Ty. Sobering analysis on Belinelli and Lyles. Two guaranteed roster spots who were expected to be rotational players. Opposite ends of their careers but same downward direction.
https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-san...s-oct-13-2019/
Good start. Ugly finish. Another preseason loss.
Ty. Sobering analysis on Belinelli and Lyles. Two guaranteed roster spots who were expected to be rotational players. Opposite ends of their careers but same downward direction.
As always, the prompt grades are much appreciated.
Marco Belinelli and "shot selection" probably shouldn't be used in the same sentence. I don't think he selects them at all, most of the time. He just takes them.
I could see how Lyles could be an NBA player if he was aggressive and hungry. But he isn't any of those things. Knowing his weak grasp on an NBA roster slot, if he can't get up for a game right now I don't think he ever will. I would love it if he surprised me, but I think his future in the league is short.
Apply pressure to Forbes and Mills, and they cough up the ball. That hasn't changed. Mills I cagey enough to ditch the ball to some poor unsuspecting teammate more often, and allowing them the privilege of getting the box score credit for the TO. Forbes more often does the honors himself. Couple their bad handles with their weak defense, and it's a formula for Spurs disaster. Apply ball pressure, take ball, get easy score. Rinse and repeat. The other teams have all scouted them and know that they can leverage those two to stage a comeback or extend a lead.
I liked Weatherspoon in college - he was one of the sleepers I hoped that the Spurs might get as an undrafted FA. I still like him. I'm sure he'll spend a lot of this season in Austin, but I think he'll stick. Spurs fans haven't seen the best of him, because he's been a very good 3P shooter, and I think he will be at the next level.
Keldon Johnson is the other side of that coin. I was vocally against drafting him. I tried to convince myself that he was going to be okay after watching SL. But his preseason showings so far have been weak. SL, just like G-League, is full of guys who play good but have some flaw that prevents them from making it at the next level. Johnson looks like he could be one of those. I hope not, but he's making me remember all the reasons I was against drafting him.
The other guy I cried for the Spurs to take off the undrafted refuse pile is Max Strus. The Celtics just gave him a 2-year deal, and he came out that night and shot 4-5 from 3P and lead all scorers. He's taller than Belli, and will be a better 3P shooter (maybe already is). With 'Spoon and Strus, the Spurs' 3P future would look a lot more bright.
^Maybe if Strus were shorter and had a bigger forehead they would've picked him up. Oh well.
Guess that makes timvp one too since he said himself there’s reasons for concern
Nope, that's not cliffjumping.
If you don't know the difference, I can't help you.
You can't wipe your own ass. Why would anyone think you could help them?
I know you hate facts, but let's talk facts. Are you saying Marco doesn't take a LOT of bad shots? Are you saying that you think Lyles is suddenly going to shine here in SA? You think Patty and Brynn are great ball-handlers? Or maybe you think the Spurs have plenty of 3P firepower that's going to magically appear once the regular season starts?
We'll see about Keldon Johnson, but what I've seen here in pre-season looks a lot like what I said about him before the draft. He had some good moments in SL, that's against SL compe ion isn't it? He hasn't shown me anything so far to convince me that he's better than what I said about him pre-draft.
Which part of what I said was cliff jumping? Be specific please.
You're a sad little man with a sad little life.
this is the kind of meltdown I'm talking about.
Look at what you just posted. That's your life. If you want to take a preseason basketball game that seriously there's no response but LOL.
The pelicans will be fun to watch. Especially as Zion gets more comfortable in the nba. (I’m not a big Zion guy but do think he’ll be a quality starter) The pelicans are a better team and will finish ahead of the spurs
I have always been a fan of Marco, but he needs to go. He's on the tail-end of his career and it's not ending well.
I like Weatherspoon.
Thanks for the write-up Timvp!
I don't think they'll finish ahead of the Spurs.
Zion is a beast. Could be the next Jordan if learns to post up. Too bad he got drafted by a team who makes poor decisions.
Seriously. He attacks 7 footers like Gobert and Poeltl with no fear whatsoever & shoots 70+% from the field.
Pop not even gonna give Lonnie walker a chance to develop. Playing scrubelinelli over him?
if it wasn't for Pau Gasol fracturing his foot, he'd still be our starting Center. That's classic Pop
Strus has been waived
Yep, saw that. It was a decision for the last roster spot, and Javonte Green's athleticism tipped the scale. They weren't disappointed with Strus - especially for an undrafted FA. Green is a high-flyer, and that's the fit the Celtics wanted. They paid Strus $415K, which is a lot better than the 2-way deal they first offered him.
The Celtics think they have enough shooters. The Spurs need some 3P help. I would love to see them pick up Strus and let go of Metu. Strus isn't going to be an All-Star, but he can shoot the 3.
Isn't Metu guaranteed? As an athletic body he is quite useful in practice , even if everybody knows he has zero chance of ever becoming an NBA player. Not much upside to cut a guaranteed contract to sign a fringe player whom Pop would never play anyway.
I guess that depends on how badly you think the Spurs need 3-point shooting. He made 113 of them last season, in 35 games. He made 4.8 3-pointers per 100 possessions. Bertans made 4.3, Mills made 4.1, Belli made 4.0, and Forbes made 3.7 per 100 possessions. The kid can shoot. I know that was college, but if they can get him a look, he can knock them down. He's a guy who could go off for 15-20 on any given night. The Spurs used to always have guys like that on their championship contending teams.
If you don't think that's important to this squad, in particular, I get it. You'd rather have an athletic body for practice than a shooter. We'll see if you still feel that way after a few losses where the Spurs get ruined by the 3P differential.
They have 4 players who can play center and 10 players who can play guard-wing, yet you think it makes sense to cut one of the former to add another of the latter.
I didn't build the ing roster. But I know that the only place Metu can play center is in the G-League. Everybody here screams about how he isn't even an NBA player, but you would rather hang onto him instead of a guy who we know can shoot from distance on a min contract?
Last year the Spurs took the fewest 3's in the league - 25.3 per game. People here whined like schoolgirls all season about it. This preseason, they've averaged 22.6 3PA per game. Their 3-pointers made were down from 9.9 last season to 9.0 this preseason. Maybe somebody will step up when the regular season starts. But if they don't, and the Rockets have double the number of made 3's per game this season, and Metu is glued to the bench, neither of you better say a damn word.
BTW - pretty sure I remember you saying that Metu would never be more than a 4th big, and that 5th would be success for him. You don't believe he'll get minutes on this team, you just like to argue.
Pretty sure they only paid him $50k.
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