Player's union must also agree with it and I doubt they will outside of a rehab stint.
Shootarounds/practices where Thomas would take hundred of 3's sounds more appropriate to judge his jumpshot.
For De Colo, I'm not sure Spurs are that interested in trading him. With his playmaking skills, he is a good insurance in case Mnau is injured.
Hopefully Thursday's game at home for the Toros will be the last game for Thomas, then he will be called back up for Friday's home game vs the Wolves
I hear what you're saying, Bruno but I'd disagree in that shooting in a practice / shootaround environment is different than a game situation where defenders should be at their most aggressive. Seems to me that those are the best conditions to see if someone can hit shots when it matters.
Just my 2 cents...
They did say (can't remember which recent article I read it in) that Thomas was signed cause they thought Diaw would be out longer, so maybe it's not as high on the priority list? Who knows...
I'm hoping Nando gets some more time, he's shown what he is capable of, so hopefully he's able to get some more meaningful minutes. I feel like he brings a little more than CoJo does, in terms of fitting in the system.
Just finished watching the whole game:
Nando de Colo - I've said this before, but we sometimes forget that this guy is actually a pretty damn good basketball player in his own right. Against D-League compe ion hes absolutely dominant and it shows. As he gained confidence in his shot his whole game started to expand. Going into the fourth he had 15 points, and he chipped in another 17 that last quarter. Now, some of that late-game explosion is due to the fact that the Toros already had a sizeable lead late and it was garbage time. But he really started working his slashing, midrange and long range shooting (all his 3's were in the 4th). What honestly concerns me the most about him is his passing. He has undoubtedly great vision, but he always will try and squeeze the ball into any crack of daylight. I'm amazed he only had 5 turnovers, as he repeatedly threw terrible passes and into traffic. And that's a serious limiting factor for him, b/c if hes this concerning at the D-League level then the NBA compe ion will devour him.
Aron Baynes - Hey, hes Aron. Big and strong. He did what you'd expect. As stated many times before, he has nice form on his jumper and it's clear that it's a piece of his game. I wouldn't mind a full season (and off season) to refine it though and hes not nearly automatic enough. But hes much further along than say, the-big-formerly-known-as-Pendergraph. Against a D-League team whose most well-known big is Mikki "Chicken Legs" Moore, one can expect how Aron's bulldozing presence did. He played well, and I liked what I saw. By the way, he was only credited with one block. I distinctly saw at least 3.
Malcolm Thomas - His 3 point shot looks to be for real as he continues to drill them. Could he just be on a hot streak? Perhaps. But his form is good and frankly, I'm convinced. Now, that being said, the rest of his offensive game is sorely lacking. He really can't do much except shoot that long ball and clean up stuff around the basket from time to time. Hes got a few nice moves down low occasionally, but nothing I'd call plays for. He scored a lot of points this game, but they mostly came off of nice feeds from Nando or broken plays where he got a wide-open look. Some of that will naturally clean itself up though as he gains familiarity and learns to plays with these guys though. On D he looked ok. He can definitely block shots, and hes got good mobility. But hes still really skinny and can definitely get pushed around. His immediate future should probably be as a 3-and-D Combo Forward. Hes definitely short on some of those SF skills, and a little slight to be a true "big," but hes got enough going for him that I'd keep him around all season.
When you look at +/- stats for Spurs in the previous years, there has been a constant: Spurs offense has always been great when Bonner was on the court. The offense wasn't great because of the points scored by Bonner (Bonner scored about 12 points per 36 minutes which is very little) but because of the famous "stretch the floor" aspect. The player defending Bonner had to stay with him instead of helping on pick and roll to defend the paint.
If Thomas 3 point shot turn good enough to reach the point where teams won't let him wide open, it would be huge for Spurs. Spurs won't need more from him offensively like they didn't need more from Bonner because the primary play will pick&roll between a guard (Parker or Ginobili) and a center (Duncan or Splitter).
And Thomas should be more useful than Bonner because he shouldn't hurt the rebounding and defense like Bonner did.
I certainly won't get too excited over a player that has never contribute in the NBA or at a high level overseas, but Thomas has the skillset/profile to be an amazing addition for Spurs and that's why I'm really curious to see what he could do with them.
I don't know if he is good enough for the d league.
De Colo = GOAT.
THE MAN NEEDS MINUTES, BUT POP's ANTI-FRENCH NATIONALISM IS PREVENTING HIM FROM STARRING. FK POP tbh!!!
Nando continually shows he is a dominant force when he isn't under Pop's abusive thumb.
FREE NANDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stop.De Colo = GOAT.
THE MAN NEEDS MINUTES, BUT POP's ANTI-FRENCH NATIONALISM IS PREVENTING HIM FROM STARRING. FK POP tbh!!!
Nando continually shows he is a dominant force when he isn't under Pop's abusive thumb.
FREE NANDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make me. You can't deny the truth that Nando is being oppressed. Nando shows his skills every time he is freed from Pop's clutches in Austin.
Of course. You win.
Nando shows his ability to get the ball stripped on every other drive. And his lack of NBA speed. And his ability to throw the ball to the other team when pressured. And his ability to NOT hit contested shots. Like at all.
Can't oppress that.
The stats don't lie, son!Of course. You win.
32 points, 13-20 FG, 8 rebounds, 6 assists.
Can't argue with that, boy!
http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/20131208/RNOAUS/gameinfo.html#nbaGIboxscore
San Antonio Spurs @spurs
De Colo and Thomas assigned to @austintoros - j.mp/18F9tnN
Toros have a game tonight at 7:30 pm
Spurs still not curious to see what Thomas could do in the NBA while the deadline to his contract becoming guaranteed is getting closer. They must be pretty sure about what to do with him.
^ Doesn't that make the possibility of Bonner getting traded more likely?
It really could be both way.
Spurs could not be in a hurry to try him because they know they will keep him after the guaranteed deadline or it could be because they know they will cut him before that deadline.
They key to that is obviously his 3 point shot and Chip Engelland opinion on it. At that stage, Chip has seen Thomas taking thousands of threes in practices/shootarounds and has likely started working with him on his shot. He should have a pretty good idea on how reliable his 3 point shot and how much it could improve with some of his coaching.
Now, If Thomas is kept, Spurs will have 7 bigmen under contract with Duncan, Splitter, Diaw, Ayres, Bonner, Baynes and Thomas. It's a lot and some of them could be traded or at least made available in trade talks.
Toros will play tonight against the same team than yesterday. Toros beat them by 43 points yesterday.
Aside of making them run a little to stay in shape, it looks like this assignment will have little basketball interest for them.
I think this has more to do with our opponent tonight than anything else. De Colo and Thomas have absolutely no chance of getting into the game tonight. I know De Colo despises sitting there too. I'm sure he would much rather be playing with the Toros tonight.
You never know with this organization, but probably. You can generally tell when Pop is done with a veteran role player and for Bonner, that point clearly came last season and has only been further cemented this season.
If they sense Thomas can become something like a league average three-point shooter, then I can't see them releasing him.
They should offer Bonner, De Colo and Baynes for Williams. Williams is having a pretty good season (granted, it's a contract season) and is still relatively young, so the Jazz might want to re-sign him, but if not, I could see them doing this. For the Spurs, it would balance the roster and cut two guaranteed contracts, making it a no brainer to retain Thomas.
trust me williams is not having a good season in utah. and fans here would give him away. we don't want marvin williams.
We could have used him tonight.
Nando will dominate.
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