A Look at the Austin Experiment in Houston
Over the course of the season Gregg Popovich has shuffled through 20 different lineups with varying degrees of success, or in the case of Friday night’s lineup, lack thereof.
A degree in advanced NBA statistics or a talk with Wayne Winston isn’t necessary to conclude a box score in which three of the five starters read zeros across their stat lines is a failure. Duncan scored 17 points in the first half, and the Spurs were still out of contention in the game.
In a previous post discussing DeJuan Blair I wrote that players that can absorb NBA minutes is a valuable commodity over the course of a long season, even if they are not part of the playoff rotation. With the continued inconsistencies of some our veterans it’s getting harder to argue players like Michael Finley or Keith Bogans still have that ability. So do we have anyone else on our roster who can?
The Spurs have invested a lot of time and resources into the Austin Toros, conceivably to develop such players. Yet Friday’s garbage time (against the Rockets’ starters) was one of the few times we have seen Malik Hairston and Ian Mahinmi get extended run in a meaningful game.
There probably isn’t enough of a data sample for Winston or any other statistical analyst to conclude that either are viable rotation players, but there are a few things we can take a look at in Hairston and Mahinmi’s limited run. So what did they do with their time?
- Hairston entered the game in the third quarter with 5:54 remaining and the Spurs trailing 72-49 after a pair of free throws. On his first play he received a swing pass and immediately drove by Luis Scola, who was caught rotating out to him, for a layup.
- After drawing an offensive foul on a Rockets’ moving screen, Hairston was involved in a pick and roll with Blair that resulted in a pass with no advantage, or no gain.
- Near the 4:30 mark in the third quarter the Rockets set up a dribble handoff between Scola and Kevin Martin, only Hairston (who is defending Martin) comes up too high, too early and loses Martin on a backdoor cut. Bonner, recognizing the action, switches to Martin, which would have been a disaster of a matchup if Hairston doesn’t foul Scola before a pass is made. Scola makes both free throws.
- Hairston is then presented with a pick and roll opportunity with Blair at the top of the key. Scola shows on the screen but as Martin recovers, Hairston uses a simple left to right crossover to get a layup.
- On the Rockets ensuing offensive possession they isolate Martin and Hairston on the wing. Martin makes a wild spin move at the elbow, creates no separation and is blocked by Hairston.
- The Rockets run pick and roll action with Brooks/Hayes defended by Mason/Bonner. As Brooks begins his penetration, Bogans rotates over from the weak side to protect the baseline, leaving Blair on Scola (top) and Hairston to account for Martin (wing) and Budinger (corner). Hairston fails to rotate or close out on Martin, who hits the wide open three.
- On the first play of the fourth quarter the Spurs run a pick and roll between Bonner and Hairston. Hairston is able to turn the corner on Battier and draws enough attention for Blair to tip in the rebound uncontested.
- At the 9:30 mark in the fourth, the Rockets set up a triangle look with Battier holding the ball up top, Brooks/Mason on the wing, and Budinger/Hairston on the block. On the weak side, Scola is keeping Blair at the elbow, away from the rim.
Budinger leaves the block to set a back screen for Brooks and Hairston again shows too high, too early, as if he is denying an entry pass to Budinger. This leaves no backside help for Mason, who is taken out with Budinger’s screen with Hairston in no position to prevent the backdoor layup for Brooks. - Mahinmi enters the game with 7 minutes remaining and the score 96-81. The Rockets immediately go to a Brooks/Scola, Hill/Mahinmi pick and roll. Ian shows hard and forces Brooks to pick up his dribble and make a harmless pass to Martin several feet behind the three-point line.
Martin is then isolated on Hairston, drives left and travels as he tries to jump into Hairston to draw a foul. - With a little more than six minute left, the Rockets again go to the Brooks/Scola pick and roll, Ian and Hill again trap, forcing a harmless pass to Martin on the wing. Martin immediately drives on Hairston, who forces him into an off balanced shot that is blocked by a recovering Mahinmi.
- At the 5:28 mark Mahinmi and Hill trap another Brooks pick and roll, forcing him to retreat back to the halfcourt line where he makes a pass for no advantage. Later in the possession Scola posts Ian and scores on an up and under.
- 4:52-Mahinmi sets two poor screens but receives a pass in traffic on the move and finishes a three-point play.
- 4:32-Mahinmi bites on a jumper upfake from Scola and fouls him.
- 4:27-Hairston runs a screen and roll with Mahinmi, gets to the basket and misses the layup but follows his own miss.
- 3:10-Rockets go to the same combination pick and roll, this time on the wing. Mahinmi shows and halts penetration, but Brooks crosses Hill as he recovers and pulls up to hit a three.
- The Spurs then run a pick and roll with Mahinmi and Mason. Mahinmi finally sets a good screen for Mason, forcing the defense to collapse. Mason kicks it out to Jefferson, who attacks the scrambling defense while Mahinmi seals off the help defense for Jefferson’s uncontested layup.
- 2:35-Martin is isolated on Hairston again, never creates separation and is turned away by Hairston and Mahinmi.
- 2:29-Hairston steals a jump ball, draws a foul, misses both free throws.
- 2:08-Luis Scola slips the screen on the pick and roll but Mahinmi and Hill trap Brooks hard, forcing him to retreat and make a pass for no advantage.
- 1:50-Mahinmi taps an offensive rebound to the sideline, which Hairston saves to Hill for the score (105-98).
- 0:43-Mahinmi offensive rebound, fouled, 1-for-2 from the line.
- 0:08-Hairston offensive rebound and pass to Hill for three.
- 0:03-Mahinmi offensive rebound, tip-in.
Fans have been clamoring for an extended look at the Toros “Big Two” (their “Big Three” ended when the Spurs released Marcus Williams) for some time now, but did these performances merit an extended look?
Hairston is probably further along than Mahinmi in gaining a rotation spot, though one can still see why Popovich still hasn’t inserted him into the rotation. His team and pick and roll defense were exploited twice for backdoor cuts and once for a three-pointer.
Still, the Rockets isolated one of the league’s better scorers, Martin, on Hairston five times and came away with no points. Martin is considered an efficient scorer, even though his field goal percentage (9-24) can be terrible, because he can hit threes in bunches and gets to the free throw line.
Martin was 14-14 for the game from the line and the starting backcourt of Hill (6 fouls) and Bogans (four fouls in 14 minutes) each spent time on Martin contributing to that. Hairston, meanwhile, had Martin five times without fouling (no matter how hard Martin tried to draw one, or how bad he looked).
Offensively, Hairston was able to use his athleticism to get to the rim on straight-line drives but did not show much creativity. To fit into the Spurs system and contribute, he will have to show he has a catch and shoot game.
To be fair, in Austin he was shooting 41% from the three-point line, but there is a big difference in open threes in the D-League and in the NBA.
Mahinmi is still too foul prone (three in 10 minutes) to depend on and he still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of discipline in man-to-man defense. But oh that pick and roll defense. That was pretty damn impressive.
Brooks is one of the quickest guards in the NBA and he repeatedly torched the Spurs pick and roll defense through three quarters, often splitting the trap.
In Mahinmi’s time in the fourth quarter the Rockets involved him in five pick and roll situations, gaining only a marginal advantage on a Brooks three-pointer which is hard to fault Mahinmi with. The other four times Mahinmi and Hill were able to force Brooks to retreat or make a pass to no advantage.
Most fans think of Mahinmi in terms of shot blocking and protecting the rim, but it’s here that he shows the least discipline. But watching a seven-footer stay in front of and coral Brooks on the perimeter and then recover to the rim, that was a revelation.
Their games are flawed enough where it’s hard to project them in a playoff rotation or as consistent difference makers this year. But each provides an NBA skill that the rest of our rotation has lacked all season, and over the course of the long season with minutes occupied by players who haven’t been producing with them, that’s got to count for something.
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