wild..,That branham is playing worst on anybody on ths team,Yet hes getting consistent mins and so
many chances.Yet guys like mamu bassey or granham or barlow are not given a chance...I dont understand it
Bassey assigned to the G-League for tonight's game. I'm curious if this is just a matter of getting Bassey some run, like they did with Mamu (reportedly, Mamu asked to be sent to Austin to get some playing time, and he responded with 34/22), or if Bassey is falling out of favor and it could open up some time for Barlow. I think aside from fouling and TOs, Bassey has actually been one of the bright spots this season, but Pop seems to hate playing him.
wild..,That branham is playing worst on anybody on ths team,Yet hes getting consistent mins and so
many chances.Yet guys like mamu bassey or granham or barlow are not given a chance...I dont understand it
Barlow is a small ball C. The question is, can he hold down traditional big man duties solo or does he need a floor spacing big, with more girth (opens up cross matches) than him, alongside?
Of course, he'd have to prove himself a rotational player first for this to come into play.
The former. Bassey is a victim/casualty of the trickle down effect of starting two C's going kaput and to a lesser extent not having a primary ball handler who can shoot.
The only way you can get away with 3 C's in a rotation today, is if a few of them are shooters, who can also make plays off the dribble, like Towns and Reid. Even then, they're not exactly a great offensive team.
Barlow already has a good jumper. If he can become a capable 3-point shooter there's no problem playing him at the 4. He could also be paired with Mamu
Capable isn't enough for the defense to respect it. The threshold for spacing the floor keeps increasing to the point where the only rotational players who fit the description are Vassell and McDermott.
Mamukelashvili would be a good fit theoretically, but he's also not an established rotation player and is probably unlikely to last past this season.
Interestingly enough, Bassey has demonstrated he has a bit of a jumper (shot .375 from 3 in G-league last year, albeit on only 16 shots in 10 games - he also shot .375 in his time with the Spurs last year, albeit only 3 of 8). You'll often hear Sean talking about how he wants Bassey to shoot it on the commentary. Only 1 3PA this year for Bassey though, clearly he has been told not to shoot it whereas Collins has a glowing green light the size of the sphere in Vegas.
We know Mamu has a 3-ball.
Comparatively, Barlow shot .308 from 3 in G-League last year (7 of 23) and is shooting .345 in G-League this year (10-29).
All three of these backup bigs have shown indications of being a capable shooter, I'm not sure they have the green light to do so however (except for Mamu). Or, Perhaps Bassey has a green light but has been hesitant and that is some of what is limiting him.
nah Branham's like a hobo's Haliburton
And just like that... Bassey goes for 30 pts, 13reb, 5 ast, 4blk, 2 steals and 2/2 from 3PT in Austin today.
Barlow adds 18pts, 12reb, 1blk
Bassey's gonna be back on the lineup vs Houston. I think he's only in Austin to get some playing time
once we hit over 20 losses in a row Dom and Bassey may get a shot..
It‘s classic Pop. Bassey is 100% not allowed to shoot 3s while Collins is the new Bryn Forbes.
It's where you drafted them (or whether you didn't draft them).
It's a universal principle if you're management -- you promote the guys you drafted over the guys off the street because it reflects more on you if the guys you drafted fail. You give them a second, third, fourth chance.
(That said, I still believe in Branham and will till the bitter end. He greatly impacts the Spurs' rebuild if he busts.)
Last edited by Russ; 12-14-2023 at 09:58 PM.
for all the issues Forbes had, his green light and shooting ability wasnt one of em
taht dunk at 0:38 this kid gonna need to see some playing time with Wemby. Some team might offer him something the Spurs can't match
he looked a lot more compe ive yesterday. was out there battling against one of the better big duos in the league and held up fine. some nice plays above the rim defensively, and hit a couple of middies on offense. he needs to string together more games like that
with collins locked into his contract, and apparently only able to play as a 5 right now, one of the biggest things for barlow is to keep working on that perimeter defense so that he can survive as a 4 alongside wemby/collins in big lineups, in addition to getting his minutes as a reserve 5.
if he's just a reserve 5, the team will probably have to make a decision between him and bassey in the offseason
They need to stop messing around and give this kid a contract.
he's a restricted free agent at the end of this season. ideally they wind up getting him on a bassey/champagnie type contract. and do you cut bassey for him? trade collins in the offseason and roll with bassey/barlow as your reserve bigs? what does collins' trade value even look like in the summer?
it all changes if we think he's viable at the 4 and can play alongside wemby/collins manning the 5
I remember watching one game and thinking Barlow should get some time at the 4 to see what he can offer at that position since the season is pretty much a foregone conclusion
we know he has the midrange bunny and has decent mobility. in gleague he's been experimenting with a 3 point shot, but he basically has to be wide open to even get it off, and even then not particularly accurate. whats nice is he can put the ball on the floor a little, and that'll help him survive as a 4
It really seems like they pidgeonholed him into a C tbh
Get rid of Morris and bring him in. The team ain't doing anything and Collins is iffy at best. Give him some real court time.
Yeah, it's crazy he can't get more minutes. He's really improving overall, and his handle is a huge improvement from last year.
Pop and Wright should just say Zollins has an injury and let him sit. I doubt that will affect his trade value or whatever.
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