Cadillac Anderson and Dwayne Schintzius?
No...
One of the guys I am thinking of wanted to be a swimmer and probably would have if not for his pool getting destroyed. Basketball was his second choice...
The other one was a 6'4 military brat whose main career goal was to serve his country and who couldn't even get off the bench on his team until a freakish 7 inch growth spurt, after joining the military...
Edit: and yes I know you knew...but framing your point never hurts.
To this day that still amazes me.
kori how many jamaican french have you ever heard? lol
None. But that's what his accent sounds like a mix between.
nice. i go to bed with a smile lol
Spurs Picked Who? Ian Mahinmi?
LAST UPDATE: 6/28/2005 11:18:45 PM
Posted By: CyberBob
Five days after winning the NBA le, the San Antonio Spurs continued their global focus by using their only draft choice on Ian Mahinmi, an obscure power forward from France. He was not listed among the dozens of prospective picks in the NBA's draft media guide.
The Spurs always manage to surprise us on draft night, and Tuesday night was no different. We're used to this. Manu, Tony, Beno -- we had no idea who they were, so lets give a San Antonio welcome to the man named Mahinmi (yahn mah-HEE'-nee).
The pick took longer than allowed. Maybe David Stern needed some practice saying the name. The NBA champs selected the French forward at No. 28. He was one of seven international players to be chosen in the first round.
Who is Ian Mahinmi? He's a 610, 230-pound rebounder. Mahinmi is just 18-years-old and hes from France. Hes only played basketball for four years.
Mahinmi told WOAI that he knows of Tony Parker, but not personally. He says the idea of playing for the Spurs is a dream come true.
The Spurs have no immediate plans for Mahinmi, who impressed the team's scouts during a tournament in Spain. They plan to keep him playing in Europe for the next couple of years.
He's in a really good teaching situation and he's in a really good playing situation, Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. I think that's a better development plan than players who come over here and sit on the end of benches.
Mahinmi played the past two years with Le Havre in France. In 2004-05, he averaged 6.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game for Le Havre in the Pro A League.
His game is very, very raw, Buford said. Over the course of the last year, he's made significant progress from being able to barely play on (Le Havre's) second team to starting on their first team.
He was the second Frenchman taken Tuesday, following center Johan Petro taken 25th by Seattle.
I've got to work on my offensive moves, Mahinmi said by phone from New York. I'm already quick but I want to be more quick.
This year marked the third straight year that the Spurs have had the 28th pick, and the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Last year they selected backup point guard Beno Udrih in that slot, and in 2001 they used it on Tony Parker, another French player and the starting point guard for San Antonio's championship teams in 2003 and 2005.
Mahinmi said he followed the NBA Finals, won by the Spurs over Detroit in seven games.
I watched every game, he said, adding that he has also been following Parker's career. Of course, I was cheering for the Spurs.
San Antonio traded its second round pick (59th overall) to Atlanta last year as part of a draft-day deal for the 42nd pick, Viktor Sanikidze from the Republic of Georgia. Sanikidze, 19, played this season in France's top pro league. He is one of four international players whose rights belong to San Antonio.
The most NBA-ready among them is Luis Scola, a 6-9 teammate of Manu Ginobili on Argentina's 2004 Olympic championship team. Scola, 25, was MVP of Spain's top pro league this season after averaging 18.5 points and 6.7 rebounds, and he is considered a strong prospect to join the Spurs next season.
You have to figure that the American-born and raised bigmen in the draft are well known commodities for the most part, especially the high schoolers. It's an inexact science, but it would seem that if the Spurs are to find a steal in the draft, looking at young (as in under 20 yrs old) international players is the way to go.
This was a great time for the Spurs to use a pick to draft someone for the future. As the roster stands there are very few pressing current needs. In all likelihood the Spurs will be bringing back the same rotation next year, plus Scola, wherever he fits in.
If you think the Spurs need a prospective backup small forward, well they have a team option on Linton Johnson for next season and a future prospect in Viktor Sanikidze.
This is not to say that Ian Mahinmi will be anything more than a difficult name to remember how to spell and a footnote in Spurs history, but I'd hold off before labelling it as a horrible pick or whatever. The draft is no longer about finding players who will make an immediate impact. It's about finding players from Baha Blanca Bianca, Argentina or whatever who in a few years could turn into something special.
Maybe an 18 year old French volleyball player is next. Who knows?
hopefully he'll turn out great for us...
I don't think he will be able to contain Amare unless he puts lots of muscle on (which he probably will in the upcoming future)
That's why I'm a spurs fan even though I live in NY.
I'm a Spurs fan & living in NY as well. What part do you live in? I'm from Queens.
If you were the Spurs, would you give him a little stipend to make sure he is living well? Afterall, Ian is now an investment.
this kid should get away from motorbikes or even bikes.
get him a personal trainer? massoman/kwillis or drob to make him into a lean n cut machine 255pounds.
This pick is uncharacteristic of the Spurs. Scola is about the only big the Spurs have picked in recent memory where they showed enough patience to want to wait for him to develop even in a foreign league. My guess is that POP would rather take his chances with bigs who have already played in the league and have a reputation rather than wait maybe years to see if this chunk of coal turns into a diamond. Besides, there is really nothing spectacular about Mahinmi despite what some of the optimistic scouting reports that have been posted in this forum say about him. He's a great leaper and a lousy defender.
What gets me is that there were better bigs and tweeners with more potential still available last year like Anderson Varejao, and in the 2003 draft with Zaza Pachulia, Kyle Krover and even Luke Walton. At the very least if the Spurs wanted to wait for a big to develop they should have grabbed Sofokalis Schortsanitis, or baby-Shaq, last year.
Very uncharacteristic of the Spurs.
What's characteristic of the Spurs is drafting young talent, the position has nothing to do with it. They needed speed and athleticism on the perimeter first, and so ran out and got Parker and Ginobili. Now their biggest needs are on the post.What gets me is that there were better bigs and tweeners with more potential still available last year like Anderson Varejao, and in the 2003 draft with Zaza Pachulia, Kyle Krover and even Luke Walton. At the very least if the Spurs wanted to wait for a big to develop they should have grabbed Sofokalis Schortsanitis, or baby-Shaq, last year.
If you have any reason to believe this French guy isn't a great defender or is incapable of increasing his basketball skills, by all means share the specifics.
Pachulia and especially Varejao are of dubious talent. I'd take a flier on a tall, long player with tremendous athleticism over them any day. Yeoman players you can find any day - and overpay any day. A potential game-changer and freakish shot blocker doesn't often come around at #28.
Here are 2 pictures of Ian Mahinmi in a Spurs cap at the NBA Draft in New York.
WTF! Who is this guy?
I think that Spurs made a mistake
And that F.... Larry BirdBut he will probably stay 1 more year in europe
Completely agree. Athleticism is directly proportional to upside. He's not "athletic", he's a freak.
From Dan Wetzel:
LINK
28. SA - Ian Mahinmi, PF: The Spurs pick France's Ian Mahinmi. He was in the house and wearing a slightly off-white suit. He is very tall. He looks good. Of course, he only averaged five points a game last season. Knowing the Spurs, he'll probably be the Finals MVP in 2010. - 10:17 pm EDT
This is why you have to love (or hate) the Spurs. How under the radar was Mahinmi? His bio didn't even make the official NBA draft media guide. No small feat since Torin Francis is in there and he isn't even in the draft. And don't think a lot of obscure foreigners are forgotten. There is a guy in there named Dirk Maedrich, who averaged 1.7 points a game for something called BS Energy Braunschweig in Germany. - 10:22 pm EDT
Eh, as I said before drafting a late round big is always a gamble for any team. Maybe Mahinmi with his freakish athleticism and Super scout, Sam Presti manage to pull another one out of his ass. For Spur fans sake, I definitely hope so, all I'm saying is that the Spurs have had some success drafting foreign smalls late, Gino, Udrih, Parker but their success at drafting late bigs and tweeners has always, through no luck of their own, been stymied by either injury, to Javokas, by unworkable contracts, to Scola, and by player who simply disappear from the league like Chris Carawell (With Michael Redd still on the board) and Sergi Karaulov (who? actual Spurs 2004 2nd round pick). Mahinmi is young, raw and freakish though, maybe working under the toolage of the Spurs system in time he can physically develop his game, learn to play some D for God's sake, and become a valuable member of the Spurs society.Pachulia and especially Varejao are of dubious talent. I'd take a flier on a tall, long player with tremendous athleticism over them any day. Yeoman players you can find any day - and overpay any day. A potential game-changer and freakish shot blocker doesn't often come around at #28.
As long as were kinda talking trading draft picks though, the Spurs 99 trade of pick Leon Smith to Dallas for Gordan Giricek and a future 2nd round pick was a steal, but taking Ginobili at #57 in the same draft was genious. In 98, the Spurs traded their first round pick Felipe Lopez and Carl Herrera to Vancouver for Antonio Daniels and they took Derrick Dial at 57. Hummm... I wonder who the Spurs can package with Mahinimi in 05-06?
Jamaica was Spanish (there is still quite a bit of Spanish flavor), then English until independence. Never any serious French coloiniztion or influence in Jamaica.
May you're thinking about Haiti, Guadaloupe, or other Carribean islands, but not Jamaica.
We are going to own half the players in Europe eventually.
yup, we are becoming the U.N of basketball or something
o guys... i am a new member
i found this pic of our new SPUR... so i decided to share it w/ you guys, hope it's not been posted before
28. SA - Ian Mahinmi, PF: The Spurs pick France's Ian Mahinmi. He was in the house and wearing a slightly off-white suit. He is very tall. He looks good. Of course, he only averaged five points a game last season. Knowing the Spurs, he'll probably be the Finals MVP in 2010. - 10:17 pm EDT
This is why you have to love (or hate) the Spurs. How under the radar was Mahinmi? His bio didn't even make the official NBA draft media guide. No small feat since Torin Francis is in there and he isn't even in the draft. And don't think a lot of obscure foreigners are forgotten. There is a guy in there named Dirk Maedrich, who averaged 1.7 points a game for something called BS Energy Braunschweig in Germany. - 10:22 pm EDT
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