Bryn Forbes
Another good game out of Forbes. He didn't quite shoot as well as his previous outing in which he scored 31 points, but he was once again by far the best player on the court for the Spurs. In the last two games, he's shown an ability to score off the dribble. If he can do that against NBA caliber athletes, that gives him a chance to be an everyday rotation player since he already appears capable of being an elite catch-and-shoot marksman. His size limits his upside on defense but his effort has improved as summer league has progressed and he at least understands where he needs to be.
Derrick White
I thought White had a very bad game. He repeatedly tried to turn the corner on drives to the rim and failed to do so just about every time. That caused him to take bad shots and make bad passes. To make matters worse, he was pouting after his many mistakes and that caused him to be late on transition defense. Speaking of defense, he took a step back in that area as well. He was burned multiple times in individual matchups and when defending the pick-and-roll. Let's hope White bounces back in Vegas because this was definitely a game that needs to be forgotten.
Davis Bertans
Though his three-point shooting was off and he was loose with the basketball, particularly in transition, I thought the rest of his game was impressive. Bertans rebounded better than usual, exhibited a much improved ability to handle the ball and continues to look like a much better passer than advertised when he came over from Europe. I thought his defense was mostly positive and his overall energy was commendable.
Jaron Blossomgame
Though he still doesn't look the part of an NBA player, give Blossomgame credit for crashing the glass relentlessly since the start of summer league. His effort on D is slowly translating to improved performance on that end. On offense, he has realized he shouldn't do anything other than shoot when he's completely wide open.
Shayne Whittington
Whittington is another who has improved from the first game of summer league. Though he has improved in just about every category, his lack of mobility on defense and his bad hands and limited skills on offense make it difficult to imagine him making it back to the NBA.
Olivier Hanlan
Summer league Jacque Vaughn did his thing by limiting mistakes and running the team decently well. However, when the Sixers tightened up his defense, it exposed Hanlan's sub par ballhandling ability and his limited court vision. I just don't see enough from him to warrant much excitement at all.
Livio Jean-Charles
In his 12 minutes, Jean-Charles continues to look like a much improved athletes compared to the previous two years. He's now back to being the long, quick, springy athlete that made him an NBA prospect in the first place. But …. his lack of actual basketball skill is still blindingly obvious.
Cory Jefferson
The guy simply refuses to pass the ball. I kept track and he didn't once pass the ball when he touched it on his end of the court. His selfishness has clouded what otherwise would be a pretty darn impressive summer league campaign to date. He's big, athletic and aggressive but he's so one-dimensional right now that I can't picture him making the Spurs big boy roster.
Jeff Ledbetter
He knows how to play point guard. If he had any athleticism at all, he could be a third stringer. Unfortunately, he doesn't.
Cleanthony Early
Good to see him play. He didn't do anything of not but at least he played.
Cady Lalanne
His stroke looked good and he was really active in his seven minutes. Too bad we didn't see more.
Will Hardy
I really dislike Will Hardy as a summer league coach and really miss Becky Hammon. She coached like she knew what she was doing. She put players in positions to succeed and knew which were the players the Spurs needed to take a long look at. Hardy on the other hand is pretty terrible. I mean, playing Whittington more than Jean-Charles and Lalanne combined? Playing Hanlan more than White? Only ever running either pick-and-rolls or screen-downs? I've been very unimpressed with Hardy.
Bertans' constant activity last night was incredible. He was running around on O and D like he was on speed.
Don't know what got into him, but if he shows that kind of energy on a consistent basis, he could take a big step forward this year.
What a lot of folks don't seem to realize is that this team has a lot of young players that may be about to break out.
The Spurs do this in cycles, and this looks like a big "home-grown Spurs" year.
Buen hecho.
Hardy is possibly making everyone look worst than they are. But White's lack of penetration is making him look like a whiffed pick. Hanlan is better than Arcidiacono, so he might get a two-way (which he might take because he's not exactly a star overseas). I don't see why LJC and Lalanne aren't getting the bulk of the non-Bertans big minutes. Especially Cady, who looks like he should get a camp invite or two-way offer given his age. Forbes is becoming a guy that it doesn't make sense to cut, and that's a shame given that he is the 15th man on the roster that could easily not be able to afford to have him there.
I completely agree with this assessment. Hopefully the rotation will be better in Vegas. Spurs NEED to see other people.
It's amazing what a real point guard looks like, in Ledbetter. Too bad he's nowhere close to having enough talent...
Thanks!!
I'm sure White will be a fine pro but he is looking sort of like a whiffed pick some of us originally thought he was.
Dwayne Bacon and Sindarius Thornwell both look like much better players right now, and would've fit much better considering the team was going to re-sign Fatty, keep TP, and the whole Manu possibly retiring and Simmons possibly leaving factors. Even Jawun Evans looks like a much more natural PG if that's the position they were going for.
Hope this isn't another Cory Joseph type pick where it was more of a connection between him and/or his team to RC that influenced the choice...
I have faith in this pick. He's going to surprise everyone.
Even though he doesn't pass the eye test for some, White does have the stats to offer a hint that he may make it in the league.
But his selection is still a head-scratcher, given the fact that the team already has a load of guys who supposedly play the point guard position. It's almost as if PATFO realized that Murray may have been a mistake after a year of struggling to finish plays, and they're trying to make up for it by picking a guy with actual numbers and production.
I was thinking maybe they wanted a guy who could play both guard positions once Manu retires but that still doesn't make sense to me. Might as well have gotten a guy who could play one position well rather than someone who is too slow for PGs and too short to defend SGs. Versatility is better suited to frontcourt players in today's game, imo.
Doesn't make sense unless Spurs trade one of their guards.
I kinda think you are right about Hardy's making all of our guys look worse than they are. Yes, we have too many guards on the team as it currently stands. We need to pair a guard (possibly Murray) with LMA and make a trade for a new starting 5.
What "cycles"? There was the Parker/Manu thing. What was the next group of young breakout players they had? Cuz I missed it.
That player will not be half as good as LMA. You keep Murray at almost all costs. With Hanga decided to forgo the Spurs and SImmons still in limbo, there is a spot for a guard like Manu while keeping the rotation balanced.
Not sure if serious.
Bad times when Bryn Forbes is your best player
Sadly, i concur
I'm serious. I'd like to hear the various stages of the "cycles" where we've had multiple young players beak out.
well, admittedly we have had plenty of medicore home grown guys in "groups", but not breakout players that would be starter-level players. As far as home-grown talent that did well, we had hill and then kawhi.
Then, of course on a different tier, we had corey joseph and Blair, and Mahinmi who grew up here but left to other programs.
You are going to have a home-grown parker/manu level player (all-star level) once a decade unless you get deep lottery picks or are super lucky. We did better than that and got a franchise level player in Kawhi...
Disagree on two fronts. I liked his penetration in the parts of the C's game that I saw. And in the Spurs offense, he's part of a station to station offense. He's already better than Green with the ball, tbh. And he's an above average passer.
Kinda wish we would have drafted frank mason.
wtf timvp is posting again? lol
Hey timevp what do u think that D-league scrub Danny Green?
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