spurs players pre-season grades

[romain.star]

Sure, pre season games are not to be taken too seriously, but since i failed to watch any of the spurs games, what are your first general impresions on the players form so far?

[TJastal]

This is what I'm getting so far.

RJ: Game is getting worse, he's getting too slow to guard the SF position and he's too much of a pussy (self admitted, even) to guard PF, but he'll probably once again be required to log time in Pop's micro ball schemes.

Bonner: Same old Bonner, he'll give up just as many points as he creates, then in the playoffs he'll choke.

Simmons: So far he's a poor man's version of RJ. It's obvious Pop loves the guy, and mainly because he gives him another micro ball option to use.

Neal: Unathletic shooter who can't shoot so far. Nor defend. Pop ditched Penney for this turd.

Temple: Combo guard who isn't really good at either position. Defensively he sucks pretty much guarding any position.

[Latarian Milton]

anyone knows where timvp is when we need him?

[ElNono]

Hard to tell with the minutes played and the fact we've only seen a handful of games.

At first glance, it looks like we replaced Mason with Neal and looks very likely that Simmons will be replacing Bogans.

Pluses:
- Blair looks much improved in the games I've seen
- Tony seems to have regained some speed
- Bonner actually had a couple of games with good rebound numbers. Hope it translates into the season, and it's not just an anomaly.
- Dice's jumper is still very much money
- Hill seems to have found a way to the free throw line, even if he wasn't shooting particularly well
- Everyone except Tiago looks healthy and ready to go

Minuses:
- Tiago is a big question mark going in. We still don't have a return date yet.
- RJ is still trying to find his niche on the offense.
- Depth is another puzzle. The offense stagnated a bit with Hill running the show. Anderson looked both good and bad at times. Temple, Neal and Simmons were fairly subpar, IMO.
- Defense on the wing is still unresolved. This was one of the admitted priorities of the offseason, but the answer is yet to be found.
- This team seemingly can't play a lick of zone defense.

Take this with a grain of salt... they're not conclusions, but merely observations after watching the 3 televised games, and listening to the radio broadcast of 2 of the other 3 games. Pop seemed to be toying with uncommon lineups at times, and trying out different things (like zone defense for stretches).

I think we'll have a better idea of where we're going after the first few weeks of the season have gone by.

[hater]

nothing worth mentioning, besides Blair's awesomenes.

our new players are mediocre at best even for the roles they supposed to fill. RJ sucking again. Bonner kicking ass in preseason butt will probably choke when it matters. another year, another dissapointment.

[TJastal]

Hard to tell with the minutes played and the fact we've only seen a handful of games.

At first glance, it looks like we replaced Mason with Neal and looks very likely that Simmons will be replacing Bogans.

Pluses:
- Blair looks much improved in the games I've seen
- Tony seems to have regained some speed
- Bonner actually had a couple of games with good rebound numbers. Hope it translates into the season, and it's not just an anomaly.
- Dice's jumper is still very much money
- Hill seems to have found a way to the free throw line, even if he wasn't shooting particularly well
- Everyone except Tiago looks healthy and ready to go

Minuses:
- Tiago is a big question mark going in. We still don't have a return date yet.
- RJ is still trying to find his niche on the offense.
- Depth is another puzzle. The offense stagnated a bit with Hill running the show. Anderson looked both good and bad at times. Temple, Neal and Simmons were fairly subpar, IMO.
- Defense on the wing is still unresolved. This was one of the admitted priorities of the offseason, but the answer is yet to be found.
- This team seemingly can't play a lick of zone defense.

Take this with a grain of salt... they're not conclusions, but merely observations after watching the 3 televised games, and listening to the radio broadcast of 2 of the other 3 games. Pop seemed to be toying with uncommon lineups at times, and trying out different things (like zone defense for stretches).

I think we'll have a better idea of where we're going after the first few weeks of the season have gone by.

El Nono, what do u think of Temple so far? He's no more a point guard than Hill is IMO. Both have games that are too similar, and struggle guarding small quick points.

Exactly why I believe Pop was foolish not to bring Jerrels aboard and get rid of Temple. Jerrels showed an ability to run a team fluidly and guard speedy little points.

The Neal/Simmons combo is horrid, IMO. It makes me sick to think Pop gave up a promising stud like Hairston for these scrubs.

[TJastal]

And then there's Gist.

I actually think Gist would have been a great option as a 5th big, to come in and defend the mobile power forwards of the league that gave the spurs fits last year.

Looks like he'll be canned before the season starts. Better get used to watching guys like Bonner, Jefferson, & Simmons getting torched and abused at the power forward spot.

[ElNono]

El Nono, what do u think of Temple so far? He's no more a point guard than Hill is IMO. Both have games that are too similar, and struggle guarding small quick points.

Temple is insurance. The way I see it, he's probably the guy that will be mostly tucked at the end of the bench. Even more than Neal and potentially Simmons, IMO.

I just think Tony will command the vast majority of minutes at point, and Manu or Hill will fill in for the rest. Unless Pop decides Temple will play in the wing (like he toyed with last night), I won't be losing sleep if he's in the final roster.

[Mr. Body]

Alas, the emergence of Blair is simply not enough to balance the erosion of every other part of the team. Long days are ahead.

[TJastal]

Temple is insurance. The way I see it, he's probably the guy that will be mostly tucked at the end of the bench. Even more than Neal and potentially Simmons, IMO.

I just think Tony will command the vast majority of minutes at point, and Manu or Hill will fill in for the rest. Unless Pop decides Temple will play in the wing (like he toyed with last night), I won't be losing sleep if he's in the final roster.

You should know as well as anyone the bench is important due to the spurs' age and nagging injury bugs, esp the past 2-3 years.

The problem I see with Temple is he really doesn't fit anywhere and it appears Pop is going to use him as a fill-in just about everywhere. Pop had him at point guard guarding Westbrook (and getting torched off the dribble) and even had him trying to guard a power forward (Jeff Green) last night, which also was an utter failure.

It appears Pop's latest theory is to find a couple of guys to use as cheesy multi-tools (Temple, Neal, Simmons come to mind) in every situation instead of building a comprehensive tool box that can handle any situation. The cheesy approach of course not requiring any planning / strategy. It's pure easymode coaching.

[Russ]

"SAN" is the key to San Antonio.

Splitter, Anderson, Neal.

If the Spurs draw an inside straight and all three can contribute when it matters, they can contend with anyone.

[nbaman99]

I think we should wait at least two weeks in to the regular season to start talking about this. But, as of right now I really think we made a huge mistake sending Penny and keeping Neal. RJ still same RJ, but he looks more comfortable in the system for sure so let's see. Like Anderson, i think he is going to be good for us. Can't wait for Tiago to start playing.

[TJastal]

"SAN" is the key to San Antonio.

Splitter, Anderson, Neal.

If the Spurs draw an inside straight and all three can contribute when it matters, they can contend with anyone.

Well so far here's the scorecard on "SAN"

Splitter is the new Bynum.
Anderson is still working off his taco bell binges, ie not yet known.
Neal is a poor man's RMJ.

[ElNono]

You should know as well as anyone the bench is important due to the spurs' age and nagging injury bugs, esp the past 2-3 years.

If the injury bug hits often again this season, we'll have much larger problems than Garrett Temple.

[ajballer4]

I've seen parts of games here and there and my opinion is that Neal is going to be a big dissapointment. he hasn't shown that "lights out shooting" that we signed him for.

[SenorSpur]

And then there's Gist.

I actually think Gist would have been a great option as a 5th big, to come in and defend the mobile power forwards of the league that gave the spurs fits last year.

Looks like he'll be canned before the season starts. Better get used to watching guys like Bonner, Jefferson, & Simmons getting torched and abused at the power forward spot.

At this point, I'm really starting to wonder whether Gist will ever make it, at this level - or at least with this team.

[Obstructed_View]

I've seen parts of games here and there and my opinion is that Neal is going to be a big dissapointment. he hasn't shown that "lights out shooting" that we signed him for.

I think he's only done that once in his entire career, but it happened to be an "Anthony Tolliver" moment when Pop was watching.

[Russ]

I've seen parts of games here and there and my opinion is that Neal is going to be a big dissapointment. he hasn't shown that "lights out shooting" that we signed him for.

I think he's only done that once in his entire career, but it happened to be an "Anthony Tolliver" moment when Pop was watching.

I think he led his Euro team in scoring -- anytime an outside shooter can do that (in a disciplined environment like Euroleague), that's impressive.

RMJ never did that at any step of his career.

[Obstructed_View]

I think he led his Euro team in scoring -- anytime an outside shooter can do that (in a disciplined environment like Euroleague), that's impressive.

Maybe I read his stats wrong, but he didn't do it with lights out shooting. I know he can score if he gets a lot of shots. Is that what the Spurs want? I'd prefer Parker, Manu and Duncan be getting those shots. That's why I don't quite understand his situation. He's not big, he doesn't defend and doesn't rebound, and he doesn't have a lot of experience running the point. I think you can teach a good player to shoot in less time than you can teach a shooter to do everything else.

[romain.star]

Thanx Tjastal and Elnono for the feedback.

So basically, if I have it right,
The main guys (Tim, Tony, Manu) are B
The old guys (Dice, Matt B...) are B
The young guns (Blair and Hill) are B+
The newcomers (Tiago, Neil, Simmons, Temple) are B-

As for RJ... same old song :-(

These are just pre season games so let's hope for more A in november

[Russ]

Big 3 look bad tonite.

[TJastal]

Looks like RJ & Bonner finally pulled together a decent game.

[duncan228]

Parker's back, Blair is good and other lessons from the preseason
By Jeff McDonald

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblog...s-back-bl.html