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It's somebody other than RJ
I didn't get to see him play much last season but he seems to have a lot of fans here. What's the big deal? How does he fit? Why the hype?
Some think he can play the 3, but I don't see it at 6'6" and the Spurs must not either since they drafted Leonard.
Considering he was injured and a rookie, he got some decent minutes out of Pop after Feb. but his stats over 26 games don't knock me out. A shooting guard ought to shoot better FGA than .38% it seems to me. Shot 3s at .39 clip which is good.
But comparing him to Neal as a SG who shot FGA at .45 and 3pt at .419 over 80 games, it's easy to see why Neal got all the minutes in playoffs.
Looks to me like he is possibly a rotation player in the league who just got eclipsed at his position by another rookie. I know we've heard they may try to move Neal to PG, but I'm wondering if Anderson is Doomed to be a third SG if he stays with the Spurs?
It's somebody other than RJ
/thread
he was a bit out of shape after his injury
but for the performance in the early season
looks kinda promising to me
On the defensive side, he is better than Neal
I thought he looked like a decent rotation player early in the year before getting hurt. I don't think the Spurs would have traded Hill if they didn't think Anderson could become a good player.
He can play the 3 like Manu can play the 3. They are both SGs who got playing time in a quick, 3 guard lineup. He showed good defense in his minutes pre-injury. Drafting Leonard doesn't affect this. With Hill gone, Neal was told to expect minutes at PG this year as well... so in reality, you could have PG Neal, SG Anderson, SF Leonard... (not that we'd really see that lineup).
Manu is the main guy ahead of Anderson in the depth chart (Neal will still get minutes there as well)... and Manu only has a few years left.
But as to your original question if he's good enough?... I don't expect anyone to ever be more than a role player, but I hope at least one of Neal, Anderson and Leonard becomes starter-worthy in the league.
i dont see any of our young players being volume scorers....
Your answer is right here. The Spurs drafted a 3 and moved one of their rotation guards. Anderson will be the primary backup at the 2 and a situational 3.
But not better than Danny Green?he was a bit out of shape after his injury
but for the performance in the early season
looks kinda promising to me
On the defensive side, he is better than Neal
Green is another 6'6" guard who was waived off a ten day early in the year and then brought back at the end. He had less games (8) than Anderson (26) last spring, but got into 4 playoff games while Anderson had no playoff appearances.
Green shot better for average on FG 48% and almost as well on 3pt. Not a great number of shots to get a true picture or excited about for either of them, but I'm just sayin' I gon't get the hype for Anderson.
Look, I'm hopin' he's another 'diamond in the rough' draft find by the FO but so far I'm seeing high-grade Zircon.
Start Anderson, bring Manu off the bench. He IS that good enough, yes.
Why the hype? His scouting report detailed a complete scorer (spot-up j, off-screens, penetrate-n-pull up) with decent athleticism, good defensive potential and solid work ethic. Early in the season he showed a good bit of those skills, and the coaching staff is said to be impressed with his work over the off-season. He did struggle with his role in limited minutes after coming back from the injury, but I trust the scouting report and Spurs' evaluation of his talent as the "tie-breaker" from the two small samples of good (early season) and bad (down the stretch).
I don't think he's a franchise player or future all-star, but he definitely has the present skill-set and work ethic to be a starting guard in the league.
I believe in James Anderson
i think hes gunna end up being better than hill. gives us more size at least
Anderson looked better than Neal before he injured his foot. I'm not saying that he would have had a better rookie year than Neal without this injury but there are reasons to be hopeful regarding him.
I see Anderson's upside as that of a lesser version of prime Redd. He's a prototypical SG, but he can definitely play SF in a pinch. His upside is probably average starter, but I can't see him being any worse than a solid rotation player. I've seen that type of player succeed many times, which always helps when projecting players. Long term, I see him and Leonard as the Spurs starting wings. Their games should compliment one another well.
His stats are irrelevant, given that the majority of them were ac ulated after he missed a couple of months and clearly wasn't in good enough shape. And comparing him to Neal is foolish. Neal was an NBA rookie, but a seasoned pro. He also wasn't injured on and off throughout the season.
I'd be surprised if the Spurs go with a consistent ten man rotation. I think Leonard will be used as a situational SF, to take a turn defending James, Durant, Anthony, etc. and as a small ball PF. That would leave Anderson as the primary backup SF and Neal as the primary backup at both guard positions.
I think he can be like a James Harden, but less effective in P&R. I don't think he's a starter, but a very good bench player on a contender.
much agreed here..
you can't be so out of shape from the foot fracture that you're completely useless on the court..
anderson came back acting like his whole foot was amputated or something.. i expected him to get back into the groove of things by season's end the latest..
and to think neal was behind him on the depth chart..
Danny Green sucks. He's destined for a career in Europe... or worse, the D-League.
Anderson was getting into games and playing some good minutes after Feb. I don't think the out of shape argument is very good. How long does it take if you are practicing and playing in games?
I hope he contributes, I have nothing against him. I just don't get why some folks are so high on him. Seems like every year there is a player that fans fall in love with and predict great things that never come true.
You may be right about Green. My point was that he came in late after being waived earlier in the season and still was playing in playoff games while Anderson wasn't. What about his conditioning?
When I see two journeymen move ahead of a first round pick I begin to wonder about the hype. One guy claims he is better than Hill= so why wasn't he playing more.?
Pop lets players earn time on the court better than most coaches and I think he was trying to give Anderson some burn, but he couldn't play ahead of Danny Green in the playoffs?
I was more impressed from the start with Neal. It's obvious that Neal is significantly better than Anderson at offense and neither are great at defense.
If I recall, Anderson and Neal both couldn't miss a three early in the season - both around 50% through 10 games or so. At the time, I expected Anderson to eventually prove he was a better defender than Neal and earn some extra playing time. Of course, the injury threw things off a bit...
Also, I was at OSU for James's entire college career, (so it's fair to call this a "biased" opinion...) and I watched every game he played. I can definitely say that for whatever reason, he looked WAAAAAY slower than I've ever seen him after his return from injury. Basically, I just want to assure everyone that the post-injury Anderson was NOWHERE NEAR the player I expect him to be. (Or even the one I watched play in college.) I mean, he's not the most explosive athlete in the world, but he's certainly not as un-athletic as he looked post-injury either!
In the long run, I don't expect him to be a "carry the team" go to guy, but it wouldn't surprise me if he averaged 15+ ppg - assuming he can stay healthy - at some point in his career. Someone compared him to a poor man's Michael Redd, and I think that's a fair comparison. (Maybe I'm biased, but I think he can become a much better defender than Redd...) Before the injury, I fully expected him to have a "breakout" game where he scored 20ish points and made 4 of 6 threes or something like that, then perform strongly from that point on. Obviously, he never got that chance, but I'm optimistic for his sop re season - whenever that may be!
I would disagree with this assessment of Anderson's pre-injury defense. I thought his defense and his 3pt % were his high points. I remember him flying in for several deflections that were pure hustle plays. I think he's smart enough to make up for his not being the most athletic guy on the court anymore (college vs. pro) by playing intelligent position defense.
As long as he stays healthy, I think he's going to surprise some people. He can be a real contributor this next season.
If there is one...
too scrawny. needs to hang out with Blair more
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