From an Obstructed Vantage Point
by Fred Silva on Mar 11, 2010 8:11 AM CST
in Analysis
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The Spurs are not tall. The roster seems intimidating on paper, but in practice the Spurs' opponents literally look down on them. To make matters worse, this season Pop has been infatuated with small ball lineups. But just how short are the Spurs? Am I overreacting? How does this roster compare to our championship rosters of the past? Good questions. I'm glad you asked.
If you have been following the site for a while, you may remember this article I wrote about the age of the Spurs. In order to derive a more telling average age for the team, I used a weighted age based on minutes played. For this study, I employed a similar tactic. In order to compare the height of our current Spurs squad to those of the past, I derived a weighted height by minutes played. Basically, my weighted height will have the height of players that play the most minutes count towards the average more so than the height of players that see little or no playing time. In this study, I was not concerned with the height of our guards and forwards, I am distressed that our big men are too short to provide a solid foundation for our team defense. So I only included power forwards and centers in my analysis.
This analysis is important because I feel that our defense is lacking mainly due to the absence of an imposing big man. I seriously love DeJuan's game, but let's be honest. If you were driving to the basket, who would you rather not see waiting for you under the rim? DeJuan or Mr. Robinson? McDyess is only 6'9". DeJuan is listed at 6'7", but come on man, he's closer to 6'5", with heels. So we are missing that big man that alters shots at the rim. In addition, we are missing the big man that cleans up the defensive boards when Tim has to play help defense.
If you walked into a gym right now and did not know anyone, and the guys said you had first pick, you would take the tallest guy available. Without knowing anything else, at least you got a tall guy. The logic being, he may suck but at least he can get in the way and get rebounds. That's how important height is to basketball. At some point, Pop forgot this little tidbit. I blame Avery Johnson. Remember in 2006 when Avery coached the Mavs to the best record in the league and then decided to play a small ball lineup against the Warriors? Small ball is one of those things that is better on paper than in practice; think Richard Jefferson. But enough talk, let's look at the data.
In the charts below, I recap each of the Spurs' championship seasons as well as the current season. I use the data presented to derive the weighted average height by minutes played during the regular season for each squad. I gathered the raw data, the defensive ratings, and rankings from BasketballReference.com. Defensive rating is simply the amount of points our opponents scored during said season per 100 possessions. The ranking is how the Spurs fared each season in relation to the other 30 NBA teams.
1999. Wow, those were the days. How convenient was that roster? Tim and David played 75% of the 4, 5 positions' minutes. The opposing point guard drove past Avery? Not a problem. Mr. Robinson forced him to alter his shot at the rim. But now we are out of rebounding position, you might point out. Tim is there to clean up the mess, no big deal. Our weighted height was 6'11" 1/3 which led to a defensive rating of 88.6 and a ranking of first in the league. Big Man % is the amount of minutes played by the big men divided by the team's total minutes played. Since 2 of the 5 positions are for big men, one would expect this number to be about 40%, all things being equal. In 1999, the big men consumed 38% of the minutes.
2003. The emergence of Malik Rose resulted in the average height dropping by an inch to 6'10" 1/2. But still, we had two very good 7 footers in Robinson and Willis to crowd the paint. The Big Man % was an expected 42%.
2005. Duncan and Rasho earned the most minutes creating a formidable 6'11", 7'1" duo under the hoop. Ranking first defensively, the Spurs' overall size and savvy allowed team defense to guide them to their 3rd championship.
2007. With Oberto and Horry, our bigs knew how to win this season. Those two had what one would refer to as championship pedigree. This team's weighted height was just short of 6'11. Francisco Elson served as Tim's fly swatter. The Big Man % was 37% this season.
2010, also known as the anomaly. Our weighted height is currently 6'9" 1/2. That's a full inch shorter than our shortest championship squad. In addition, the Big Man % is only 35.2%. This is a direct result of small ball lineups. So, not only is our weighted height the shortest it's been, but we play our tall players fewer minutes. In effect, the 6'9" 1/2 is actually overstating our average height. Our defensive rating and ranking says it all; a defensive rating of 105 and a ranking of 10th in the league are the Spurs worst standings since we drafted Tim Duncan.
I would argue that when Pop claims that our poor defense results from a lack of desire or will, he is being inaccurate. The numbers do not lie and they all suggest that our team was fundamentally put in a position to underachieve on the defensive end. DeJuan has the heart and desire to be a great defender. That's not the problem. The problem is that he is 6'6" on a good day, and he is physically incapable of altering shots at the rim with any kind of consistency.
The Spurs effectively cut Theo Ratliff earlier this season. Theo was the only shot blocker on our roster that was capable of contributing. Until this year, the Spurs always complimented Tim Duncan with a shot blocker and the result has always been a stellar defense. In 1999 there was David Robinson, in 2003 Robinson and Kevin Willis, in 2005 Rasho and Horry, and in 2007 Fransisco Elson. For reasons unknown, the Spurs abandoned this winning recipe and we are now paying the price. The only big men physically capable of being imposing are Theo and Ian. Well, we cut Theo and Ian is incapable of earning playing time. So we surround Tim with undersized power forwards and unfairly expect him to carry the load.
So far, this season can be summarized as 'oversight.' Richard Jefferson was an oversight. Not signing a big man was an oversight. Small ball lineups are an oversight. Allowing Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley to walk were oversights. The Spurs will need their offense to carry them if they are to make a splash in the playoffs. How many times have we said that in the past decade? That, in itself, is an oversight.
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No worries. We’ll buy one of those Reebok shoes that you can pump up and we’ll kick some ass.
To serve man.
Gustatus similis pullus.
Glad to see I am not the only one who thinks Size Matters! Nice stats – and thanks for filling out what some of us had been concerend with……
Lakers, Cavs and Hawks are best defensive-tall teams
six or more 6’9 < taller guys and each has at least three true seven footers
by Artis Gilmore on Jan 29, 2010 1:23 PM PST
Fakers have 3 guys over 7 feet by Artis Gilmore on Feb 13, 2010 3:37 PM PST
…hey average 3 more freebies per game than the Spurs. They have the size advantage with 4 guys over 7 feet! BTW we don̵7;t have a true 7 footer. As long as we can hold back the tide in the paint…
by Artis Gilmore on Jan 29, 2010 7:14 AM PST
by Artis Gilmore on Jul 28, 2009 6:00 PM PDT
I good, solid center (7ft +) would be the icing on the cake. Rebounding, Defense and can handle a pass from Timmy when dou…
"Mr. Gilmore deserves to be in the Basketball Hall of Fame damnit. Highest field goal percentage EVER"
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gilmoar01.html
Hmm. Well, considering this year is the anomaly I would guess that Pop hasn’t suddenly changed his philosophy, but that he simply doesn’t have the personnel he used to. Also, keeping Duncan’s minutes has never been as important, which limits his weighted height.
People keep mentioning Theo, but what I saw of him during the season made it crystal clear that he was never going to see a single minute of playoffs time. And it’s certainly not Pop’s fault that Ian didn’t pan out. He had chances.
I smell death... everywhere.
Yeah, Duncan will raise our playoff height and defense some. Manu’s increased minutes will also improve our defensive rating in the playoffs.
Playing better opponents more consistently will hurt our playoff defensive rating.
This year’s playoffs are going to be epic by the way. For the Spurs and in general. The Western conference is the best it has ever been to me. I think every team but Portland has a legitimate chance at winning in the first round no matter who they play.
Small vs Tall Ball
To start off with there are a couple of bogus height listings. Blair is way short of 6’7". If you notice him standing on the court he is shorter than RJ. Bogans is at least an inch short of being 6’5" and Bonner plays shorter than his listed 6’10" I’d guess that he is closer to 6’9". Almost all of the Spurs are shorter than their listed heights, except TD is probably is 6’11’. But he has lost most of his hops around the bucket, so he’s playing smaller. He’s still won of the smartest and cleverest of big men in the league, but his numbers are falling as his legs weaken from the long season grind. The only true big man with hops, Mahinmi, is getting minimum time. He has the physical ability, but often seems lost on the court. Despite all the time he has had to learn the system, he is often caught out of defensive position. Blair’s defensive weaknesse are beginning to show as well. That puts too much pressure on Duncan. Bonner looks better this year and justifiably has earned more floor time. McDyess, like TD, ha slowed down a lot, but can give 10-15 good minutes of defense. Finally, small ball won’t work against Dallas or LAL. Manu has become a key defender around the bucket and he rebounds pretty well for his listed 6’6". I’m guessing 6’5". Pop plays small ball a lot, because he has no choice. He has to rest TD a lot, ditto McDyess. He’s doing a good job with what he has. You can bet the Spurs will be drafting the best available big in the next draft.
Trouble is that we always draft too low these days and servicable bigs go pretty fast. Thabeet went #2 based on potential. We got lucky by getting the #1 pick twice to get Robinson and Duncan, that really does not happen very often (unless you are the Clippers). In the old days you could find some international guy nobody else had seen first but now there is competition for those as well.
The main options left are trade and free agents.
You’re limiting yourself here, Fred. We also lack length at SF(Bogans and Manu being asked to play SF is just wrong), and sometimes SG.
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
Good post, and I think everyone agrees tall is better than short. I seriously doubt that Pop has suddenly forgotten that size matters in basketball.
However, let’s pose a different question: who would you have gotten that could challenge the good tall guys in the league keeping in mind the budget issues. Note that if we design the system around a couple of tall guys in the paint we also need decent depth at those positions as you cannot quicky change gameplans when one goes out.
Yeah, I mean one of our weaknesses is guarding 4-3’s and 3-4’s like Odom, West, and Dirk. Getting a true center doesn’t help because Duncan is better at guarding 4-5’s and 5-4’s. Dice is similar to Duncan and is better to guard 4-5’s and 5-4’s. Blair can only really guard 4’s. Bonner can try to guard 4-3’s, 4’5’s, and crappy 5-4’s. Bogans can guard 3-4’s and 3-2’s. Bogans seems better at the post game and contesting shots then staying in front of quick 1’s and 2’s.
I think our major need is getting a 3-4 who as athletic as Jefferson but wants to actually play. Haislip was brought in to tryout for this position too. Hairston is a little small but creates his own mismatches on the other end. Getting Splitter would be a vast improvement to the flexibility of our rotation.
Getting Splitter for height, retaining Manu and Bonner, and getting someone who can guard 3-4’s and 4-3’s are our top priorities this off season. I don’t know much about the draft, but we need an athletic 6’8"-6’9" guy who wants to defend like DeJuan wants to rebound. You could argue Dice’s position on the roster if we actually get Splitter too.
Agreed, Splitter will be a big help if we can sign him. Good point on the need for a good 3-4, my preference would be a good 4, but we draft too late for that. Our best hope is trading RJ’s expiring contract but that would happen too late to really help.
We still need Dice and for Ian to step it up a notch – Timmeh starts looking really old after a certain number of minutes.
BlaseE, I normally agree with you but I think throwing a 7 footer next to Duncan would help everything from a defensive stand point. Guarding the taller 4-3’s and 3-4’s is a problem, but a bigger problem is that they have the lane if they want it. In years past we had trouble guarding them, but at least they generally had to settle for a long two. This season, our oppostion has not been afraid to exploit us in the paint. And these shots in the paint are far deadlier to a defense than outside shots, as you know. The ability to alter shots in the paint, and deter these shots from even taking place, is a huge part of what made the Spurs such a devastating defensive team for so many years.
Sheed would not have been as bad as you think, even if the guy is out of shape. But Tyrus is athletic enough to be imposing under the basket. Theo has been starting for the Bobcats since we traded him. Apparently the guy does have something left to give. Camby would have really been a nice fit. And these are just the guys that moved.
"GINOBILI!" -- Sir Charles
I wanted Tyrus. I understand why we let Ratliff go. Camby is too expensive. I haven’t watched Sheed enough this season but I hear he is way out of shape and likes shooting ill-advised threes.
Honestly, I wish we still had Oberto and K. Thomas. Oberto was messed up last season because of his heart condition, but he’s a good big and knew our system. Thomas is still a good defender. Both were on decent contracts. They did help us win 54 games last season. With Dice starting and Bonner and Blair giving us variety at the 4, I think we could have had a really good lineup. Hindsight is 20-20 though, and I thought RJ was going to be amazing.
And I my point was just that a 3-4 is a bigger need. I pine for Splitter to grace our pine next to Duncan. I also wish Ian was better because he is a nice guy who wants to be better. I just don’t think you can throw a 7-footer next to Duncan. We need a decent 7-footer who can play team D and man on man D and not just wait under the basket for people to penetrate.
This year we give up 41.5 points per game in the paint. Last season, we gave up 35.6. That’s a huge difference.
Just to be fair, who could we have picked up this summer? Rasheed? How’s that working for Boston? Gortat was a good option, but was overpaid by Dallas and then Orlando matched anyway. Really, the options sucked. Trades weren’t really an option after the RJ pickup. We could have gotten someone else (Camby maybe) instead of RJ, but then we still would have had the glaring problem at SF (keeping in mind that we didn’t know RJ would suck). Teams otherwise don’t trade away good, young big-men very often.
Frankly speaking, this is anything but the golden age of centers in the NBA.
by Neuwaldegg on Mar 11, 2010 12:50 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Too true, Neuwaldegg, too true
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Mar 11, 2010 12:53 PM CST up reply actions
I believe we actually tried to get Rasheed. That would have worked out as well as Jefferson but without the faint hope of improvement next year.
That is what the FO was going for. I don’t think Rasheed would have been that great for us, but I am biased against him.
Dice is a limited success for us. I think he would have been a good fit for a lot of teams, and so he still has trade value for us. Smart coaches and coaches for contenders or pretenders would do like Pop did and put him on the shelf and only play him 20 min a night until the playoffs arrived.
Sheed has been an awful tranny mess for the Celtics and probably would have combined forces with Richard Jefferson to destroy basketball once and for all in San Antonio if we had managed to sign him.
by greyberger on Mar 11, 2010 11:50 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
+ 1 Neuwal.
There were not alot of options.
But my main gripe against the FO was the remodeling that completely wiped away the teams defensive identity in favor of what we have at the moment.
Im sure RC and co were thinking " Phoenix Suns offense with a much better defense " when Rich J was acquired. That would have been phenomenal,specially taking into account the evolution of the rules that favors offense.
But thus far the results have been more like just a good offense with the worst Spurs defense of the last dozen or so years.
...Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is forty five.
There are gripes against the FO without a doubt. They obviously did a poor job evaluating RJ and Theo and probably overestimated what Ian brings to the table. They have also done a number of things right that we don’t give them credit for because it seems like the obvious right thing to do in retrospect.
But the point is that the FO did not suddenly decide that height is not important, any more than they are likely to say air and food are optional. It is just that at the time there were not any good options and they could not even entice the almost decent options.
I’m not sure if they overestimated Ian. I think they have always had a good idea of what he is. That’s the reason he’s been down in Austin so long, received so few minutes when called up, and most importantly, why his contract wasn’t picked up for next year. I just think they knew what he was, but hoped he might finally show a little more and be a viable option off the bench.
And I do think you are right about there not being a lot of other good options for them. We weren’t in a position to overpay for a good center, and there weren’t many other players to bring in. So we just had to make due with what we had.
I totally agree with the point that there weren’t too many options during the beginning of the season, but trade deadline presented a good opportunity to go for haywood and/or camby. I honestly think, we missed that boat, for good or bad.
Camby was too expensive and the Clippers got better talent then we were willing to offer. The only way it would have worked is if they took Jefferson but I’d rather have a healing Outlaw to a sucking RJ.
might we be able to somehow take Al Jefferson from the twolves next year with RJ’s expiring and some other talent?
GTFOML!
I don’t have a better place to post this but I just found this interesting stat.
This season we are tied with Cleveland for first place for average opposing team’s biggest lead at 8.0 points per game. We are tied with Cleveland and LA for best home at 6.8. We third for away at 9.3 behind Boston and Cleveland.
I think this stat further points to our record not fitting the level we play at. This pretty much represents poor execution at the end of games and losing close.
This site is awesome.
According to that site, we are 6-6 in games where we are the underdog. That means we have won 50% of the games a literal betting man doesn’t think we’d win. Sadly, that means we’re 31-19 in games where we are the favorite….
By comparison, the Lakers are 2-6 in games they are the underdog and 45-12 in games they are favored.
Nice stats, thanks for digging that up. This team is pretty unpredictable. Manu and RJ have both become more consistent in their play over time, but other than that we just don’t know what to expect.
I have tried to read up a little on the whole Splitter thing. Cant he make 3 times as much if he stays in Europe? And if so, what can we do to entice him to come over?
And back to RJ bashing. How do you play 18 minutes and take 2 shots. I could miss 2 shots and I’m Tony’s height.
Splitt is sounding like as big a fairytale as Buroussis.
Tantalizing the Spurs but ultimately using them as bargaining leverage to gain a bigger european contract.
...Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is forty five.
In general, I agree that the Spurs would be best served to add height and length to the roster. Easier said than done, of course, especially considering that Malik Hairston will receive the majority of his future minutes at the 3 if the Spurs resign Ginobili.
I keep asking myself how the Spurs should prioritize this offseason? To me they’ll read and react based on how things shake out on these fronts, and in this order:
1. Manu
2. Splitter
3. Jefferson trade
4. McDyess trade
5. Draft (I think they should take the best big available, btw)
6. Free agent swings
It’s going to be a very difficult offseason because they’ll likely have to wait on Manu, and they have much roster-shuffling to do.
In good news, Dorrel Wright just dropped his asking price considerably. Bad news: he probably drank himself out of San Antonio’s consideration.
Should we be worried that someone will come in and offer Ginobili more than the Spurs are willing to? I mean, Morey and Cuban probably have some formula that proves Manu is hotter than the sun and taller than Yao. Manu seems to be getting better and better this season. I feel the Spurs were almost banking on his body breaking down so they could get a good deal or not resign him at all.
"GINOBILI!" -- Sir Charles
Just read your daily dime article. Pretty much what I just asked. And yeah, it’s already not looking good.
"GINOBILI!" -- Sir Charles
I’d prefer to think it’s looking difficult, while holding out hope that the front office can figure things out. And, by the way, the Spurs money ball too. They probably have that same formula, but want to hide it from Pop in fear he’ll start Ginobili at center.
by Timothy Varner on Mar 12, 2010 10:27 AM CST up reply actions
Best big available? In your opinion is a hybrid athletic 4 more a priority or a true 5, 5-4, or 4-5 better?
To ask it another way, is it a bigger priority to draft a shot blocker or a guy who matches up with Odom and Dirk defensively?
My question is dependent and independent of Splitter and whether or not we trade Dice.
Also if RJ doesn’t get blessed by god in the playoffs, I think trading him is number 2 over Splitter. Trading RJ could net us some more room for Manu’s new contract to. I thing with Jefferson though is that I think he will be a tough sell in the summer, but a super easy sell at the trade deadline. It will be interesting what happens with him.
I think your “guy who matches up with Odom and Dirk” is somewhat of a myth. I mean, no one matches up with those guys. That’s why they are game changers. They don’t even match up with each other because neither is good at defense. They are freaks and are not radily available. Who in the league do you think can stop those guys?
I think we need to look at improving defense from a team persepective, not on an individual basis. And as a team, as I tried to point out in my article, the guy that we are missing is an imposing 7 footer. Every year that we won the championship we were brilliant defensively. We were good defensively because our “twin towers” took easy shots away from our opponents. The lane was closed for guards/fowards which made defending them on the perimeter much easier on our guys. Bowen was a great defender in his own right. But the fact he had two 7 footers behind him allowed him to get into his opponent’s jerseys without being overly concerned about them blowing past him.
We were never the best defensive team because we could guard the athletic hybrid guy. We were the best because our team defense forced our opponents, whoever they were, into low percentage shots.
"GINOBILI!" -- Sir Charles
I never thought about it that way. I think you’re right. I mean about Odom and Dirk not having a defensive match-up.
Okay, if you want me to compare more players, let me know but for Odom and Nowitzki, both do pretty bad against these teams in relative order of effectiveness:
Denver
Memphis
Houston
New Orleans
By bad, I mean a good amount below their scoring average in games their team loses.
Well, those teams more or less make sense. My sense is that the tool to guarding both effectively is to play physically with them (particularly Dirk) and throw them off physiologically (think Matt Barnes in the GS upset). All 4 of those teams have physical post defenders.
(On a side note, it really makes you appreciate hulk-Manu who only seems to get better after he’s been clobbered).
How does trading RJ net us room to sign Manu? You have to take salary back in a trade. And it will probably be long term salaries (no point in another team trading expirings for expiring).
by doggydogworld1 on Mar 12, 2010 4:19 PM CST up reply actions
because you have to take a % back so the larger the contracts in the trade the larger percentage the trade can be unbalanced….so RJ’s 15.2 million or whatever nets a huge difference we are allowed to take back…we can take back a minimum of 12.06 million back for just trading RJ. That is a 3.14 million dollar savings. To Holt and the ownership, that is likely 6.3 million since we are going to be over the cap again. That is more than the MLE!
Then you can also factor in that RJ is one player getting 15.2 million but the 12.06 would be divided between say 3 players. That is two players you don’t have to sign to league minimum once you are over the cap to fill the mandatory 13 roster spaces. That could net another $4 million in savings! Trading RJ could save the ownership $10 million dollars.
Correct me if I’m wrong. I’m no expert.
because you have to take a % back so the larger the contracts in the trade the larger percentage the trade can be unbalanced
should say:
because you have to take a % back so the larger the contracts in the trade the larger percentage the trade can be unbalanced
its unbalanced by the same percentage….duh
Another thing is that everyone is focused on next year’s cap in terms of Splitter and Manu. If Splitter and Manu want to play for the Spurs next year, we could structure their contracts to where next year they don’t make a lot of money, but the amount rises as we free up cap-space (RJ leaves) and even post Duncan. Parker and RJ expire for 28 million next season. Duncan retires with 21 million more dollars after the 12-13 season. Manu and Splitter would bring in fans and season ticket holders so giving them contracts that rise in those seasons could be beneficial. And if Manu gets really hurt or Splitter doesn’t pan out those will be expiring contracts the season after Duncan is gone and trade assets.
I would never trade Manu though.
OK, that makes sense. I keep hearing people talk like we can dump the whole 15m but a few million here and there certainly helps. Only if the players we get back are keepers, though. Otherwise we’re betting off keeping him and signing Manu and Splitter to the type of back-loaded contracts you mention below.
Back in more hopeful days I thought they’d work a deal with RJ in which he opts out and signs a longer term contract with the Spurs, with the excess he’s due next year spread over 5 years or something. Oh, well.
by doggydogworld1 on Mar 13, 2010 1:36 PM CST up reply actions
Crazy Stat and Some Draft Info
Not including Duncan and Robinson, the Spurs have only drafted 3 players since 1987 in the top 20 picks; Willie Anderson (10), Sean Elliot (3), and Tracy Murray (18). Tracy Murray was the last and that was in 1992! I don’t remember him but all three played over 550 games in their careers. Since Duncan’s first season, we haven’t drafted once in the top 25. Duncan’s first season let us draft Felipe Lopez at 24th.
We are projected at the 20th pick right now.
For draft picks, see draftexpress’s current mock. They currently have us taking a 6’4" SG in the first round and a 6’ 8" PF in the second. 14 bigs are taken before our pick first pick. There are ten 6’10"+ guys in the first 30 picks.There are eight in the second round.
Another crazy draft stat. Only two #1 picks in the last 25 years have won championships with the team that drafted them.. David Robinson and Tim Duncan!
by doggydogworld1 on Mar 12, 2010 4:29 PM CST up reply actions
Agree wholeheartedly with your list of priorities. But I hope they’re in touch with Splitter early enough that they’ll know what their competition is offering prior to draft day.
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
I completely agree Tim. I think the front office has to know what we’re up against in order to draft properly. I mean, we can’t afford to draft small, thinking we’re getting Splitter and then miss out on him. Also, we can’t lose Manu and lose Splitter. That would be very damaging.
And Blase, loved your point about Jefferson being a tough sell during the summer, but a home run at the trade deadline. That really puts the offseason into perspective as well. One of the biggest moves we might need to make might have to wait until midseason.
Oh, and I looked at the Draftexpress mock draft. I’m a Tarheels fan, and we dont’ want anything to do with Deon Thompson. He’s not physical, not a good rebounder, shoots too much, but doesn’t take quality shots. Not a guy we want. I know it’s a mock and the 2nd round, but still. And I think we’ve had our fair share of 6’8’’ PF’s.
That is what I’m thinking now too…we need a 6’10" plus guy because Blair can fill a ton of undersized PF/C minutes…he can also compensate for a poor rebounding shot blocker. Blair and Duncan have so many post moves, I’m not sure a jump shot isn’t more important than post offense. Duncan and Blair work the paint on offense. New guy and Duncan work the paint on D.
The only thing that would make me thing we go with 6’8" or less guy is if he is a SF/PF guy. Our wing situation isn’t that great and having a big SF would shore up the small ball issue some.
I don’t think we can get up to get him, but I’d love to get Monroe from Gtown. He’s 6’ 10’’, but he plays the high post and is a great facilitator on offense. He wouldn’t clog the middle for Timmy and can actually dribble. On D he’s a good help defender and has good length to go along with his size. Probably don’t have the chance to get up and get him, and he most certainly wouldn’t fall to us, but it’s nice to dream.
I still wonder if Gist can’t be a 6’8" SF. If he’s capable of playing the 3, then he’s a great option to have.
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
Here are his stats for the few games he got to play in Russia after coming back from injury. They’re pretty good stats to see in a SF, but I have no idea if he has the foot speed to guard opposing 3’s. Couldn’t hurt to give him another look in the summer.
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
I like Udoh, and Alabi as a darkhorse.
Spurs Basketball. Improving [other] NBA teams since 2010! - swgeek
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