Friday, May 1st, 2009...5:56 am
Viewer Guides for the Uninitiated
In his end of the season exit interview, Gregg Popovich said the Spurs’ front office plans to use the unusually long summer to…work. One of the first major scouting assignments he named was the Euroleague Final Four, which begins streaming today on ESPN360. Outside of the Bulls-Celtics series, it’s the most compelling basketball of the weekend. So, as a Spurs fan, there is reason to watch. Pop is watching too.
A couple of sites have put up excellent viewing guides. Ball in Europe is a must. It’s always the place to start with regard to the Euroleague, and they’ve really done their work this time. The guys over at The Painted Area put up a team-by-team analysis. Jonathan Givony contributes to the conversation here. And, finally, TrueHoop’s Kevin Arnovitz threw in with a preview of his own.
What could I possibly add? Not much. But let me make this Spurs-centric. There are players you’ll know and ones you won’t. You know Josh Childress. He’s actually pretty high on my Spurs wish list. He’s not an unthinkable target as a summer sign and trade, and you have to ask yourself if you’d rather the Spurs take on a huge contract for an older player like Vince Carter or simply overpay for a younger player like Josh Childress? It’s a conversation to have, but I don’t want to focus on known players. Instead, let me draw your attention to a couple guys you might not know.
The Three Point Shooting Big
Yiannis Bouroussis is the center for Olympiacos. He’s late to the game, not coming to basketball until his late teens. He’s big, he moves mechanically, and I’m not sure he has enough other stuff to overcome his athletic shortcomings. But boy oh boy does he produce. Quoting from the DraftExpress piece:
Bouroussis remains one of the most productive big men in European basketball on a per-minute basis, he’s averaging 23 points and 13 rebounds per-40 pace adjusted on 59% shooting from the field. He’s not particularly athletic, but has a massive frame which he uses to draw fouls at a terrific rate, and is a threat to score with his back to the basket, shooting jumpers from outside, or finishing pick and roll plays in the lane thanks to his excellent hands. He’s also an excellent rebounder, particularly on the offensive end. Talk out of Greece is that he’s interested in exploring his NBA options this summer, and as we’ve written on a few occasions in the past, he could be a very interesting free agent target for certain teams. We’ll be taking an in-depth look at him this weekend, and may try to pick his brain as well.
The Bull Dog Point Guard
It’s automatically assumed that the Spurs need to sign a big and small forward this season, and for good reason. They desperately need to upgrade at those positions. But I’m not convinced that point guard is not an issue. What? A recent Express News article suggested that the Spurs would like to continue to use Roger Mason Jr. at point guard next season, and George Hill seems to be a shooting guard. The Spurs really don’t have a reliable back up behind Parker. And let’s remember, he’ll need more rest next season after his national team work this summer. Maybe the answer is Mason Jr. and Hill. Maybe something unlikely happens, like Marcus Williams emerges as a useful point forward. Maybe the Spurs draft a player like Sergio Llul—who, you’ll soon find out, I’m high on, as well. And we all know there is strong chance Pop finds some excuse to resign Jacque Vaughn. But let’s look at our Euro options.
The Spurs overall defense was not as tough last season. George Hill offers as much hope as Bowen’s age causes concern. One task for the Spurs this season is upgrading their defensive personnel. They couldn’t find a better defensive point guard than Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos. DraftExpress, yet again:
Defensively is where Diamantidis really earns his paycheck. We can’t describe his efforts here any better than our very own Luis Fernandez already has last summer…”A nightmare match-up, Diamantidis’ strong 6-5 body and his endless arms are usually all over his opponents. He’s not an athletic freak, but he’s still nice in this area and a player who makes the most of it. Extremely active, and extremely smart in his efforts, his positioning is close to perfect, being equally good in man-to-man defense or team defense. He’s awfully hard to beat given his length and lateral quickness, he stays physical on his opponent, but doesn’t get obsessed with his match-up and gladly helps his teammates, either on the perimeter or the paint, but at the same time he’s capable of recovering to his man very quickly. Not risking his positioning, he’s always alert enough to come up with a steal in the passing line, while he’s also not a bad shot-blocker (leading his team in the Euroleague this past season in this department).”
As I said earlier, you can watch on ESPN360. The games will be available for replay through tomorrow afternoon.
Barcelona vs. CSKA Moscow 11:55am
Olympiacos vs. Panathinaikos 2:55pm
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12 Comments
May 1st, 2009 at 11:00 am
I would think the Spurs would do the obvious move and put Hill back as our backup PG. Continuing to play both Mason and Hill out of position is extremely counter productive. Our priority shouldn’t be finding another point guard, or even less likely, a star at point guard. We should focus on the forward positions because that is where we are old and thin. How is this not obvious?
However, in an alternate universe where all of our decisions are made to keep Finley happy, then a weird reverse-logic appears. If we try to find another SF then Finley wouldn’t get his minutes, so, yes, clearly, point guard should be our focus, despite the fact that we have one of the top point guards in the league.
May 1st, 2009 at 1:39 pm
[...] about Viewer Guides for the Uninitiated [...]
May 1st, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Hollywood,
The Spurs played Hill mostly at shooting guard-and even small forward-for the back half of the year. In the playoffs, he played a lot of shooting guard. Roger Mason Jr. was used largely at point over the back half. In one of Jeff McDonald’s end of the year pieces, he said the Spurs are hoping Mason Jr. will be more comfortable at point next season, having now spent some time in the system. I don’t necessarily like how that math computes, but, at least right now, it looks things are going in that direction. We’ll know more during summer league-what position will the Spurs have Hill at? This is one of those situations when I’m paying close attention to what is happening vs. what I think should happen. Until about a week ago I assumed the Spurs would simply move Hill back to point guard…
Regarding Diamantidis: he’s a superstar in Europe, but he’d be about average in the NBA. He’s no more than a staple rotation guy, and he’s a little older. But the 3 things he does really well would fit like a glove in San Antonio. He is a smart, low turnover point. He is a terrific 3 point shooting floor spacer. He can guard 3 positions. The fact that he is 6′5” at point is important too. We just saw in the NO/Den series that Chris Paul can bothered by physically imposing defenders. He’d help against Williams, Farmar, Kidd and Billups. Having him and Hill available for backcourt minutes would really improve the team’s overall defense.
Don’t hear me as lobbying for the guy. I’m not. But I could see the Spurs being interested in him. That’s all.
May 1st, 2009 at 2:38 pm
i really like how diamantidis looked in that video. If we could somehow grab him i’d be really happy with that. Also, it makes me half believe that the JV (Vaughn) will not stink up the bench any longer. Nothing against the guy, but his one million salary for dribbling up to halfcourt and giving it to Manu is a ridiculous investment (if you can call it that)
May 1st, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I don’t think the Spurs will attempt to sign any guards, at least not rotation guys. I think they’re comfortable with George Hill and Roger Mason Jr heading into next season.
I think the Spurs will primarily target a second best big man to get Duncan some help in the paint, and secondarily look for some help on the wing.
I know Popovich dropped Hill from the rotation for the playoffs, but I think Hill has shown enough to convince Pop that he’ll be able to handle the job next season.
I don’t watch European basketball but I hear a lot of good things about Bouroussis. A lot of people think he’d be a good NBA player.
Diamantidis? Nobody doubts his talent, but I thought he wasn’t interested in joining the NBA?
May 2nd, 2009 at 6:25 am
Dave,
The Greek players are loyal to the Euroleague. And after what happened with V-Span…
I don’t know one way or another about Diamantidis’ feelings toward the NBA. I tend to agree with you regarding the Spurs offseason plans-big and wing. Remember, I wrote this post as a Final Four preview for Spurs fans. That is, I wanted to say that there is reason for them to watch besides the entertainment factor. As I said in the post, my introduction of Diamantidis and Bouroussis was conjecture based on players who are contractually available, the Spurs roster, history, etc… For example, Siskaukas’ name has been tied to the Spurs in the past, but I didn’t mention because he seems, based upon the criteria above, like an impossibility this offseason.
My guess is that the Spurs are scouting the junior tournament more closely than the Final Four. Almost all the guys in the Final Four are known quantaties. The juniors are still emerging.
Regarding Bouroussis: he looks too slow for the Association; I’m not sure he could do anything other than foul on defense if he came to the NBA. I can see the Spurs looking at him because he’s good in the pick and roll and can shoot, but ultimately I wouldn’t expect anything there either.
Watching yesterday’s games, Pekovic and Papaloukas look like the cream of the crop. Siskauskas looks excellent too. But in the case of the latter two, I don’t think they’ll ever make the jump. Those ships have already sailed.
May 2nd, 2009 at 6:33 am
The thing about him is that he has some offense in the Euroleague and is defending against slightly slower, a little less athletic players-great players, but not quite as good if taken together. That all changes in the NBA. His offense would diminish, his defensive would receive strong challenge. I don’t think he be able to play for some teams. But if a team is looking for a smart, low turnover guy who can be depended on to run the half court and spell the starting point, then he’s attractive. His defensive ability is an added inducement. But, as I said in another comment, this is all heavy conjecture that was meant as a game preview, not an offseason prediction. I wouldn’t bet an old gym sock on his chances of becoming a Spur.
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 am
Tim,
It seems to me that a playmaker on both sides of the court like Diamantidis would really fit well as a filler for Manu in the event of further injury. From the video (obviously a limited perspective) it didn’t seem that he was able to create his own shot, but his defensive prowess and ability to run an offense while still being a threat from 3 would have been fantastic v Barea and Kidd while his size would provide an option against the J-Howard’s of the world. I think it would be a great pickup. It would allow us to ditch Vaughn, get the same 3-ball w/better defense than Finley and provide the same defensive utility as Bowen with more consistent offense. Am I making this guy to sound too good?
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:27 am
SAinSLC,
Yeah, you might be over estimating his value. But as I said in other comments here, it’s not an unthinkable thought. More on this come Monday.
Tim
June 5th, 2009 at 4:24 am
[...] weeks ago I wrote about two Euroleague stars for whom the Spurs could have interest, and one of those stars was Yiannis Bouroussis. Turns out others think so too. Maybe even the [...]
June 13th, 2009 at 6:16 am
nice additions to the spurs roster. bouroussis and diamantidis.
mr. b would be great inside with duncan. he will be the choke point while duncan block or go fo the defensive rebounds or they can switch.
mr. d is a valuable addition because as good as he can score, he can be a great defensive player - a far contrast to finley and bowen. he is also quick.
i really think there must a significant upgrade to the spurs roster or else they will surely lag behind in the standings come playoff time and lose homecourt advantage - a nice factor that can really help their championship run.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
[...] the summer we covered the Bourousis speculation from several angles. In May we identified him as a potential target. In June, we discussed not only the financial details of a potential signing but also the hidden [...]
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