48MoH reader and Italian league season ticket holder Nicola Mezzadri submits this report on former Spurs draft pick Viktor Sanikidze, a player I once described as the Keyser Soze of international hoops. Viktor Sanikidze is the prototypical eastern European combo forward-lanky, fairly athletic and high-energy. He was also a teenager a lot of European [...]

Last night a friend reduced Summer League to its finest syrupy self with this statement: “After the offseason the Spurs have already had, they don’t need anymore All-Stars. They just need to upgrade their role players. I think they’ve done it.” The Spurs won last night’s contest, having too much talent and defense for the [...]

The talk surrounding last night’s game was DeJuan Blair, who registered a DNP. There are rumors of a contract stand off between the Spurs and Happy Walters (Blair’s agent), but I’ve talked with someone close to the negotiations and was told the talks are going well. The Spurs and Blair’s agent decided to sit him [...]

I just re-watched Sunday’s game, and my thoughts on the game run along the same line as Graydon’s, with one exception. Unlike Graydon, whose assessment found Ian Mahinmi lacking, I thought the Spurs’ big man played well. But of course the difference in our opinion owes everything to context-Graydon was evaluating Ian Mahinmi in the [...]

During the 2nd quarter of Sunday’s Spurs Summer League game, Dennis Lindsey gave an insightful interview to Joel Myers, who had the game call. An transcript is not available, but LJ Ellis has summarized the interview in a set of talking points. He’s given me permission to reproduce his notes here. The Spurs are sometimes [...]

Last summer George Hill looked dreadful and Malik Hairston was a veritable ghost at summer league. James Gist, on the other hand, played like a stud and was rewarded by a contract….in Italy. The Spurs signed Anthony Tolliver in his place. Elsewhere the Spurs whiffed on Corey Maggette and Jannero Pargo, and smart guys like [...]

The Spurs put ink to paper a few hours ago. They’ve officially signed Marcus Haislip and Malik Hairston. Haislip was expected. Hairston is a little bit of a surprise. I’ve written early and often about Hairston, boring you with his name since the beginning of last season. The odd thing about the signing is its [...]

Rikiddo, Pounding the Rock sage and friend to this site, has done a nice job breaking down the Marcus Haislip signing. Between him and Graydon, there is little else to say until we actually see Haislip on the court. But still, I’ve scrounged together a few scraps from under the table. Think of this as [...]

The Spurs pursuit, or near pursuit, of Rasheed Wallace was granted Golden Calf status by many team followers, such as myself. Wallace was a good fit, especially because of his ability to defend the block and space the floor. What we wanted in Rasheed Wallace the Spurs once had in Robert Horry. It’s what the [...]

The Spurs have announced their summer league roster. The team will be coached by Don Newman. Malik Hairston, G

Add James Gist to the list. He reports to San Antonio on Sunday. And all the people said amen. (HT: Bruno)

The Spurs do things differently. We all know this is true, but it helps to stop and check the score once in awhile. One thing that sets the Spurs apart from other teams is there use of the Austin Toros and international leagues as part of their player development. “Yes, I know,” you say. “Why [...]

The Spurs have 3 second round selections in the 2009 draft, number 37, 51 and 53. Most of us would agree that their position of greatest need is small forward. So in the initial weeks of our draft discussions, I’m going to focus more heavily on that position. But honestly, I’m pretty excited about this [...]

In their Macrophenomenal Almanac, the Free Darko crew warn us about The MONGP: The Myth of the Next Ginobili-Parker. They write:

In this morning’s (much longer) post about Drew Gooden and the Spurs frontcourt, I mention James Gist in passing as a long shot combo forward. Why would I use that term? And is he any good? Several weeks back I had the opportunity to speak with Antonello Varallo, who covers the Italian League for Eurobasket. [...]