Question on Malik Hairston

ideally i want him right off the bench with george hill but i think pop is going to try to split backup SF minutes between him and finley

malik is athletic and he's strong, but i wouldnt say he has good D yet

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Originally Posted by dbestpro

Hairston is not tall enough or quick enough, which are two points he will never fix. He is nothing more than a more inexperienced version of Udoka. If Pops has to make a call between a healthy Marcus and Malik, Malik will be gone.

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Hairston is much, much more athletic than Udoka. He's also quicker than Udoka ever was.

Have these doubters actually watched Malik play?..he wasn't a liability at all defensively last season when he was playing in the NBA, even with his inexperience..he might not be as tall as you want your SF to be, but people still actually doubt his athletic ability?..that's the same mistake defensive players make against him..Spurs fans should know better, since we've actually seen this..he clearly has very good athleticism..he isn't as quick offensively, but that's due to his lack of ball-handling ability..he's clearly quick defensively..

I don't know what people are watching..all he needed to do was improve his shooting ability, and he clearly did that..

There isn't anything he's lacking to be a successful bench player in the NBA this season..

Hairston has some significant flaws..his ball-handling ability needs a lot of work, especially in traffic..same with his passing..not surprising at all though, since those are 2 of the main flaws you see in raw, athletic swingmen..

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Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Have these doubters actually watched Malik play?..he wasn't a liability at all defensively last season when he was playing in the NBA, even with his inexperience..he might not be as tall as you want your SF to be, but people still actually doubt his athletic ability?..that's the same mistake defensive players make against him..Spurs fans should know better, since we've actually seen this..he clearly has very good athleticism..he isn't as quick offensively, but that's due to his lack of ball-handling ability..he's clearly quick defensively..

I don't know what people are watching..all he needed to do was improve his shooting ability, and he clearly did that..

There isn't anything he's lacking to be a successful bench player in the NBA this season..

Hairston has some significant flaws..his ball-handling ability needs a lot of work, especially in traffic..same with his passing..not surprising at all though, since those are 2 of the main flaws you see in raw, athletic swingmen..

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Agreed. Malik is surprisingly athletic. He makes moves that have you checking the number on the jersey to be sure it was him. He looks pretty solid but can really get off the ground. He blocked a shot in the last SL game by jumping faster than the opponent could release.

Malik has that "sneaky" athleticism. He's very deceptive in that, even when moving slowly, he can suddenly explode to the rim for a flush, or to contend a shot, or rebound the basketball. He looks to have good upper body strength and really gets up into guys when he wants to. He's certainly demonstrated some degree of physicality.

Let's not forget that he earned some spot minutes guarding both LeBron, Kobe and Josh Howard last year. Even though these were short stints, the kid demonstrated some moxie and he held his own. As was stated earlier, he's probably a better defender at this point, than he is an offensive player. However one year later, he clearly is a much better shooter than he was last year.

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Originally Posted by mystargtr34

Hes only 6'5" but he has a reach of 8'7.5" and wingspan of 6'9". Both are above average for his size, When you also factor in his strength and athleticism, he has good size and tools to play as a SF in the NBA.

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that makes 3 guys i know of in our camp w/ a wingspan above avg for his size. Malik, Georgie Porgie & DeJuan. Well at least we can say we'll have 3 guys make first team all-wingspan.:nerd

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Originally Posted by Fingaroll44

that makes 3 guys i know of in our camp w/ a wingspan above avg for his size. Malik, Georgie Porgie & DeJuan. Well at least we can say we'll have 3 guys make first team all-wingspan.:nerd

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Gist also has freakishly long arms. I'd bet that guys like Duncan and RJ do too. That said, virtually everyone in the NBA probably has pretty long arms. Josh Howard's got a longer wingspan than all those guys.