He's shown some great signs lately. Hopefully Ime's minutes permanently go to Hairston.
He's shown some great signs lately. Hopefully Ime's minutes permanently go to Hairston.
I agree. Hairston is already a pretty good player, and if thrown out there with any mix of TD, TP, or Manu he will benefit big time. What I like about him is that he drives the ball! He's aggressive with it, and he can finish big time!
Gotta love a player that can create his own shot, something only two of our other backcourt players can do.
I wish Pop would have him ahead of Udoka in the rotation...
That had to be the best dunk of the evening, Big Z was happy he only got 2nd on facials.Any videos of the reverse I heard about?
There's not much of a reason to do so. I believe they have enough buffer to carry both without hitting the lux tax, and we have the roster space to carry 15, just have to declare 12 active for the games...
Hairston keeps this up and I might start using his first name around here.
It was nice that the Spurs broadcast mentioned the Hairston dunk. Hubie didn't even stop talking about how great Lebron was. They didn't even acknowledge the play (or the replay).
Bunch of Lebron- suckers. It's ing pathetic.![]()
He's a capable and confident shooter from 15-17', he's just got to get comfortable with his new area for operation on the offensive end.
He usually worked from the free-throw line, down, to do most of his damage in college, but with the change to a more conventional 2/3 position, he has to relearn the overall spacing of the floor and where he'll be most effective from, in general.
The mid-range jumper is there, but I question if he'll ever be the 3-point shooter the Spurs would probably like to see.
Personally, I don't think I'd worry about him extending his range all that much.
Some players eye and feel, for whatever reason, are just more adept at a certain range of shot. I'd like Malik to just concentrate on the mid-range shot, his slashing, glass-work on the offensive end, and let the extension on his jumper progress more naturally over time, ala R. Hamilton.
When Hairston is on the court, even in his first couple of appearances when he was uncertain of where he needed to be at all times, he always looks like he belongs. There isn't a ounce of doubt that he feels he belongs out there.
You noticed that too.
Breen's incessant garbage of how dominant the Cav's were and how impressive a road win it was, considering the opponent,(as if the Spurs were playing with the Big 3 intact) I couldn't help but laugh.
I actually heard a "tease" on NBA Fastbreak about, "How did King James fair against the Spurs, minus Wallace?"![]()
I noticed Malik did a pretty good job on Lebron in the first half. It was a short stint but he definitely had him hesitating. Then Fin came back and there went the three threes!!
not only was Malik impressive with his aggressiveness on offense, he did a pretty good job defensively on LeBron too. Even though they lost last night, I'm glad I went to the game because I got to see Malik, George, and Pops play together in the 4th.
LeBron tried to test him right off the bat, but Malik aquitted himself quite nicely. He tried to post him up twice, the first resulting in a miss (Malik probably got lucky, but LeBron might've missed thinking he got Malik up and was going to draw a foul) and the second resulted in a block.(I thought Malik got the on-ball block, but it might have been Finley. Did anyone see who got it?)
He also did a nice job when going against Szczerbiak. Wally thought he could take advantage of him with his size, and just raise-up over him, but Hairston actually altered or got a piece of his shot a couple times. It's really pretty amazing at 6'5" he's able to alter shots on the perimeter. Not to mention, you'd never guess by the way he looks that he'd be so athletic.
that's what I love about Hairston..he's not scared at all to get inside for rebounds, to challenge other players offensively AND defensively..he has a lot of balls..
It sounds like Hairston is probably a winner for this team. I'm glad he looks to be working out. Lord knows we could have used a productive pick like that a few years ago instead of D-League superstar Marcus Williams.
Muhleeeeeeeeeek!!!
He just needs to get more minutes. I'd say he's earning them, not just with those dunks but solid defense and rebounding. His lack of a consistent jumpshot is his main drawback, but his fundamentals look solid so he should be fine if he puts in the work with Chip.
The problem is that Ime is a mediocre shooter, but he has been getting court time over Hairston. Hairston is showing that he might be better than Udoka is almost every other phase of the game. I do not get it. I guess Pop goes with Ime because he has had experience starting almost the whole season in Portland a couple of seasons ago?
Malik has earned more court time IMO and he should be out there to learn the Spurs system like G Hill did at the start of the season.
In that Denver game where the big 3 sat out I thought Malik was our second best player behind Mason, yet I don't understand why Pop hasn't given him more real opportunities out there to get integrated into the team by learning the system. This was his first real extended playing time since that game and he came up with a good game again.
I'm late to this conversation, but I agree with what many of you are saying regarding Hairston's defensive potential. The two things I'd like to see him work on this offseason are 1) his range and 2) his lateral quickness. He's not slow, but he could have a career in the NBA if he refines his natural defensive ability. Also, I think he is closer to 6'4'' than 6'6''. I could be wrong. My point? I think he projects out as a 2, not a 3.
Malik deflected a lebron pass, layed it up on lebron, and blocked lebron all within 1 minute...
See Finley, Michael and Horry, Robert.
Hairston plays bigger than he is. If you're going to feed him to Carmelo, Lebron and Kobe every night he's going to have trouble, but no more than every other team in the league. He's also going to score more than Bowen and not be a liability from the line so it's probably a wash if he can continue to develop into a rotation player and the Spurs can get an actual shot blocker to help Duncan. Bonner is a very good defender but he NEVER blocks shots.
I can't tell if you think I'm referring to Ime in my post. To clarify, I'm writing about Malik. But yes, I agree that Ime is a mediocre shooter.
But to address a point you raised about why Malik isn't getting more minutes, I would guess Pop is deciding if Ime has anything to offer, or, more to offer than Malik. Pop went with Ime early in the Cleveland game but after realizing that wasn't working, went to Malik and Ime didn't get back in.
Perhaps in the next few games Pop will have made up his mind? Or, he wants to keep both sharp (or at least as sharp as they can be for bench players). Obviously, mind-reading Pop is rarely an easy thing to do. He's usually over-cautious with everything so this is probably another example of that.
I agree that Malik is going to be a 2 rather than a 3, and he looks shorter than 6'6", even though he plays large for his size. That's probably for the best as Gist is being groomed to be a 3.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)