The 10 best plays of Marcus Haislip

Watch:

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=...0-68ee49408821

What's completely odd is that he doesn't seem to play big for a 6'10" guy.

Here's his pre-draft measurements: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...-Haislip-2681/

Height w/o Shoes Height w/shoes Weight Wingspan Standing Reach Body Fat No Step Vert Max Vert Bench Press Lane Agility 3/4 Court Sprint Class Rank
6' 8.5" 6' 9.75" 221 7' 0" 8' 11" NA 33.5 36.5 8 11.35 3.21 17


Play #10 - Nice quick reaction to block an easy dunk.
Play #9 - Nice dribble penetration and showing flexibility finding a hole in well defended basket using a reverse layup. (possibly the most impressive play IMHO)
Play #8 - Nice one hand alleyhoop play. He definitely doesn't need two hands to catch a ball. Take note of the vertical!
Play #7 - Reverse layup. May have recognized that the basket was covered, so promising that he's able to change his shot in mid jump.
Play #6 - Nice monster block... but the guy was simply over matched.
Play #5 - Break away double handed block... notice the vertical... his head almost hits the ring!
Play #4 - Pass and then dunk. Shows he can dunk even in congestion.
Play #3 - Alley hoop dunk. Notice how far away from the ring he picks up the ball. Man... Manu is going to have a grand time feeding this guy!
Play #2 - Rebound to dunk in one motion. Holy! Look how far away from the rim he rebounds the ball.
Play #1 - Dribble penetration, dunk in traffic on top of Tiago Splitter!!

Nice. I hope he is up to playing some defense too. Haislip seems to have good hands, so heres hoping that Manu and him can get some highlight reel worthy dunks this season.

I have always had a good feeling about him, if he comes out and gets maybe 8-9 points, a couple of rebounds, and highlight reel dunks it will be a very good signing.

still very intrigued by what haislip can do. hopefully hes ready for the nba.

Most of the highlights were dunks, but I hope he can help the spurs on the glass and on D. Anything else he gives them is a plus.

I hope he uses that athleticism to alter some shots at the defensive end.

We have always needed someone like him. An athletic freak who will throw down some dunks, get some putbacks and alter some shots on defense. Since D-Rob retired we have basically never had an athletic advantage over another team (TP is quick and fast, I mean someone athletic, long, and 6'4 or taller). Now with RJ and Haislip running around we should finally have some extremely nice hustle play highlights this season.

:lol @ the people who think that Haislip will actually see playing time.

I heard him and RJ were gonna duke it out for the #24 jersey.

Was that Splitter he posterized in the last play?

Couldn't play worse D than Bonner

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

:lol @ the people who think that Haislip will actually see playing time.

---

Why won't he?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

:lol @ the people who think that Haislip will actually see playing time.

---

:lol at you forgetting Bonner got playing time last year

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by in2deep

:lol at you forgetting Bonner got playing time last year

---

:lol @ you forgetting that that was before we had McDyess, Theo Ratliff, DeJuan Blair and Mahinmi to play instead of him

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Muser

Why won't he?

---

He's Pops Mensah-Bonsu v2.0

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

He's Pops Mensah-Bonsu v2.0

---

And Pops did get playtime.

Yeah and then what happened after he got PT?????

:lol

What a waste of height. Way too soft to do anything in this league

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BUMP

:lol

What a waste of height. Way too soft to do anything in this league

---

talking about Dirk again?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

:lol @ you forgetting that that was before we had McDyess, Theo Ratliff, DeJuan Blair and Mahinmi to play instead of him

---

Finley is gonna get pt

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by in2deep

Finley is gonna get pt

---

the 4th man in the 2/3 rotation gets pt, the 6th and 7th men in the 4/5 rotation do not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mel_13

the 4th man in the 2/3 rotation gets pt, the 6th and 7th men in the 4/5 rotation do not.

---

truth is, we don't know where in the rotation Finley or Haislip will fit. I'm not saying he will get PT, I'm saying it's not a guarantee he will not

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by in2deep

truth is, we don't know where in the rotation Finley or Haislip will fit. I'm not saying he will get PT, I'm saying it's not a guarantee he will not

---

There are no guarantees at this point. Right now the Spurs have 7 bigs. Haislip will have to move past 2 of them just to be one of the 5 in uniform. He will have to make it past one more to play minutes outside of garbage time. When you look at the 7 bigs currently on the roster, it is more likely that Haislip will be number 5,6, or 7 rather than number 3 or 4.

He has the opportunity, we'll all find out at the same time how much he makes of it. Count me among those who do not foresee a similar highlight reel of Haislip in a Spurs uniform.

I say he gets the same or more playing time then Ratliff, IMO.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

:lol @ you forgetting that that was before we had McDyess, Theo Ratliff, DeJuan Blair and Mahinmi to play instead of him

---

McDyess is OLD. no guarantee he will be healthy throughout.

Mahinmi is made of glass, also no guarantee he will be healthy

Blair has no ACLs and a rookie

Theo Ratliff... seriously?

Hailslip could very well get minutes this season.

Only 3 bigs stand in front of Haislip as of right now. Duncan, McDyess, and Blair. It'll be up to Haislip to earn minutes ahead of Ratliff, Mahinmi, and Bonner.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loveforthegame

Only 3 bigs stand in front of Haislip as of right now. Duncan, McDyess, and Blair. It'll be up to Haislip to earn minutes ahead of Ratliff, Mahinmi, and Bonner.

---

This makes the most sense.

Anyone trying to pretend that they know exactly how the Spurs big man rotation will be on September 1st, is lying.

What we know for certain: Duncan will start.
What we think we know for certain: McDyess will start.
What else we've heard: Blair will play 20 mpg according to Buford; Blair will play immediately, with no set amount of minutes noted, according to Pop. Pop wants to "find out what the Spurs have in Mahinmi" and vows to play him heavy minutes in the pre-season, but has not indicated he'll be in the regular season rotation.

The only other thing we know is Bonner started last year and generally Pop favors veterans who know the system and have a track record. That being said, Pop has also talked about "changing the music" and I'm not sure the Spurs have ever been entirely sold on Bonner, who seems to shrink in big games/moments and is strictly a one dimensional player. Last year he played mostly by default and because, until the stretch run, he shot the light's out from near and far.

If Haislip can shoot the 3 at a respectable-solid percentage, then combined with his superior athleticism, length and overall skill set, I suspect he'd pass Bonner on the depth chart as the shooting big man/stretch four.

That leaves Ratliff, who will likely see limited regular season minutes, presumably playing mostly against the bigger or contending teams (coincidentally, many of the contenders are bigger teams), but has a chance to be a fixture in the rotation come playoff time.

My guess as of today: Duncan, McDyess, Blair, Bonner, Ratliff, Haislip, Mahinmi.

Spurs' best kept secret ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hater

McDyess is OLD. no guarantee he will be healthy throughout.

Mahinmi is made of glass, also no guarantee he will be healthy

Blair has no ACLs and a rookie

Theo Ratliff... seriously?

Hailslip could very well get minutes this season.

---

See, you're looking at this too much from your point of view and what you would like to see, because you see these youtube highlight reels where Haislip is flying down the lane in euroleague, dunking on people. You have to approach it from Popp's POV and from that perspective, you can see that Marcus Haislip will most likely be going straight to the D-League after pre-season. Everyone knows that a guy who dunks in Spurs games who's name isn't Manu, Tony or Tim goes to the bench.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

See, you're looking at this too much from your point of view and what you would like to see, because you see these youtube highlight reels where Haislip is flying down the lane in euroleague, dunking on people. You have to approach it from Popp's POV and from that perspective, you can see that Marcus Haislip will most likely be going straight to the D-League after pre-season. Everyone knows that a guy who dunks in Spurs games who's name isn't Manu, Tony or Tim goes to the bench.

---

:lol

That's one rare occasion out of the season! Can Tony even dunk it? Can he even touch the rim? :lol

Can Haislip even go to the D-League? It was my understanding that he could not be regulated to the D-League. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my understanding.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by manufan10

Can Haislip even go to the D-League? It was my understanding that he could not be regulated to the D-League. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my understanding.

---

You're correct. Haislip can not be assigned to the D-league.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dejuan Blair

See, you're looking at this too much from your point of view and what you would like to see, because you see these youtube highlight reels where Haislip is flying down the lane in euroleague, dunking on people. You have to approach it from Popp's POV and from that perspective, you can see that Marcus Haislip will most likely be going straight to the D-League after pre-season. Everyone knows that a guy who dunks in Spurs games who's name isn't Manu, Tony or Tim goes to the bench.

---

So by your logic the Jefferson trade will be a huge failure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by manufan10

Can Haislip even go to the D-League? It was my understanding that he could not be regulated to the D-League. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was my understanding.

---

He has two years NBA experience. He cannot be assigned to the DLeague by any NBA team. The only way Haislip could play in the Dleague is as a free agent who decides to sign a DLeague contract rather than return overseas.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Muser

So by your logic the Jefferson trade will be a huge failure.

---

Obviously I'm being sarcastic.

IMO, I see one of the big men being traded, and I'm thinking Bonner is the odd man out. Even if he does have that experience he doesn't have some of the tools it takes to be a very productive big man in the NBA. I'm not saying Haislip does either, but with Pop wanting to give other guys opportunities Bonner has to be the odd man out. He had one whole season to prove that he belonged, and the only thing he had was an outside shot; but that wasn't there when they needed him most.

I think the big man rotation would be: Duncan, McDyess, Mahinmi, Blair, Haislip, Ratliff, and Bonner. The young guys will get most of their PT from back to backs and nights where Pop decides to not play Duncan/McDyess.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TD 21

My guess as of today: Duncan, McDyess, Blair, Bonner, Ratliff, Haislip, Mahinmi.

---

Unbelievable!

Duncan and McDyess are going to be resting most of the regular season.

Ratliff isn't going to play much in the regular season. The guy is injury prone. At best this guy shows up in the playoffs.

There's no reason to play Bonner unless we plan on trading him by mid season.

Mahinmi, Haislip and Blair all with guaranteed contracts are going to have to play early this season, all for the sole reason that we want to see if they got the goods and if not, we want to trade them.

So expect to see all of them except Ratliff playing sharing the minutes during the regular season.

There's enough changes in this team that Pop doesn't have the luxury of being conservative and playing only those who know the system.

All that said, our bench is unbelievably...

PG - Hill
SG - Manu
SF - Haislip
PF - Blair
C - Mahinmi

disruptive!

I hope Haislip could be one of those guys that writers later say, "Spurs have done it agian. Found a diamond in the rough for pennies."

I don't get all the negative comments, it's a no risk - high reward situation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ceperez

Unbelievable!

Duncan and McDyess are going to be resting most of the regular season.

Ratliff isn't going to play much in the regular season. The guy is injury prone. At best this guy shows up in the playoffs.

There's no reason to play Bonner unless we plan on trading him by mid season.

Mahinmi, Haislip and Blair all with guaranteed contracts are going to have to play early this season, all for the sole reason that we want to see if they got the goods and if not, we want to trade them.

So expect to see all of them except Ratliff playing sharing the minutes during the regular season.

There's enough changes in this team that Pop doesn't have the luxury of being conservative and playing only those who know the system.

All that said, our bench is unbelievably...

PG - Hill
SG - Manu
SF - Haislip
PF - Blair
C - Mahinmi

disruptive!

---

How is my guess for the big man rotation unbelievable? Seems to me that if you've followed past history/what's been said this off season, it's at the very least a reasonable guess.

Duncan and McDyess, while their minutes are sure to be closely monitored and they may sit the odd game in a back-to-back set, will not be "resting most of the regular season".

That's essentially what I said about Ratliff.

You, I and the masses may not be Bonner fans, but until or unless we see Pop drop him from the rotation, there's no reason to think he'd be at the back end of the big man rotation.

The Spurs, unless it's a can't pass up type deal, almost assuredly won't trade Blair. Mahinmi is a possibility in a similar type scenario, but otherwise unlikely. Haislip could be a contract to throw into a potential deal if he doesn't pan out.

I do expect them all to play minutes during the regular season, but that doesn't mean there won't be a, if not entirely established, somewhat set pecking order.

We don't know that for sure. Pop may want to rely on as many of his guys who know the system as possible, particularly early. Everyone assumes the beginning of the year will be to trot out the young(er) blood and that may very well be true, but don't be so sure that he doesn't look at the favorable schedule early and figure that that is the time for the Spurs to clean up, thus playing a veteran laden lineup. In other words, I don't think veterans like Bonner and Finley will just have their playing time handed away to unestablished players, they'll (young players) have to earn it.

Just because you want that to be the rotation off the bench doesn't mean it will be. Haislip may not even be able to play the three and even if he could would be in tough to leapfrog Finley as the backup SF. Backup center will likely see plenty of different guys shuffled in and out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wildbill2u

I hope Haislip could be one of those guys that writers later say, "Spurs have done it agian. Found a diamond in the rough for pennies."

---

I am hoping for the same.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Muser

I don't get all the negative comments, it's a no risk - high reward situation.

---

Exactly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TD 21

You, I and the masses may not be Bonner fans, but until or unless we see Pop drop him from the rotation, there's no reason to think he'd be at the back end of the big man rotation.

---

In the past Pop has dropped players out of rotation the next year, so I would guess that there is reason to think Bonner might be out of the rotation. Mohammed, Oberto, and Elson are some that I can think of off the top of my head. I can see it being a reality for Bonner as well. He had one whole season to prove that he can be THE guy, and as we all saw, he can't. For that, I think Bonner will be at the end of the bench rotation.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hater

McDyess is OLD. no guarantee he will be healthy throughout.

Mahinmi is made of glass, also no guarantee he will be healthy

Blair has no ACLs and a rookie

Theo Ratliff... seriously?

Hailslip could very well get minutes this season.

---

Very optimistic :rolleyes

You forgot this:

http://www.freakingnews.com/pictures...ncan--9504.jpg

^ :lmao

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by manufan10

In the past Pop has dropped players out of rotation the next year, so I would guess that there is reason to think Bonner might be out of the rotation. Mohammed, Oberto, and Elson are some that I can think of off the top of my head. I can see it being a reality for Bonner as well. He had one whole season to prove that he can be THE guy, and as we all saw, he can't. For that, I think Bonner will be at the end of the bench rotation.

---

Those players never came into the next season and were immediately dropped from the rotation. It gradually came about and that could easily be the case with Bonner, but until or unless it happens, why would you list him at the back end of the big man rotation? I'm hoping guys like Mahinmi and Haislip pass Bonner in the rotation, but let's not get ahead of ourselves and assume that will automatically be the case.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hater

McDyess is OLD. no guarantee he will be healthy throughout.

Mahinmi is made of glass, also no guarantee he will be healthy

Blair has no ACLs and a rookie

Theo Ratliff... seriously?

Hailslip could very well get minutes this season.

---

This, except for the Ian one. I think he's been very unfortunate up until this point. Fucking tests not finding his bone spur til the 8th try had to piss him off. Hope the real Mahinmi shows this season, and shuts up the Ian is glass group.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loveforthegame

Only 3 bigs stand in front of Haislip as of right now. Duncan, McDyess, and Blair. It'll be up to Haislip to earn minutes ahead of Ratliff, Mahinmi, and Bonner.

---

After further evaluation, this is the best post. My bad for being a premature quoter, I need to learn control.:lol
Oh, and Dejuan needs no ACL's, bitch!!!:ihit

Only McDyess and Duncan are lock to be in the PF/C rotation.
For the other players, it's only speculations. You can continue to endlessly argue about who will play but truth is that you don't have a damn clue about it.

Just be a little patient, we will start to have some answers in one month during preseason games.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bruno

Only McDyess and Duncan are lock to be in the PF/C rotation.
For the other players, it's only speculations. You can continue to endlessly argue about who will play but truth is that you don't have a damn clue about it.

Just be a little patient, we will start to have some answers in one month during preseason games.

---

Indeed. To ceperez or whoever said those two would be resting, they'll most likely combine for 40-50 minutes. Only leave 60-50 minutes for the other 5.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Manufan909

Indeed. To ceperez or whoever said those two would be resting, they'll most likely combine for 40-50 minutes. Only leave 60-50 minutes for the other 5.

---

More than 40-50 minutes. Think about it, with the improved roster (which means the minutes he does play won't be as demanding, at least offensively) and the possibility that he may sit the odd game of a back-to-back, the Spurs won't have to limit Duncan's minutes too much. He'll probably play about 32 mpg and McDyess will probably play about 26 mpg. That's 58 minutes right there, which leaves 38 minutes on average available for the other 4 bigs (one will likely be de-activated).

The video being on the right bugs me. lol

play #5 was backcourt... :D

Haislip has been brought in with a purpose - show us something on the defensive side against athletic forwards, hit your open shots - and if he does that, he could be the next in a long line of outside shooting big men (Pop always has one on the roster). Hailsip can add the windmill reverse layup to the above specifications (lol).

If he does a good job defending athletic PFs (West, Odom, Aldridge), he'll see plenty of time in some matchups. If not, he'll be warming the pine.

^

Well that is not very fair. No one really guards those guys well. Bonner did not and he got PT. Bonner tried hard and had good moments, but he was over matched often by talent.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TD 21

More than 40-50 minutes. Think about it, with the improved roster (which means the minutes he does play won't be as demanding, at least offensively) and the possibility that he may sit the odd game of a back-to-back, the Spurs won't have to limit Duncan's minutes too much. He'll probably play about 32 mpg and McDyess will probably play about 26 mpg. That's 58 minutes right there, which leaves 38 minutes on average available for the other 4 bigs (one will likely be de-activated).

---

Hey, it's Pop who said to Duncan to come into the pre-season (or was it the season) out of shape. The guy isn't going to play a lot of minutes in the first half of the season. McDyess a year older than Duncan and with a history of having surgery done on his knees, is likely to do the same.

Just like last season, where Manu and Tony were out, the young guys are going to play.

Finally, Haislip is 28 years old with 2 years of NBA experience and like 4 years of Euroleague play. The man is going to play a head of any rookie like Mahinmi or Blair. He's also going to play ahead of any old vet like Ratliff. So I'm not going to be surprised to see Haislip take up the top 3 of minutes for the bigs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TD 21

Those players never came into the next season and were immediately dropped from the rotation. It gradually came about and that could easily be the case with Bonner, but until or unless it happens, why would you list him at the back end of the big man rotation? I'm hoping guys like Mahinmi and Haislip pass Bonner in the rotation, but let's not get ahead of ourselves and assume that will automatically be the case.

---

Did he prove last year that he deserves all that playing time? No. Did he show up for the playoffs? No. He's proven that he's not a big time player. IMO he's either going to be involved in a trade or he's going to be one of the last men in the rotation. I never said that this was set in stone or will happen, but that IMO what will happen.

Haislip is a sleeper.


A little play on words :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by manufan10

Did he prove last year that he deserves all that playing time? No. Did he show up for the playoffs? No. He's proven that he's not a big time player. IMO he's either going to be involved in a trade or he's going to be one of the last men in the rotation. I never said that this was set in stone or will happen, but that IMO what will happen.

---

Just to play devil's advocate for a second, how exactly can you make a case for Haislip by saying Bonner's past "proves" that he's not deserving of minutes and won't show up in the playoffs when you could just as easily make a case that Haislip's past "proves" that he's not even good enough to be in the NBA?

That being said I agree with you that the Spurs will be trying to trade Bonner this year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by coyotes_geek

Just to play devil's advocate for a second, how exactly can you make a case for Haislip by saying Bonner's past "proves" that he's not deserving of minutes and won't show up in the playoffs when you could just as easily make a case that Haislip's past "proves" that he's not even good enough to be in the NBA?

That being said I agree with you that the Spurs will be trying to trade Bonner this year.

---

I don't think he's going to be in the top 3 of the rotation, but I think he'll be before Ratliff. I also think that he'll be ahead of Bonner, especially since I think Bonner is on his way out. I think the Spurs see something in Haislip. Maybe it is to guard those athletic big men, I'm not exactly sure. We've seen Pop get tired of other big men rather quickly, and I think the same thing will happen to Bonner. Like I said, I don't think Haislip is coming in to challenge for a starting job or even to be the first big man off the bench. I do think that he'll get plenty of playing time through the season and it will be more than Bonner and Ratliff. Of course, that is if he performs well in preseason, which I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

newsflash to Spurs homers: Blair + Mahinmi haven't proven shit in the NBA. oh, and Ratliff is no more than a 12th man.

Unfortunately I really don’t think Marcus haslip will see a consistent enough play time to really show what he can do. Pop does have a tendency to put player in positions like that… but if he does get into the normal rotation hopefully he can be a good contributor

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hater

newsflash to Spurs homers: Blair + Mahinmi haven't proven shit in the NBA. oh, and Ratliff is no more than a 12th man.

---

I'd say Ratliff is more of a "situational specialist" than he is a 12th man. Against the Lakers, Ratliff very well could be the 1st big off the bench. Against the Knicks he might not even play. His role will vary night to night depend on the specific matchup. But you are right in the sense that the Spurs can not make Ratliff a guy they hope to play 10-15 minutes a night over 82 games.

besides it not like they picked up the guy to be the "main man" just a minute man" for gosh sakes the man is 40 yr old.. LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by manufan10

I don't think he's going to be in the top 3 of the rotation, but I think he'll be before Ratliff. I also think that he'll be ahead of Bonner, especially since I think Bonner is on his way out. I think the Spurs see something in Haislip. Maybe it is to guard those athletic big men, I'm not exactly sure. We've seen Pop get tired of other big men rather quickly, and I think the same thing will happen to Bonner. Like I said, I don't think Haislip is coming in to challenge for a starting job or even to be the first big man off the bench. I do think that he'll get plenty of playing time through the season and it will be more than Bonner and Ratliff. Of course, that is if he performs well in preseason, which I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

---

I think Haislip is going to start the season behind Bonner in the rotation for no other reason than Bonner knowing the system and then it will be up to Haislip to show that he's more deserving of those minutes.

Ratliff is who im reffereing too. Not haslip

I know it's fashionable to hate on Bonner but I still find it unbelievable how people automatically take him out of the rotation and insert some unknown guy, who has done nothing in the NBA and whom they probably haven't even watched play other than youtube highlights. Maybe it's exactly because they haven't watched him play and he's a bit of a blank sheet with no bad plays and errors to remember but it still doesn't make sense.

Haislip will get his chance in pre-season to fight with Blair, Mahinmi and Bonner for minutes, but I'd be surprised if he gets more than garbage time during the season and especially the playoffs, whereas I'd expect from Bonner to get 15-20 mins unless he gets traded, as he's a much more proven player and a good fit for the system.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by coyotes_geek

I think Haislip is going to start the season behind Bonner in the rotation for no other reason than Bonner knowing the system and then it will be up to Haislip to show that he's more deserving of those minutes.

---

Good point.

I have am not jumping off the Bonner band wagon, but come un lets be real here on what other team in the league would Bonner start for.. No one. He started here becuase of lack of options offensively and Pop knew that. Bonner is not much more than a average backup, thats his role. Now it remains to be seen who may out play him for minutes this yr. But this team the spurs have will play much differntly then yrs past. So Bonner might be an odd man out.

If Anthony Tolliver can get multiple chances to earn minutes then I don't see why Haislip won't be given the same opportunity.

It's really up to him what he does with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loveforthegame

If Anthony Tolliver can get multiple chances to earn minutes then I don't see why Haislip won't be given the same opportunity.

It's really up to him what he does with it.

---

Exactly. In November last season, Tolliver shot 6-28 from 3pt range while Bonner shot 14-27. Bonner's minutes went up while Tolliver's went down. Haislip is this year's Tolliver. He is, like Tolliver, completely unproven at the NBA level. It's entirely reasonable to project an early season audition for a place in the rotation. His play will determine if that audition leads to a regular gig..

Pop always gives his players chances to shine, so I don't know where some people are coming from..

everybody will get their shot at some point..

look at last season..

Tolliver got a shot..Farmer got a shot..Hairston got consistent minutes and ended up with the team..

Pop will give everybody a shot..it's up to them to prove themselves, and whether or not they deserve more minutes..there is going to be good competition for the big men spots after Duncan and 'Dice, and it should bring the best out in all of them..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HarlemHeat37

Pop always gives his players chances to shine, so I don't know where some people are coming from..

everybody will get their shot at some point..

look at last season..

Tolliver got a shot..Farmer got a shot..Hairston got consistent minutes and ended up with the team..

Pop will give everybody a shot..it's up to them to prove themselves, and whether or not they deserve more minutes..there is going to be good competition for the big men spots after Duncan and 'Dice, and it should bring the best out in all of them..

---

That's why I see Bonner at the end of the bench or being traded. He had a whole season to prove himself, and I don't think he did a very good job of it. It's just my opinion, but I think he'll be the odd man out.

I will say that I don't think the trade is coming right away. I say by the trade deadline Matt Bonner is no longer on the team, if all the bigs stay healthy and can perform at a high level.

Tolliver, most likely, got a shot because the Spurs front line at the beginning of last season was in shambles. Thomas was injured in training camp and entered the season out of shape, Oberto was shuffled in and out with heart problems, and Mahinmi was injured for the entire season, so what were the alternatives? Duncan and Bonner weren't going to play every minute of every game obviously, and small ball can only be used in certain match-ups.

Granted, Haislip is more than likely a better player than Tolliver, but as of this writing, there's a healthy: Duncan, McDyess, Blair, Bonner, Ratliff, and Mahinmi, to contend with.

Haislip gives us additional depth at SF, and should be able to play some PF in a small lineup. No questioning the athletic ability, so it will just come down to attitude and BBall IQ.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Knoxxx

Haislip gives us additional depth at SF, and should be able to play some PF in a small lineup. No questioning the athletic ability, so it will just come down to attitude and BBall IQ.

---

Short, simple and entirely correct.

That's why you've got to see some finesse moves in his game. So when he does reverse layups, shoots in traffic and dribble penetrates past several players, those are all indicators of a game beyond raw talent.

So I just have to believe that his BB IQ improved while he was in Europe.

Now the big unknown is attitude. That's a trait of many Spurs players and let's hope he picks it up.

Though you just can't deny that Haislip adds a completely new dimension to the game that was sorely missing in previous years. That is, a guy who can get the easy basket via a alley hoop. Who was the last Spur player that could do that? David Robinson? Or was it the last play that James White ever made as a Spur?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ceperez

So when he does reverse layups, shoots in traffic and dribble penetrates past several players, those are all indicators of a game beyond raw talent.

---

I have no doubt Pop can make a player out of him if he is willing to come in and work hard. Those reverse layups were great, instead of trying to power the ball down with a dunk, he used smarts and finesse to go up and under the basket. The guy guarding him had no prayer of stopping the shot. He about hit his head on the rim, but the smart play was up and under the basket for the easy lay in thanks to his great athletic ability. Hard to say what the future holds for Marcus with the Spurs, but astute observers have taken notice of this as another potentially solid FO move.

I don't think he was brought in to play the post. Maybe when going small but I believe he will be groomed to play SF.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SpurNation

I don't think he was brought in to play the post. Maybe when going small but I believe he will be groomed to play SF.

---

I think he was brought in as a 4, but I do hope he can play alongside any duo of Tim/Dice/Theo/Ian/Blair/Bonner, that 5 would be huge!!!!

I hope he averages Bonners minutes or more the first 20 or so games of the season, but I want Blair and Ian to play more than he does.