International Prospect: Romain Sato

[DesignatedT]

This guy could be an interesting option. He plays good D. Has to be able to hit from NBA range though. I am not sure how his 3 pt shooting has been over the years in europe(or even if the 3 pt line is closer there) but the guy we bring in has to be able to shoot over 40% from 3 pt land consistently. We cant have anymore of this 31% shooting from behind the arc (mason,bogans) no amount of D makes up for that pitiful shooting... just look at bogans.

the 3 ball killed us in the playoffs and should be the main priority going forward when signing new FA's

[Maddog]

IIRC he was on our 2005 roster? He certainly wasn't ready then but that was 5 years ago.

04/05 cut when Nazr was traded for- no one else picked him up
2006 played on the Suns summer league- once again no one thought enough of him to bring him in

For some reason he does not seem to generate a lot of interest among NBA front offices. Might be that no one is willing to give him a garuntee

[Blackjack]

Wow, all this on romain sato ...This guy would be the 10th or 11th man on the roster if signed, I would rather have a young player.

Mason and Bogans, rinse and repeat.

[TimDunkem]

Sign this guy up!

[yavozerb]

The Blair/Sato comparison is a bad one. Yes, both are undersized height-wise for their position, but it's apples and oranges when comparing body type. Blair is like an undersized version of Shaq. He can't jump that well and lacks good lateral quickness, so the fact that he can almost reach as high or higher than many PF/C's is nullified a little bit by his lack of athleticism. If you were to put a Jeff Green/Carlos Boozer type frame with Blair's same height and length you would have a PF that would dominate on both ends of the floor.

With Sato you do have a player that is athletic yet lacks ideal height. Saying an athletic guy with FIVE INCHES of extra standing reach on George Hill can't contest the shots of most 2 guards in the league is something you are going to have a hard time selling to me. Did I mention he has averaged 40% from distance since 2006?

lol...you can't be serious. Did the guy cheat on your sister or something?

Look, I'm not saying the guy will be world beater. But 200+ games of consistent production overseas does not lie. If the Spurs don't want to give him the LLE, that's completely understandable. But if he will come over for 1.2-1.5 million of the MLE there is not a lot to think about(this of course depends on Splitter and what it requires to sign him).

I am very serious..This guy is no better than Hairston,Temple, or Gee, all who are on the roster for next season and all for a lower salary. I am not expecting all three of these guys to have good nba futures, but I do expect at least 1 of these guys to contribute heavily on next seasons team. I really do think the Haislip experiment from last season well hurt this guys chances of signing with the spurs.

[mogrovejo]

I am very serious..This guy is no better than Hairston,Temple, or Gee.

That's nonsense and I was a fan of Temple when he was just another kid giving his first steps in the D-League. Have you actually seen Sato and those guys play?

[TD 21]

Have you ever seen a guy contesting shots with the tip of his head?

I think you have no idea what you're talking about. Hill isn't long compared to Sato, he's a midget.

People contest shots and rebound with their arms raised and outstretched. Sato reaches 8' 6.5", Hill reaches 8' 1.5". Hill is in the JJ Red tier, Sato is in the Carl Landry (yeah, the former Houston now in Sacramento power forward) tier. It's an absurd comparison. The reason Tony Allen can defend bigger players is because of his freakish wingspan that puts him at a 6'6'' standing reach. But, again, Sato is even longer than Tony Allen.

That's irrelevant. The point is the Spurs are already small and bringing in another small guy, regardless of how long he is, is not the answer. He's yet another guy who would be taken into the post by Bryant, Anthony, etc. and abused. Or, they'd face him up and shoot right up over the top. There's a reason most stoppers are 6-6 - 6-8.

Learn to read. I never compared Hill's length to Sato, I just said Hill's long and it makes no difference how long Hill is when he's matched up against Bryant. Despite Hill's 6-9 wingspan, Bryant get's off any shot he wants against him with ease and shoots a high percentage.

Answer me this: Do you think Sato could play backup SF and adequately guard, not just Bryant, but Anthony, Durant, James, etc.? Because that's what it comes down to. That's the role we're talking about and I'm skeptical he could fill it well.

[mogrovejo]

Hill is not long. Hill is 5 inches shorter compared to Sato. Why do you keep insisting Hill is long? Shoot over the top? Just like they can shoot over the top of Richard Jefferson, Sato is basically as long as Jefferson.

As I've said, I'd think about Sato as a regular 6'5'' guy. The Durants of the world you ideally defend with long 3s, with tweeners, not with guys like Sato or Tony Allen. I'd still take Sato defending those guys over lots of players bigger than him. He wouldn't be murdered. Same as Tony Allen, he's always been better defending the likes of Wade, Kobe or Iverson but he can do a decent job on LeBron, Granger or Anthony.

[TD 21]

For a 6-2 guy, Hill is long. This is not opinion; it's fact. The point is his length doesn't help him generally when matched up against significantly taller players.

I know what you'd ideally defend Durant types with, but the Spurs don't have and aren't likely to have that type of player on the roster, so whoever they sign to fill the role we're talking about will have to do it, along with Jefferson, Hill and Hairston.

[yavozerb]

That's nonsense and I was a fan of Temple when he was just another kid giving his first steps in the D-League. Have you actually seen Sato and those guys play?

I have not seen Sato play and especially do not want my first experience with the guy to be in spurs uniform. Look, if the spurs wanna bring him in and tryout thats fine, but in no way would I give this guy a contract without seeing him matched up first against nba talent. My point is this, he is the same size as Gee,Hairston, and Temple who are all coming back next season for cheap and since the spurs are over the cap his contract would actually be double the price. There is a reason the spurs own the austin toros and its for seasons like the one coming up where they can try and develop a bench for cheap while investing most of their $ in the top 6-7 players on the roster. Also, where exactly would you rate the italian league in euro basketball?

[mogrovejo]

For a 6-2 guy, Hill is long. This is not opinion; it's fact. The point is his length doesn't help him generally when matched up against significantly taller players.

Here's another fact: Sato is 5 inches longer than Hill. Do you think that if Hill suddenly has a spurt and grows 5 inches while keeping the same wingspan, that won't help him?

I have not seen Sato play

I thought so.

Look, if the spurs wanna bring him in and tryout thats fine, but in no way would I give this guy a contract without seeing him matched up first against nba talent.

So, you want the Spurs to trade the pick?

You were against signing Ginobili? Scola? What about Bruce Bowen? Stephen Jackson? Ben Wallace? Bill Laimbeer? You think it was a mistake to offer a NBA contract to those guys?

Also, where exactly would you rate the italian league in euro basketball?

Low, but I very rarely watch an Italian League game. Sato has a big enough Euroleague body of work. But Ben Wallace came off the Italian league, ditto for Manu. Bowen played in a much worse league, in Belgium.

[Mel_13]

So, you want the Spurs to trade the pick?

What pick?

[mogrovejo]

What pick?

The draft pick.

[Mel_13]

The draft pick.

Which draft pick?

[benefactor]

Which draft pick?

I think he is making the connection of first round guaranteed money. If yavozerb doesn't want the Spurs to guarantee money to a player because he has not played against NBA compe ion then he should want to trade the first round pick too, since that is guaranteed money for a player that has not played against NBA compe ion.

[mogrovejo]

^^Exactly.

[benefactor]

I am very serious..This guy is no better than Hairston,Temple, or Gee, all who are on the roster for next season and all for a lower salary.

I have not seen Sato play and especially do not want my first experience with the guy to be in spurs uniform.

[TD 21]

Here's another fact: Sato is 5 inches longer than Hill. Do you think that if Hill suddenly has a spurt and grows 5 inches while keeping the same wingspan, that won't help him?

I'm just making the point that length isn't all that helpful when guarding someone significantly taller. It's more helpful when guarding a similar sized player. So this notion that Sato's freakishly long arms would automatically mean he'd be able to do the job on big two's and three's in the NBA, I don't buy.

[yavozerb]

I think he is making the connection of first round guaranteed money. If yavozerb doesn't want the Spurs to guarantee money to a player because he has not played against NBA compe ion then he should want to trade the first round pick too, since that is guaranteed money for a player that has not played against NBA compe ion.

I have repeatedly stated that I would rather feel the lower roster spots with young players rather than born again euro players...At least the young players can be had for cheaper salary and can be possibly be groomed into a legit NBA player. Sato is either hit or miss at this point in his career and the spurs cannot afford to waste $ money on a player or a roster spot at this time. At least a young player will not hurt your salary as much and can even be sent to D-league to work on his game. Not really a hard concept to understand.

[yavozerb]

Low, but I very rarely watch an Italian League game. Sato has a big enough Euroleague body of work. But Ben Wallace came off the Italian league, ditto for Manu. Bowen played in a much worse league, in Belgium.

I am just wondering then why is Sato not in a better league if his game is so good? Not trying to be funny, but its like someone staying in the D-league cause they can dominate and not wanting to move up to the NBA. Correct me if im wrong but I do not think bowen and wallace spent 5+yrs in these leagues. Manu I can understand since he was foreign player and did not play college ball, but nobody from the states goes to europe unless they have no choice and especially for 5 years.

[benefactor]

I have repeatedly stated that I would rather feel the lower roster spots with young players rather than born again euro players...At least the young players can be had for cheaper salary and can be possibly be groomed into a legit NBA player. Sato is either hit or miss at this point in his career and the spurs cannot afford to waste $ money on a player or a roster spot at this time. At least a young player will not hurt your salary as much and can even be sent to D-league to work on his game. Not really a hard concept to understand.

watched the games vs. Real in the Euroleague top 16 and some summaries of Euroleague games. Sato looked very good indeed.

Sato could be a very solid NBA role player

Clearly NBA material. Not even sure how can be argued otherwise. This guy plays well above his size. Tony Allen with a jump-shot.

I have not seen Sato play and especially do not want my first experience with the guy to be in spurs uniform.

I think I'll take the opinions of they guys who have actually watched him.

[yavozerb]

Here's another fact: Sato is 5 inches longer than Hill. Do you think that if Hill suddenly has a spurt and grows 5 inches while keeping the same wingspan, that won't help him?



I thought so.



So, you want the Spurs to trade the pick?

You were against signing Ginobili? Scola? What about Bruce Bowen? Stephen Jackson? Ben Wallace? Bill Laimbeer? You think it was a mistake to offer a NBA contract to those guys?



Low, but I very rarely watch an Italian League game. Sato has a big enough Euroleague body of work. But Ben Wallace came off the Italian league, ditto for Manu. Bowen played in a much worse league, in Belgium.

I think I'll take the opinions of they guys who have actually watched him.

Thats fine, I enjoy all these guys opinions as well..In the end I am pretty sure we all want the end result to be the same and that is another spurs championship.

[benefactor]

This...we can agree on.

[benefactor]

Montepaschi Siena won again today and are 5-0 in the Serie A playoffs...looking like they are going to complete their second sweep on the way to the finals. Sato is playing extremely well. His playoff numbers:

18.2ppg, 4.4rpg, 2.6stl, 65% FG, 44% 3FG

[benefactor]

Tony Allen has done a pretty good job defensively on Kobe thus far in the finals. Just for the sake of the size argument and what Sato might or might not physically be able to do in the NBA I took a look at him compared to Allen. The numbers were surprisingly similar.

Sato

Height in shoes - 6'3.25
Weight - 204
Wingspan - 6'11
Standing reach - 8'6.5

Allen

Height in shoes - 6'4.25
Weight - 214
Wingspan - 6'9
Standing reach - 8'6