He's going to be more than fine on defense.
1st year in the league….news flash he’ll have some things to figure outRight now we are looking for traits, hustle/desire, and iq in year one. He is plenty big enough as well as quick enough. To say what he won’t ever become in year one isn’t worth a discussion at this point
Speed kills in the NBA (see Booker, Morant, etc). Without it, you'd better be deadly from the outside, be a good passer, and/or have better than average handles to create space to take a shot closer in. Hopefully his passing and shooting come around some, otherwise he'll quickly be pigeonholed as an occasionally streaky 3 pt shooter. I think he'll have games where he goes 6 for 8 from three but I'm just not seeing the ability to ever be a consistent scorer near the rim, except on putbacks.
As of right now, at least.
People gotta chill on the Primo early evaluation, he’s still a teenager lol
Richardson isn’t a long term piece and will likely be moved next year at the deadline. I wouldn’t consider Jones as part of any logjam that would prevent me from adding talent to that position
Samanic thread?
Just no way to properly evaluate a 19 year-old tbh. He’s a kid playing against grown men. The next 2 seasons will be telling. Hopefully he ends up being a good player for us.
tbh i think right now Primo's mindset is probably just to defer and look to create and pass to his "more senior" team mates - probably that explains why he looks so passive while dribbling into the lanes and he has a good enough shooting form to hit those 3's consistently but i guess right now he is just overthinking on each play. probably he will get more adjusted to the pace of the game and everything will just click for him.
Duncan was 17 his entire freshman year, and the next year would’ve been the first pick in the 1995 draft had he come out as I recall. Would’ve been 19 his entire rookie NBA season
i think primo has been looking pretty good this past week but then again i temper my expectations accordingly.
Yeah I know, angles. But Josh looks gigantic compared to Lonnie in this picture.
I heard you could drive a Mack truck through those open growth plates!
Both Lonnie and Primo measured at 6’4 barefoot at the combine so unless Primo grew another inch, it’s probably just the angle + Primo’s hair.
Seems like the preseason over confidence on Primo has worn off. He used to play more fearless. I hope it’s him realizing there is a lot more growth needed to be an elite NBA player. Still glad he is getting minutes. He’s still a couple years away from his true potential
It's either this or he simply isn't as quick as many of us hoped and/or thought. And perhaps the real answer is that he's not a PG or SG as Pop is playing him at the most minutes. Maybe he's grown out of being a SG into a SF and he simply doesn't need the quickness. Perhaps he's our 3 and D guy and we all just have him out of position.
Last edited by offset formation; 03-29-2022 at 08:24 AM.
I’m mostly worried he’s lost his irrational confidence. When he was drafted I was hoping for Mamba Mentality (not the same talent, obviously), but less rapey and sociopathic. He was a different player in preseason.
It seems to be a pattern for good or bad. Player gets overwhelmed learning to play the right way. Doesn’t know their role. Learns the system. At the end is coached to “stay aggressive”.
Feels like the military bootcamp approach.
That happened to exactly one player: Lonnie Walker.
Primo has no problem putting the ball on the floor and going to the hoop for a bucket or an assist. Right now, it looks like his shot is under construction, and it needed it. He literally injured himself landing after a 3 pointer earlier in the season. When he gets comfortable with his new jump and landing and his shot starts falling, no one will be talking about this nonsense.
Wrong. The typical path is for players to get lost the first year, at least, learning the Spurs way.
For example, Pop talked for years about Parker needing to bring consistent energy and aggressiveness. In your dislike for Walker, you’re really blinding yourself. Not everything is black and white. It affects some players more than others, but to disregard how the Spurs operate and how players talk about their adjustment here is sort of shocking.
Wrong. The typical path is for players to get lost the first year, at least, learning the Spurs way.
For example, Pop talked for years about Parker needing to bring consistent energy and aggressiveness. In your dislike for Walker, you’re really blinding yourself. Not everything is black and white. It affects some players more than others, but to disregard how the Spurs operate and how players talk about their adjustment here is sort of shocking.
A lot of panicky takes here. Primo has good athleticism and is totally fine handling the ball or as a SG type in sets. That's literally what he runs sometimes. He had a really great athletic drive that showed what he can do last night. Maybe he doesn't have elite burst or hops, but that's okay. Lots of players don't.
Meanwhile, he's rebuilt his jumpshot and is learning where to go and what to do. This is pretty obvious. He's not doing the freelancing he was doing over the summer because he's concentrating on becoming a Spur. Maybe that bothers you; maybe you need a different team to follow? I dunno. With his shot, he was favoring one leg and no longer is. Clearly this has affected his percentage, but he's not stopped shooting and I'm not worried that he'll start hitting again.
You never limited it to the first year in your original post that I quoted.
He’s young and lots can happen. Him becoming a “Spur” and not “freelancing” is sort of an odd distinction you’re making.
I argue they initially wanted his bravado and wanted him to be a star player, someone who, yes, “freelances”, which is why they picked him so high. And maybe they want or expect a very slow path to get there. But him learning to be a role player right now has its positives and negatives. It’s definitely worthy of a conversation. Not acknowledging this seems sort of silly. And no, I’m still a Spurs fan, and yes I can question these things. Are you a fan of McCarthy or something?
I don't understand what you're saying. If he's learning the sets, where to go and what to do, not to mention the pace and physicality of the league, going off and doing his own thing isn't what he's supposed to be doing right now. It's the opposite of what he's supposed to be doing and he's clearly playing differently than he did in summer league. It's not a big mystery.
On a larger level, I’m wondering (not stating I have the answer here) that their typical way to develop players may create role players more than develop a star, and in that vein, I’m trying to figure out Primo’s trajectory.
Obviously, there are few stars in the league. The Spurs developed Parker, Nephew, and Dejounte, so I’m not denying it can’t happen.
I expect him to have to adjust to the NBA. But I don’t like that part of his adjustment has been playing with less of what was good about him. He came in super confident. I wish his confidence and bravado had improved not decreased, because I think he needs to be an irrational confidence guy to take the next step.
Lots of time still. So we’ll see.
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