Summer League Game 1 - Game Thoughts

Day Three Summer League Roundup

July 13, 2009 3:35 AM

Posted by Kevin Arnovitz


One of my favorite matchups of the day was Darren Collison-George Hill. As David Thorpe pointed out in his twitter thread, Hill is a brutal guy for Collison to have to deal with on the first day of class. Hill was able to shoot over Collison, shake him off the dribble, and beat him in transition with his combination of handle and speed. But Collison put together a few nice sequences of his own, including one in the third quarter on a screen-and-roll with Earl Barron: Collison was able to penetrate off the screen, then lob a pretty floating pass to Barron, who slammed it home. In general, Collison marshaled the floor with confidence. The most notable feature of his halfcourt game as a point guard: Patience (hello, UCLA). He attacked only when he had an invitation, rarely forced a pass, and executed high-percentage feeds to the right guys on numerous occasions.
DeJuan Blair: As advertised -- intuitive, beastly rebounder (10 in 23 minutes), goes up with force on the putback, great at drawing contact inside, but occasionally lacks a plan of attack in the post. He finished with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, and 5-for-6 from the strip in his very Millsapian effort.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/...e-Roundup.html

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Originally Posted by ElNono

So you think that if he doesn't show significant improvement in the rest of the games the Spurs are better off letting him walk and potentially saving the money? Honest question.

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This coming season Mahinmi's contract is guaranteed. The Spurs have to decide whether or not to pick up his 2010-11 contract before the start of the regular season. If Mahinmi doesn't show signs of improvement, I'm fine with the Spurs not picking up that option and letting the season play out.

Would I want the Spurs to salary dump him somewhere this year to erase his contract? Probably not. He doesn't make that much and roster spots don't seem to be a problem yet at this point. If he looks like he has regressed to the point that he'd never play and the Spurs need a roster spot, then yeah a salary dump would be fine as long as it doesn't involve more than cash.

I'm eager to see what Mahinmi has in the 2nd game. Hopefully some of the rust will wear off.

The guy I'm still iffy about is Hairston. I guess I fail to see why a lot of people on this board are hyped up about him. He did hit those 5 shots in a row and the 4th quarter clincher, but I still can't see much potential in him. To me, it seems he has a low Bball IQ and bad hands. He fumbles passes, has bad handle in traffic. Maybe i'm just expecting too much out of him, but I hope he does much better the next game.

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Originally Posted by duncan228

McDonald's thoughts.

Summer League recap, Game 1
By Jeff McDonald


* Rough day for Ian Mahinmi. At one point early in the game, he found himself mano-a-mano with Earl Barron. Barron pretty much abused Mahinmi, stuffing a turnaround jumper in the post. Mahinmi finished 1-for-3 from the field, and committed seven fouls. He will have to be better than that for the Spurs to find a place for him on their roster this season. We're willing to give Mahinmi a pass for now. It was his first game since November, so maybe he just needs a while to get his timing back.

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it was james gist, not mahinmi, that barron stuffed.

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Originally Posted by timvp

This coming season Mahinmi's contract is guaranteed. The Spurs have to decide whether or not to pick up his 2010-11 contract before the start of the regular season. If Mahinmi doesn't show signs of improvement, I'm fine with the Spurs not picking up that option and letting the season play out.

Would I want the Spurs to salary dump him somewhere this year to erase his contract? Probably not. He doesn't make that much and roster spots don't seem to be a problem yet at this point. If he looks like he has regressed to the point that he'd never play and the Spurs need a roster spot, then yeah a salary dump would be fine as long as it doesn't involve more than cash.

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Sounds like a plan. Thanks. :tu

Making Mahinmi your 6th big and putting him in a suit probably makes the most sense at this point. Honestly, hes probably a better prospect than anybody we could simply will onto this team at this point. However, I just don't think hes really ready to contribute much at all right now.

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Originally Posted by Hillcrest

it was james gist, not mahinmi, that barron stuffed.

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Barron had a few blocks in the first half...and yes, one of them was against Mahinmi. The play he's referring to is when Mahinmi executed about 3 post moves (apparently one too many) and ended up getting snuffed out by Barron.

So, McDonald wasn't wrong about that. He may have been a little harsh on him overall though, considering the guy was playing his first game back in about a year.

Once Bonner leaves, Mahinmi will be the 4th or 5th big.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Once Bonner leaves, Mahinmi will be the 4th or 5th big.

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The question is this: does Bonner leave this season or next?

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Originally Posted by Darkwaters

The question is this: does Bonner leave this season or next?

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I think before the Feb. 2010 trade deadline. Maybe Pop opts to keep him as the 4th or 5th big owing to his outside shot, but presumably part of the reason they signed Haislip was due to the range he showed in the ACB.

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Originally Posted by Darkwaters

Making Mahinmi your 6th big and putting him in a suit probably makes the most sense at this point. Honestly, hes probably a better prospect than anybody we could simply will onto this team at this point. However, I just don't think hes really ready to contribute much at all right now.

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It's been one game. What makes sense at this point is for Mahinmi to get as much PT during summer league and preseason as possible. Right now the Spurs have Duncan, McDyess, Bonner and probably Blair (especially if he keeps beasting) slotted for regular minutes...there's plenty of time and opportunity for Mahinmi (the only true Center) to earn some PT.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

I think before the Feb. 2010 trade deadline. Maybe Pop opts to keep him as the 4th or 5th big owing to his outside shot, but presumably part of the reason they signed Haislip was due to the range he showed in the ACB.

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Acknowledged. If Haislip can ball (and hit the 3 to boot) then Bonner seems like an endangered species on the squad...with an expiring conract to boot.

Honestly, in the end we might just hold fast until the deadline and upgrade where we think we have the biggest hole.

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Originally Posted by Darkwaters

Acknowledged. If Haislip can ball (and hit the 3 to boot) then Bonner seems like an endangered species on the squad...with an expiring conract to boot.

Honestly, in the end we might just hold fast until the deadline and upgrade where we think we have the biggest hole.

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That's a big IF. By the trade deadline the Spurs should be in a position to add another piece (if necessary) for the stretch run and Bonner's contract is likely to be a part of that...but that means they have to get his contributions back in the trade or elsewhere on the team.

Keep in mind, the guy shot close to 50% from behind the arc for most of last season...he fills a definite role on this team.

Having said that...I hope you and MB are right.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Once Bonner leaves, Mahinmi will be the 4th or 5th big.

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Originally Posted by Darkwaters

Acknowledged. If Haislip can ball (and hit the 3 to boot) then Bonner seems like an endangered species on the squad...with an expiring conract to boot.

Honestly, in the end we might just hold fast until the deadline and upgrade where we think we have the biggest hole.

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i just don't see Haislip doing well, and i expect Bonner to be the most solid in the role of 3 pts shooting Big. so for me, Ian will be the 5th Big man of the roster and i have hope he could be good enough for that.

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Originally Posted by AFBlue

It's been one game. What makes sense at this point is for Mahinmi to get as much PT during summer league and preseason as possible. Right now the Spurs have Duncan, McDyess, Bonner and probably Blair (especially if he keeps beasting) slotted for regular minutes...there's plenty of time and opportunity for Mahinmi (the only true Center) to earn some PT.

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Yes, there is still time for Ian to demonstrate his talent. I think that Ian could be to tentative because he hasn't played in a while. Also, he is now surrounded by competitors who are going all out in order to impress. He just needs to get into a rhythm and be more aggressive.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

Agreed. Summer League never fails to expose Spurs fans.

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This is very true, but to be fair, aren't some spurstalk luminaries also conveniently lowering the bar now in terms of expectations? Early last summer, one of most the popular pictures all over spurstalk was of Mahinmi dressed as Jesus with the word Savior underneath... but now it seems the hope is that Mahinmi plays a few back up minutes behind Matt Bonner. I still remember posting last season that I hoped Mahinmi could average 6 points and 3 or 4 rebounds a game for the Spurs and other posters responded incredulously, as if I'd committed heresy.

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Originally Posted by AFBlue

That's a big IF. By the trade deadline the Spurs should be in a position to add another piece (if necessary) for the stretch run and Bonner's contract is likely to be a part of that...but that means they have to get his contributions back in the trade or elsewhere on the team.

Keep in mind, the guy shot close to 50% from behind the arc for most of last season...he fills a definite role on this team.

Having said that...I hope you and MB are right.

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The only thing that Bonner has going right now is experience and his familiarity with the Spurs system. I think he loses confidence to easily. As soon as Gooden was signed, Bonner started to miss shots and ended shooting 0.231 for the playoffs. Now Bonner has to compete with three other Bigs who are stronger and more athletic. Can Bonner get his confidence back, knowing very well that there are younger players waiting to replace him at any moment?

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Originally Posted by Tully365

This is very true, but to be fair, aren't some spurstalk luminaries also conveniently lowering the bar now in terms of expectations? Early last summer, one of most the popular pictures all over spurstalk was of Mahinmi dressed as Jesus with the word Savior underneath... but now it seems the hope is that Mahinmi plays a few back up minutes behind Matt Bonner.

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Uh, pretty big difference from last season. The Spurs didn't have McDyess, Blair or even Haislip. Bonner had never proven he could stay out of Pop's doghouse. Mahinmi was thought as the only hope that could save a season which looked doomed from the beginning on paper. We all knew what players like KT and Oberto were going to bring to the table.

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Originally Posted by Tully365

I still remember posting last season that I hoped Mahinmi could average 6 points and 3 or 4 rebounds a game for the Spurs and other posters responded incredulously, as if I'd committed heresy.

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Do you have a link to that?

Of course, we're also assuming the Spurs don't use some of their expiring contracts (including Bonner) to deal for a better rebounding bigman.

RC said one of the Spurs' offseason goals was to land an "ass-kicking forward." If that isn't an indication of how the Spurs view Bonner I'm not sure what is.

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Originally Posted by Marcus Bryant

RC said one of the Spurs' offseason goals was to land an "ass-kicking forward." If that isn't an indication of how the Spurs view Bonner I'm not sure what is.

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Does RJ not fill that role? If Richard Jefferson doesn't kick ass I don't know who does.

PS: Nocioni would definitely fill that role.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Uh, pretty big difference from last season. The Spurs didn't have McDyess, Blair or even Haislip. Bonner had never proven he could stay out of Pop's doghouse. Mahinmi was thought as the only hope that could save a season which looked doomed from the beginning on paper. We all knew what players like KT and Oberto were going to bring to the table.

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Very true, but it still amounts to a big re-evaluation of the expectations. Just the fact that Marcus Haislip could push Mahinmi from Savior to hopefully he makes the team is saying a lot.

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Do you have a link to that?

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:lol As far as I can see the archives don't go back to July of '08. I'd be happy to look if I had access.

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Originally Posted by Tully365

As far as I can see the archives don't go back to July of '08. I'd be happy to look if I had access.

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Bottom left of the Spurs Forum main page, under 'Display Options'. You can change the default of two weeks to as far back as the beginning of the board. :)

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Originally Posted by duncan228

Bottom left of the Spurs Forum main page, under 'Display Options'. You can change the default of two weeks to as far back as the beginning of the board. :)

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Thanks.

The problem with Ian was that he has been hurt the last two years not just last year. He has limited basketball experience which makes it even harder for a big to be able to develop. I hope the kid can rebound but I just don't see it and I hope RC is talking to teams about getting a big.