Reply With Quote
Cory's a good passer, his within-the-arc game is great, and he rebounds like a forward.
19/5/5 is more Tyreke/Manu than Tony.
Cory Joseph
I was happy with his play. The Spurs reportedly want him to concentrate on scoring and he did that well tonight. His catch-and-shoot jumper looks smooth, he can finish adequately at the rim and he can shoot off the dribble. His game-winning J will be what most remember but that was just in a long line of silky looking attempts. I also liked his passing and his defense. The only area of weakness was his turnovers -- but some of that had to do with a lack of chemistry with his teammates. All in all, I believe he took a step forward in terms of convincing the team he's the right man for the backup point guard spot.
Nando De Colo
I wasn't impressed tonight. He had a few nifty dribbling moves and I liked his aggressiveness looking for his shots -- but he left a lot to be desired. Defensively, he was atrocious. He was too aggressive, played angles poorly and made mental errors by the truck load. Can he guard swingmen in the NBA? I'm not sure after what I saw tonight. On offense, he struggled when in a crowd and never found a sustainable rhythm. Let's hope he improves going forward in summer league.
Aron Baynes
I thought he was a little bit underwhelming. Although, to be fair, his post touches were few and far between. He was good enough on the boards but his rotations to protect the rim were oftentimes late. His pick-and-roll defense was also substandard most of the evening. On offense, he was robotic and unnatural a lot of the time. That said, in future games, let's hope he's more involved so we get a better look at what the Spurs have in this young, physically gifted center.
DeShaun Thomas
The Good: The kid is a scorer. It's easy to see he has all those innate abilities -- such as spacial awareness, the ability to get his defender off balance, a healthy self-confidence, etc. -- that scorers possess. Even better is the fact that a lot of it translated seamlessly to this level. At times, he reminded me of a forward version of Michael Redd (who happens to also be a lefty shooter out of Ohio State). Hopefully he keeps looking this good scoring-wise because that's something that will give him a shot to make it in the NBA. The Bad: He was playing a lot of power forward and there's absolutely no way he'd survive at that position in the NBA. He has to transition to small forward to have a chance. Additionally, he also doesn't really pass the eye test in terms of being a good enough athlete or having an NBA-type body. He's top-heavy, stiff and lacks explosion. Overall: Considering how late in the draft he was selected, I was very happy with what I saw. I'm not ready to say he can make it but his ability to score is intriguing. I already give him a better shot to make it than other recent second round picks such as Marcus Denmon, Jack McClinton and Marcus Williams.
Hollis Thompson
Decent. Liked his energy on defense and rebounding. He looks the part on offense but simply lack enough skill to be much of a prospect.
Marcus Denmon
Quality defense but he's just too small for shooting guard and doesn't have the ability to play point guard. He looks even less athletic than last season -- which might be a result of his broken foot. If so, whatever chances he had of making the NBA to begin with have evaporated.
Ryan Richards
Ah, the ultimate tease. Athletically, he looks like an NBA player. He's tall, long and seems to have added a good amount of muscle compared to last season. He moves like a guard and his fluidity is great for a player his size. Skill by skill, he's also impressive. His shot is pretty. He appears to legitimately have three-point range. He has moves on the post. He's not a bad passer. Unfortunately, can't put it all together. He has everything needed to be a very good basketball player ... but he's just not a basketball player. He lacks the wherewithal to play the game. He's still young so there's a chance the light turns on at some point ... but he's just not a basketball player at this point -- that's the best way I can put it.
Everyone Else
Meh.
Cory's a good passer, his within-the-arc game is great, and he rebounds like a forward.
19/5/5 is more Tyreke/Manu than Tony.
I really think Thomas has potential, I hope that he's just really out of shape and needs to get conditioned and drops a few pounds. The guy is meant to be a 3 and will rely on help defense to cover up his defensive flaws and the only flaw is that he's a little slow. His shot is liquid though, love it.
Richards at 22 needs to work with a legit Center to get some technique down. His jump shot is nice just didn't fall but he needs a post game.
cojo did good. I liked how vocal he was with his teammates.
Did Thomas play a lot of PF at Ohio State because of injuries to other bigs or due to his lack of speed on perimeter?
If it was the former and added weight to be more effective against PFs, has a chance to slim down and return to SF.
I don't think it was really a situation of injuries, I think they just stuck him there. Size really didn't matter.. He's going to have to play a 3 to stay on the floor.. He looks out of shape, think he's gonna shed some pounds and play better.
So is who is a better defender Bonner or Thomas?
It's not bad but I can see him getting beat off the dribble by wings or pick and roll. He is 225 but it doesn't look like its solid.. Think if he sheds 10 pounds he'll be quicker that or hit the weight room.
some photos:
http://www.nba.com/spurs/photos/130712
I thought the Spurs should have used their 15th spot on Richards last season. He really needs to have a chance to develop with solid coaches in a stable environment. If he were allowed to spend a year or two locked away in Austin like Joseph was, I think it could pay huge dividends. I thought he was worse so far in this summer league than he was last year. He really seems to be rotting overseas. He should force a training-camp invitation if only so he can try to latch onto another team or more easily play in the d-league.
I think the Spurs need to run some Parker-esque offense with Joseph. Physically, he should be able to approximate a good deal of what Tony can do. He wasn't great at beating his man off the dribble, but the Spurs often run some early plays for Parker to set up his man before Tony starts isoing.
To me, De Colo looked like a player who thought he was too good to play in the summer league. While I think that's mainly true, he didn't back it up with his play tonight. He was really aggressive on defense, which led to him fouling at an absurdly high rate. He also appeared to whine too much. He may need to go to another team to find greener pastures.
Thomas playing the four so much was surprising, given that the Spurs said it was a priority to see him play on the wing, and they had Pittman and Richards on the bench. He's too short to play power-forward. Yes, he was guarding a center in Zeller for much of the time, but still. I think to have an NBA career, he needs to work on his shooting. It's already good enough as it is, but it needs to be legendary for him to get future contracts with his limitations. If he can steal a year on the bench with Chip, he might be able to do some of the thing Novak can do -- and a lot of things that Steve can't do.
Baynes looked like he belonged in the summer-league, and that's not a good thing. He was going up against two top-10 picks, so he should get a small pass. But I definitely didn't see anything from him to make he think he won't be the sixth big (or off the team) next season. He has plenty of time to change that, though, and let's hope he does. At least he still has a jump shot.
Denmon still has hops, which is good. He seems like a pest on defense, but he needs to shot some more of the scoring that he had in college. If he's really planning on forcing a training-camp invite, the team may as well just relinquish his rights now.
If only we could put Deshaun Thomas' mentality & skillset into Ryan Richards body tbh.
Ryan Richards won a ring before any of these guys tbh
Bonner. It's not even close. Matt is an underrated post defender, who's just below average in most other aspects of D besides protecting the rim (which he's bad at). Thomas will not survive defending the four. He just won't. He shouldn't even play there for the rest of the summer league.
Richards needs to work with some real interior centers/PF's... I bet working with Duncan would yield a world of good.. He has the tools but doesn't know how to execute. Thomas is a stud, just needs to get into better shape and they really need to play him at the 3.
Matt Bonner would have been a great role player in the pre-handcheck era. Since help defense isn't THE thing on defense back then all he has to do is hit open 3s and prevent bigs from getting good post position.
Richards' skill set is actually pretty impressive. He can shoot, handle and run the floor about as well as any seven-footer can. It's his basketball IQ that's holding him back
Apples and Oranges.. Bonner gets destroyed if he's out in the perimeter.. Thomas playing the 4 was just to get him out there and play and shoot.
Hasn't seen real NBA talent.. needs to actually be given time in the D league.
Boylan would probably be a huge help for him. It's clear right now that Richards has no idea what to do on a basketball court. He means well; he just has no instincts.
You shouldn't have a 6'10" 250 guy wearing New Balance shoes out defending on the perimeter, tbh.
One thing I like aside from CJ's harassing D is that he's always looking to help out on the boards. He may not get a lot of them but he's within the vicinity of the board most of the time. Didn't look very efficient running the O, but like TIMVP said it was probably from the lack of chemistry. Looked like a leader tonight too.
Shouldn't have a 6'7 guy 225 guarding C's and PF's..
This... he needs to fundamentally learn where to be on the floor, spacing etc.. He relies on his athleticism to get him where he's at and in Austria it works but elsewhere it shows.. I bet if he worked on his footwork and developed a post game he'd be dangerous..
He was a four in college, and a huge knock on him is that he lacks the agility to play on the perimeter defensively. If he can't play the three, he's done. He's not even half the four Bonner is, and that's saying something. He really better hope he turns out to be a better-scoring, but worse-shooting (since it's pretty much impossible to be a better shooter) Novak.
Think he has potential to play the 3 in the Spurs system. Needs to work hard but I think he can either shed some weight and improve his defense. I mean if Gary Neal can lose his man constantly and keep a job
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
