Monroe: Hairston joins Spurs in Utah, but ...

[duncan228]

Hairston joins Spurs in Utah, but ...
By Mike Monroe

In light of a sprained left ankle with will keep veteran forward Michael Finley out of action for a while, the Spurs on Sunday dispatched swing man Malik Hairston from Austin to Salt Lake City, where they are to meet the Utah Jazz on Monday night.

The Spurs assigned Hairston to their Austin Toros NBA Development League team on Friday and haven't officially re-called him to their NBA roster. If coach Gregg Popovich decides Finaley's absence dictates the need for another guard-forward, Hairston could be back in time to suit up Monday.

The Spurs can assign any first or second-year player to Austin as many as three times per season. Hairston's assignment there was intended to get him playing time. He had appeared in only four of the first 16 Spurs games.

[The Truth #6]

Screw it. Play Ian, Hairston, and/or Haislip in some games. With the way things are going, I so no reason not to try something different, at least in small doses. If those guys don't think they're going to play, I'm not sure they're going to get that much better at this point.

[poop]

id rather see ratliff get minutes than haislip, but im ALL FOR hairston playing more. great defense and energy

[dbestpro]

Its funny but we signed Haislip to defend against tall players like Anthony, Dirk etc. and instead we continue to try and defend with the big outside shooter with 6-7 shooting guard. Ian and Marcus deserve a chance. Size seems to be hilling us and two of our bigger guys don't even get to play.

[BillMc]

Its funny but we signed Haislip to defend against tall players like Anthony, Dirk etc. and instead we continue to try and defend with the big outside shooter with 6-7 shooting guard. Ian and Marcus deserve a chance. Size seems to be hilling us and two of our bigger guys don't even get to play.

They play in practice and Pop isn't seeing enough from them to warrant time. You can blame the FO for getting them, but once they're here, the players have to show they deserve the minutes. Ian and Haislip especially must not be showing much. I suspect they might not even be on the team if their contracts weren't guranteed.

[crc21209]

Now is the time to give Hairston a shot...

[Muser]

Give Hairston a few good minutes, Keep Haislip and Ian in Suits.

[itzsoweezee]

Give Hairston a few good minutes, Keep Haislip and Ian in Suits.

why? hairston is the most redundant player on this team.

[loveforthegame]

Any idea how long Finley will be out? A while doesn't say a whole lot.

Even if they officially recall Hairston I don't expect him to play any meaniful minutes. Garbage at best. No way he gets minutes ahead of Jefferson, Ginobli, Hill, Bogans, and Mason.

[Chomag]

why? hairston is the most redundant player on this team.

Errr your joking right... Watch any games much?

Athletic, good defender, a high energy type play style, and shows signs of having a decent outside shot. Hmmmm, yep that would be totally redundant on this team.

[SenorSpur]

Screw it. Play Ian, Hairston, and/or Haislip in some games. With the way things are going, I so no reason not to try something different, at least in small doses. If those guys don't think they're going to play, I'm not sure they're going to get that much better at this point.

Amen.

Since they're already losing games anyway, there's certainly no harm in giving some PT to the young guys. Pop is taking this indoctrination thing a bit too far. Perhaps these guys can help. We don't know. What we do know is that this team, at least for now, is incapable of beating the top teams in the West. using the combinations that Pop has thrown out there. How about adding some younger guys into the experiment?

[itzsoweezee]

Errr your joking right... Watch any games much?

Athletic, good defender, a high energy type play style, and shows signs of having a decent outside shot. Hmmmm, yep that would be totally redundant on this team.

yeah, george hill, tony parker, manu ginobili

[Sean Cagney]

Amen.

Since they're already losing games anyway, there's certainly no harm in giving some PT to the young guys.

I agree, most coaches would do this, but Pop learned from Larry Brown who also does not play nor develop the younger guys it seems I love POP but over the years thats been his downfall since Tony and Manu came in, since then he doesn't play youngsters nor develop them much (Hence his stubborness until it was too late against Dallas last year with Hill). He has his faves, thats for sure, effective or not.

[JustinJDW]

I really want Hairston to get some good minutes, but I am really not holding my breathe. He didn't get any good minutes when Ginobili was out, so I don't see him getting much when Finley is out either.

[pjjrfan]

Hers hoping he gets some solid minutes and hoping even more he does enough to get Pop to keep him.

[duncan228]

Any idea how long Finley will be out? A while doesn't say a whole lot.

Monroe tonight. 'A while' is now 'a few games'.

With Michael Finley expected to miss a few games with a Grade 2 left ankle sprain, and with four games this week, the Spurs had swingman Malik Hairston meet them in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/show...34&postcount=1

[VI_Massive]

why? hairston is the most redundant player on this team.

There's some truth to this. The Spurs do have a lot of guys 6'8" and under to play the 1-2-3 positions (TP, Manu, Mason, Finley, Bogans, Hill, Jefferson).

But I think there are more than a few Spurs fans who think Finley's roster spot should be filled instead by Hairston, because of Hairston's defense, energy, physicality, etc. That may be true, but it surely will not happen this year unless a trade takes place. There's almost no way Pop deactivates Finley without an injury.

Now that there's an injury, Hairston will get some time on the active roster. But unless he can supplant one of those 7 guys mentioned above, its unfair to put him in a suit each night when he can be playing in Austin. And when/if perimeter guys are injured, Hairston can get the call-up (for the limited number of times allowed by roster rules) to fill in.

[lennyalderette]

the thing that worries me, is outside of our "core" ex mason, bonner finley, bogans) these guys seem like when they arent shooting good the first quater theyre not going to be shooting good the rest of the game, does anyone else notice this about them? and i think times like that is when haislip, hairston should def. play. i dont mean to be neg. because i really do believe we are improving and will be fine as a team soon. but mason, finley, bonner are the weakest defenders on our team, and i feel like at least bonner gives effort out there! i dont see that same effort coming from finley thats why i think people are so upset at his p.time he cant do much anymore. i really hope hairston gets a chance to prove himself, and even if it means him taking masons spot as well until he gets out of his shooting slump, i mean pop needs to experiment dont you guys think?

[Manufan909]

Its funny but we signed Haislip to defend against tall players like Anthony, Dirk etc. and instead we continue to try and defend with the big outside shooter with 6-7 shooting guard. Ian and Marcus deserve a chance. Size seems to be hilling us and two of our bigger guys don't even get to play.

Idk if I should laugh cuz you're joking, or lol cuz you actually believe that.

[urunobili]

Spurs Officially Recall Malik

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/spurs_...and+Updates%29

Spurs Recall Malik Hairston From Toros
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SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have recalled guard Malik Hairston from the Austin Toros, the NBA Development League team owned and operated by the Spurs.

Hairston, who was assigned to Austin on 12/4, appeared in two games for the Toros, averaging 25.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 35.0 minutes.

Hairston has appeared in eight games for the Spurs this season, scoring six points in 33 minutes of action.

Last season Hairston split the year between San Antonio and Austin. In 15 games with the Spurs he averaged 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds. In Austin, he earned All-D-League Honorable Mention after averaging 22.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 30 games.

Hairston will join the Spurs tonight for their game at the Utah Jazz.

[SenorSpur]

Thanks for posting. I was wondering what the status was on him.

[loveforthegame]

So how many minutes has he gotten tonight?