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Can LJC guard the SF position? Can his lack of offense be overcome if he's playing with two shooting big men?
That's the good thing, he hasn't lost the athleticism after the injury.
I'm impressed seeing his defense, I didn't think he was that type of a player.
Can LJC guard the SF position? Can his lack of offense be overcome if he's playing with two shooting big men?
Its been a minute since I read some Game Thoughts. Good to have that back. Not too sure what to make of this first game except that I was disappointed by Anderson since I figured he would want to show he's ready to be a regular contributor this upcoming season. There's that and Cady surprised me. He looked like he wasn't afraid or intimidated by Okafor.
Got to bring some young guys in so they can learn from the greats while they are still around.
Lalanne can learn a lot on how Duncan uses his length.
Spurs absolutely need someone like Livio at the SF to back up Leonard. If Livio gets better on his defense, he'll be a real pest for LeBron or Durant.
Dairis Bertans was never seen as some kind of great prospect when he was young. Being a 6'4" SG without crazy athleticism and being in a low exposure country surely hasn't helped his case.
He revealed himself at the 2013 Eurobasket especially against France (with Parker, Diaw, Batum...) when he scored 28 points. He looked fearless in that game and displayed some great shooting and offensive aggressiveness. I haven't seen him playing in Spain but he has had 2 solid statistical years with a good team.
We will see what he will do in the rest of the SL. If he continues to play like that, he could be another Gary Neal. If Pop/RC is looking to add a pure shooter/scorer at the SG spot, Dairis Bertans might do the trick. It will likely take a fully guaranteed minimum contract to get him. From what I've read, he is still under contract for one year with his team in Spain and has a small buyout (200K€, about $220K).
Great info, thanks
The main issue with Bertans is that Mills is there and Manu is too old to have multiple players who are dependent on Manu's passing (because they can't play their own positions) on the roster. I like what I've seen from him, don't get me wrong, but the Spurs don't need another Neal. They need two separate players: one to be the third-string SG who can sort of defend his position (like Beli) and another third-string PG who can actually run an offense.
Agree about LJC's hands, but hopefully it's something he can improve. I had flashes of Ayres in the first few minutes tbqh. Then he started to defend. And I forgot about his stone hands.
He's 6'4", but if Cavs seem to be effective with a guy like Delevedova then Bertans may be a good cheap guard to have on the roster. He definitely can't be left alone on the 3 point line and that's really the key here. Fearlessness is the other intangible that you can't discount, lots of talented players out there, but few willing to step up during crunch time.
Fingers crossed that he makes the team.
He was looking at his fingers because there was blood on them. He had been busted in the mouth and was bleeding. That may not be why he air-balled but that was why he was looking at his fingers.
Darion Atkins
He didn't do anything, aside from launch two airballs in the first half. After the second one, he stared at his fingers like something was wrong with them, and laughed. Now, I'm not gonna lie, when I airball at my local gym, I wince in pain and grab my shoulder, but come on man. Come on
His defense looks top notch, got a quick jump keeps both arms in the air, doesn't swat the basketball out of the court.
He also has presence of mind to pass the ball out while in traffic, he assisted on one of those plays.
I really don't even care if he has an offensive game at all. There are so many scoring options for the Spurs right now. Spurs just need to plug the hole in defense during small ball. West could become a liability with small ball and a guy like LJC compensates for this.
Imagine this all defensive jaugernaut:
Green
Leonard
LJC
Aldridge
Duncan
I would be surprised if the Warriors can even score 20 points in a quarter against this team.
Going out on a limb here... but if LJC guarded Kawai Leonard, Leonard would be really hard pressed to score. The length and quickness would give Leonard fits.
I expect them to play Bertans at the PG spot more to see if he can handle it. My first impression was that he's a worse ball handler than Neal, but somewhere around Patty. Maybe a little worse.
agreed. Unless Leonard has seen the light, I could see him having trouble as well.
Nice write-ups and comments on this thread. Unusual, but nice to read. Real basketball takes, huh...
I really liked LJC's energy and focus on the defense. Given the offensive upgrades this year, another serious defender to spell KL or DG would be welcome off the bench. Keep the opponents frustrated.
Anderson has been disappointing, but I still like his demeaner and ability to get some pretty good looks for the other guys. I am trying to keep in mind that he is the experienced guy out there and pretty much responsible for getting all these new guys to run on the same page. It might be a real difference when he runs with a team that already knows where to be at all times. He is still intriguing, but is deceptively slow in movement. It is really jarring to watch, but seems to affect the defenders around him at times too. Really hope he improves as the games go on.
Cady LeLane has a nice stroke and good motor. That is looking like a good last pick in the draft. The upside is tantalizing.
Something I haven't seem talked about with Cady and LJC is that they seemed to play physical defend on their guys. Wingstop and even Splitter are finesse defenders, who can use their length to disrupt dribbles, passing lanes and shots. Livio and LaLanne were getting into the bodies of their men. Cady was trying to talk trash. Livio was in his man's jersey.
It would be interesting to have a physical defender to rotate on Lebron and Durant. It would make it a lot harder for them to get used to.
In fact he is a versatile combo forward but more known for his offense than defense untill recently. He was lacking some weight to be a good defender, he is now at 230 lb if what I read is correct which should be ok. He has the tools to be solid in defense on both PF and SF, he is rather quick, has good lenghth can crash boards and blocks. He plays for ASVEL the team of Parker, he focused more on defense lately to be able to crack spurs rotation that won't give him a spot for his offense.
If he keeps hitting his shots, he may not make it to training camp -- the Spurs may have to pull the trigger on him (or not) ala Gary Neal.
The fact that he's a Spurs "discovery" won't not help -- other teams will be eager to believe in him with the slightest of reason.
The crazy thing about LJC is that the Spurs have assigned a personal coach on him after he was drafted.
Could be the reason for his incredibly advanced defensive play. The Spurs don't need him to score, with Parker, Aldridge, Duncan, Leonard, West, Green, Mills and Ginobili, there's not enough touches to contemplate scoring except on a broken play. I don't expect him to ever touch the ball on offense except to pass the ball or grab the offensive rebound.
Bertans was experienced against the Summer League guys and it shows, but his is not very athletic. Sweet quick release, but having dribble out of a focused defense reminds me of Danny Green's first few years here. Awkward and tentative. Dairis has a very sweet shot though and is taller than Neal ever could be...
You're right the Spurs don't need him to score, but he has to be a threat to score. He won't get minutes if teams don't guard him.
Thanks timvp and all for the insight! Hope we find some young prospects for depth.
If he played with the second unit, Boris could play the three and West could play the 4. He would play the 5. All he would have to do is cleanup around the rim.
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