Rudy Gay on Lonnie Walker: "He needs reps, he needs to play and he's a of a talent, he just has to just get older and smarter."

[Mugen]

I think he's between a rock and a hard place with these minutes restrictions on DJ and DW. I think he's probably more pissed with Lonnie than he otherwise would be because Lonnie could have been the solution to that.

I think throwing Lonnie out there helps neither the young man himself, or the Spurs. Offense isn't the problem on this team. SA's ORtg is #9 overall, in spite of the fact that we shoot very few 3s. Our DRtg, however, is #22, and Lonnie won't help that by repeatedly failing to pick up his man in transition.

I think we have 5 shooters dropping 3s at a rate greater than 35%, and only two of them, Derrick and Lyles, are not minus defenders. That means either your offense suffers from spacing or your defense takes a hit.

I'd like to see White in the SL, but that leads to more of the Bryn/Patty combo if Bryn is coming off the bench. With the minutes restrictions in place, you're just shuffling deck chairs on the anic. There isn't a really good solution until the restrictions are off.

I still disagree with you on White being on a minutes restriction (why not just come out and say it?) as well as your overall sentiments on Lonnie. I think throwing him out there is exactly what he needs to get better and not for 2-3 minute stints where he's pulled for the slightest mistake. Look, if you want to call him out in public after the Clipper game fine. But give him a shot in the next 3-4 games, don't bury him on the bench. Him rotting on the bench watching Beli, Forbes, and Mills get absolutely roasted but still get minutes isn't going to make him go "Gee, I guess Pop was right about what I need to do get minutes on this team..."

I'd argue that every shooter outside of White is a liability (Lyles rebounds and that's it tbh).

Agree that offense isn't the problem right now. It's defense. If spacing will become an issue that needs to be worked out in exchange for not getting killed defensively, you live with it.

There's a better chance of Lonnie/DWhite becoming threats from outside than Forbes/Beli/Mills becoming something other than complete liabilities on defense.

I thought Pop would have seen enough of that from last year but apparently he still needs to see more even though we are 11 games in.

Anyway - appreciate the response.

[Mugen]

Much ado about nothing? The guys probably like Lonnie and want to prop him up. Hard to tell if it’s anything beyond that without hearing the question and hearing the tone.

But the comment about him just needing to get “older” was pretty funny.

But I do wonder if the guys see players like Beli who they know sucks get minutes bothers them?

How could it not? If Beli is hitting shots then you live with his terrible D but he's literally not even giving you that and he's had 11 games to do so (18 if you go back to last year's playoffs).

If I'm kicking out to an open Beli only for him to clank it then I have to go cover up his bull on defense too, and it happens game after game with zero accountability...yeah I'd be pissed.

[poopbox]

People in here talking about how Lonnie plays where we have barely seen him play

You guys need to get off the internet and go be nba scouts if you can watch somebody play for 17 minutes over 10 games and know exactly what type of nba player he is

[Kurgan]

I'm not the biggest fan of Lonnie but the reason he's not getting playing time has nothing to do with his basketball ability. If that were the case, Marco(who's clearly not an NBA player anymore) wouldn't be receiving any minutes. This is chain of command bull meant to humble the rookies and remove any semblance of at ude or ego. PATFO probably concluded that starting Kawhi in his rookie season was a mistake that eventually led to his departure from the Spurs so they're making sure any future star they develop is a loyal soldier.

[DPG21920]

I think he's between a rock and a hard place with these minutes restrictions on DJ and DW. I think he's probably more pissed with Lonnie than he otherwise would be because Lonnie could have been the solution to that.

I think throwing Lonnie out there helps neither the young man himself, or the Spurs. Offense isn't the problem on this team. SA's ORtg is #9 overall, in spite of the fact that we shoot very few 3s. Our DRtg, however, is #22, and Lonnie won't help that by repeatedly failing to pick up his man in transition.

I think we have 5 shooters dropping 3s at a rate greater than 35%, and only two of them, Derrick and Lyles, are not minus defenders. That means either your offense suffers from spacing or your defense takes a hit.

I'd like to see White in the SL, but that leads to more of the Bryn/Patty combo if Bryn is coming off the bench. With the minutes restrictions in place, you're just shuffling deck chairs on the anic. There isn't a really good solution until the restrictions are off.

Wait, you think Lonnie, even with his mistakes, would be worse for the defense than Beli has been? Because eve if Lonnie loafs it sometimes, he’s still better than Beli on defense.

[R. DeMurre]

No one denies the potential. It's the realization of that potential that is in question.

He's at a crossroads. He could be Jamaal Crawford, a bench gunner and turnstile on D who's been in the league forever, and never even been a All Star, let alone considered for All NBA. Or, he could be a true beast and monster, a two way player at the highest level, something like Westbrook who can shoot and willingly D up. It's up to him to accept the challenge, and Pop is trying to turn him down that second path.

People here up a storm because all DD does is score the ball, and let his man score equally and pretty easily. That's exactly the path that Lonnie is on right now, and what Pop is trying to divert him from.

I guess the disconnect here is that DD leads the team in mpg, and Forbes is 3rd. If the lessen is that you need to D up to earn minutes, it's not a lessen being adhered to with any consistency. In last year's playoffs Pop was supposedly upset with the D of Davis Bertans, but I have to say the fact that Bertans had difficulty with a burly vet like Milsap is about the least surprising development imaginable... but again, DD's defense was predictably atrocious and he led the team in playoff minutes. I guess my issue with DD is that he IS a Jamal Crawford/Lou Williams type of player, not a max player superstar, but Pop still plays him like a max guy. The Spurs won't win a championship with DD as the #1 minutes guy, so why not give Walker more live minute experience?