Well, since he keeps guarding the best lets hope practice makes perfect. That's one good thing about him guarding starters, hopefully he gets better.
Has everyone given up on Ryan Richards? Not having a Summer League really sucked because I thought he'd be able to play, but hopefully he can get into training camp. He's got great size and a nice stroke, but he seems hard pressed to stay on a team. Project Spurs showed him scoring a double double in a win earlier this month, but other than that, I haven't heard much about him.
He's playing in a league in Switzerland that is several levels below the NBA. He won't be a Spur anytime soon. Maybe a Toro in 2012.
Thanks Senor
You don't? You'd rather lose this season?
I thought you might have a new shtick to go with this season but nope. Same old I see.
Sorry, there's not an icon for me yet. No ing clue where you assume that I wouldn't want the Spurs to win another le, but nice to see you haven't gained any brain cells while I was away.
So just to clarify, yes I would love any kind of le. The '99 le means more to me as a fan than all the others. I'm sure you and Pop (and every other Spurs fan in their right mind) would agree that there's no downside to winning a le in any season. Sorry for not being more clear, I was just trying to be funny.
He averaged 19 mpg in 73 games. How much more rest did he need?
They shouldn't have stayed with Blair. He can't shoot or defend and was often trying to do too much. Their only shot was going to be with McDyess or Splitter starting and the other being the third big.
It's true that Randolph was able to save all his energy for offense. Nevertheless, when they were banging down low, McDyess couldn't stop Randolph from getting to where he wanted to go.
The reality is, the Spurs can't defend mobile or power bigs. At least Johnson would give them an answer to the former and they wouldn't have to play 4-on-5 on offense.
I agree with everything you just posted except for the Johnson assumption. What makes you certain that he can defend at a high level or adequately? Just because he's somewhat athletic? Reason being, the times I've watched him I've been less than impressed.
I'm not saying he's an All-defensive team caliber defender, but I'm confident that he can defend mobile bigs better than any big currently on the roster. It's not just his physical tools, he's active and competes hard. And he's more like freakishly athletic than "somewhat athletic".
The times I saw the Raptors play last season, he was probably their best all around player. He's not the type of player who would wow you (though he does have the odd impressive highlight, due to his athleticism), he's just solid. I'm not saying he's some savior or a cure to all of their problems, but he'd be a nice addition.
Yeah, Amir had a lot of good moments last season. He took a step forward IMO. Not a star, but looks like a solid player defensively.
That's not saying much.
And he's athletic I agree, not freakishly athletic though IMO.
I'm not saying he took a big step forward or anything either. But to me, when I watched him, something seem to click. It seemed to slow down for him. He probably didn't block as many shots or have an increase in steals, but he seemed to foul less and defend on the ball much better. He took care of the ball a bit more on offense and made better decisions. Nothing crazy major, but I thought he looked like a better player.
Still. Is it about improving the team or about nitpicking every player? Johnson is a better fit to start at power forward than any big on the roster, is improving and makes an amount that is reasonable to expect the Spurs to allot to their starting power forward. As you've probably seen me say many times, find me a better option given their situation, financially/trade asset wise.
And he's athletic I agree, not freakishly athletic though IMO.
Fine, but he's closer to freakishly athletic than somewhat athletic.
DPG, the one obvious and quantifiable improvement, was in his range shooting. He really improved from the line and from mid range. He now has range out to 20 feet.
My point was either Pop should have stayed with Blair because that worked most of the season or he should have gone with a Duncan-Splitter-Dice rotation. Instead by inserting Dice in the starting lineup Pop messed up the chemistry and rotations. We started getting more Bonner/Blair lineups that were disastrous. As bad as Blair was on defense it was countered by the other starters. He played active defense with his hands that lead to transition opportunities.
If you play good fundamental individual defense and team defense you don't need anyone freakishly athletic. Duncan's never been a super athletic defender but he's been able to defend mobile bigs. Stoudemire averaged 37 against him in '05 but they still won. You don't need somebody with tons of athleticism to play good defense. If anything in the West you need reallly need bigs that have size to go against Bynum/Gasol/Odom.
Not nitpicking sir. And I never said he's not an improvement. I'm just not convinced about his defense that is all.
I just want Dec 9th to get here.
+1. It'll get here fast my friend.One thing's for sure, that first day of free agency and training camps is going to be a crazy ass time.....
Yessir. Can't wait, it could be a whacky first two weeks.
I think players are going to be flying off the free agent shelves pretty fast this year, seeing as they and the teams want to get all the players into training camp ASAP. I fully expect the majority of the bigger name FA's to be signed within the first 3 days of free agency....
By Fran Blinebury, NBA.com
Posted Nov 30 2011 10:26AM - Updated Dec 2 2011 9:43AM
2010-11 record: 61-21
Finish: First in Southwest Division
Playoffs: Lost to Memphis in Western Conference first round (4-2)
Strengths: Ins utional knowledge is the term that coach Gregg Popovich likes to use. The Spurs have it in spades. The core of Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker has won more games than any other NBA team over the past decade and knows what it takes to play at a high level. Meanwhile Pop will keep the focus on the details, especially at the defensive end. The Big Three is aging, but still effective when healthy.
Challenges: After two seasons, it's pretty clear the Richard Jefferson experiment is a flop, but they're stuck owing him $31 million for three more seasons. It's a huge hole that has to be filled and that's where rookie Kawhi Leonard could be needed to contribute immediately. They'll also need more at both ends from Tiago Splitter in his second season.
Outlook: More than four years removed from their last championship (2007), the veteran Spurs (Duncan, 35; Ginobili, 34; Parker, 29) looked worn down and worn out in the stunning upset playoff loss to the Grizzlies. The Big Three still have the ability and punch to get the Spurs into the upper half of the playoff bracket, but they can no longer be expected to do it all every night. Unless the supporting cast can carry more of the weight, the elite contending days are over and the curtain falls on an era of greatness in San Antonio.
This could make a difference: Popovich often said no player he's coached ever made the improvement of George Hill in his first two NBA seasons. Yet the Spurs traded Hill to Indiana on draft night for the rights to Leonard. Yes, they were that desperate. At No. 15, Leonard is the highest draft pick since Duncan in 1997 and it might not be overstating the case too much to say the direction of the season is in his hands. If he can hit the corner jumper, rebound, defend and somehow force his way into the Rookie of the Year conversation, the Spurs could challenge the Mavs, Lakers and Thunder in the West again.
http://www.nba.com/news/features/201...iew/index.html
On the one hand I like these team analyses, but on the other hand they could wait another three weeks until all trades are made and free agents are signed.
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