Spurs' McClinton combines sharpshooting, defense
Mike Monroe
When you're the 51st selection in the NBA draft, you try harder to make a good first impression.
Jack McClinton, a 6-foot-1 shooting star from the University of Miami, showed up Thursday to meet his prospective bosses on the Spurs looking as if he had stepped off the cover of GQ Magazine. His dark gray, pinstriped suit was set off perfectly by a hot pink tie, and he wore a well-shined pair of black leather dress shoes.
Then he got a look at a piece of clothing that looked nattier than anything he'd ever seen in a fashion magazine: A white Spurs home jersey, No. 33, trimmed in silver and black, with “McClinton” emblazoned across the back.
“You want me to put this on right now?” he said to Spurs general manager R.C. Buford as he held up the jersey and posed for photos.
The game jersey will have to wait for the Spurs' first preseason game in October. In the interim, McClinton promised to work hard to prove to Buford and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich that selecting him was no mistake.
Like DeJuan Blair, who dropped to the Spurs at pick No. 37, McClinton has something to prove to the teams that passed on him.
“I'm not going to tell you my grudge list,” he said, “but I've got some teams that passed on me that I'd like to show they passed on a diamond in the rough.”
McClinton comes to the Spurs with one skill that can't be overvalued in the NBA: He is an uncanny shooter from long range. He left Miami as the all-time leader in 3-point accuracy in the history of the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference, shooting 44.6 percent.
In three seasons with the Hurricanes, he made 286 of 650 college 3-pointers. He averaged 19.3 points as a senior, when he was a first-team All-ACC selection.
J.J. Re was the first-round pick of the Orlando Magic after a four-year career at Duke that had some experts hailing him as the greatest shooter in ACC history. But even in his senior season he didn't shoot as well (42.1 percent) as McClinton did in his two full seasons with the Hurricanes.
Re still holds the ACC record for free-throw accuracy (91.1 percent), but McClinton ranks second at 90.0 percent.
“It's been proven over the course of his career he's one of the best shooters in college basketball,” Buford said. “Shooting is a difficult skill to translate between the NBA and college because of the difference in the (3-point) lines. But if you really study Jack's shooting, he's already used to the NBA 3-point line. He's proven he can shoot from that range at a high level.”
There was another skill that drew Popovich's attention during McClinton's two workouts in San Antonio in the weeks leading up to the draft: defensive agility and intensity.
“As far as defenders go, he was probably the one guy who impressed Pop the most in all the workouts we had,” Buford said. “He came here with a purpose. From the minute he walked into the gym until the second he left, he was here with a reason. I'm sure he approached every workout like that.”
McClinton worked out for a lot of teams, but he thought the Spurs would be the team to take him when their first pick of draft night — the seventh of the second round — came around.
Instead, draft night turned into a hand-wringing test of his nerves.
“I was hoping San Antonio would take me at 37,” he said, “but DeJuan Blair was still on the board. Then, I started getting nervous. Thirty-eight, 39, 40. Oh, sheesh. Then 45, 48, 49.”
About the time the Spurs' second selection of the second round, No. 51, was coming up, ESPN cut to a commercial.
“It was funny,” McClinton said. “We had commercials on, and I got a text message from somebody who said, ‘Congratulations.' I said, ‘Congratulations for what? Nothing happened yet.'”
McClinton, watching in his room at his family's home in Baltimore, ran downstairs, somewhat perplexed.
“I said, ‘Mom and Dad, somebody said I got drafted by the Spurs.' But nothing had happened yet. Then (the telecast) came back on, and it was the Spurs' pick, and the guy said I'd been picked.”
McClinton wasn't wearing his pinstriped suit, which would have looked stunning if he had been on hand at Madison Square Garden for the selection process. He was, however, wearing a pair of lime green “Air Max” basketball shoes.
“I ran outside, did a sprint up and down the block. My neighbors probably just saw lime green going up and down the block.”
If his family has DVR/Tivo, they may have stopped it for a moment and forgot to hit "Live" to get it back to real-time. I do that sometimes, especially if I want to talk to someone in the room and give them my full attention. I call that DVR feature "The Marriage Saver".
Between Hill/McClinton/Hairston/de Colo the Spurs have done a decent job of pulling together some young talent with potential to be rotation players. Not a bad haul based on the drafting constraints the Spurs have operated under.
So he won't fit the Spurs well.
ESPN actually didn't show the 51st pick. They went to commercial and I had to read it off the ticker on the bottom.If his family has DVR/Tivo, they may have stopped it for a moment and forgot to hit "Live" to get it back to real-time. I do that sometimes, especially if I want to talk to someone in the room and give them my full attention. I call that DVR feature "The Marriage Saver".
Anyone who shoots 3 ptrs 44.6% in 650 attempts has got to be taken seriously. I saw this guy play a couple of times in college and even though he's small I think he could make it in the NBA.
I knew that ESPN did that with the 53rd pick, Nando de Colo. When they came out of commercial, they showed the replay of Nando shaking hands in his suit. I thought the 51st pick was live. There was game video along with comments from the broadcast team about Jack.
Yea I had to record the whole draft to watch later, and I fast forward all the commercials, so I definitely appreciated that they decided to run advertisements during the Spurs' pick.
Nice one.If his family has DVR/Tivo, they may have stopped it for a moment and forgot to hit "Live" to get it back to real-time. I do that sometimes, especially if I want to talk to someone in the room and give them my full attention. I call that DVR feature "The Marriage Saver".
Does anyone else think we're going to see a lot of McClinton/Williams backcourts during garbage time?
The thought of McClinton/Manu is interesting as Manu could play the point on O freeing up McClinton to shoot, and then they switch on D.
I think we'll be seeing McClinton a lot this year, but I don't think Williams is here..he hasn't impressed me much, and if Jack is added to the roster, it makes Williams even more pointless..
BTW, does anybody else think the front office is looking at trading Mason and/or Finley even more now?..I find it a little strange that they're this high on a late 2nd round pick already..they might believe he makes those guys expandable in a trade that could help us..
I hope McClinton does well with the Spurs.
So if McClinton makes the team and ends up draining some clutch 3-point bombs like he did in college, I'm thinking maybe we call him:
Jack "Bower" McClinton...
How about J-Mac?So if McClinton makes the team and ends up draining some clutch 3-point bombs like he did in college, I'm thinking maybe we call him:
Jack "Bower" McClinton...
That was his nickname in college i think.
Yeah, it was...
It's also extremely boring and unoriginal.
It's the off-season, vato.
Screwin' around with nicknames is something to do...
.......
Go play blackjacks..
I am Blackjack(s!?)
I'm having wet dreams of Jack going ape against the Mavs... I just wish that if he starts getting hot.. Pop doesn't bench him for the sake of it... If he's hot he's hot.. let the kid get some additional confidence...
The seniority system that Pop uses.. would make him bench him to give Williams or somebody else their minutes instead of creating a mini beast...
Jack could be the player that could take over a game and win it for you.. if he gets hot and YOU LET HIM...
i think hill/mcclinton will be the backcourt coming off the benchNice one.
Does anyone else think we're going to see a lot of McClinton/Williams backcourts during garbage time?
The thought of McClinton/Manu is interesting as Manu could play the point on O freeing up McClinton to shoot, and then they switch on D.
Jack is a nice prospect. But looking at our depth chart and the Hill situation last season I wouldn't get my hopes too high on him playing significant minutes. He's definitely a nice addition.
McClinton for three....BANG!
A man that wears a hot pink tie commands your respect.
i'd be happy just to see him shut down that little hobbit, barrea, when the spurs play the mavs.
He shot at that rate despite being the number one option on his team and the guy everybody's keying off. You put him on a team like the Spurs where everybody's percentage goes up and you suddenly have a guy who could shoot really surprising numbers for a rookie.
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