As far as the bigs, Mahinmi will continue to improve and played way better against DEN. Alot I believe to it to him feeling more comfortable and it not being his first competitive game in a year. He is a great investment because he will continue to develop and still is only 22.

I think if the Spurs feel that they are in need of another big man, that they will give a good look at Gooden after summer league is over. Regardless of what people say about his IQ, he’s familiar with the system and can provide solid offense, and improve on defense. However I hope that things work out with the current bigs that we’re trying to develop and test now.

But thanks for your comments about the Bigs situation.

NICK (Italy). Great comments. In retrospect, sitting the four in Denver midseason didn’t really matter much in the playoffs, did it?

Indiana is developing a reasonably good and young core, but they simply do not have anyone outside Granger and Dunleavy (I hear he will miss the better part of the season) who can score with any consistency. That’s why they run so much (at least when I watched them).

They have an impressive bunch of decent/good defenders (Jones, Foster, Hibbert, Rush). However, they are all (add Rasho) a little bit weak on transition D, which is what you should be good at when you run so much.

That’s why I think they won’t be good, but I may be wrong, though.

I disagree about Indiana going to be a weak team next year, they are really starting to develop as a team with Hibbert Hansbrough Rush Granger Ford and Jones from the Nuggest. They went 5-0 in summer league and I think will be the surprise team in the East.

As far as finding another center, I dont believe is necessary because now the Spurs have a lot of young athletic talent in Haislip, Blair, Mahinmi. I mean unless the Spurs get Oberto back, I think it would be more productive to develop these players behind Duncan and McDyess, and keep Bonner at the 4.

I actually agree with you, but I basically assume that such a player (6-10 or more, athletic, only devoted to man to man D and good for 15 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 6 fouls, who has short stints trying to slow down and wear down an offensive 7 footer) will be basically available until the trade deadline.

I think it is more useful to spend the first months of the season trying to develop Blair, Haislip and Mahimi by making them play and, if by the end of December, there is no sign that they can play, sign a FA or get a vet player in a trade.

Let’s consider that, in the west, the only contender I can see with a truly offensive gifted center is LA (Gasol and Bynum). Yao simply won’t probably be there, Mavs have Dampier, the Nuggets have a good but not excellent 5 in Nene, Portland has Oden who still has to figure how to stay on the floor, NO has Chandler and seems willing to deal him anyway, Utah has a perimeter oriented 5 in Okur…

ChillFAN,

I definitely share your mileage concern and I think the Spurs should prevent Duncan and Ginobili to play in back to back games.

I also think that, since it appears that this year there will be some really weak teams (Milwaukee, New Jersey, Indiana, New York, Memphis, Minnesota, Clippers, Sacramento, Oklahoma City) it is not unthinkable that at least Tim and Manu skip some additional regular season games.

It may be not so respectful for fans, but saving them 10 or 15 regular season games could make a huge difference.

However, such possibility largely depends on how the youngs develop…

A: “Yes, but Not Necessarily 7-foot” because I’d rather have an athletic Big than an Oberto retread. Or, Bigs that Pop will actually play, as Italian Nic mentioned.

The Spurs went with 4 Bigs for most of last season, so it depends on where you categorize 6-7 Blair in totalling how many you Bigs you can project on the Spurs roster. Finally, my TWO CENTS: we need 4 players bigger than Blair on the day to day roster because of the mileage risks with TD and Dice. In June 2010, their combined age is 69!

TD, Dice, Bonner are “in,” but whether Ian or Gist can shoulder legitimate minutes this season is a huge question mark. If I’m the front office, I showcase people in the Summer League and make a trade that nets me one more veteran front court player and maybe even gets me under the cap. We don’t need to develop a player that Splitter will replace in a year anyway.

lvmainmain, I wouldn’t object to the Rasho Renaissance, but Chris Mihm is not the answer. For a team wanting to win now, wouldn’t Drew Gooden help? Melvin Ely and Jarron Collins are not true 7 footers, but would either be more dependable than Ian? Look, I really want to see Ian Mahinmi/Gist/Blair blossom this season, but is the same head coach who stuck with J.V., suddenly going to depend on two rookies for front court minutes? Doubtful. And as I asserted, Dice and TD can use all the minute reduction we can afford this season.

Leaving Blair, Bonner, Haslip, or Mahinmi to deal with the 6 to 12 minutes left of the 48 minutes of center played by Shaq/Z, Dwight Howard/Marcin Gortat, Yao, Bynum/Gasol, Perkins/Wallace, Oden/Pryzbilla, Nene/Martin. That is a serious mismatch and extreme hindrance for the Spurs to try and overcome those matchups at the center position for a possible championship.

Signing a 7′0″ like Rasho Nesterovic or Melvin Ely, Chris Mihm, or Jarron Collins for those matchups would be the icing on the cake for this offseason.

any idea why Blair didn’t play today? i heard a rumor that says he wouldn’t play until he signed his contract…. hope this is not true… by the way spurs won 78-76 against denver… another solid game for hill and hairston… Ian was good also 12pts 16 rebounds but 10 fouls! oh well… good thing theres no “6 foul and out rule” during summerleague…

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