They changed brands from Spalding to Wilson
First I've heard about a 'new ball'. I wonder what's so different about it.
They changed brands from Spalding to Wilson
Austrian Press Agency (APA):
https://www.facebook.com/JakobPoeltl...79071703574232Jakob Pöltl will get a bigger role in his sixth NBA season, the fourth with the San Antonio Spurs. The Texans have not only traded their top scorer DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls in the past few weeks, but have also let other veterans go. It is also up to Pöltl to fill the gap.
The Viennese, who is returning to the USA on Thursday after almost two months at home, is aware of this. “We lost some of our leading players - both in the dressing room and top performers on the field. It's no on the next generation, ”said Pöltl in an interview with the APA. It would be up to players like Dejounte Murray, Derrick White or himself to take over the team. "We have to take another step in order to lead the team."
Pöltl compared the situation with his second and final year of college in Utah (2015/16 season, note), when he had risen to team leader and was suddenly in focus. It does not require any special preparation. “Something like that happens naturally.” The 25-year-old, who has so far been noticed primarily as a strong defender in the North American professional basketball league, assumes that his point average will also go up.
In the past season, the center scored 8.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, but after being promoted to starter in February, it already scored double-digit points on average. "We saw the beginning last year, but it will hopefully happen more and more now," said Pöltl about his role as a scorer. The coaches had communicated to him that he had to take the next step - after all, some points had to be redistributed.
Pöltl will have his first NBA year without the DeRozan, with whom he had already played in Toronto and was traded to Texas in 2018. "It will be strange to play a season without DeMar," said the Austrian. He has developed a good understanding of his game over the past few years. Mills (now Brooklyn Nets) and Gay (now Utah Jazz) would also leave a big gap, both according to Pöltl as “emotional leaders” of the team.
The five-time champion starts the season starting on October 19th as a blatant outsider. "The good thing is that we can go in relatively without pressure," explained Pöltl. "I still believe that we have what it takes to play in the play-offs or the play-in tournaments." It will take time to get used to it. "When you lose so many important roles, you have to find yourself a little bit again as a team."
Pöltl is tied to Spurs for another two years. Playmaker Murray emerges as the leader of the Texans, with whom he trained and spoke intensively before his stay in Europe. Pöltl should form a powerful duo with the 24-year-old. Team training in San Antonio begins at the end of September. Pöltl flies from Vienna to Las Vegas on Thursday morning. After a few days of training on the fringes of the Summer League, you will continue to Los Angeles for individual preparation
https://www.facebook.com/JakobPoeltl...72672500880819
The defensive impact of Jak:
https://www.kens5.com/article/sports...5-61da11885220
Spurs' Poeltl ready to take on a leadership role, do more on the offensive end
SAN ANTONIO — Spurs center Jakob Poeltl will be entering the 2021-22 regular season looking to fill a much-needed leadership void left by veterans DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay.
The Spurs will enter the new season set to embark on a youth movement.
Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Lonnie Walker IV will be among the young players set to be the focal point of the team's rebuild with Poeltl embracing a leadership role.
Speaking with Austria's APA, Poeltl acknowledges the team will have to look to Derrick White, Dejounte Murray (the team's longest-tenured player) and himself for guidance next season.
"We have lost some of our leading players both in the locker room and top performers on the court. The next generation will now have to move up even more," said Poeltl.
Poeltl will be entering his sixth NBA season. By that standard, he will be among the few players on the roster with six or more seasons including Bryn Forbes, Doug McDermott, and currently Thaddeus Young and Al-Farouq Aminu.
Should Young and Aminu not be on the team's roster come opening night, then Poeltl will need to be a steady hand as a veteran player on a young Spurs squad.
"We have to take another step to lead a team as leaders," Poeltl.
Poeltl says the team doesn't have to face any pressure next season which will lend to the team having room to develop.
However, he feels the team is good enough for a playoff push or to make the play-in game next season.
"The good thing is that we can go in with relatively little pressure," Poeltl said. "I still think we have what it takes to play in the playoffs or the play-in tournament."
Aside from embracing a leadership role, the Spurs center also believes he will take a step forward on the offensive end.
Last season, he averaged a career-high 8.6 points per game. He says the team's coaching staff have talked with him about doing more on the offensive end of the floor.
And he is hoping that will come to fruition.
"We saw the beginning last year, but it will hopefully happen more and more now," said Poeltl.
The guy cannot even average more than 10 pts and he’s to take an offensive leadership role??
I want some nasty!
Yeah I like Poodle on defensive but he is not an Alpha type of dude - I don’t think he surrounds himself over the off season with good trainers as his offensive game has not improved at all since his first year and his free throw percentage was terrible up until the middle of the season tells me he is not working on his game.
Last edited by BackHome; 09-14-2021 at 10:28 PM.
Dude is to offense what Bryn Forbes is to defense. Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t finish unless he’s literally at the basket, causes his teammates to be double teamed or to pack the paint bc nobody has to worry about guarding him. I want him either off the bench or off the team
Did he suddenly learn to shoot?
or be a leader?
Poeltl is who he is. He will not get better at anything
He is a solid backup big man in today’s NBA and could be instrumental in certain playoff series. Unfortunately we are not a playoff team. I’d be selling high here as alot of playoff teams could use him to help match up with guys like AD, Embiid, Joker etc. On the Spurs as our starting center he just becomes another liability on a team with no scorers.
AD destroyed him. Embiid too as I recall. Think joker triple doubled him as the primary defender.
He got paid starter salary and should have gotten second team money.
Interesting that some people view Poeltl as a (permanent) non shooter, but think Chip would able to fix Ben Simmons. Poeltl's shooting has not improved one bit in three seasons. Nor has Lonnie's or Dejounte's or Luka's. Oh well-- the "kill em with mid range shooting" experiment failed spectacularly, so maybe next up we can try to kill em with non shooting .
That’s not even remotely true. He was a dreadful Drebounder when he got here, with a DRB% of like 16, his two years in Toronto. It’s been over 20% for his 3 years here. Is he going to be an All Star? No. He’s too hard a worker to not improve, though.
Dejountes FT% has gone from 70 to 79. That’s huge for someone who gets to the rim a lot.
He’s not paid as a starter.
22nd highest paid center.
He averaged 2 FTA per game while playing nearly 32 mpg, so I don't think it makes very much of a difference.
Poeltl can't guard post up bigs, that's one of weaknesses
Right, he's such a hard worker that he hasn't developed a post game or his free throw shooting in 5 NBA seasons...
The dude came into last season out of shape, couldn't make a free throw and sucked for the first month and half of the season. How tf is this guy considered a hard worker. Some people right
Others would be quick to disagree, but Poeltl is lazy and not even remotely close to “hardworker,” until the coaching staff lit up his ass and talk to him. There’s no question we signed Zollins, Londale who both have arsenals of offensive moves, not to mention can hit outside. Don’t look now, but Eubanks is closing in real fast. Too bad, Poeltl has the height and bball IQ but has the slacker at ude.
Shows you how much the C position has fallen off.
I’m really not defending Jak but he is not overpaid. There are many teams who could use him in a backup role for 20-25 mins a game. I was indifferent when we resigned him at this level but truthfully think he would be a nice piece to sweeten any potential trades. Thad Young, D White, Jak and Walker IV are all interesting trade chips from my perspective.
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