From my favorite Spurs blog site:
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2009/...ur-new-spurs-5
"Haislip, a raw 6-foot-10, power forward from Tennessee, got high marks for his athleticism, NBA body and a good work ethic. Rumors that he could bench press 400 pounds sent his stock soaring and some draft experts saw Haislip as the Bucks' answer to their problems at the four spot, albeit two or three years down the road. But what the Bucks have unearthed in the summer leagues is a very different player -- a slashing, small forward who plays great defense on the perimeter and sinks the NBA 3-pointer effortlessly.
On Wednesday, Haislip rained down six 3-pointers on the Hawks' DerMarr Johnson and showed surprising poise for a kid that wasn't supposed to be ready for prime time. He ended the game with 21 points, including one fabulous dunk. The thunderous dunks we expected, but the 3-point shooting?"
I hope this turns out to be true; he might solve part of our match up problem with the Lakers (Odom). I'm getting stir-crazy already, I want the season to begin. I can't wait to see how Haislip, Blair, Mahinmi, Jefferson, Hill, Hairston and Williams play.
Haislip wants to succeed as a rotation NBA player as well. Motivation should be no problem.
Interesting. Maybe he's been a SF all along, and was just mis-categorized. And a 40" vert on a 6'10" player is unearthly. JR Smith's is like 41 maybe 42, he's 6'6", and people consider HIM a high-flyer.
Holy that was an extensive write up about on a guy that'll probably be one of the deepest in rotation. Interesting read nonetheless
Nice, don't expect anything from him. That's why I love the pickup, doesn't hurt the Spurs financially but could be rewarding.
Low risk, high reward. He costs almost nothing, salary wise, and is a monster athlete still under 30 who can shoot the long ball. If he gets into a groove, he could drop Finley or Bonner deep on the bench or even into street clothes.
Best case: A taller, more athletic Bowen-type defender who can run the floor, shoot the 3, and go up for lobs.
Worst case: Francisco Elson II, an athletic dumbass who can't learn half of your playbook.
I think a lot of it hinges on whether he was a) smart enough to adapt to Euro-ball and set plays, or b) just SO much more athletic than everyone else.
a) would trend towards best case, and b) would trend towards worst.
400lbs LMAO
At max I'd say his bench is around 300+ MAYBE.
His arms are far too long to be able to bench that much, and his chest isn't big enough.
They did say it was a rumor...
This is pretty much what I had in mind, but I manage to get hyped up after watching that little in-game scuffle of his. I wouldn't let anyone get away with slapping me in the face either.
The particular piece that the OP quoted was, but the article itself has a date of 9/4/09. In fact that quote was only a quote within the article, relating to his NBA history.
Interesting read. And ya I def snickered at the 400 lb bench rumor.
As much as I'm hoping this guy pans out, I see him more as Francisco Elson the sequel. I think its a bit unfair to this guy to compare him to Bruce. Bruce had the smarts and lateral quickness to make him a lock down defender. I'm sure we'll see soon enough what MH can contribute to the Spurs this year.
It's been my theory that he was brought in to play SF. If he can provide all that the article is spouting and from what I've seen in clips from his Euro play...his more natural postion in the NBA is at the SF slot.
I look at it this way...if Haislip winds up being a legitiment b/u at the SF and being able to do what the article says...the Spurs will have a combined payroll of only 15mil for 2 players that will provide consistent play at that position. That's only 7.5 mil per player though one will be receiving considerably more than the other.
Agreed!
That's what I've been telling this board for the longest time. He's is with the Spurs because he's going to play SF.
We got a problem with guys like Odom, Dirk and David West. You got to have someone long enough to come up with a credible defense.
- McDyess at 6'9" is not long enough
- Ratliff is only useful against postup players.
- RJ at 6'7" though quick, is too small
- Blair at 6'6" lacks the perimeter quickness and is too small.
- Mahinmi at 6'11" also lacks the perimeter quickness. He could be effective against West but not for Odom or Dirk.
In the end, your best defensive lineup for a team like the lakers would be:
Ginobli vs Fisher
RJ vs Kobe
Haislip vs Odom
Duncan vs Gasol
Ratliff/Mahinmi vs Bynum
Any combination reveals a gaping hole!
The closest best may be:
Hill vs Fisher
Ginobli vs Kobe
RJ vs Odom
Duncan vs Gasol
Ratliff/Mahinmi vs Bynum
But that just tires out Ginobli and puts RJ at a defensive dilema.
Odom, Dirk and West are PFs. If Haislip guards any of those players, it will be as a PF.
Not to mention, McDyess seems well suited to do at least an admirable job on those players. He is not a great low block defender, but a pretty good perimeter defender.
Artest is the Laker SF, not Odom. A Bynum/Gasol/Odom combo was used rarely, if at all. Gasol, Odom, and Bynum made up the 4/5 rotation, with two of them on the court in nearly all game situations. Haislip may very well get a chance to guard Odom as he plays PF next to Gasol OR Bynum. In those situations Haislip will be the PF next Duncan or another Spur big.
I don't know what you base this on since we haven't seen Ian play in the NBA, but let's assume that you are absolutely correct.
What evidence exists anywhere that Haislip has the requisite perimeter quickness to play SF in the NBA?
Yeah...it's not like 400lbs is an otherworldly amount. I haven't maxed out in forever but I could probably get 350 up and he is quite a bit bigger than me.
When Odom plays at the SF position, then we got a mismatch. Otherwise we are fine. The game however is won by exploiting mismatches, and until we plug that hole, we are vulnerable.
So if the Lakers play the Odom SF card, then we should be able to plug it with Haislip at SF. If they play it for less than 20 minutes a game, then that's about how long Haislip should ever be in the court.
Playing a big SF has been what teams have been doing to us lately or a quick PF. See we had no guy with the length and quickness to keep up with them. Duncan may do a good job, but we always risk him going into foul trouble.
I agree that McDyess would hold his own against the likes of David West who plays in the block. But against guys like Dirk who play in the perimeter, we have always had trouble. We never had a guy like Posey who had enough length to be a nuisance.
So, basically you agree with everyone here that Haislip is not likely to see anything but garbage time?
At least do some research, any research. Lamar Odom played SF in about 1% of all his minutes last season. He played over 98% of his minutes at PF. Look it up before you post.
And as I pointed earlier, if he defends Dirk it will be as a PF not as a SF. Dallas does not play Dirk with two other bigs. You can look that up as well.
Haislip may very well be used to defend mobile PFs like Dirk, Odom, and Lewis. When he does, he will be playing PF not SF.
True.
But it is going to nice that he might be able to use his size along with quickness to help defend SF's as well.
That would be the ultimate. Much in the same way that Kevin Garnett has been used to defend opposing team's SF's at times.
As been said before...you can't teach height. And if that height comes with quickness it's all the better for the team that player is on.
I'm hoping Haislip can provide that luxury for the Spurs. We'll see.
Does Odom play SF only during garbage time?
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