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Caruso played pg in college & the pros.
OKC wanted 3 PG like the Paul-Schroder-SGA era. Problem is Spurs legend Chip failed to develop Giddey shot so they are resetting with Topic.
Caruso played pg in college & the pros.
The position is less important than the skill sets of setting up the offense and initiating he play.
As others have noted, Manu and Tony often shared floor time and took turns doing that.
The skill sets doesn’t even have to be a guard.
Guys like Jokic, Sabonis, Kawhi, and Tatum are just a few examples of play initiators who aren’t guards.
Right now Paul and Castle are the only players on the Spurs who’ve shown an ability to regularly break down the defense and initiate. Vassell was showing glimpses late last year.
We need more of those guys.
One of the many reasons Paul helps teams win is that when the game is being decided late in the game he can still ensure we get good shots when the defense is most engaged.
DDR did that for us when he was here.
In the interim we’ve seen Vassell and Kelton try to be the heroes in those situations with mixed results.
I hope Paul stays with us at least one more year to keep teaching Castle and our young guys how it’s done.
If I can’t look back a few posts I never would’ve know that it was you who responded to me, but I’m trying to extend an olive branch here. You missed the nuances in my comments. What is wrong with you? And why are you trying to have the last word like a Karen?I don't recall having once engage any discussion with u Karen, You must be in love to follow me in every thread like that
Also I don't care about your sexuality, too much information
Given your mental state I’m not surprised you forgot your nuanced suggestions that everything wrong with the spurs is everyone else’s fault, and that sochan is Wembys kryptonite, then promptly got your pushed back in by the entire forum. I’m worried about your mental state, take care.
I won’t have time to respond to you as you’re not worth the time, but don’t take my comments out of context because I’m really concerned about you and also hope you would grow up and not act like a Karen.
Take care. I wish the best for you.
Back to topic, the spurs can run a two PG lineup because those two PGs happen to be players who can play off ball, while doesn’t require to hold on to the ball all day to make something happen, like a tre jones. The spurs are looking to move towards a movement offence and having more initiators and facilitators is the goal, which is why Vassell has to improve his court vision, the team can’t stand around and watch wemby hero ball, and KJ doesn’t fit.
Egor Demin
Josh Giddey
Austin Reeves
.................................
Of the retired
Paul Pressey
Boris Diaw
Grant Hill
Scottie Pippen
Reaves/Castle woulda been nice
It works now because you have a gracious maestro in CP3 who is teaching Castle the ropes, slowly giving him the reins. But during Dejounte and DWhite, it seems a compe ion for the lead act, more so on Dejounte who likes to be the star. At times it’s best to decide early who’s the main act and get that out of the way. That reminds me of SJax complaining about Pop wanting him to step-back for Manu, or Pop barking at TP to give the ball to Kawhi. Those are needed to establish pecking order. Drafting a dominant PG could create that unhealthy rivalry. It’s best if the players could learn to work it out. And it will depend if they can work out a chemistry or you’re stuck with Team DJ vs Team Trae finally splitting them. I grew up watching the Pistons multiple guard offense, but Isiah was clearly the leader. In Spurs motion offense it works to have connectors, but not necessarily two PG’s imo.
I rather they draft an athletic SF/PF tbh.
Last edited by John B; 11-22-2024 at 12:57 PM.
Steph should be the pg and they should draft that point forward type ( Egor ) so they can initiate p & roll at every position depending on the matchup. No hiding the Trae Young’s of the world.
it also works because both know how to play off ball. CP3 knows how to slide to space so he can take a 3. castle knows how to make timely cuts into space.
murray was never a good off-ball player... which is fine if he's just the lead guard. ATL experiment failed because neither murray nor young could play off ball, even though young in theory has the skillset to play off-ball, he just doesnt do it for some reason
If you think of greatest Point Guards, it’s hard not to mention Nash, Kidd and Kevin Johnson. Funny how in Nash rookie year, he was a backup to those two greats. Surprisingly that trio never passed the 1st round of the playoffs. There’s only 1 ball with 3 dominant PG’s who liked to pound the ball. Again in Spurs motion offense, it works best to have connectors instead.
What I liked about the castle cp3 duo is that they are very clear who is doing what at certain times. They take turns taking the lead and when they are not the lead initiator (mostly castle in that role) the off ball person would be able to pick up that off ball role seamlessly. Ultimately I think the FO is looking to have four players doing that around wemby, where an initiator and wemby will manage the offence, while the other three players can cut and weave, while also acting as a connector in the process. They then take turns being the initiator and it can confuse the living lights out of the defence, as well as allowing them to start the offence at multiple points on the court.
Sochan was clearly groomed to do that last year with the PG experiment. Vassell isn’t there yet and likely need more reps.
Assuming this team is healthy, I think the ideal rotation would be:
G: Three Man Rotation with CP3/Castle/Vassell with Tre picking up spot minutes as cir stances dictate (fouls, fatigue, etc)
F: Four Man Rotation with Champ/Keldon/Sochan/Barnes
C: Wemby with situational rotation of Collins and Bassey, depending on match up.
I don't expect CP3 to be back performing at this level next year (but who knows), so that leaves a pretty important hole in the lineup that I'd rather not fill will increased Tre Jones minutes. A "Point Guard" can fit that spot (Traore), or a combo guard (Harper) or a Point Forward (Egor). Good news is that is 3 different options to fill that role. The bad news is that those are kind of the ONLY three options in the draft (that have identified themselves thus far) and all may end up out of our range. This draft seems tilted more towards SGs, Wings and Bigs.
^At some point we're going to have to add some actual NBA players to the roster via trades, I'm not that worried about the draft.
We need one more legit guard and at least two more legit wings.
Since wing market is poor, getting a good one in the draft and trading for a guard also works.
As for my personal wishes, here's a list of legit starters who could become realistic targets before the next season starts:
Cam Jonhson - the most obvious one.
Myles Turner he's shooting 41% from 3pt on 5 attempts this season and is on an expiring contract. If he'd be happy with 18-20 million a year, I'd consider him.
MPJ - he's overpaid, but his contract ends before Wemby's extension kicks in. 6'10 forward who's a career 40% 3pt shooter on high volume, would be a perfect combo with Jeremy.
Booker - If there's a chance, I'd go for it. Suns are looking pretty bad after their hot start, KD had to carry them against bad teams, Booker's departure is inevitable. If Devin can't stay healthy...who knows.
Naz Reid - another obvious one, they really ed up with that Randle trade and I think Randle will take that $30M option for the next season since noone will offer him as much. They'll be well over the cap. Sidenote, but NAW will also be a free agent and he'd be a perfect bench guard for us.
Fox - I'm not the biggest fan, but Kings are treadmilling and he might ask for a trade next summer. The issue would be that he'd need to get extended and he'll ask for a lot of money.
Markkanen - I'll never give up! Maybe he gets tired of losing.
I actually thought there would be more realistic targets, but the market is really poor these days and I wouldn't waste a lot of assets on players older than 30.
I like Turner as a player, but unless we plan on revamping our philosophy into more of a two-big approach, I don't think it makes sense to pay a big anything more than $10MM/year. Big Daddy got 3/30. I think that's the range that makes sense for us, and if Bassey continues to emerge I'd try to lock him up for something like 3/20 and then find a 3rd string big on the cheap. (Shame we had to cut lose his bargain contract to make the Barnes trade).
Love all of the big names on your list. Booker/Fox/Markk would each be epic... don't expect us to even really consider any of them except for maybe Markk (next summer baby LFG).
Would not hate a move for Cam once the Nets get the memo that they're supposed to be tanking. Keldon and Collins for Cam and DFS works salary wisewould just need to add like a zillion picks
good list. I was thinking which piece we could add via trade/FA to take us to contender level once we're a playoff team. Still seems like Markkanen would be the best option by far. I don't really see Ingram as a needle mover. Naz would be nice cause he can play C and PF, so he can get starter minutes by playing both positions coming off the bench.
John Collins would also make sense in that role. Natural PF who can also play C, especially against bench bigs.
Barnes/John Collins
Wemby/Bassey would be solid enough if we don't get anyone better.
Free agents list looks really poor, tbh.
Can't see a single starter in there, just some solid bench players.
Booker also fits the "combo guard" role for the 2 point guard lineup we're talking about in this thread. he also accepted a reduced role in the olympics and really honed in on his defense during that experience.
with that said, its the least likely scenario of the above by quite some margin
I think it's unlikely Spurs get him, but I don't think this Phoenix team has much left in them. Should be done after another playoffs disappointment this season.
Their wages are projected at $224M for the next season. With just 9 players on the roster. And Grayson Allen being the best role player.
They're done.
Most reports expect Rockets to go for Giannis, but I actually think they'll go for Booker since they have those Suns picks they got from the Nets. That's why they traded from them. Rockets aren't a franchise that's going to patiently rebuild.
While it makes a lot of sense as a general approach, the spurs’ implementation has had major issues when they try to force a non-point guard into these roles. Specifically, Branham has been horrible when forced to do this stuff. Similarly, Wesley has been hit and miss. The Spurs can’t seem to get over the foolish idea that point guards can be created at the nba level.
they'd jettison everything and just build around booker again. i didnt realize he's already 28, but thats still time to build another version of the team with the spare parts they'd get back in a fire sale
Barnes is 32, is a decent contributor, probably has several more years of effectiveness.
Paul is 40, is making everlasting impact on our young core.
There is nothing wrong with giving up assets for players over 30. There will be many eras with Wemby.
Especially since outcomes like Blake and Malaki aren't that uncommon for late FRPs. FRPs are generally overvalued relative to actual outcomes. Let's use that to our advantage if the opportunity arises.
Booker is not an Alpha,and as you said, he’s 28. That’s definitely a cash out scenario.
He's a perfect #2.
I don't like him, but he's averaging 28/5/5 on 48/39/90 in 47 playoff games. Can't dispute that.
His game doesn't rely on athleticism and he never had a major injury.
If we could get CP3 right now at 28 we would, and what a monster he would be with this current team. This whole dismissive of players over 27 thing is stupid.
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