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Thanks.
Seeing Chris Paul's name in Spurs game grades is so surreal.
Thanks
Seeing Chris Paul's name in Spurs game grades is so surreal.
Tobey: A
Thanks Timvp. Start the kid already. Pop has experimented multiple line-ups with Castle playing 3, with Paul and Champagnie, or with Blake and Malaki. And he seems to fit seamlessly. If Barnes is not shooting, give that position to Castle. Our top 4 pick deserves to start.
I’ve always rooted for Blake and he’s started the Pre-Season playing well. His speed is really effeyin pushing the tempo. And his full-court defense is again on display. I think the team defense of Blake, Castle, Sochan and Wemby would be something the fans could be excited about. You can add Champ there too.
Minix is another guy I’ve been watching. The kid is not shy and he seems willing to work hard to earn a spot. The team can use his shooting.
Wemby was just rusty. He has the green light and shooters will shoot. He just needs to tighten some. Of course it’s the pre-season.
Castle is the real deal. 1-2 more years of playing NBA talent and taking thousands of shots = we have a stud on our hands.
Thats exactly the words I can't get out of my mind during the last few hours.
The most anticipated pairing should be Vassell and Castle. Those two complement each other real well in theory. With Castle seemingly able to be a good enough shooter, there won’t be any weaknesses there.
Already Castle’s bullying himself to the free throw line. And he’s just gonna get stronger. It’s potentially Wemby, Castle and Vassell as our future big 3.
Castle must get playing time asap.We may have to trade jones and other players to guarantee he gets his mins to develop.Cant see that if tre
and keldon and branham are getting mins as well.
This was like Wemby's first Summer League game where he hadn't played compe ive non-scrimmage ball in a while. He'll need to improve his shot diet overall, however -- I'm sure watching him play six years from now he'll be taking a very different set of looks most of the time.
Thank God for Castle's play in this game. He looked outstanding compared to Monday (other than this dunk). Nailed a couple of 3s, got double digit FTA, had some heady passes and played decent D other than getting dunked on a time or two. He looked way better on the eye test as well overall than I imagined at this stage - glad to see it.
Wemby had a forgettable game but if even a couple more outside shots fall, this one's a blowout and against a pretty strong defensive-minded club who we should be punching up against, at least, using last season as a yardstick. Wemby needs to focus more on being that mid to low post anchor a la DRob. He should be relying less on 3s and over-dribbling or making fancy passes. Be that 23-10-3-3 guy and we'll win another le (eventually).
CP3 has tread, yeah, but we'll see how much of a balding tire has rubbed away by the ASB. I fear he may be running on fumes with the size of the role he's likely going to need for us to be play-in quality.
Barnes, as I'll continue to stress, is a glue guy. He's rarely going to be the one who is actively making plays from nothing but if we can get some chemistry built, he'll be invaluable in finishing and keeping everyone grounded.
Sochan finally looked comfortable, because he was doing what he always should have been - being a 4th option type who cleans up messes and finishes. His 3pter still looks ass but I liked his game last night much more than almost anything I saw last season outside of a couple outlier outings. He doesn't need an outsized role that's beyond his (current) capabilities. He doesn't need to be part of a new Big 3 going forward. He needs to be a Barnes-type who takes what he's given.
Wesley has absolutely lapped Branham if these two pre-season games are any indication. Love seeing it, because he's got more potential, especially defensively, than Branham ever will.
Cissoko looked better than in the first game but I still don't see an NBA player, at least, at this stage.
On other news, who was the player on the side-line dressed like a spastic?
I think it's going to be a Big 1, and hopefully we get some players who at least occasionally get All Star buzz.
Also, it's interesting what the best way to develop Castle will be moving forward.. and it's been only two preseason games so who the knows yet.. but for him to share the court with Chris Paul actually makes a lot of sense to me even if he's not actually playing point guard, castle that is.
It looks like Castle is getting playing time so far. Pop seems to trust him a lot already. As for trading Jones, I'd hold off. He could easily be the backup next year behind Castle. No idea what will happen with CP yet moving forward. Or Blake, tbh. I'd love for Blake to improve past Tre but we aren't there yet.
He's getting playing time, but don't forget that Devin, Tre and Keldon had DNPs.
Unless Pop does his thing again, there are simply no minutes available for Branham when everyone's healthy.
I guess we'll have to wait until the deadline to see what PATFO's plans are for point guard position.
Will Tre get an extension or get traded at the deadline? Does CP3 want to finish his career with the Spurs? (he's probably got one more year left after this one in that case)
Can Wesley become useful? Is Castle a point guard? (to me it looks like he'll be more than capable)
As for other positions, Keldon is quickly becoming redundant. Champagnie and Mamu's shooting (if they can sustain it) are way more useful than whatever Keldon does. And I'd argue that Mamu is a way more complete player offensively. He's got way better court vision than Keldon.
Imo, tiers as of right now:
Wemby
Devin, Barnes, CP3 (guaranteed starter minutes)
Jeremy, Keldon (based on tenure), Collins (because there's noone else), Castle
Those 8 will surely get minutes when everyone's healthy.
Champagnie looks like a no-brainer with his shooting, Mamu and Wesley have done well, Tre isn't a great player but is reliable and consistent, Branham is the odd man out.
Imo, players with higher ceiling need to play more if we're not aiming for a top10 seed.
If we are, then they should call Chicago and trade Keldon or Collins for Vucevic.
Sort of like how Tim Duncan was the big 1.
"He figured out quickly that he just needs to throw the ball high to Wembanyama if he’s ever in doubt. It sounds simple but the Spurs struggled with that concept last season. "
It's a deep concept that takes decades under me to learn.
JFC dude Vucevic is one of the most washed players in the league. He was a dinosaur even when he was "good".
Do you mean so they can upgrade and maybe we get their pick?
He's still a couple of tiers above Collins and would be one of the better backup bigs in the league. They're on similar contracts.
Just an idea if PATFO actually want to get close to .500.
The biggest need we have in that case is a legit backup big. Wemby probably won't play more than ~32mpg and whenever he sat last season we were just atrocious.
I was impressed with a few players, namely Mamu, Minix, Wesley, and Flynn. All are bench guys who helped us stay in the game and eventually get the lead and keep it.
Castle looks like a starter already. Yeah he's a rookie, but a damned good one. Give him more minutes.
I wasn't impressed with G-league Sidy, or Branham. Both still have a ways to go before they can be successful NBA players. Maybe Europe. I was also not impressed with Keldon's suit.
In a less important note, where was David Duke ? Has he been waived clearing up another 2 way spot ?
Sidy being as raw as he is shows how perplexing it was to draft him when he wasn’t 2-way eligible like Ingram or willing to be stashed like Nunez
If the shooting is for real, he’s going to be an all Star, a 6’6” Jrue Holiday.
Early in the game, he maintained contact with Banchero, allowing him to spin and score in an embarrassingly easy fashion. A quarter later, he baited Paulo into the same kind of spin on the baseline and literally ripped the ball out of his hands. Kid learns fast, and he will learn how to release contact, and just use a series of bumps to not allow the offensive player to know exactly where he is.
SRP = raw. If the Spurs hadn’t agreed to his requirements, he would have just gone back to Spain. Most of this year’s salary is guaranteed, but none of next year’s is. I expect him to return to Europe.
That was a different financial climate. I’m not even sure that if there was a second apron back then that we could have kept Tony AND Manu, even with the discounts.
I think the new normal is that you are as good as your best player, in which case, we’re in the tall cotton. Number 2 and number 3 players won’t be as good as they were in the super team era.
Castle was the player of the game, he kept us floating in the first half, then his defense helped us get the lead in the second half
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