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http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/schedules/index.jsp
according to this, the next game is tomorrow at 8:30 EST against NO
Mahinmi had a disappointing game imo.
Poor rebounding despite what his final numbers show, he gave up position a lot it seemed. And the defensive rotations. Having re-watched every available archived d-league game the last 2 weeks, I can say that Mahinmi can play much better.
I also think his pick-setting was terrible except for the very end of the game. He helped make things harder for Hill by basically avoiding any contact on the screens, unlike Gist.
BUT I still think he should be given a ton of minutes in the rotation, even force-fed as a starter.
Hill looked okay. I'm not thrilled or anything, but I think at the worst he should have an NBA career no worse than Jason Hart. Now before anyone takes that as an insult because he might come to mind as a fringe scrub, for the record Jason Hart has had a very nice career, getting paid to play NBA basketball through the age of 30 and he's under contract for the 08-09 season.
Gist looked like a legit NBA player, I hope he gets a contract. And more minutes tomorrow night.
http://www.nba.com/summerleague2008/schedules/index.jsp
according to this, the next game is tomorrow at 8:30 EST against NO
according the nba schedule, it's at 7:30 central.
Malik Avatar for anyone who wants it...
Fair enough. I'll be more careful with the "b" word. Seems that everyone is upset over it. My point is essentially what you said--he's not an NBA player yet. Honestly, he didn't even look like much of a D-Leaguer, but I suspect he'll look better in coming games.
As I watch these summer league games, I'm not really looking at the stat sheet, I think they can be deceptive. I'm looking at a players "feel for the game," fluidity, and athleticism...that sort of thing. Not shooting well is one thing, not looking like you belong is quite another. He's in the latter category.
Truthfully, I'm upbeat from this game. We have 3 keepers in Mahinmi, Hill and Gist, but they may not be productive rotation players until mid season or 2009.
Weird, I could have sworn someone in this thread said it was tomorrow at 4PM EST. I must be losing my mind. Not surprising. Time to crash.
Yeah, I agree that Mahinmi can play a lot better. I don't think he was anywhere near his best tonight. But that he still put up 18 and 8 has to be somewhat of a good sign considering this was like a C- effort from him.
If Mahinmi can get rolling, that'd be really nice heading into training camp.
Thanks. That's it. Take a guy who was 10 months away from being rookie of the year, an All-Star, and 1st team All-NBA, fresh out of college and thrown on a team with a bunch of flotsam and jetsam and he gets owned by Greg Ostertag.
This is not saying that anyone on this Spurs summerleague team will ever sniff a 1st team All-NBA nod, but it provides a little perspective on how much these games prove about a player's ability to make it in the NBA.
Lest we forget Sweet Pea...
I liked what he brought offensively. He was able to take his man off the dribble and get to the rim. Defensively he was so-so. I liked his hustle after loose balls. Man, he's friggin quick.
Didnt Marcus Banks hit 42 a couple summers ago
Hes awfully skinny in the legs still... and he has a very thing base. But it looks as though he did his best work facing up and taking his man off the drouble. He really likes to go baseline which could get him in trouble but he has the quickness and athleticism to power up and make a play.
I liked what i saw.
Tyson Chandler's pretty skinny too, but would you be happy if Ian was on the same level as Chandler within the next year or two?
Guys, Mahinmi is only 21. Duncan was 248 pounds when drafted. Mahinmi is 245. Tim Duncan is now 260. Mahinmi will continue to bulk up more imo.
Mahinmi will definitely bulk up. I do believe the Spurs also employ strength and conditioning coaches and they will definitely work on making Ian bigger and stronger if he makes the rotation, which I believe he should.
I dont think Ian is 245 that may be a bit over blown... but Duncan grew alot wider one he was drafted as a 21 year old... Duncan doesnt look like much, but he has one of the widest bases of all the big men in the league, hes awfully strong considering he doesnt have a huge upper body.
Im hoping Ian fills out as well as Tim did but hes already a year older than Tim when he came in.
If Mahinmi can max out as Tyson Chandler on Defense ill take that right now... but Ian's offensive game is already ahead of Chandler
Fair enough, but don't you think their roles will be similar? Is Ian going to be expected to post up and create or will he be more like Chandler and find openings when available? I might be optimistic, but I think that Ian will be much more productive on the backside than Oberto. To me, that's an upgrade. I also think his ability to limit driving guards will be an asset that we haven't had.
Definately more of a Chandler role... but i still think he can be stronger around the rim... Chandler wants to dunk everything when hes around the hoop.
One of the toughest things and most under appreciated things, is to combine rebounding with shot blocking, very few players master that, and Chandler seems to have done that, although his blocks were down a bit this year, he contests very well and still gets 12 boards a game.
Whether Ian can develop that remains to be seen, but right now he goes for too many blocks when he should be boxing out and getting the board.
Oberto will always be Pop's second love child after Finley because he can play well off the ball.... in the D-League Ian has been the man, so he'll need to learn quickly how to play off the ball with Duncan, that will determine how quickly or if he can get consistant minutes.
Hmm...Wiki has Ian listed at 245, but the Toros site says 230. Official Spurs website has him at 245. I hope he's 230...got plenty of room to grow and put on more muscle.
Anyone know for sure?
Hes 6'11" maybe 7'0" in shoes so 245 may not be all that far fetched.. but i think hes more than 230.
My guess would be 235-240.... an extra 15 pounds of muscle is alot so i think aiming for 250 is good.
Mahinmi was both dominant and passive. He's gonna have to show more to take Fab's or KT's minutes in crunch-time. And yes - I KNOW - this is the summer league!
Last summer and early on in the D league, Mahinmi's main problem was staying out of foul trouble. That's sometimes the biggest difference between bigs that make it in the NBA and those that don't. Guys like Mouhamed Sene and Cheikh Samb can block shots with the best of them, but they can't stay out of foul trouble. Guys like Duncan, Camby, and Dwight Howard are much better at choosing which shots to swat at, which ones to not swat at, and which ones to just let go altogether. There a a million videos of Duncan getting "posterized" on youtube but the vast majority of the time, Tim's just standing in position with his arms up, not going for the block-- one of the reasons he rarely gets in stupid foul trouble... unlike Amare, who is often watching critical early 4th quarter minutes from the bench with 4 or 5 fouls. The fact that Mahinmi played plenty of minutes and was productive without getting in foul trouble is a very good sign.
its amazing how little some of you know about strength, usable strength, and what athletes "should" look like. and no, i have zero interest in explaining it to you. continue looking stupid.
...ian may get bigger and he may not, but that has zero to do with his future effectiveness as a spurs player.
It's funny how quickly Tyson Chandler has gone from being a major bust in Chicago to the prototypical great defensive center in New Orleans that everyone would love to have.
ian looked good when he wanted to, also hill did not disappoint imo, hes only going to get better.
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