Spurs Sign DerMarr Johnson

[ChumpDumper]

And it sucks for Toros. Without Williams and Johnson, winning the D-League le will be damn hard.

Actually, I think missing the playoffs is a real possibility. Not signing a replacement for Marcus is biting them in the ass.

[Bruno]

Actually, I think missing the playoffs is a real possibility. Not signing a replacement for Marcus is biting them in the ass.

Haven't Toros still clinched a playoff spot ?

Toros have lost a lot of talents lately. It's quite disappointed to see a team ending with its less talented roster of the season for the palyoffs.

[ChuckD]

He is a very good player, and arguably better than Barry at this point in his career...

A good move for the Spurs....I have season tickets to the Toros and DeMarr is probably their best player.....

A good addition, and YES he is playoff eligible.

DD

He's not better than Barry. There's a reason our offense is struggling now, and it's NOT because we've been lacking DerMarr Johnson. He's pretty much a poor rebounding chucker non-creator. His best asset is probably his 3 point shooting and that's nowhere near Barry class. He's playoff eligible UNLESS they signed him to a 10 day. SA won't be able to get anyone better and we need someone, but DJ on his best day is barely as good as Brent Barry's good day.

[anjlbitz]

How old is he?

[ChuckD]

not thrilled with this mostly because I think manu's injury could be worse then what people think

Rumor is that he's not injured at all. SA just doesn't want to incur anymore of the league's wrath by saying they're resting people during a tight stretch run for the WC seedings. Manu has looked gassed for the last week or two.

[ChuckD]

How old is he?

He'll be 28 May 5th.

[SenorSpur]

Why did they get rid of him in the first place? Why didn't they keep Jeremy Richardson?

One of these guys, sopping up minutes at some point, might have helped keep wear and tear off of Finley and Ginobili and give them a boost in the playoffs. Instead we have a gimpy Ginobili now.

What kills me is that Pop claims that he wants to manage minutes; isn't concerned at all about seedings and record. He only wants the team to be healthy come playoff time. So if that's the case, I can't understand why he will never allow himself to "spoon-feed" minutes to 1 or 2 younger players during the season. Surely one of these young swingmen could've garnered a roster spot. Especially with Barry being out most of the year. This simply made no sense at all.

[ChuckD]

What kills me is that Pop claims that he wants to manage minutes; isn't concerned at all about seedings and record. He only wants the team to be healthy come playoff time. So if that's the case, I can't understand why he will never allow himself to "spoon-feed" minutes to 1 or 2 younger players during the season. Surely one of these young swingmen could've garnered a roster spot. Especially with Barry being out most of the year. This simply made no sense at all.

There have only been 2 teams to ever win the NBA crown with no one averaging even 35 minutes: the 2005 San Antonio Spurs and the 2007 San Antonio Spurs. Pop does manage their minutes. He just prefers players that can play a system and understand it. That precludes most young players. , most veterans struggle their first year here.

[T Park]

What kills me is that Pop claims that he wants to manage minutes; isn't concerned at all about seedings and record. He only wants the team to be healthy come playoff time. So if that's the case, I can't understand why he will never allow himself to "spoon-feed" minutes to 1 or 2 younger players during the season. Surely one of these young swingmen could've garnered a roster spot. Especially with Barry being out most of the year. This simply made no sense at all.

Once again, maybe he knows something that you don't?!

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

dermarr comes back to SA and Bobby Jones comes back to Denver.....

both great bench players for a small amount of time

[T Park]

you can have him.

his jumper looks like a dead duck.

[DaDakota]

He's not better than Barry. .

I meant at this point in their careers.....Barry is hurt and has the exact same injury that ended his brother Jon's career.

DeMarr is far more athletic than Barry at this point and is healthy...he can help you guys.

DD

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

you can have him.

his jumper looks like a dead duck.

must have been the Spurs shooting coach He shot 39% from 3 whilst in Denver.

It's just a signing for the sake of having a non-guaranteed contract, same as the Howard Eisley signing. Eisley ( and some 2nd rd picks) managed to nab JR Smith and so who knows what can happen in the offseason

[Princess Pimp]

Is this the best the Spurs could do?

I'm pretty sure there are a lot of unemployed players out there that are better than this scrub!

[WildcardManu]

LOL Dermarr Johnson?? lol

Desperate move by a desperate organization that is going nowhere this season.

Desperate is a team like the Suns who need to get over that mountain in the West. What is that team called? Umm... oh yeah, the Spurs.

[ChumpDumper]

Haven't Toros still clinched a playoff spot ?

They have now

[Quasar]

Hey Chump, I was taking a look at today's boxscore and saw that there are a few new players I'd never heard of who are playing pretty well.

Would you be kind enough to tell us your thoughts on the 'interesting' players?

Kenton Paulino
Andre Barrett
Darvin Ham
Josh Gross
Ian Mahinmi
Justin Bowen
Carldell Johnson
Serge Angounou
Yemi Nicholson

http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/200.../boxscore.html

[ChumpDumper]

Kenton Paulino - one-dimensional, undersized SG. Usually reliable outside shot has been streaky lately, but got the start last night which seemed to help.

Andre Barrett - NBA vet PG. Too small to defend in the NBA but as good a point as you will find in the D-League.

Darvin Ham - 34 year old undersized PF who was able to play eight seasons in the NBA with his hustle. Can still get up - had about eight dunks last night. Reported to be making the transition to coaching/FO.

Josh Gross - Incredible athlete who hasn't quite gotten into a groove as a Toro, though getting a start last night seemed to help. Said to be a bit of a whiner in Albuquerque, his physical abilities alone make it worth taking a shot at developing him.

Ian Mahinmi - Never heard of him.

Justin Bowen - College PF still making the transition to pro swingman. Jack-of-all-trades who has been called on to play four positions and guard five this season. Needs to improve his outside shooting if he wants to take the next step.

Carldell Johnson - Another undersized PG. Needs to look for his own offense more especially since he has developed a pretty decent outside three-point shot.

Serge Angounou - Another undersized PF, but has no chance to be anything else. A good jumper is his only perimeter skill. Always hustles but the results this season have been mixed.

Yemi Nicholson - A very recent acquisition, he hasn't seen much playing time. When he does play more than a couple of minutes, he seems to play pretty well offensively. Can hit the free-throw line jumper and stay out of Ian's way.

It's been an interesting year considering only four players have lasted the entire season. That's life in the D-League.

[BonnerDynasty]

What kind of name is DerMarr?

First time I come accross it . . .

lolz

[Quasar]

Thanks for filling us in Paulino had very good numbers in that game, so I was wondering what he was worth.

Darvin Ham seems like a very nice signing for them, giving the Toros someone else to play off of.

Good to know that Josh Gross ain't that gross!

about Ian... I copied and pasted all the names in the box score and forgot to remove him.

Do you think they're gonna miss Demarr Johnson in the playoffs, having people like Andre Barrett + Paulino to count on?

Also... although Ian's numbers have been good, has he been dominating in D-League games like Tim and David do, changing the trend of games in the favour of the Toros to the point where opposing coaches need to game-plan for him or is he more of a player who gets good numbers without being an impact player?

Kenton Paulino - one-dimensional, undersized SG. Usually reliable outside shot has been streaky lately, but got the start last night which seemed to help.

Andre Barrett - NBA vet PG. Too small to defend in the NBA but as good a point as you will find in the D-League.

Darvin Ham - 34 year old undersized PF who was able to play eight seasons in the NBA with his hustle. Can still get up - had about eight dunks last night. Reported to be making the transition to coaching/FO.

Josh Gross - Incredible athlete who hasn't quite gotten into a groove as a Toro, though getting a start last night seemed to help. Said to be a bit of a whiner in Albuquerque, his physical abilities alone make it worth taking a shot at developing him.

Ian Mahinmi - Never heard of him.

Justin Bowen - College PF still making the transition to pro swingman. Jack-of-all-trades who has been called on to play four positions and guard five this season. Needs to improve his outside shooting if he wants to take the next step.

Carldell Johnson - Another undersized PG. Needs to look for his own offense more especially since he has developed a pretty decent outside three-point shot.

Serge Angounou - Another undersized PF, but has no chance to be anything else. A good jumper is his only perimeter skill. Always hustles but the results this season have been mixed.

Yemi Nicholson - A very recent acquisition, he hasn't seen much playing time. When he does play more than a couple of minutes, he seems to play pretty well offensively. Can hit the free-throw line jumper and stay out of Ian's way.

It's been an interesting year considering only four players have lasted the entire season. That's life in the D-League.

[ChumpDumper]

Thanks for filling us in Paulino had very good numbers in that game, so I was wondering what he was worth.

When his shot is on, he's very valuable. Got some nice steals last night too.

Darvin Ham seems like a very nice signing for them, giving the Toros someone else to play off of.

They needed consistency at the PF spot. The leadership is a bonus.

Do you think they're gonna miss Demarr Johnson in the playoffs, having people like Andre Barrett + Paulino to count on?

DerMarr will definitely be missed. I'm not sure Barrett can be counted on to score 20 in the first half like he did last night, and DerMarr's length was very valuable to the Toros' defense.

Also... although Ian's numbers have been good, has he been dominating in D-League games like Tim and David do, changing the trend of games in the favour of the Toros to the point where opposing coaches need to game-plan for him or is he more of a player who gets good numbers without being an impact player?

Ian is absolutely game-planned. He has been the most important player for the Toros offensively and defensively. Ian is routinely double-teamed and opposing offenses with post or penetrating scorers try to run at Ian all the time to get him in foul trouble. It will be interesting to see what he does in the NBA, since he won't receive that kind of attention right off the bat.

[Bruno]

Yesterday's game was quite weird.
Toros, especially Barrett and Paulino, shoot the ball really well in the first half but they blew again a big lead (25 points)against Albuquerque by being out-worked on the boards. This time they had the resources to win the game.

Nicholson hasn't played and I've noticed that he isn't anymore on Toros roster. If he is gone, Toros will badly need some fresh blood with only 8 available players.

PS : Julius Hodge is a dumbass.

[ChumpDumper]

Nicholson is on the roster and was suited up. For some reason he never got listed on the D-League website. I don't know why he isn't playing.

Rebounding is a recurring problem for this team lately, especially the enormous number of offensive boards they give away.

[ChumpDumper]

Some pics from last night:




















(caught the official photographer's flash on this one)

[ChumpDumper]

Hardwood Paroxysm had a live blog of the game:

http://hardwoodparoxysm.blogspot.com...-at-toros.html