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Pretty obvious move.
Pretty obvious move.
Interesting.
The Toros look like they need a point guard and Ahearn is good enough to be the best point guard in the D-League. It appeared as if Ahearn was a short-term solution until Parker came back healthy but the Spurs must have liked what they saw in practice. I'm guessing the original plan was to waive him at this point but I guess they want a longer look.
It's also interesting that the Spurs have seemingly picked Ahearn over Hairston for now.
Jeff McDonald: Ahearn heads north
The Spurs assigned point guard Blake Ahearn to their D-League affiliate in Austin today, mostly because — with Tony Parker back off the injured list — it made little sense to keep him in San Antonio.
Ahearn has been inactive since Manu Ginobili came back Monday in Memphis. Jacque Vaughn joined him Friday, when Parker made his triumphant return.
Two point guards wearing sport coats seems a little excessive.
So Ahearn, last season's rookie of the year in the D-League with Dakota, will relocate an hour or so up I-35, where he can get some much-needed playing time. His rights remain with the Spurs.
Ahearn appeared in three games after the Spurs signed him Nov. 16. For now, whipping Ginobili in a game of H-O-R-S-E remains his greatest NBA accomplishment.
They have to keep Ahearn on the Spurs roster in order to keep him in Austin, right? That means there's not going to be any spots coming open unless they waive Tolliver.
And now they get a chance to see what both can do in the same system against the same compe ion...not a bad idea at all.
Correct. The Toros are going to be a really tough team with Ahearn. Too bad his first game will probably have the worst attendance of the season.
Doesn't this mean that Ahearn still occupies a roster spot? I thought they would've waived Ahearn to make room for Hairston. There probably more of a need for his skills right now.
Ahearn is still a Spur.
Personally I see this as a potential condemnation of Jacque Vaughn. Frankly, I doubt Jacque gets resigned this upcoming year. With TP, Hill and Mason all ahead of him hes hardly a vital cog. And hes not a youthful kind of guy that you're developing to take over down the road. Plus his skill-set is redundant and his offense putrid.
Ahearn, on the other hand, is younger and even comes at half the price of a guy like Vaughn. Most importantly, he has the ability to get better and could stick on this roster as a 3rd PG for several years. And Ahearn's scoring prowess could prove to be a dought-busting ability down the line. Ahearn's hope is to fill the role that Jannero Pargo played for the Bulls and early on for the Hornets (before Bobby Jackson played himself out of the backup PG spot): a guy that comes in and ignites a stagnant offense.
So if the Spurs really think that Ahearn is their guy at the 3rd/4th string PG spot (hardly a critical roster slot) then he makes plenty of sense. But I doubt keeping Ahearn means Tolliver could be on the chopping block. If not Ahearn, Vaughn is the likely one to get the axe.
Good take, while Ahearn can make sense as a 3rd stringer I don't think he can ever be anymore. In the limited minutes I've seen this far I don't think I've ever seen the spurs with a worse defender... he is thoroughly over matched on that end.
I guess you just hope no one snaps up Hairston in the mean time.
Spurs might need to pry that kid over on the Mavs bench that was killing the Lakers getting to the rim, over and over
We don't really need wings or PGs for now. If there were a promising NBA-close or NBA-ready big, Blake might be waived, but not for a 6'6" wing, something we have falling out of our asses right now. Ahearn could easily replace Vaughn next year if he sticks all season.
I understand why the Spurs are intrigued with Ahearn's shooting ability, but it appears that he's a liability defensively. Besides, the Spurs already have 3 pgs for this season. I'm puzzled as to why they're still using a roster spot on a 4th PG, instead of 3 (Hairston) or another backup frontline player.
It likely means a combination of Spurs' liking Ahearn and Spurs not finding a perimeter player in the D-League worth being signed after only 1 or 2 games.
If Spurs decides to keep Ahearn for the season, I think Spurs should open a roster spot to try some D-League SFs. The most obvious way to do it is to trade Vaughn somewhere for nothing. Vaughn is the 5th option at PG behind Parker, Hill, mason and Ginobili and I'm quite sure some teams like Orlando or Nets could welcome him as 3rd string PG. If no team wants him, you can always waive him but it will be more costly.
If they waive Ahearn, he goes back to the Dleague team he started with, the Energy I think. I much prefer Bruno's solution of getting rid of Vaughn to free up a spot to lock someone else up.
Noted.
Bruce 6'7"
Fin 6'7"
Manu 6'6"
Udoka 6'5"
RMJ 6'5"
We need a 6th wing WAY less than we need PG help in Austin that has next year possiblities.
If the Spurs thought there was one available, he'd be in SA, quicktime, therefor, there are none.
I keep hearing a lot about Courtney Sims. What about him?
I thought he'd be gone as soon TP was back but it looks like the Spurs liked him
Here's a different take. This could be about Ian. Right now there is no suitable point guard on the team. Two ball hogs named Marcus and Malik who are not needed now and will not be needed in the near future do not undertand that the only pressing issue is to get Ian back into game shape and to get him the ball. Ahearn may be sent down with orders to run the pick and roll or pick and pop until Ian is back in SA.
He had a ridiculous triple double on opening night and a very solid game last night as well. Quite an improvement over last year's stats. We'll see if he keeps it up. I'm sure a lot of teams are looking. I think he was in the Pacers' camp this year or last.
http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfil...=courtney_sims
23 points, 15 rebounds, 8 blocks. Call that er up now.
I think Senor was implying the problem was with another set of numbers:
Bruce (37)
Fin (35)
Manu (31)
Udoka (31)
RMJ (28)
I think he is also considering next year possibilities.
Besides with the positive play of George Hill, and RMJ's ability to fill in at point as well, PG is our lowest priority right now. A swing (or especially a big) should be on the top of our shopping list.
Last edited by Darkwaters; 11-30-2008 at 07:12 PM.
Only one of those contracts actually ends next summer, so you're still talking a bigger redundancy than at PG, 4 to 2 next summer. I agree that it would be nice to have a young big, but apparently the Spurs haven't found one to their liking.
Ok...but those 4 guys also cover two positions. And we ALWAYS have at least 2 swingmen on the court at a time (sometimes more if Mason is at point or Ime/Fin is at the 4). We very rarely run two PGs. And I doubt we'd ever run Ahearn in a 2 PG set unless it was garbage time.
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