Training Camp Head Games

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During the season, we often concern ourselves with the psychology of the team. But during training camp, I find myself thinking about the psychology of individual players. How will the psychology of each player integrate into the fabric that is the Spurs.

There are big questions: Is Tony Parker up to the mental challenge that comes with being an elite player? Can he negotiate the tricky juggling act of leading the Spurs without upsetting Tim Duncan’s role as “The Franchise.” Can Manu Ginobili temper his Gunfight-at-the-OK-Corral playing style for the greater good of self-preservation? Is Richard Jefferson willing to man up to the task of lock down defense?

And there are the smaller questions: Did the signing of Keith Bogans deflate the confidence of Marcus Williams? How will Ian Mahinmi respond to the weight of years long anticipation, the emergence of DeJuan Blair, and the omnipresent Halloween deadline on his contract extension? Does Malik Hairston have the wherewithal to close out the preseason with as much determination as he began it?

You learn a lot about players based on how they handle the terror that is training camp.

And then there are the curiosities. Did you see this?

Witness Gregg Popovich’s public infatuation with George Hill. Why is Coach Pop going out of his way to laud Hill in the press? It certainly seems out of character for the Spurs’ head coach. Pop, no doubt, knows what we know (and much more aside): George Hill is a potentially game-changing reserve. And while Popovich is not always prudish with praise, this is unusually gushy even by his “because he’s Manu Ginobili” standards.

My best guess is that this is exactly what it seems. Coach Popovich is happy with George Hill’s play, and he wants Hill to know it. He wants his young point guard to play with all the confidence a coach’s unreserved favor instills. It’s certainly a different direction from the I-Might-Kill-You-If-You-Turn-The-Ball-Over approach Pop took with Tony Parker. But it’s a coach’s prerogative to choose his motivational tools carefully.

Still, it’s odd to see Popovich going full-on Phil Jackson in his use of the press to shape a player. Popovich’s rottweiler routine is both entertaining and, judging by career winning percentage, effective. What happens when Pop gets all playful and purrs like a kitten? We’ll soon find out.

  • http://www.goodtimescomic.blogspot.com Jordan

    Way to go Hill. It’s good to see a humble guy get the credit he deserves.

    Btw, do we know what Pop’s plans are regarding how long he’s gonna coach?

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    Jordan,

    I think his plan is to retire with Duncan and get on with life. The expectation is that a member of the Spurs’ family will take over for him-Mike Budenholzer and Avery Johnson are the leading candidates amongst fans.

  • Matt

    Is pop playing Phil Jackson-esque head games or has he just learned from past mistakes like he admitted with beno. Has George improved that much since completely falling out of the rotation last year or did pop just find the motivational tool that works best with hill. While we all can see the improvement that he has made there is definitely something a little unusual with pops PDA with George.

  • Tydus

    Personally, I would love to see Avery take the lead when Pop sails off. He got hosed in Dallas and has turned down good job opportunities since then.

  • sj_papi

    Tim,
    I agree and think Pop’s last days will come with Duncan’s exit. This video really doesn’t surprise me. Pop’s older now and while I don’t think his “crazy old man” days are over, he’s beyond having to whip players into shape. He’s not trying to re-invent the wheel anymore.. he’s got the best player-coach tandem in Tim,Tony and Manu. Even though he was a rookie, Pop should have given Georgie more minutes in that Dallas series last year. Yet, from what I’ve seen in the Summer league and already in this preseason, Hill along with Blair will be a great one, two punch off the bench.

  • AP

    Does Hill have a role as a future starter on the Spurs? Eventually, he’ll be ready to move beyond being Tony’s back up. Do you think RC has a plan for that?

  • SA_Ray

    Who was that nice bearded man next to Hill in that interview?

  • NL

    Two weeks two opening night. I consider myself a pretty big Spurs fan, and I’ve never been this excited for a season.

  • BlaseE

    Future Spurs Coaches:

    1. I’ve seen Duncan’s name mentioned. I can’t really even imagine it, but he is good friends with Russell. He starts with one huge benefit too: respect. It might be weird for him to “coach” Tony or Manu.

    2. I always thought Budenholzer seemed to like being an assistant. I thought that is why I never really heard about him interviewing for head coaching jobs.

    3. Please no PJ. I’d welcome him back as an assistant though.

    4. I’d be interested in seeing if Quin Snyder would want it. This might be my top choice; giving someone who is working with our system and young players, closely tied to the franchise, and has experience making substition/head coach decisions a chance at the job.

  • Chris K.

    BlaseE, Quin Snyder is an interesting thought for future coach. Avery probably has the edge at present though. (Though I feel that Avery might be a Scott Skiles kind of coach, great to turn things around and instill a new attitude in the short term, but not that great for veterans over a long period of time…)

    About the Hill-Popovich dynamic: I think the difference in the treatment between Parker and Hill is in the difference in their respective personalities and also in the roles that Pop was grooming them for.

    When Tony came into the league, he had been playing professionally since he was a teenager and had the confidence that necessarily arose from being a quick, young scoring star. Pop had to make him a smarter, more precise floor general to be the starting point guard on a team of veterans.

    Hill comes from an American mid-major college, is changing positions from off-guard to point guard, and has no chance of being the starter at his position. A much different situation from Tony’s. Hill does not possess Parker’s world-class quickness or experience, while learning to play the most difficult position in the NBA having not played the position full time since high school.

    Plus, for as much as Pop yelled at Tony, he kept giving him minutes, and made him the starter. Tony could always draw confidence from that, and from getting a chance to make a lot of plays on the floor.

    Hill is not the starter and will not be the starter for as long as Parker is there. He cannot draw confidence from getting his name called every night and getting 20+ minutes a game. He needs positive reinforcement that what he’s doing is right in practice, because that’s where he plays the most (or will once the season starts).

    Pop is handling this exactly right. The progress of George Hill in his second year can prove that Pop is in fact quite good at developing young talent, at least at the point guard position.

  • Sauce

    Does anyone see George Hill as a shooting, sort of poorish Rajon Rondo?

  • http://www.goodtimescomic.blogspot.com Jordan

    I’d actually prefer to not have Avery Johnson. He just seemed overly controlling as a coach.

  • duaneofly

    I remember last years draft when the Spurs took Hill, I was like “who?!?” Because I don’t watch college ball much, plus I thought that chris douglas roberts would have been a decent choice for a late first round pick.
    However, after watching Hill play I quickly fell in love. He can play and he’s humble, which is perfect for the Spurs. We already have three stars, so another player who knows his role, like Bowen/Horry, is ideal and thats what we’ve found in Hill.

  • Sydneylla

    Graydon and Tim,

    I have a request/question in light of the comment in this post about Ian Mahinmi:

    “How will Ian Mahinmi respond to the weight of years long anticipation, the emergence of DeJuan Blair, and the omnipresent Halloween deadline on his contract extension?”

    I know ya’ll have addressed this issue at various times in the past. But I’ve been waiting for the definitive, inevitable post about whether the Spurs should extend Mahinmi by the Oct. 31 deadline.

    I know the general consensus at 48MOH has been that he should be re-signed. Any plans for additional pre-deadline analysis on whther that view should be re-evaluated?

    Personally, I find myself wondering whether he’ll always be a bit of a tease, endlessly full of potential but unlikely to ever turn it into production. I worry that with this year’s roster, it’s unlikely that he’ll see much playing time, and therefore improve little, behind the likes of Tim, McD, Blair, Bonner, & Ratliff.

    I worry the team won’t get much bang for their well-over-the-cap buck. And with the (hopefully) imminent arrival of Splitter next year, I wonder if he’ll ever get to show his wares.

    Mahinmi strikes me as the kind of guy who needs to play significant minutes to find his way and his game (as he seemed to in Austin). He seems to really press when he has to perform over short stretches. But I’m skeptical that the Spurs roster will ever allow him the 20-30 minutes a night he’ll need to find his comfort zone.

    He’s an amazing physical specimen. But he kind of reminds me of a super-hot girl I dated for a few months until I realized why she was available for me to date- she couldn’t carry on a coherent conversation, she was kind of rude and she actually thought Tolstoy was the leader of Russia when she saw his work in a bookstore. Ultimately, no matter how hot she was, in the long run she just wasn’t worth the time I was investing in her.

    Thoughts on Mahinmi as the Spurs’ sexy but underwhelming girlfriend?

  • ruth bader ginobili

    I’ll join in with some $.05 analysis.
    I think Tony’s always had a lot of (justifiable) confidence in himself, especially at the offensive end. George doesn’t seem to have that confidence in his offense, but his response is to shaky offense is feisty defense.
    I’ve been on teams with guys like that, and my response was the same: knock the first guy down a peg so that he fits into the system, and encourage the second guy so that he keeps the defense and hopefully develops the offense.

    But, yeah, that was weird to see out of Pop.

  • Bill H

    Accurate?

    Definitely:
    1.Timmy
    2.Black Blur (TP)
    3.Manu
    4.RJ
    5.Geo
    6.Dice
    7.Barkley… I mean Blair
    8.Theo
    9.Big Shot Rog
    10.Fin
    11.Red Rocket

    Probably:
    Ian
    Haislip

    Looks Good:
    Bogans
    Hairston

    On The Bubble:
    Marcus

    Probably Toros
    CJ

    Coming in 2010:
    Tiago
    Nando

    Gone in 2010:
    RR
    Fin
    +

    Coming in 2011:
    Yiannis Bourousis

  • Rye

    Here’s a scenario I’ve thought of probably more than any other … it’s late in a big playoff game against, say, the Lakers, the Spurs have the ball, inside a minute left, with a chance to take the lead on this possession. Who has the ball in their hands to make the make-or-break play? Is it predicated on match-ups? In the Spurs heyday it was always either Ginobili, Duncan, or a combination of both in a two man game.

    We know Parker will likely lead the team in scoring, but will he be the guy, even if the match-up is not in his favor (say, against Rondo) with the ball in his hands? To me, that is the final step towards him fully becoming the Spurs go-to guy.

  • ChillFAN

    Tony Parker as the Spurs “go to” guy?
    Whatever.
    TP is great, Duncan’s the beast that carries the team, but our “go to guy” could not be any more clearer than when we were embarassed by the Mavericks.

    For me there are no questions about the Big Threes willingness to follow Pop’s plan. My main psyche issue this season with the SPuRS is more about RJ: will he be content to fit in or will he work hard to assert himself as a night in and night out leader so that Duncan and Manu can rest some games without the SPuRS dropping out of the top four seeds.

    A.J. is overly intense and controlling, but then, again, so was Pop until recently. Truth is, he’s the kind of guy who will kill himself for a championship. Would, say, PJCarlisemo?

  • ThatBigGuy

    I don’t think Pop has changed at all. Remember, NBA organizations are multiple million dollar entities. Don’t you think they have analyzed every player’s psychological standing? Even if there is no official shrink on the payroll, the entire coaching staff knows how to approach a player’s psyche. Give a coach at any level 2 weeks and he’ll know Player A needs gentle encouragement while Player B needs a boot in his ass. Tony obviously needed a boot in his ass and Hill needs gentle encouragement and praise.

    As far as potential future coaches, I think Avery would be great. Some here have mentioned their fears about him being controlling. I think that this is a misconception. The Mavs players complained about him being controlling, yes, but remember who the coach was before AJ? Don Nelson. Of course the players weren’t happy and complained about AJ’s heavy handedness and I can’t blame them. They were used to Nellie-ball. They had fun playing Nellie-Ball. But here is the pink elephant: they never won.

    AJ’s style is similar to Pop’s. It is structured on offense and defense. The current players are used to this style and won’t even notice the coaching switch except for a Louisiana drawl in the next huddle. Plus, it wins.

  • Tydus

    Here’s a news flash. In the LAC loss Mahinmi played almost 20 minutes and didn’t record a single foul.

    Anyone else shocked by this?

  • yuccaflatsranch

    Not overly surprised, Ian can do it - give him a little more time. Did you see where Bogans threw up more bricks - he is going to play himself off the team. 1 for 14 in 4 games.

  • emm

    Tydus I was at the game tonight and I would have to say the main reason for that would be Mahinmi not being very agressive. He just let them come into the paint all night :-\

  • zack

    you know i have a feeling pop is going to sign as many possible, package the ones he can part with and make an unexpected trade, as far as timmy and pop leaving at the same time, im starting to have a problem with it, its really unfair to go out when your superstar retires. Tony was raised by pop as well, i also think if he were going to retire, he should bring it up every now and then to ease us into it. i hope he has a change of heart

  • Grego

    @AP, eventually he might be the 2 guard with Parker as the Spurs current look changes once again and the youth takes over (with Parker being the only main hold over). A lot will depend upon how much Hill grows over this and next year though.

  • agutierrez

    As long as TP’s free throw shooting is suspect, he’ll never be the “go to” guy at the end of games. One of the singular characteristics of such players is their ability to make free throws with the game on the line. That’s why… “he’s Manu Ginobili.” As for the future coach; my impression of Avery (not based on much I’ll admit) is that he only knows one way of dealing with players, namely, harsh, critical, no nuance. As many have already said, as much as Pop blusters and intimidates in public, he appears to know when to offer the soft touch to his players; knows how to read them and proceed in a way that brings out their best. Not that he always had that characteristic, but he seems to have learned it. In fact, he has stated that Tony and Manu taught him that his first inclination with players was not always best, that sometimes he had to rein in his own tendency to “over coach (control)” and let them do what they did best, even when it caused him heartburn. I doubt that AJ could ever do that.

  • rj

    my thoughts on last nights game

    hairston (9 pts, 5 ast, 2 stls) is more valuble than williams (11pts), hill is a more effective shooter than penetrator, and timmy looked much lighter by virtue of his matchup with d’andre jordan being exploited often.

    and now ian:

    ian looked good as far as being an athletic young player. he finished above the rim, got to the line easily, NO FOULS, and had a crucial rebound over b-griff late in the game. i also thought manu and others passed up some easy under-the-basket opportunities for him either by lack of vision or trust. this should change if the players grow more confident in him. i also saw some tutoring going on with ian and duncan before the 4th quarter.

    i think we shouldn’t expect ian to be anything more than a shot blocker, finisher, and active body. if he can put some more muscle on his frame, his rebounding will increase. he looked like an NBA calliber talent out there, but is lack of polish is clear. i think we need some younger frontcourt players now and in the future and ian is worth investing in. b-griff and jordan had no problem with timmy, dice, and theo and bonner can’t stay infront of a breeze. haislip is as good as he’s going to be and ian should get minutes before him. i say hold off on his contract extension, but throw him into the fire for stretches in the regular season. we’ve invested too much time and money to send him to austin and we need to see how well he can stand up to the garnett’s, bosh’s of the world. the sky is the limit for this guy and a splitter, blair, mahimi frountcourt sounds promising.

  • yuccaflatsranch

    “we’ve invested too much time and money to send him to austin ”

    CAN’T SEND IAN TO AUSTIN - he has used up all of his available time down there. He has to stay with the SPURS or release/trade him.

  • Vaughn

    @ Sydnella,

    Regarding whether minutes will come available for Ian…

    Duncan, McDyess and Ratliff are getting up there. Barring some spontaneous outpouring of durability from the frontcourt gods, there will be minutes. I just hope Ian can hit the ground running when they call his number.

  • Alamobro

    Nice pickup on the George Hill Gushfest of late emanating from Coach Pop. ( The video though ? Easily explainable, I think i can smell the merlot from here).

    All kidding aside, George has the type of athleticism to make me think he could perhaps be Mini-Manu. Maybe Pop just wants him to cut loose, give him a longer leash, kinda like Manu.

  • ribanez1

    It’s only one game, however to win at least 2 additional players have to score consistently and help the core 3!

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