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Does it also involve gaining 60 pounds and disappearing when needed most?
It's not hard to find basketball players who grew up with professional sports in their blood. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were raised by fathers in the NBA. Kobe Bryant's dad played for the 76ers and then in Italy. Tony Parker's father was a star at Loyola of Chicago and had a pro career in Belgium. Spurs reserve forward Boris Diaw is part of this tradition, but with a twist. He grew up learning the game from his mother.http://www.si.com/nba/2016/05/09/bor...s-nba-playoffsToday he's asked to pick three things that describe him best. He lists traveling, food, photography and movie production. That is more than three things, and not one of them is NBA basketball, but it does lead to a digression on safaris, his favorite vacations: "You go in the middle of the savanna for 10 days, and you feel like you've had a month. It's so peaceful and quiet. Seeing the animals is so calming, in their habitat just sleeping. It's very restful."
Does it also involve gaining 60 pounds and disappearing when needed most?
Diaw is gone. We couldn't afford a coaster this season. We can afford one even less next season. The writing is on the wall after his DNP in the decisive 6th game against OKC. He can go on permanent safari now.
I appreciate what he did for the Spurs from '12-'15 but it's safe to say this guys hunger is gone and he's no longer motivated. The Spurs need to get rid of him.
He is gone.
Not a single minute in the most decisive game of the season. No way in the Spurs are paying him 7m/year for that. And I hope that he takes Bonner's ass with him. San Antonio needs new blood, fresh/athletic guys hungry to win. It's time to bring some of the stashed players on board.
Milutinov and LJC are the only ones I'm interested in bringing over that are stashed, nobody else moves the needle.
You forgot Bertans. He is the most exciting player the Spurs have stashed and probably the one with the easiest transition to the NBA. Too good of a shooter @ that size. He would definitely help.
There is no evidence Boris didn't play because of any discord with the team. Maybe he was injured or Pop just didn't feel he needed West and Boris. Certainly not at the same time. You might be right he is gone. You can travel quite a bit on 3.5 million- which is what he'll get paid not to play.
Yeah I was thinking of him. He's more of a 4 than a 5 correct?
I think he could play the 3 or 4 in the NBA, definitely not a 5.
My biggest problem with Bertans is two ACL injuries on non contact moves on the same knee and he's not even 24 yet. I don't know enough about Baskonia to know how his defense is but being a good shooter could help the bench out just hate to have a guy come over and be oft injured especially since they don't play an 82 game schedule
lowkey pulled "Bobcats Diaw" on this franchise after 2014...he can GTFO here now.. U just can't get away disrespecting this organization like that..Thanks for your contributions to 5, but the standards of the Spurs professionalism are too high..
You're not wrong about the injury concern, but he is back and he looks great again. I wouldn't call him a plug and play player, but great shooter just fit in well in San Antonio. Too talented to pass. He is worth the risk.
Definitely worth the risk. LJC is a guy that SA should have brought already. He is wasting his time in France.
Boris would have been key to beating the Warriors. There's no way they would win in then next round without him. We already saw that in the one game they won against the Warriors.
We couldn't have beaten the Warriors with 10 years younger Boris.
Definitely now more than ever players like LJC need to be in the NBA to see if they are ever going to make it. Playing against talent in ASVEL is counter intuitive because you only get as good as the talent you play and then its a rude awakening playing against NBA speed. If anything he should have been in the D League getting called up here and there for spot minutes.
If they do bring them over Spurs have to be willing to let them play through ups and downs, no way should he sit at the end of the bench playing only in garbage time. If Bertans can be a more athletic Bonner at the 3 or 4 I'm good with it. If ISO play is gonna be a thing now they definitely need spot up shooters from downtown.
It's the same concern I have. I think Spurs actually wanted to bring him over earlier but the guy was always injured. I though his injuries were on different legs so that he's been injured on each leg. Still he should be brought over and let's see what he has.
Truth! Boris or no Boris we advance to the next round we probably would have gotten swept. Teams that were successful beating GS this season were able to play long athletic lineups to match up with whoever they threw at them. Plus they could run with them and got stops when necessary. Portland/Milwaukee have a basic blue print of how to play GS.. Pester Curry with a guy with length or someone who can bomb with him, match up everyone with similar speed/size and keep running at them.
The ISO strategy would have backfired and lead to fast break scores left and right.
Wonder how his build is.. His frame looks pretty soft for a 3 or a 4
Agreed 100% on LJC. He should have been here, but he's still young. He can still be developed. If he turns into a dud fine, but he easily could have taken Ayers spot in the past while being a younger prospect with a potentially better ceiling. He still might. Someone described him as a potential Aminu like player (key word potential), guys like that have a place in the league.
Anyone who can come off the bench for 10 minutes a game, grab some rebounds, spot up and shoot in the corner or on the wing, ball fake a drive or has a decent jumper is worth a shot. He has length and athleticism enough to stay in front of most guys and switch on the pick n roll. It'll be a learning process to get to know the speed of the NBA and player tendencies but no time like the present.
He's a stick. He could be a better shooter than an overrated Austin Daye for example, who was once a 15th draft pick. I just can't tell about how compe ive he'll be and his awareness and feel for other parts of the game until he's here. I haven't watched full games from him, only highlights. Not a big rebounder or strong defender. Small ball 4 only if a 3, I think. LJC looks a lot stronger and capable as a defender, he's just not a shooter.... guys nay be flawed but you bring them over and let them compete for spots with Anderson and Lalanne. It needs to be done. All these guys have,size and different skill sets and we need spots. Diaw needs to be gone. With his personality and other interests sounds like he's ready to move on just fine.
Fixing someones shot is easier if they are willing to put in the work. Chip has taken many a player and helped them find a comfort to their shot while applying better shot mechanics so I'm confident LJC would improve.. As long as he has the work ethic he should at least be a rotational player off the bench which is fine since thats exactly what they need. One of the reasons why I also liked Thon Maker in the draft, raw 19 year old who has tons of upside if just properly groomed and surrounded by the right kind of people. In every interview I've read he seems to have a real sense of himself as a player and the knowledge that he won't be good right away and it will take work.
Blasted that we don't have that 2nd round pick now that we gave away for nothing since we dumped Ray.
The few times GS lost were flukey losses. The winning team could not have beaten GS in a series.
Problem is he could not put the ball on the floor or shoot. He has real hurdles offensively let's not kid ourselves. If ppl are complaining about Anderson lack of shooting and passiveness LJC would make them bonkers, what he does have is athleticism, size, defense. He should have been brought over to work closely on his shot, handles, post up and overall game. Let him go to the dleague same as they did with Anderson, Cojo to develop etc. I think Asvel didn't help him that much (he was injured too for a season, that didn't help either). I think they didn't bring him over bc he didn't make the improvements they expected but the guy is still developing.
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