Hmmm, now McDonald is sneaking the words "most likely" in there. Guess we still don't know for sure.
I presume McDonald is sneaking the words "most likely" in there for just that reason, because he doesn't yet know for sure.
I'd be surprised if it's guaranteed, but either way, I think he'll make the roster.
If he's in relatively good shape and can still move well enough laterally to be even a marginal defender, then I can't see how he wouldn't make it, short of Gee playing out of his mind.
A wing player who has to spend half the game playing defense is not a wing defender. Do the Spurs think they can teach that old dog new tricks?
He'll be glued to the bench in the playoffs anyway, so I don't see how this signing matters. Maybe he could help the Spurs get an extra win or two in the regular season.
Camp roster finalized: o, Bobby Simmons
By Jeff McDonald on Sep 27, 10 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) Save & Share Yahoo! BuzzYahoo! Newsvine del.icio.us Facebook Google Reddit Fark Twitter
The Spurs have released their finalized training camp roster, although there's a good chance even the "finalized" version isn't final.
The most intriguing name on the list is Bobby Simmons. He is intriguing because A) he's got eight seasons of NBA experience on his resume; and B) He plays a position (small forward) at which the Spurs are alarmingly thin.
Even though he appeared in only 23 games last season for a 12-win New Jersey team, Simmons stands an excellent chance of making the final roster. The Spurs are not prepared to enter the season without a proven wing defender, and the 30-year-old Simmons is the closet thing on the camp roster to it.
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblog...oster-fin.html
JMcDonald_SAEN
So if Simmons isn't exactly a wing defender, he's going to have to re-invent himself as one in order to make the team.
Perhaps more to the point, whoever is going to grab that backup 3 spot, be it Simmons or Gee or someone else, is going to have to play D.
On this roster, yeah. It's all relative. RT @croogle you see Simmons as a wing defender?
Good training camp pickup. If he can nail that corner 3 and play not great but decent defense, he can be pretty useful. At least more useful than the Centrepiece who can't shoot to save his life
Another thing to note: He shot 41.7% in 3pt percentage in the only playoff appearance with the Bucks in 2006. Although it is a small sample size, it is way better than Bonner.
He's insurance, but it is an indication that Gee won't play much. Ho hum.
Got this one correct. If it doesn't work out, there's almost nothing to lose, considering the Spurs don't have a backup SF with some size and shoots the 3. If it works out, great. The Spurs didn't go out of their way to sign him anyway.
Since he's average defender, the Spurs are signing him as SF backup and for small ball, I guess with RJ at 4 since Simmons can't guard PF's.
The small ball was so awful in the past, because Finley was past his prime and unable to defend or rebound and Bowen was a bad rebounder too.
The Spurs have only 5 bigs, and there are no reports of efforts to sign Damp for example.
I rather go with a younger guy than him..I rather the spurs wait until the trade deadline I try to use there 1st round pick this year or future pick to maybe lurk a small foward from a struggling team thats looking to shead salary (ex. ronnie brewer to grizzles for 1st round pick last year)
Agreed. Is there any other option for th backup sf?
Simmons is a lot better player than Gist. Gist has shown absolutely nothing at this level. I'm for keeping both of them around but I am happy about this signing. He is definitely worth the risk.
He was pretty decent at one point in time. Not a bad guy to try out. I don't think we'd expect a whole lot of him... I hope.
I don't see him playing anyway. I think at the end of the day Anderson and RJ will make up the SF rotation. Hopefully at least one of those guys comes in the the mindset to defend. and hopefully George Hill rdeems himself this year in thar respect.
I'm merely concerned that he might take minutes away from Gee/Anderson (even if garbage minutes). I much rather the kids keep on developing and getting minutes, however sparse, in real games than glued to the bench because of the veteran syndrome.
If the guy would be an above average defender, which we need, then it would be a different story. But that doesn't seem to be the case.
If the kids can play, they will see time on the court. Although Pop will always prefer veterans over youth, Hill and Blair, in recent years, shows that pop will put the kids out on the court if they produce.
If the guy is better now than Anderson or Gee than he should play. The young guys will have time to develop and we aren't rebuilding just yet.
Hill was basically glued to the bench in his first playoffs, after being a rotation player, while Mason/Finley were sucking up a storm out there. Blair was also a rotation player and got his minutes halved while the Red Rocket kept his. So if those are the indicators, my concerns are certainly valid.
I was responding to the post that said they were mostly not going to play much. If that's the case, I rather let the kids get the minutes than a vet with no upside. Now, if they're going to be rotation players, I agree whoever is better should play. And FWIW, RC mentioned a while back in an interview that they were going to try to rebuild on the fly and that the rebuilding process is well underway.
Wasn't this the same exact thing said when signing Bogans last year?
The playoffs are different than regular season. If a rookie produces in regular season doesn't mean he can play in the playoffs. Besides, many rookies hit the wall at the end of the regular season. Those players pass from playing 30 games in College to 80 + playoffs next year.
I think that the Spurs are going to add only the players that are NBA ready. That's Jerrels, Gee, Anderson, Neal, Splitter and Simmons. That would leave the roster as:
Parker / Neal / Jerrels
Hill / Manu / Anderson
Jefferson / Simmons / Gee
Dice / Blair / Bonner
Duncan / Splitter
And the Spurs should still add a wing defender specialist, but it's unclear who.
If Simmons can hit his threes from the corner like he did in '08-'09 I'd say give him a shot. The Spurs couldn't hit anything from deep last year against PHX. It was sad to watch. Someone draining a few wide open shots from the corner would be a welcome change.
surprise this guy didnt get a callup from other teams...
Honestly, I am not 100% sold on this guy being better than either. Pop has always leaned towards the veteran player on this issue though.
We may soon find out why this guy couldnt a better offer this summer. If he can simply hit 40%+ from 3pt and provide average defense then its a good signing.
Bogans didn't get a callup either last season.
Spurs have an unfortunate habit of signing washed up players and placing them in the starting line-up. If you haven't noticed, they've done this for several years now:
Bogans
Stoudamire
Vaughn
Van Excel
...
But these washed up players signings over the years, did not set the franchise back. They, the Spurs were signing these guys for peanuts to see if they had anything left. None of those players you pointed out crippled the franchise, or set them back. Once Pop figured out these guys were done, they were cut. And besides Bogans starting, none of those vets you mentioned above were signed to be starters. They were signed to be backups, role players, or whatever you wish to call them.
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