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thanks for the input
The only games I went to on Day 3 of the Rocky Mountain Revue were the first two games, Spurs/Mavs and Nets/Warriors. You can see my impressions from the first two days of the RMR here:
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101557
I'll try not to repeat too much of what I said there, but simply add to it.
Spurs players:
George Hill: George seems to be finding his shooting stroke, which is a good sign. He hit a few three pointers, and seemed very comfortable in his mechanics. (As a side note, Chip Engelland has been in the stands at every game, but not down on the bench with other coaches. On Saturday he sat with R.C. Buford.) It's safe to say Hill outplayed Aaron Miles, which is another good sign. Hill is good at running the fast break; while Pop isn't really known for stressing the fast break, if he wanted to put out a team that can run the court, putting Hill next to Parker and Mahinmi seems like a pretty good lineup. Hill is still having problems finishing at the basket, but did have one play where he muscled his way through to an And-1. Seems to have taken seriously the rule that your FT% must go down 10 points when putting on a Spurs jersey.
Ian Mahinmi: Ian was much more aggressive in this game, which was very good to see. When Ian is aggressive on the offensive block, he's very hard to stop without fouling. His footwork is good, and can blow by slower post players if that side of the court is cleared out. A couple times he looked like he had been watching tape of Tim Duncan's face-up jab-step, but he didn't take advantage of the space by taking a jumper. He'll have to have more confidence in that jumper or develop a bank shot for his face-up moves to be more effective.
Please don't be alarmed when I say this, but I can see why a couple people have compared him to Francisco Elson as far as his ability to run the court. He has a very smooth and fast gait for a big man, and has the energy to run the court on fast breaks or transition opportunities. No doubt if he keeps this energy up in the NBA he'll be able to beat his defender down the court off of Spurs defensive rebounds when the opportunity arises.
James Gist: Gist didn't do too much in this game, which is somewhat unfortunate because he should have been well rested. He didn't have quite as much energy as usual, and maybe he's just fatigued from the entire summer league experience. Still, he showed me a couple new things as far as his rebounding goes. First, he doesn't give up on rebounds. If the ball gets tipped around a bit, he'll keep going after it until someone has fully secured it. Secondly, he's not a guy who assumes he will not be able to get the rebound. If it's anywhere in his vicinity, he'll try to sky and get it. This is a good thing, but it is also something that I think may get him an inordinate amount of over-the-back calls, especially since the tendency of referees is to call over-the-back on almost all rebounds when you're behind the man with position, even if there's minimal contact or less. On the other hand, this may not be a bad thing because I doubt Gist would get into foul trouble in the 20 minutes per game that he would have the potential to get on the NBA squad. It could become more of a problem if he plays 35 minutes a game in Austin.
Malik Hairston: Hairston didn't do too much today, but he continues to show flashes that he might be worth developing. He's getting a little more comfortable on the court as the summer goes on, and isn't selfish on offense for the most part, so he gets relatively limited chances to score. When he's on the court, he's always the guy inbounding the ball on the side of the court. In previous games he's been hesitant on these plays and it has hurt the team, but with added confidence he did a pretty good job on these passes today. Like Mahinmi in previous games, Hairston needs to turn up the intensity/aggressiveness if he's going to fill up the stat sheet either in points, rebounds, or steals.
I'll post my thoughts on other Spurs players and players from other teams later in this thread, but it seems the information on this game was very limited, so I wanted to get these initial thoughts on the Big 4 out to the world. Let me know if you have any questions.
thanks for the input
Great post, seems like Hill and Ian had great games today.. Gist's boxscore looks pretty respectable of the bench as well.
Loving the insight, keep it coming
Here are the rest of my impressions from the day.
Other Spurs players:
Anthony Tolliver: Second verse, same as the first. Can definitely hit the open shot. Gets abused on defense. Seemed to get more upset this game when his defensive series ended in a foul, probably because he knows that's what the Spurs are primarily looking at.
Devin Green: Major problem Green has is that he over-penetrates a lot with no real plan to get out of trouble. This results in him getting blocked or putting up a lot of off-balance shots. He has a good jumper and other offensive skills, but needs to be a little more disciplined.
Dallas Mavericks players:
Gerald Green: Gerald came into this game with a much better at ude than previous games, and it showed. He got a couple of good assists when defenders left their man to cover his penetration. From what I've seen, he has the most offensive potential out of everyone in this entire tournament. For a guy who has the ability to drive and finish at the basket, he really stressed his outside shot today, and it was falling more times than not. If this kid gets his head on straight and learns selfless basketball, he could be a force to be reckoned with. Don't worry, though- if this transformation happens, I doubt it will be completed within the course of his one year contract with the Mavs.
Aaron Miles: Miles played well, despite my previously stated opinion that he got outplayed by George Hill. Miles is much more of a pure point guard than Hill, and more of the Dallas summer league offense runs through him than the Spurs run through Hill. He has a good long range jumper, and the one time he beat Hill off the dribble he showed off a Tony Parker-esque tear-drop. Miles is probably good enough to be a backup point guard somewhere.
Reyshawn Terry: Terry moves very well without the ball and does a good job of finding open spots to take catch-and-shoot jumpers, some of which he was hitting during this game.
Golden State Warriors players:
Unfortunately it didn't look like Marco Belinelli was in the building for this game, which is a shame because he was the player I was most looking forward to seeing on this squad. C.J. Watson is on the roster, but unfortunately he didn't play either.
Dion Dowell and Anthony Morrow are two guys that appear to be cut from a pretty similar mold. Both were hitting outside jumpers (including 3s) at a very high rate, and both have great athleticism and finishing ability at the basket. Both were able to run the fast break, but so could everyone else on this Warriors squad that put up 100+ points. Warriors seem to be collecting athletes who can score, which I guess fits in well with their offensive strategy.
Anthony Randolph: Randolph is a 6-10 guy that the Warriors seem to be grooming to play the 1/2/3. He often played on the wings, and brought the ball up the court several times. He's very fluid for a guy his size, and has a nice outside jumper. He showed off the ability to be a good passer. However, his ballhandling is very poor, especially in traffic. He gets the ball stolen from him a lot, perhaps partly because his long arms mean that he dribbles further away from his body. His drives to the basket were awkward at best, often resulting in off-balance shots, and a couple times he didn't get the benefit of the call when colliding with a smaller player, partially I believe due to his size. I think he'll require at least a year of development in the D-League.
New Jersey Nets players:
Brook Lopez: Lopez is a player with a complete game. He showed good offensive moves, is a great passer for a big man, and has quick hands on the defensive end. He started off fast in this game then deteriorated throughout the game; he looked like he was bored and/or fatigued from the summer league. His current game relies a lot more on finesse than strength. He needs to take the ball to the rim stronger when he's close, and he could stand to gain a few pounds of muscle so he doesn't get knocked around as much by the bigger guys in the NBA. His biggest fault was that he didn't show enough strength in his hands when pulling down rebounds or going up for shots; this is a bad habit that a lot of guys get into when they're used to being taller than everyone else on the court; he'll have to make a more conscious effort of grabbing/holding the basketball more securely.
Jaycee Carroll: I hope someone gives Carroll a shot to make an NBA team. Another guy from a small school (Utah State), Carroll showed good poise in this game and the ability to play both the 1 and the 2. I think he could definitely make a roster as a 2nd or 3rd PG. He has good ballhandling abilities, and is a confident distributor. He also has a good offensive game when he's aggressive.
Marcus Williams: I was very impressed with Marcus Williams in this game. He's another guy who seems like he could play the 1 or the 2 at the NBA level, though he might be too small to play the 2. He's got a strong offensive repertoire, including the ability to finish at the basket and shoot the 3-ball. His mid-range jumper isn't as good as he thinks it is, and it's something he needs to work on a little bit more to complete his game. He's also a good passer and improviser. If he can stay out of trouble and someone will give him a chance (it looks like he may be out the door in New Jersey), he should be able to stick in this league for quite a while.
Ryan Anderson: Anderson seems to be much more comfortable on the perimeter than he is in the post. He's a good passer from outside and has a smooth jump shot, even though it wasn't falling on this day. On defense and on the boards he frequently gets out-muscled by other big men. Wasn't really impressed with him today, but I have to admit I may have had a slight bias against him, since I didn't want the Spurs to draft him. But all-in-all he still seems like a guy who can be a solid shooter, but will take some training to become a rebounder or decent low post defender.
Chris Douglas-Roberts: CDR wasn't hugely impressive in this game either, but he didn't get a place in the starting lineup, so his minutes were a little more limited than I'm sure he's used to. On offense, CDR seems to stand around a lot, and doesn't move well without the ball. I suspect this is because he was a prolific scorer in college, and didn't learn how to move without the ball; this is something he'll have to work on. That said, he did get into good position once when Lopez was double-teamed, and got an easy bucket off the pass. Once he has the ball, he does a good job of finding openings in the defense to get potential layups. Pretty quiet today, but he looks very comfortable in his skin.
Julius Hodge: Seems very comfortable near the basket, which is somewhat surprising for someone who is 6-7. Is a good rebounder, especially on the offensive boards, and in this game got a lot of points by cleaning up the garbage on the offensive glass. Will have to develop more of a perimeter game if he's going to make it in the NBA at his size, but he has a lot of intangible skills.
Great summation Lurker.
Really appreciate your up-to-date insights.
I'd be curious to know if you have targeted any specific "bubble-type" player that you think may garner a training camp look by the Spurs.
In the meantime, keep up the great work
glad to see hill doing well so some fans can step away from the ledge now.
Julius Hodge had a great year in the D League last year-- Maybe if his progress continues, he could be a decent role guy as a swing player... his return to basketball was slow after being shot, but maybe he'll back a legit comeback.
Thanks for the detailed impressions. Saves me the trouble of having to watch the game.
Relieved to hear that you have a favorable impression of Ian Mahinmi. Maybe there's hope after all for this kid.
Hill I think is definitely going to be able to contribute for the Spurs. Definitely, not yet an all star talent but I would be more than happy if he's as productive as Rajon Rondo.
Gist definitely a high energy guy that may be very useful out of the bench.
Tolliver probably may make the team. I doubt he'll want to play in the D-league, but he's a Spurs type of player. Can shoot the 3, passes well, knows where to go on the court, decent defense. But he may have trouble guarding folks at the perimeter, but maybe that's why we have folks like Bowen, Udoka and even Gist.
thanks bro.
A couple brief points I forgot to make:
George Hill has good hands on defense. He doesn't get in the passing lanes as much as Hairston or Gist do, but he gets a decent amount of steals by literally taking the ball out of the hands of someone he's defending on the perimeter, or a big man who keeps the ball too low near the basket on help defense.
I forgot to mention JaJuan Smith, who has had a couple good shooting games for the Mavs. Has a confident stroke and can hit the three. However, shooting is one of those things that can't and shouldn't be evaluated by a small sample size.
I hadn't really thought about it since most of the best players have their rights owned by someone else. The best players who might be up for grabs are mostly backup points and/or undersized 2 guards, which doesn't really fit a Spurs need. I wouldn't mind seeing Julius Hodge or Anthony Morrow get a camp invite, but I think these two already have deals overseas, based on limited Google searching.
George Hill looks like he's 12-for-18 from the free throw line during the Revue. I'm not worried about it though. The free throw line is the same distance in college and the NBA, and he's been known to be a good shooter.
The thing is, almost everyone in these summer leagues is a good athlete, so I guess I didn't think to mention that he was as well. I think he may have been focusing on his outside game today. Anyway, this seems to be the league where coaches try to separate the athletes from the basketball players. (Not to say that Terry's not a good player; he impressed me from my limited viewing of him.)
Thanks for the suggestion.I hadn't thought about it much because part of the reason I set up this lurker account was so that I could turn off icons and sigs when I view Spurstalk at work.
as long as ian stays out of the way on the o and d ian>elson
Thanks for the analysis.
One of the few good posts in the off-season. Great job.
Very nice.
Hopefully you'll be there tomorrow so we can get a report on the last summer league game. Thanks again
Sure, happy to help the board that has helped me kill a lot of time, including on the 9 pm to 5 am shift I'm on right now. I should be at the game tomorrow (after I get some sleep this morning). It's a shame the webcasting/television coverage is so poor at the RMR.Very nice.
Hopefully you'll be there tomorrow so we can get a report on the last summer league game. Thanks again
lurker23 rocks!
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