It would appear that the biggest source of San Antonio Spurs fans “backup quarterback syndrome” is ready to sign with the place that seemingly invented it-Dallas. Ed Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Dallas Mavericks are close to signing Spurs free agent center Ian Mahinmi: Mahinmi (6-11) played 26 games for the [...]
AT&T CENTER-George Hill made his triumphant return to the starting lineup. Tony Parker, starting on the bench, followed shortly after in reaffirming that the Spurs backcourt rotation is more than Manu Ginobili and company. Playing together for the first time since March 6, Parker and Hill managed to sidestep any questions as to who should [...]
European basketball site In the Game is running a long list of APM observations regarding some of Europe’s best players. Regarding San Antonio Spurs draftee Tiago Splitter, they write:
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 [...]
Last week we ran a series of features exploring three options for the Spurs: Make no move; make a minor roster move; and make a major roster move. There was supposed to be one more- a post arguing that we should make moves focused on future seasons- that for various reasons was never published. After [...]
As a bench player in basketball, you’re told the best way to earn playing time is to play hard in practice and make the most of the minutes you’re given during the game. If this is the mantra that Coach Popovich subscribes to, on Sunday night Ian Mahinmi earned himself some more minutes, somewhere down [...]
Some of you may have seen this already, but who cares? You can watch it again. Isn’t Ian easy to like? So stinkin’ happy, and all for a little burn.
The Spurs beat the Nets in a game that many saw as a yawn in between contests against the Mavericks and Lakers. And the 97-85 victory certainly reads that way: playoff bound Spurs cruise past the woeful Nets; Tim Duncan plays an easy 27 minutes. If you’re looking at the big picture stuff, this game [...]
Okay. This one has taken me by surprise. When the Spurs declined Ian Mahinmi’s contract option, I didn’t expect it to mean he wouldn’t play. You know, as in not at all. Zero minutes through 25 games.
During the offseason, I suggested that the Lakers had begun a movement of super-contenders by changing the model for winning an NBA championship from 3 stars and a bunch of role players to a 5 star, get-out-our-way template. To make this thesis work, I considered Andrew Bynum a star player. Many readers took exception. “Andrew [...]
Through five games, the San Antonio Spurs are consistently getting beat on the boards. They currently rank 25th out of 30 teams in rebound rate. The Spurs are the 18th worst offensive rebounding team in the league; they’re ranked 27th in defensive rebounding rate. In terms of raw numbers, San Antonio is losing on the [...]
Ian Mahinmi’s career continues down a challenging path. French language sources are reporting that the Spurs will not exercise their option on Mahinmi. I spoke with Bouna Ndaiye, Ian Mahinmi’s agent, and confirmed the French language reports. What does this mean for Ian Mahinmi and the Spurs moving forward?
There are two things to know about Theo Ratliff. The first is that he’s not durable. He’s played a (near) full season of basketball only once this decade. In the most recent two seasons, he played 26 and and 46 games, respectively. This first set of numbers should give fans a sense of how the [...]
Richard Jefferson asserted himself as a full-fledged member of the Spurs last night. He gave Spurs fans a taste of the exotic during last night’s game by receiving a pass in the corner and blowing past his man for an at-the-rim finish. It’s been awhile since San Antonio crowds have witnessed such athleticism from their [...]
San Antonio Spurs fans were treated to a deliciously entertaining intersquad scrimmage this afternoon. A note of caution before proceeding to a list of takeaways: this was merely a practice. Don’t read too deeply into the tea leaves. It was helpful to see the Spurs play, but far from definitive. My thoughts:
