (February 4, 2008)
Toros Acquire Serge Angounou

The Toros announced today that they acquired 6-8, 236 pound forward Serge Angounou out of Arizona State and product of the D-League open tryout system. Angounou played with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds through January and averaged five points and four rebounds in 16 minutes. Angounou replaces Kris Lang who left the team. Angounou will wear jersey number 53 and will join the team on Friday in McAllen, Texas where the Toros take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

In other roster moves, the Toros waived rookie forward Eric Dawson due to injury and reacquired Kenton Paulino, a 6-1 guard from the University of Texas. Paulino was waived earlier in the season due to injury.

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3588811
Interesting developments. I saw Serge in a game this year and from what I saw he's basically a smallish bruising power forward. He seemed to be good at rebounding ... which is probably a weak spot on the Toros.

[ChumpDumper]

I don't remember if the internet feeds from Dodge Arena were working last time, but I'll probably go to the game Friday and let you know how things look.

[tomcat]

ChumpDumper i was gonna ask you about Langford's ankle injury from last week's practice. It must have hampered him in the Utah Flash game as he shot horrid and had by far his worse game of the season, but then he played on Saturday night and seemed to be the Langford of old.

Did he just have a bad game vs Flash?

[ChumpDumper]

He didn't seem terribly limited. Reed just dominated the entire first half. Might have kept Langford from getting a rhythm. The Toros threw a lot of different looks at Morris Almond this time and really did a good job on him -- Johnson and Langford were part of that. The guy who kept Utah in the game was Curtis Stinson, who had just joined the team and got a lot of time since Kevin Kruger was out with an ankle injury. The Toros hadn't scouted him and Stinson did a lot of damage in the second half.

[tomcat]

Stinson is a good baller. I had the opportunity to watch him while he was at Iowa State. He's playground savvy having come up playing at New York's famed Rucker Park.