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Thanks! Fell asleep during the game...
-We got our first look at Lonnie Walker IV against NBA players and I was pretty damn impressed. His athleticism passed the eye-test with flying colors; nobody on the court could stay in front of him when he put his mind to it. Walker is a quick, fast, powerful athlete and he has good instincts for a 19-year-old. Though he missed all five of his three-point attempts, he hit 5-of-7 two-pointers while also pulling down five rebounds and swiping two steals. Walker is still really raw but he obviously has promising potential. It’s unlikely that he’ll be much of a contributor his rookie year but let’s hope Pop at least gives him a shot to earn minutes.
-Bryn Forbes looked really confident and comfortable starting between Murray and DeRozan. On offense, he knocked down his first four shots – all from three-point range – on his way to finishing with a game-high 16 points. Forbes also flashed some playmaking ability off the dribble. His defense, too, was impressive; he kept constant pressure on his man for much of the game. Now let’s hope Forbes can play like this in a game that counts – or at least a normal preseason game.
-DeMar DeRozan was super smooth on his way to 14 points and four rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. He’s still hesitating more than he normally does but it was a step in the right direction compared to his first preseason outing. The coaching staff once again put the ball in his hands a whole lot in what is essentially a quasi-point guard role. DeRozan’s defense was pretty terrible . . . but, then again, his overall effort level in this scrimmage was pretty low.
-Speaking of low energy level, LaMarcus Aldridge had his effort-o-meter dialed to about two out of ten. He made a couple good passes and hit a couple shots in his final stint on the court but otherwise didn’t do much. The most notable thing involving Aldridge is the fact that the coaches continue to unveil more and more sets that basically have Aldridge and DeRozan play pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop two-man basketball. We’re going to see a whole lot of that this coming season.
-Davis Bertans does what he does: shoot when he has a glimmer of daylight on offense and hustle on defense. I actually really liked the look of Bertans starting alongside Aldridge and DeRozan. It makes the offense flow so much better when they have someone like him to spread the court. Add Forbes to the fivesome and the lanes were as open as they can possibly be with Aldridge, DeRozan and Murray on the court.
-Dejounte Murray did okay. The most important thing is he’s making an effort to be a threat with his shot. When the defender goes under the pick, Murray is ready and willing to shoot. It’s disappointing that he only made two of his nine field goal attempts but I liked his aggressive decision-making, which also resulted in a game-high five assists. Murray also led the game with ten rebounds.
-Rudy Gay continues to look like he could step into a bigger role this season. He scored 14 points, a majority of which came in difficult isolation situations. He’s in great shape, his jumper is looking good and he’s not holding back when it comes time to explode off of one foot. He had some trouble on defense, particularly when DeRozan went at him, but he was giving good effort on that end.
-Pau Gasol continues to look like he needs to step into a smaller role this season. He looks rusty and a step slow. He had a couple good passes but he wasn’t moving well, especially when trying to defend outside the paint. Let’s hope he can shake the rust off by the time the regular season starts.
-Jakob Poeltl was rock solid. He ran the court very well. He was strong on the glass. He defended the rim well. I mean, he couldn’t have done much more than what he did. Poeltl didn’t make many mistakes and cashed in just about all of his opportunities to impact the game.
-I thought Derrick White was pretty damn bad. He was once again playing point guard but his ballhandling ability – or lack thereof – is really starting to concern me. When Forbes and Nick Johnson are causing you trouble when trying to cross halfcourt, something is wrong. Johnson even stripped him clean while White was slowly trying to advance the ball. Let’s hope White can figure it out but when him and Mills are paired together, it’s like there are no point guards on the court. The only time White looks comfortable is when he’s looking for his own shot in a halfcourt setting.
-Patty Mills also struggled. He missed his perimeter shots and couldn’t help much with ballhandling duties. He had a few well-timed, quick drives to the basket (to his credit, he looks to be in better shape than he was in last season) but didn’t do much beyond that. On defense, there wasn’t much good to report.
-Marco Belinelli also was cold from the outside but I did like his creativity. He was the Silver team’s best playmaker and was at times the only player on his team that didn’t appear to be stuck in mud. Belinelli was trying to do too much a lot of the time but, on this amateur night, it was needed.
-Dante Cunningham hit two three-pointers and another long jumper with a toe on the three-point line. He also displayed the ability to mix it up in the paint while also being able to step out on the perimeter to defend smaller, quicker players. As a deep roster Swiss army knife, Cunningham most likely has a spot on the final roster.
-Drew Eubanks played well. He has a big body but he’s far from a plodder. He can move his feet a little bit and he jumps well. He’s also physical and even threw a few elbows during the scrimmage. I’m not sure how much upside he has (the Spurs version of Aron Baynes would be his absolute peak) but he’s an intriguing enough prospect to keep on a two-way contract this season.
-I also liked what I saw from Jaron Blossomgame. His body has filled out and he has enough size and length to be a legit small forward on the NBA level. He hustles and has a nose for the ball. Blossomgame also appears to have a tough guy streak about him. From what I’ve seen so far, I’d vote in favor of keeping him around to see if he can continue to develop.
-I just don’t see Quincy Pondexter being able to help out an NBA team anymore. He doesn’t move his feet well enough – and that alone kills his value. He actually has a tiny amount of playmaking ability, which could be useful if he was a plus defender – but he’s not.
-Chimezie Metu remains an interesting prospect as an uber mobile bigman. He doesn’t appear to be good enough at anything at the moment to help the big boy Spurs this season but he’s definitely interesting enough to keep in the Austin pipeline. Gazelle-like bigs don’t come down the chute very often, especially in the second round of the draft.
-It doesn’t look like Okaro White will make the team but you can tell he has talent. The problem with him is he’s just too much of a tweener between the two forward positions, even in this tweener-happy era of NBA basketball. Nick Johnson also won't make the team but he's no doubt a good G-League level point guard.
Thanks! Fell asleep during the game...
Meh. I trust what I've seen in G-league/summer league/etc. of Derrick White than what I saw in this scrimmage game. He's way better than what he showed.
Much thanks! Great to see Bryn do better that the pre-season game and I too hope he can translate that into a real game. I'm also very stoked on Petlt who is my new favorite player and I could see him being on the team for season's to come...at least I hope so.
On another note, are any of the other pre-season games televised? Can we just buy the games without signing up with NBATV for the whole season? Any tips are appreciated.
Walker's crossover on DeRozan
OMG how dare you on White, STs own Golden Boy who can do no wrong
Walker's crossover on DeRozan
Dayumm
I really don't know what Pop is going to do if Forbes beats out White for a rotation spot. Dude's simply not a PG. The problem is that Mills isn't either. It gets even worse if both are playing as the guards and in a unit without even a Gay-level focal point. I'm coming to peace with the idea that Gay probably will start at the three. He's certainly making a good case for it right now. But White or at least DC has to get minutes with that bench along with Bertans and Poeltl/Gasol. Berts has definitely been intriguing defensively, but that's a tiny perimeter.
I wouldn't get too down on White. I didn't like the way any real "offense" ran. You can insert my usual complain about the lack of PG depth, but I'm not too worried about White in NBA games if the injury question isn't part of the discussion. I do think the coaching staff will have to figure out what's wrong with Lonnie's shot. He's way too inconsistent for what I hear is a good form. I do like his skill level for his age. He needs seasoning more than anything. Physically, he has what it takes to get to the rim at will. He just needs the polish to keep hold of the ball and to finish better than he has. I don't see why you couldn't just keep him in Austin for a year and get as many touches as he needs. Without a three, he doesn't really have a big-club role yet. Give him a year to work on his O, and he should be good.
I did like Metu's outside shot. Not many bigs can pull-up like that. He'll need a consistent three to really set up the defender, but him even attempting those types of moves gives a good sense of where his confidence in his perimeter skills is. Eubanks is interesting, because he seemed to be a post player in college. He has two really good post players to learn from in Aldridge and Duncan so if he has development in him, they should be able to get it out. I don't see him as a Baynes-like player really. As I've said before, he reminds me of Jahlil Okafor without the hype or high draft status. If Jah busted his butt in the gym, he wouldn't be a much better player than he is now, but he'd be perceived differently.
Incidentally, I really liked this format for the scrimmage. Five "quarters" feels like more basketball even though the 10-minute running clock for each period means it was a lot less. Still, it would have been awesome for the teams to go into the final set knotted up. Could have added some intrigue to the final 10 minutes instead of garbage time.
White cannot continue to play like he did in the scrimmage and in the first half against Miami and expect to be on the floor with the Spurs. There are just too many other guards, and still does not look like much of a PG to me. He might be able to recover, but he is just playing sloppy and unfocused right now.
Just refine his game in Austin and he's going to be a top contributor for this team.
Walker's crossover on DeRozan
Murray doesn't even come close to his potential.
you can see why the coaches continue to go with forbes ... he seems to be the guy who gives his all and kills it in training and scrimmages ... sadly he sucks in games that counts. reminds me of Georgie who looked like Kobe in scrimmages
Could be because Forbes is more relaxed in scrimmages. Sometimes you can't over think your performance and just let the ball fly!
Pleased to see Cunningham hit 3 consecutive 3s. Good to have a 3 and D player who can actually hit the 3.
What concerns me was how the team with Mills, White, Belinelli, Gay, Pau couldn't generate any offense!
Blossomgame is solid enough a player to deserve the two-way contract. He knows the system enough to be someone who's not a liability when on court.
Pondexter and White still need a lot of work to make the 15th spot. I think White has more upside, but both need time to understand the system.
Walker will be the best player on the team soon, he's like a taller Donovan Mitc with better defense, it's really scary your potential
He really doesn't have Mitc 's driving ability.
Mitc is stout and has a ridiculous wingspan.
Read his review of him the other day. Talks about his strong defense and benefits on offense. He had an off day.
I'll keep say forbes is coming to his own and he's about to a breakout season, could be our jj re
I think the issue with Forbes is that he’s not a starting level SG. Sure in a scrimmage he’s better than fine. And if his role is to knock down shots created by others and some secondary playmaking or getting to the lane after defenders try to take his shot away, well he can do that. But he’s 6’2”, short armed and not an elite athlete. He’s just not a wing. His worst numbers as you pointed out timvp were next to Parker and Mills when he was asked to play as a wing. If he were a PG his feistiness and how strong he’s become would help him, but he has even less of a PG game than White does. Which is why when White plays well he’s much better. If White cant handle the backup PG duties I don’t think Forbes is going to be any better at it.
Of course its it’s so much better for the team if Forbes proves me wrong but context matters. Is he going to be starting games? I don’t think so.
I have been making jokes about this, but it’s not just Forbes it’s Marco and Mills not really being playmakers either. The bench looked their best when White had it going, before then I was remarking in the preseason game thread that they all seemed too jumpshooting happy with no one to really take the ball to the basket or make plays for others.
Anyways, I appreciate this review very much and we will just have to see how Forbes/White develop. I would expect depending on game situation Pop may even alter rotations playing a starter with the bench for example if they struggle too much. It should be interesting to see how this goes.
I expect the standard rookie treatment for him, but I would welcome him getting opportunities in the bench. Perhaps he can do just fine in a small role to start his career and go from there. If you want my opinion, Pop is going to let White and Forbes hang themselves first b4 turning to Walker. I am not saying I am right, it’s just what I expect.
Thanks timvp!
For anyone who missed it, you can still watch the entire open scrimmage here: https://www.facebook.com/Spurs/videos/301912030394814/
I agree. He'll be a better player refining his skills in the g-league.
Their wingspans are identical at 6'10" and Mitc is two inches shorter at 6'3", his official combine measurements.
Exactly. Barring major injuries, there is no way Walker would see more than 10MPG with as crowded as the guard rotation currently is...and Pop is not going to stick Mills, White, AND Forbes all in the doghouse in favor of an unproven rookie.
He'll get much more experience playing 30MPG up in Austin than he would doing mop up duty in garbage time with the big team.
It's a got damn shame that we all know Walker will prob get 15 total minutes over the season
walker appears to have more star potential than murray. still hoping dejante can continue to develop because an eventual pairing of walker and murray in the backcourt could offer the spurs a bright future.
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