During the second game of the summer league schedule, RC Buford was interviewed during the third quarter. Here are the notes on what was discussed.
-The Spurs are excited about what they've been able to accomplish this summer. The ownership group really stepped up in a big way and it allowed the Spurs to make some addition that can hopefully really help.
-The Spurs aren't the favorites; the Lakers are the champions. As long as they are wearing the rings and the trophy is residing in the Staples Center, we're all chasing them.
-George Hill did a nice job of learning this year. Pop gave him some confidence in a couple different directions -- playing with Tony Parker and then playing by himself when Parker was injured. Hill grew a great deal, especially in the playoffs against Dallas when he came in and played well when others weren't playing well. Summer league is another good learning experience.
-The Spurs don't know what to expect this season out of Ian Mahinmi. Two years ago he had a great season in Austin and ended up being the first-team All D-League center. Then last year in Las Vegas he suffered a bad ankle injury and now these are the first games Mahinmi is playing in a year. The Spurs don't know where Mahinmi stands. Due to the age of the team last year, the Spurs weren't able to practice much even when Mahinmi got healthy so they're not sure about what he's capable of doing.
-Buford loves Mahinmi's activity level in Game 2 of summer league. It's a challenge for him because Denver is doing a great job of running the floor. Their big guys are running and their guards push it and throw the ball ahead to the bigs. The pace of play is good for Mahinmi's habits.
-A lot of times during the draft, it takes until the last second of the allowable time to figure out who to pick. That wasn't the case with DeJuan Blair.
-The Spurs have a lot to learn about Blair -- he's very young, he just turned 20 years old. The Spurs need to learn a lot about his body and find out what he's capable of doing.
-Blair could have great opportunities or he could be put into a situation where it's tough to live up to the expectations. Due to the expectations in San Antonio, there's not much of a growth curve that is allowed when every night the Spurs are expected to win.
-It's still to be seen if Blair can fill the toughness void left by trading away Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen. Blair is a great rebounder, a great screen-setter and has really good hands. An underrated skill of his is his passing ability. The Spurs will find out what he's capable of doing but they liked what they saw of him in college.
-Replacing the defense of Kurt Thomas will be a taller task than Blair will be ready for in his rookie season since Thomas is one of the post defenders -- maybe ever.
-Spurs are trying to learn about Blair's body so they didn't play him. Plus, the Spurs are trying to get a good read on what they have in James Gist. In forthcoming games, other bigmen might sit to give Blair more minutes.
-Malik Hairston has become a very capable defender. In Austin, he grew as a passer and a leader. Hairston has always been a really high character guy but his role with the Toros gave him the confidence that he could step into an NBA game and be ready to play. In college, Hairston played a lot of power forward so playing in Austin allowed him to get comfortable playing a at a natural guard position.
-Marcus Williams really blossomed this year. Toros coach Quin Snyder did a great job working with him -- not only helping him mature as a player but also helping him mature as a person.
-Williams took great strides. By the playoffs, he was averaging 30+ points, 10-11 rebounds and 10-11 assists. It was a really good learning experience for Williams and the Spurs are excited about what he can bring to the team this year.
-The Spurs have expanded the paradigm on how they are evaluating Williams. He may be able to be a backup point guard -- kind of a utility player on the perimeter playing three different position. He can defend two or three different positions. He's a really good rebounder. Snyder did a great job of expanding Williams' ballhandling ability and getting him comfortable with the ball in his hands. With Austin, he became a really good pick-and-roll player in regards to how to read the pick-and-roll and how to find the right players.
-Hill was 2-for-25 to start summer league last year but the thing the Spurs were most impressed with was his maturity and how he attacked last year's summer. And though last year it didn't play out particularly well for him, Hill didn't bat an eye and instead kept working. He continued to grow and then suddenly -- a half a dozen games into the season -- Tony Parker got hurt and Hill had to play significant minutes. Hill responded by really playing well.
-Hill playing 1,200 minutes as a rookie with the Spurs and with the high expectation level that Duncan, Ginobili, Pop and Parker bring was an incredibly burdensome responsibility. Hill handled it tremendously. Pop normally shortens the rotation in the playoffs and he did that at the end of the season with Mason playing a lot of the backup point. When things didn't go well for Mason in the playoffs, Hill stepped in and was one of the team's better players in the minutes that he got.
-If you don't score points against the Lakers, you aren't going to be able to beat them. You have to get offense and that's where Richard Jefferson can help the Spurs significantly. Jefferson joining the team will give the team four scorers -- with three scorers on the court at all times. But at the end of the day Pop says "we am who we am" and that starts and stops at the defensive end of the floor.
Williams making the team is going to be interesting if he indeed can be this utility player Buford mentions (which I hope is true) but it raises the question who stays, goes to Austin, gets cut and where is the Big we need in the middle for bench depth?
Clearly RC does not spend enough time on Spurstalk. If he did he would know that the Spurs are going to be averaging 110 points per game next year.
Damn, those are some impressive numbers from Williams. I wonder if he will actually make the team this year and be a nice surprise. I don't think anyone here was really thinking about him to do anything next year.
Yep: it's going to be tough.
Other than the obvious of Hill and Blair, I think Hairston and Ian must make the team as well. After those 4, is their any room for Williams?!??!?
How many roster spots do the Spurs have total?!?!?
Again, I find the Williams comments most intriguing. There is no reason for RC to say "we're excited to see what he can bring to our team this year" if he doesn't plan on the kid being on the team. We see a clear hole at 3rd PG which would necessitate other guys on the team being comfortable with the ball in their hands. I think the only guys on our roster capable of that are Ginobili and Mason (who no one wants to see with the ball in his hands making decisions). Very intriguing that RC has begun talking up Williams as a potential backup PG. Perhaps he fills that wild card/3rd PG role.
didn't realize Marcus Williams was so dominant. seems like he's pretty under the radar for spurs fans.
anybody know how tall he is and if he can play defense (can he be our permiter defender that we seem to be missing)?
If that's truly the case, Pop might want to be a bit more conservative in his use of Finley this year. In fact, he should open up compe ion for the backup SF spot.
RC was giddy when talking about Williams. It sounds like he has a pretty damn good chance of making the team.
cia rc
here cometh a trade with him packaged in it with finley and booner
There's really no reason to talk him up in a trade. He doesn't hold any value outside of his non-guaranteed contract. If he's traded, it'd just be for financial reasons.
Wasn't Williams the first pick after Presti left?
I recall when he was eventually cut, so many here on the board were ready to tar and feather R.C. and believing Presti was the real eye for talent.
My point is, R.C. may have an emotional investment in Marcus as he was the first non-Presti or Shuler pick.
I don't think R.C. cares what a bunch of posters on a message board have to say but even he recognizes it's been a while since Manu and Tony did so well for low draft picks.
It will be interesting to see how Williams performs in camp and pre-season. Didn't Bruno have a healthy expectation for Marcus?
Hairston, Williams, and Mahinmi are tests of the Toros acquisition and operation.
Yes. They seem to be the model D-League franchise as of now. Many players that shun the D-League often speak highly of the way the Spurs/Toros operate.
Marcus Williams' last 5 games for the Toros last season:
33 points, 12 assists, 12 rebounds
33, 8, 9
29, 13, 14
26, 10, 7
29, 4, 6
wtf....the Lakers? The Spurs couldn't beat Dallas, Denver or LA in a 7 game series.
They also can't beat the Cavs, the Magic, or the Celtics.
Richard Jefferson, McDice and Blair do nothing to solve that equation....
WTF? Quit ing blowing smoke up your fan's ass. We aren't ing stupid.
lololol
Bonner was playing the center position, so I'm pretty sure Blair can handle the toughness.It's still to be seen if Blair can fill the toughness void left by trading away Kurt Thomas and Bruce Bowen.
Good point. For all the good the Toros have done so far, they haven't really helped out the Spurs at all yet.
2009-10 has a chance to be the year we see the investment start paying off.
Can you imagine if Hairston, Williams, and Ian ALL became solid contributors for the Spurs this year (on top of Blair and Hill, and the addition of RJ and Dice)?!?!?
The Spurs would be so talented that Duncan would quit, seeing as how he's NEVER been surrounded by this much talent, and now a team oozing such talent is downright offensive to him.
Are you related to Sequ?
I liked it better when you weren't posting.
Hairston, Williams, and Mahinmi each have a better shot at making the active roster than they did before. The funny thing is that they are all 22 years old. And don't forget about Hill, Blair, and Gist.
The Spurs could conceivably have a young group of athletes surrounding their Big 5.
Never thought it would be possible at the end of te season but this summer might be shaping up to be a more significant retooling than the one done before the '03 season.
Pretty remarkable when you stop & think about it.
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