Friday, July 17th, 2009...4:39 am
Summer League Notes: SA vs. OKC
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 over matched Thunder. But the final score of 85-76 is hardly important.
Don’t look now, but the San Antonio Spurs have an embarrassment of young talent. George Hill and DeJuan Blair are easily rotation players in the NBA. Last week I might have softened that statement, but there is no need for that kind of downplay this morning. If the Spurs needed to upgrade their role players, they’ve done it.
What is most impressive about Hill and Blair is their ability to do the little things that will compliment San Antonio’s star core. Blair is a much better passer than I’d imagined. My favorite play of the game was a simple high post feed from Blair to Ian Mahinmi. Blair took a moment, sized up the defenders, and gifted Mahinmi with a soft, accurate ball that was converted into a trip to the line. Blair, much too my surprise, has legit NBA post moves as well. He’s not all rebounds and big smiles. He’ll prove a value commodity off the bench.
George Hill is transforming into a point guard before our eyes. This was evident on a few perfectly executed pick and rolls, one of which found Blair cutting to the hoop for a monster dunk. But George Hill’s ability to run the point is more evident in shouting and arm waving. Hill is commanding the team on offense and defense, setting plays, directing traffic, and, when the need arises, calling his own number. In a word, he’s vocal.
Hill is a different player from a year ago. Through most of his rookie campaign, Hill struggled finishing at the rim and with his midrange game. No longer. Hill has finished multiple plays above the rim this summer, punctuating them with emphatic dunks. He’s made the leap from a player with promise to one who is a threat to opposing defenses.
Just behind Blair and Hill stand Ian Mahinmi and Malik Hairston. While I’m not as confident in either of their ability to make the opening day rotation, there is no question they’re a valuable addition to the Spurs’ bench. Hairston is remade as a basketball player. He has been the team’s best shooter, quietly and confidently knocking down shots from all around the perimeter. And when the defense breaks the wrong way, he can get to the rim and finish with authority. Most importantly, Hairston played sensational defense for much of last night’s contest. He’s a bit undersized to guard small forwards, but makes up for it with grit and a deceptively good leap.
From courtside, Wayne Vore described the DeJuan Blair/Ian Mahinmi tandem as having gelled last night. They did look comfortable together, and their styles compliment the other. Blair is a brute. Mahinmi is quick and clever. Mahinmi has shown flashes of special talent on offense and defense, but his best attribute so far, one that should translate to the big league court, is his dedication to running the floor. He’s faster than most bigs, and he’s routinely beating his man end to end. Offensively, this accounts for his frequent trips to the foul line. Once he’s established early position, the defender is helpless. At least 3 of his trips to last night’s charity line followed wrap-up type fouls. To his credit, Mahinmi has enough polish in the post that its not simply a matter getting his work done early. But he plays best at high energy.
Having said this, the most intriguing thing about Ian is his lack of refinement. He’s still learning the game, and he’s still learning to control his body. At worst, the Spurs have a Fransico Elson quality big in Ian Mahinmi. But his ceiling is much higher. At 22, he has time to develop into the sort of bigman other team’s covet.
The most important part of this summer won’t be televised. What will these players-and Marcus Williams and Marcus Haislip-do between now and training camp. The Spurs could go into the season with a bench full of serviceable young 20 year olds at multiple positions. It’ll be interesting to see if Pop will roll that way, dedicating the first half of next season to their continued development. And, of course, whether the players give him reason to.
In some ways that approach makes sense. With Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, and the youngsters in the fold, the Spurs biggest challenge is mental. They’ll have to learn the system, and learn to play with one another, in the space between October and April. This will be Pop’s most challenging season as a coach. He can’t simply rely on the corporate knowledge of his vets. No. This year’s team will require much more from Popovich. It’s exciting to see so much wet clay on the wheel, but it’s also a mess.
31 Comments
July 17th, 2009 at 5:07 am
In my opinion, Mahinmi is already above Elson because he can catch the ball. I’m very intrigued by these four guys as well as Haislip. And not to jump the gun, but if we can bring Splitter over in a year, wow.
July 17th, 2009 at 5:21 am
I think that this year and next year could be the year that the spurs development system pays off. Hopefully the young guns get some playing time this year. I think if pop dedicates to play them every game by the end the year these guys will be ready for meaningful contributions in the playoffs. With the spurs getting Jefferson and McDyess hopefully they will be able to run out to some leads where they can play the young guys good minutes and allow them to learn from their mistakes.
July 17th, 2009 at 7:10 am
I’m greatly encouraged by the reports on the Summer League games. Let’s see how the performace of Hill and friends translates to the NBA.
July 17th, 2009 at 7:24 am
Tim,
Any concern that Blair and Mahinmi have a combined 0 assists through 3 games? Or that Malik Hairston only has 4 FTA’s on his 30-something FGA’s (especially with how many calls these refs are making)?
Some opposing starting guards have done very poor against us. I’ve watched the games, but I just don’t notice McClinton much. Is he playing the defense RC and Pop saw in him at camp?
Now that Gist has been to Europe, would it make sense to put him on the Toros just to have him closer and available for 10-day contracts? Are Beck and Lasme too good to be on the Toros?
July 17th, 2009 at 7:27 am
One point Tim makes that I especially agree with is that Pop is going to have his biggest coaching challenge in years.
The talent and depth on this squad are impressive. But both can only bear fruit if given the opportunity.
That means that the likes of Hill, Blair & Mahinmi and to a lesser extent Hairston, Haislip and Williams, are going to need some serious meaningful playing time throughout the season.
I can understand starting the season by playing guys like Finley and Bonner more minutes as the younger guys adapt to the system. We don’t want to sacrifice too many early victories in the learning process.
But for this team to achieve it’s goal this season (championship) and beyond (competing for championships in the post-Duncan/Ginobili era), those guys need to get the experience that only comes from logging significant minutes in competitive situations.
For Mahinmi especially, the front office needs to know whether to extend this guy. And they can only (at long last) learn that by throwing him in the pool to see if he can swim.
More generally, by about games 30-35, I’d like to see most of the above-mentioned guys in every game’s rotation. And it would be great if they are the glue of that rotation by about games 55-60.
I’d love, at the end of the regular season, to look back at the average minutes per game for the young players and see something like this:
Blair: 21-24 mpg
Hill: 15-18
Mahinmi: 12-15
Hairston: 10-14
Haislip: 5-7
Williams: 5-7
Imagine a second unit populated primarily of battle-tested, hungry, young, long-limbed athletes, perhaps anchored for a time by Ginobili & Finley. Potentially scary-good.
There is also the aside that their quality development could make jettisoning the tradeable tandem of Finley/Bonner less risky (loss of corporate knowledge and all).
I realize that we may need Bonner’s salary slot for the Splitter signing. But there’s no reason I can’t hope we could trade both mens’ expiring contracts for the expiring contract of an overpriced, underused insurance big man and a decent draft pick.
I’ve gone a little far afield here at the end. But my main point remains: Pop must commit himself, in a way that may not be that comfortable for him, to incorporating the young guns into the rotation quickly and consistently so that they can pay dividends come playoff time and beyond.
July 17th, 2009 at 8:01 am
One thing Pop has on his side that goes with your argument, Syndella, is that managing Duncan and Manu’s minutes this season is a serious priority. I first read about this idea here on 48MoH, but Pop could bench Duncan and Manu for 1 game of every back to back depending on which one matches up better against each team. With Manu and Duncan resting for games, there will be extra minutes for the young guys.
July 17th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Agreed BlaseE-
My minutes distribution argument was based on the assumption that Tim, Manu and even McDyess would all have their workload reduced this season.
It serves the dual purpose of keeping the “over 30″ guys fresh and giving the newbies major minutes.
I’m hoping that Tim doesn’t avg. more than 30 mpg this season and that he gets about a half dozen games off. I’m hoping that Manu gets the same # of games off and avgs. about 27 min.
With TP and RJ around, the need for the older gents to always put up big point totals is reduced.
Finally, I think 27 min. is about right McDyess too. Let Blair bang for 20+ mpg and keep McD fresh and healthy for the end of games.
July 17th, 2009 at 8:49 am
BlaseE,
The reason Hairston doesn’t get to the line is that he doesn’t create his own shot. Which is fine. He is very good at taking what’s given to him. That’s all we need from him, well that and good defense. I’m very optimistic about him.
Also, Blair may have zero assists, but like was said above, he can definitely pass and has been willing to do so. He’ll get some assists.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:19 am
Great game! We are really seeing that Dejuan Blair can play in the big leagues!
Ian Mahinmi Has had some very nice moves, including a little baby hook. He really has talent.
)
I’ve noticed that when he shoots free throws, He grins ear-to-ear. That’s always fun to watch. (plus he makes them
George Hill and Malik Hairston are much more athletic than I remember seeing them, slashing right to the rim.
So far Jack McClinton has been sort of a dud. (2 pts in 3 games)
Another little note, That announcer was hard to listen to because he could not say any of our players names right. He called James Gist: Jim Jist once. I thought he had George Hill’s name right, but in the 4th, he started calling him George Bell. “George Bell is now checking out of the game.”
He had a good voice, but could NOT pronounce names!
But anyway, it was a very good game.
Good work, Tim and Graydon
July 17th, 2009 at 9:21 am
I made a post earlier in agreement that Popovich should reduce minutes on the vets - Duncan, McDyess, Ginobili, in order to save them for the playoffs. And it would give youngsters - Hill, Blair, Mahinmi a chance to develop during the season.
For the 1st half of the season Popovich should give guaranteed minutes(To stifle his urge to play a vet or win a particular game). The same way people have a set percentage taken from paychecks to insure a contribution to retirement savings.
For example, Mason plays the 1st half of every qtr and Ginobili plays the 2nd half of every qtr. That limits Ginobili to 24 minutes a game. Or McDyess plays the 1st 6 minutes of the 1st 2 qtrs and the last 6 minutes of the last 2 qtrs(so he’s on the floor in crunch time). And Mahinmi gets the 24 min that McDyess isn’t on the floor for 10 games in a row and then Blair gets those minutes for a 10 game stretch in a row instead of Mahinmi. And any games that are blow outs, Ginobili and McDyess wouldn’t have to play the last 6 minutes of the game(That based on the set schedule, they would normally be on the floor, or maybe they sit the last 3 or even 2 min of a blowout).
Or guarantee that no matter what, Hill is the point guard for the last 3 min of the 1st qtr and 1st 3 min of the 2nd qtr. Same for the 3rd and 4th.
Maybe Popovich has to call more early timeouts, play more zone, do more double teaming, or run more set plays under a schedule of set minutes, but even that could be beneficial to the team as a whole in the long run.
Just a thought, especially with the depth and versatility of this years’ Spurs based on a great offseason.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:42 am
BlaseE - You’re right on about minutes. The need to keep certain guys fresh will force new vets (RJ & Dice) and younger players to receive more minutes to learn the system. My guess is that Parker will lead the team in mpg this season, as he is now the captain of the offense and as was pointed out on this site, the team is being built to play at his speed.
I also think that Pop noticed how much teams like Dallas played younger guys last season and even LA 2-3 years ago and how that always paid off late in the year. You still have to have healthy stars to win and advance but without proper role players you’re still gone by the 2nd round. That the bench will be full of young and athletic guys means that some early mistakes can be covered up by ability. It will be nice to have a handful of players on the roster who have plenty of space before they reach their ceiling.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:59 am
hill had 6 TOs…completely hidden stat.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:06 am
“But George Hill’s ability to run the point is more evident in shouting and arm waving.”
I never completely learn a subject until I try to teach it. It’s genius to make George teach the system to guys like Blair, McClinton, Lasme and Gist under live-play conditions. George will actually learn mroe than any of them.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Wow, this year our team will have too much talent in one team. I also believe that Hill will probably get about 20-25 minutes a game simply because (as shown with last season) pop liked to put hill as a combo guard with parker to increase speed and efficiency in the offense.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:38 am
The Spurs starting five — if Pop chooses to defeat his foes effortlessly — will be Duncan, McDyess, Jefferson, Ginobili, and Parker. Doing this right will be the key to the season: By getting an early lead on teams, perhaps even double-digit advantages that this lineup could definitely manage to do, the Spurs bench could see a heavy flow of minutes. The second team should thus be Hill, Mason, Finley, Blair, and Haislip.
(The signing of Marcus Haislip, to me, means that the Spurs are leaning towards his veteran, international savvy versus Ian Mahinmi’s injured and unproven game. The similar athleticism of both players suggests that the Spurs were looking at both of them and wondered who could contribute to the “young and athletic” movement of the team, but saw Haislip as a NBA-ready pro who could ALSO shoot the 3.)
The second team I afformentioned could be an intriguing lineup, consisting of playing a quicker-paced game since 4 of the 5 players could shoot the 3 pointer.
This leaves the 3rd team to consist of Hairston, Bonner, Mahinmi, and/or M. Williams and perhaps another unsigned player currently on the Summer League roster or on the Free Agent market.
I think that going ten-deep is good enough for the Spurs to win the Championship; the rest of the players should be groomed into the Spurs’ system until they are ready to join the team when the veterans retire. Matt Bonner will see a decreased role and will be let go next year, prompting the signing of Tiago Splitter (crossing-fingers he doesn’t pull a Fran Vasquez).
The Spurs have built themselves a championship team now, as well as the years to come.
But the ten-deep roster that I suggested will be successful at getting a championship are as follows:
1st team 2nd team
McDyess Haislip
Duncan Blair
Jefferson Finley
Ginobili Mason
Parker Hill
July 17th, 2009 at 10:50 am
This isn’t Summer League related but what do you guys think about this proposal: Matt Bonner and Roger Mason for Shane Battier?
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine
For the Spurs we get a proven playoff contributor that plays multiple positions and basically replaces what both Bonner and Mason provide. Battier was very effective in Houston as an undersized 4 or he can play as a 3 if Pop feels like playing Jefferson at the 2. Battier would give Pop all types of flexibility with his defensive lineups and this is especially important b/c the more looks to throw at Kobe and or Lebron imo the better.
Also Battier is under contract for 2 more seasons, which is the same as Parker, Jefferson, McDyess, and so on, we will have unbelievable cap space with only Duncan and possibly an extended Manu on the books going into that offseason.
As far as Mason and Bonner go, they no showed last year in the playoffs and in my opinion are both expendable but would provide value to Houston since they are both expiring contracts and young enough to be part of any rebuilding project when Ming gets back after missing next season if they were resigned.
I like Mason but when you look at the big picture I think this deal makes sense especially when you factor that he will be a free agent next offseason and we will not have his Bird rights so it’s 50-50 that he would be back.
Not to mention this type of 2 for 1 frees up an extra space for either Gist, Marcus Williams, or McClinton.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:00 am
I think Mason, like Hill, will be improved this year simply from being in his 2nd year in the system. I expect he will play better on both ends and will be helped greatly by playing with Manu from the start of training camp.
That said, if you have to give him and Bonner up to get a versatile player and great defender like Battier I would pull that trigger without pause. Battier is a slightly bigger and younger Bowen. He is the kind of under-appreciated player that champion teams have.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I agree I think Mason will be better with a year in the system under his belt but I just don’t think we need him. George Hill looks much better and will likely be used as a combo guard, Richard Jefferson can play the two, and of course we’re all hoping for a healthy Manu, and all of that makes Mason very expendable. Battier would give us sooo many different options to go big or small and with Yao deciding to have surgery it just doesn’t make sense for the Rockets to keep him, not if they can get talent and more space for whatever they want to do in the offseason next year.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I agree with sydneylla in the fact that as the season progresses and the young guys get more acclamated into the system, Finley and Bonners’ minutes will be phased out in the favor of Hairston, Mahinmi, and Haislip. If that holds true then (assuming Pop does what he’s been doing for the past couple years) we should see a line up of:
C-Mcdyess
PF-Duncan
SF-Jefferson
SG-Mason
PG-Parker
And then when those guys need a break:
C-Mahinmi or Haislip
PF-Blair
SF-Hairston
SG-Ginobili
PG-Hill
Truthfully though, that second line up is scary. A bunch of long athletic young guns with a fiery Ginobili as thier court leader. Tell me that wouldn’t scare the crap out of opposing coaches. And if anyone remembers a year or so ago, the Pistons had a second unit of rookies and sophmores that came in and wrecked shop on people and they called that unit the Zoo Crew. I think the Spurs might have thier own now.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:55 am
The prospect of next year looks great and with the new pieces in place, it’s going to be very interesting to see how Pop work these young guys in.
Another good sign is we can get to the free-throw line, that’s something we didn’t do a good job of last year.
July 17th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
mason should have better year down the stretch. He will not be depended on to score as much, so his stats will be down but he will be much more effective as a guy who can hit open 3s. Teams will not focus on him and because of this and he will now thrive in a much more comfortable role.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I agree with Manu still being 6th-Man. That way when he draws extra coverage he can kick it to one of 4 different scary match-ups for the opposing team!
I am so excited for this season to get started.
As an aside, how has Battier handled Dirk over the years? Anyone?
July 17th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Just think of how fast paced the game will be with that second unit on the floor. i’m sure pop is going to focus on high pressure defense, then it’s off to the races great style for mahinmi.
July 17th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I love Shane Battier, and have always thought he was a born Spur… but if I’m Houston, why exactly would I make that deal?
July 17th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I love what Dejuan is doing down in Vegas, the fact that we signed him is even sweeter. Him and Mahinmi would make a back-up tandem to Duncan and McDyess
I’m still waiting on Jack McClinton to show that beautiful shot he had in Miami
Since Malik Hairston is going to be on the squad this season, I’m wondering what’s going to happen with Mike Finley, I’m confused as to who is going to be Jefferson’s backup
and what about Bonner and Haislip? I feel there had to be some reason we signed that guy, I’m just curious as to what Matt Bonner’s role is going to be this upcoming season
July 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
In response to Bad Bob, my thinking of why Houston would make this trade is the fact that Battier is a player that is most valuable to a championship team, something Houston is not with Yao’s injury. Houston seems to gearing up for the Free Agent bonanza of next offseason and this deal frees up the additional 6-7 million that Battier makes as well as gives them a year to see how Mason and Bonner do in their system. Mason in particular would do well with Landry’s ability to penetrate and kick out and with Battier no longer in the mix more minutes are freed up for Trevor Ariza, Scola as well as their new draft picks Buddinger, etc.
July 18th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
It’s a fine line between developing young players and resting veterans throughout the regular season. The reality is, particularly if Odom leaves the Lakers for the Heat, the Spurs should have a shot at the one seed in the West, and possibly the entire league. I know that’s never of their utmost importance, but they shouldn’t completely disregard it if it looks doable early on.
If that is in fact the case, then Duncan, Parker, and Jefferson should play 30-35 mpg, and Ginobili and McDyess 25-30 mpg. That gives the team a chance to win every game while leaving enough leftover minutes for the young players.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Idk now why I wrote Landry’s ability, I meant Aaron Brooks.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
I am confused, Where is Ime Udoka? Has he been Cut? I would have thought the Spurs would use this guy who already knows the system.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:59 am
Sam,
His contract expired. He’s an unrestricted free agent.
Also, Malik Hairston spent a year in the system last season, vis a vis, San Antonio and Austin. Marcus Williams has spent two years in the system. Hairston, Williams and Finley are Richard Jefferson’s back ups heading into the season. Actually, barring a Jefferson injury, I think the Spurs will be fine on that front.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:02 am
[...] games he attended in person. And speaking of the Spurs, could it be possible that they have some young talent ready to contribute this season in George Hill, DeJuan Blair, Ian Mahinmi and Malik Hairston? Nah… that can’t [...]
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