Comments on: The Evolution of Marcus Haislip

By: Jones

Jones — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:46:19 +0000

I think the two big factors for minutes are:

1. How much Pop wants to rest the Big 3

2. How serious Pop is about opening up the offense to include more fast break.

If Pop is committed to running then we should see a decent amount of Hill and Blair (for rebounds), with some Haislip and Ian, depending on how well they play. At the same time Pop wants to improve defense, so no one knows how this is going to balance out. It may be a split-personality team depending on the lineup. If Tim is in the game I imagine the pace will be slower. Once he leaves it could potentially speed way up.

By: SpursfanSteve

SpursfanSteve — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:59:26 +0000

Pop has mentioned several times he sees Blair contributing right away. I think he will get more minutes than Bonner, and he may even start at the 4 (especially towards the end of the season), depending on whether they elect to bring Dice off the bench or not. This is of course assuming they keep Timmy playing the 5 most nights. Technically Bonner was our center for large parts of last year, but realistically, it was Tim.

By: Anton

Anton — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:43:56 +0000

I really like that the Spurs have reached a level of front office success that, merely by virtue of being brought in by Buford and Big Poppa, I assume a player has been criminally undervalued for years.

What I’m saying is, I assume Haislip will average a double-double.

By: zainn

zainn — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:37:54 +0000

by the way gmt, I think grizzly blair is a good fit to be dejuan blair’s nickname in this league. It fits his body and personality

By: sj_papi

sj_papi — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:32:57 +0000

In all the bonanza this off season, I was curious about this pickup. I surely got exited seeing all the you-tube clips, but when the SPURS added Ratliff and Bogans, I knew that any minutes Hailsip may have gotten were quickly slipping away. He mentioned that he left the NBA because he wasn’t getting enough minutes… well, welcome back Marcus. If he makes the final roster, minutes will be few and far in between. It’s a shame really because the idea of him running down the court with our guards added something the SPURS haven’t had in a while: an alley-oop big. Look what a scrub like Tyson Chandler was able to do being on the receiving end of those from CP3. I really hope he finds a way to show off his skills during camp. This guy really seems to have the 3 things the SPURS wanted the most: youth, energy, athleticism. The “Birdman” element is something our team could really use. I’ll be pulling for him.

By: GMT

GMT — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:39:56 +0000

I’m thinking that Haislip will be getting more minutes than Mahinmi, and some will be from Bonner. Although we all expect good things from Grizzly Blair, I think 14 might be a bit much, maybe more like 11. Manu might get a minute or so less than 27, and you have an extra player, but of course we don’t know who will get cut at the moment (Hairston, Williams?).

What really has me wondering is what those few nights when Timmy and maybe Manu gets to rest will be like.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:32:43 +0000

Chris,

Don’t forget that if we sit Duncan on back-to-backs then that leaves another 30 minutes of playing time during those games.

I’d like to give the bench some solid time at the beginning of the season and maybe sacrifice a few wins so that they’re more capable during the postseason.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:31:17 +0000

I think a lot of people assume the minute division you have presented. I see guys like Haislip as an effort to counter guys like Odom. Ratliff to get Bynum into trouble? Some of these guys were to yes, make us deeper, but also to address specific needs. As stated in the article, here is a guy who defends face up bigs all night for a few years. He’ll have his role to fill, depending on who we play. Thats what the reg. season is for, figuring who plays with who best as a rotation and who against who as a matchup. This is why I don’t see Hairston or some of the other mentioned guys getting spots on the roster, let alone PT. The question is, will the FO package some of the short term-deals to try to get another quality player, when Pop decides everyone role and what pieces fit with which?

By: Robby

Robby — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:25:54 +0000

Tim,

Nice interview, hopefully he can get more minutes and play good defense. Not to mention some dunks! can’t wait for the season to start.

By: Crow

Crow — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:28:49 +0000

It is the deepest the Spurs have been in several years.

I can pretty much see your minute division Chris K. except I might expect Jefferson is to be 5 minutes less and maybe Mason too and that creates some minutes for some of the other guys, in garbage time and some overall easier nights.

If Jefferson does play the most and shoulder a large load I guess he’ll be playing the role of saving wear n tear on the other guys. Til the playoffs. I could see his minutes and touches going down then in some cases but it depends on match-up.

By: Phife

Phife — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:55:48 +0000

Hopefully Haislip gets some (all if he can hit the 3) of Bonner’s minutes. I have a feeling Pop gets Bogans 5-10 minutes a game depending on the night and personnel on the floor for the opponent. Blair may get around 15 mins a game, but if my memory serves me right Pop hates playing rookies…especially rookie bigs. Pop better get after Haislip in camp; when he’s yelling at you it means he sees potential.

By: Chris K.

Chris K. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:47:44 +0000

Actually, I went over by one minute, so subtract one from somebody.

By: Chris K.

Chris K. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:39:33 +0000

Minutes/game will go up for bench guys when a starter inevitably gets a night off for rest or injury, but if everyone is healthy, how much will they play? Just looking at guy’s minutes/game from last year and their career, and guessing as to this year, led me to this distribution:

RJ: 33 minutes (down from last year with Bucks)
Tony: 32 minutes (down from last year)
Tim: 31 minutes (down from last year)
Manu: 27 minutes (same as last year, less than career average)
McDyess: 24 minutes (down from last year with Pistons)

I think Richard Jefferson may lead the team in minutes this year. With Pop giving Tony some rest early on, and making noise about how great George Hill is doing, RJ may end up being the team leader in minutes at Tony’s expense.

I figure those will be the guys who get starters minutes, even if Roger Mason is the starter at SG. With those minutes for “starters”, it leaves 93 minutes for everyone else. Let’s count them down!

Mason: 20 minutes (down from last year [30mpg])
Hill: 15 minutes (up from last year [6mpg])

Last year, JV and Hill combined for about 16 mpg at the back up pg spot. Hill has to get almost all of Vaughn’s minutes + his own from last year, right?

Finley: 14 minutes (down from last year [29 mpg])

Who is going to be the back up SF? It seems like Pop is committed to giving Finley a role on this team, and it almost has to come at this spot, though by cutting his minutes from last year by more than half.

Bonner: 14 minutes (down from last year [24 mgp])
Blair: 14 minutes
Mahinmi: 8 minutes
Ratliff: 5 minutes (down from last year [12 mpg] though he only played 46 games)

If Duncan and McDyess are manning the 4-5 spots for a combined 55 minutes/game, that leaves only 41 minutes/game for big guys behind them.

Hairston: 4 minutes
Haislip: 0 minutes
Bogans: 0 minutes
Williams: 0 minutes

Four minutes is all these four guys have left for them.

By: Jaceman

Jaceman — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:17:26 +0000

I’m going to come out and say this; I think Marcus Haislip’s ability or lack thereof to keep up in the NBA is going to be pivotal for the Spurs. The big issue is can he become the next Robert Horry? Can he add those intangibles? While it’s nice to talk about the other guys, like Mahinmi, like Blair, and the other young guys, I think a lot of the Spurs’ season and post season success hinges on how well Haislip’s game translates over.

By: Chris K.

Chris K. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:09:40 +0000

I’m really interested to see what Pop does as far as minutes. I’d love to see a post by Tim on this.

Depth is great, but you can’t have more than 5 guys on the floor at a time. Some of these guys we are excited to see might hardly touch the floor unless there are injuries (knock on wood there are none).