Spurs Summer League Roster Speculation
by BlaseE on Jun 16, 2010 12:46 PM CDT
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First, Tim C. fanshot'ed our summer league schedule, and then TDzilla! fanshot'ed Jeff McDonald saying Blair would be too busy with his offseason training to participate. That got me to thinking about who will be on our roster...
Who Won't Be Playing
It makes sense for Blair. There is also no way Hill plays this year. He has nothing to prove or needs to work on in the Summer League setting. We are also loaded with guys who can play the 1 and the 2. Summer League is obviously below Splitter. I don't see Nando or Gist coming over this year for Summer League.
My Spurs Summer League Lineup
PG: Jerrells
SG: Temple
SF/PF: Hairston/20th Draft Pick
C: Mahinmi re-signed?
Bench: Gee, Marcus Williams, Squeaky Johnson, Basden, Luke Bonner, 2nd round pick, and a couple undrafted guys
Comments, Analysis, and Additional Options for the Line-up
Squeaky was on the team last year and was excellent for the Toros in the playoffs. I don't ever see him in a Spurs jersey, but he is a smart pick to put on a team like this. He seems like the de facto leader of the Toros and you can trust him to run the offense when Jerrells or Temple are on the bench or want to play the 2.
Luke Bonner doesn't seem ready, but the team needs some size. He played in all 6 Toros playoff games like McClure, but I gave Bonner the edge because of his height. Depending on the non-Spurs system and undrafted guys we go after, McClure and/or Underwood could be on the team too.
As a Longhorn homer, I'd like to see the Spurs give Connor Atchley a shot. I think he would fit in great. He blocks and rebounds better than Matt Bonner and is good enough with his shot to create some space for Duncan or Blair. He obviously isn't as good as Bonner right now, but he is cheaper.
It also wouldn't shock me in the least for our 20th pick to come off the bench like Blair did and start Gee or Williams. You could even start both of them at the F's and push Hairston to SG. Then you pick Jerrells or Temple as your 6th man.
Did I miss anyone? Is there anyone who is likely to be undrafted you think we should go after? Is there anyone in the D League not on the Toros you think we should pursue? Put them in the comments.
Conclusions
This team is going to want to run and gun. I don't see anyone being able to stop us in transition. This team is going to create havoc and enjoy it. I also see them being highly capable of shooting themselves out of a game without an offensive rebounding presence to bail them out.
The lack of bigs is really a glaring issue. I have Mahinmi as our starter and he might not even be a Spur. Maybe the Spurs will be more confident in Gee, Williams, Hairston, Basden, and Temple to back up RJ next year over Damion James, Stanley Robinson, etc. and will go after a 6'10"+ PF/C with the 20th pick. Possible options could be: Whiteside, Alabi, Orton, Sanders or Seraphin. Even with Splitter, one of these guys could help.
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Great post BlaseE. The one problem I have is with Mahinmi, I don’t think he’s on the team next year and I think the Spurs have given him enough time to show them something that they obviously have not seen from him. I think our summer league center would have to be our second round pick or an undrafted/D-league guy since we don’t really have any other options.
"I've got Tim (Duncan) and you don't. That's the difference." -Gregg Popovich
I don’t know his situation, but I would like to see if we can bring in Cedric Jackson. He seemed to fit fairly well when he had his few regular season minutes.
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on DeJuan Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Jun 16, 2010 2:53 PM CDT reply actions
Oh ok. Thanks, Tim. By the way, I just noticed your Bowen avatar. It almost looks like a mugshot, good find, haha. Is it from his college days?
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on DeJuan Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Jun 16, 2010 3:14 PM CDT up reply actions
Correct.
I like Jerrells over Jackson anyway.
By the way, and it might only be possible in the D-League (or if you suffer a Golden State like injury big), Jerrells and Temple could actually complement each other well in the same backcourt.
I write about basketball players with Ridiculous Upside. I know you'll love it.
by Scott Schroeder on Jun 16, 2010 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions
I forgot about him. I liked him, but Temple is so much better in my opinion. I think they would be in competition, and I don’t think its much of one. I don’t think Jerrells can beat Temple for a roster spot either.
I agree on both points. Temple is definitely our best option of our D-Leaguers. If he puts on more muscle, that would make him a more versatile defender.
"I like the fact that he’s a man." – Hubie Brown on DeJuan Blair
by Manu ex Machina on Jun 16, 2010 3:18 PM CDT up reply actions
He also has good defensive potential.
"I've got Tim (Duncan) and you don't. That's the difference." -Gregg Popovich
a couple undrafted guys
Is it possible that these guys doesn’t have any basketball experience?I know that they should have,like the guys that are not drafted,from the d-league etc.But is it possible?Just wondering.
For Sale:Anyone interested with Spurs SF Richard Jefferson? Then just pick up your phone and dial 781-452-0659.Oh,wait its the rejection hot line.(Just joking,we're stuck with him,let's deal with it that we got no other SF and I guess he is much better than what he is showing us.)
If, and when, Tiago comes over, I can see him being put in the Summer League by pop and crew. The window is closing pretty quick on us, so I’d think the staff would want to get him acclimated to the system. Then again, he has been playing all year for Caja Laboral so.. Maybe he needs a rest.
I JUST DONT KNOW, I JUST WANT HIM OVER HERE IN SA
"We'll see how our character is," guard Tony Parker said. "We don't have time to be sad. Nobody cares. It's just us. We're the only ones who can help each other."
by Josh Guyer (completely deck) on Jun 16, 2010 5:23 PM CDT reply actions
He’s going to be playing for Brazil in the worlds. The more rest we can get him, the better.
Free Tiago Splitter!
Innnnteresting. Didn’t know that.
"We'll see how our character is," guard Tony Parker said. "We don't have time to be sad. Nobody cares. It's just us. We're the only ones who can help each other."
by Josh Guyer (completely deck) on Jun 17, 2010 1:00 AM CDT up reply actions
I want to see DeColo in the summer league.
"He was just a young skinny guy who looked like a winner. We didn’t know he was going to be as good as he is."
—Popovich on Manu Ginobili
Not gonna happen. He’s even told the media that he’s not even think about the NBA at this point. Also, with Tony out, the French national team needs a good scoring/passing guard for the Worlds, and he’s it. Let’s just hope Yawn doesn’t tell him that he’ll never be able to play meaningful minutes for Pop.
Free Tiago Splitter!
Last gasp 2011 according to TP, http://www.slamonline.com/online/blogs/the-links/2010/06/links-qa-with-tony-parker/
Somewhere in the distance, Pop is having a wet dream just thinking about Vegas.
You are only young once, but you can be immature for a lifetime
by the little o on Jun 17, 2010 5:25 AM CDT up reply actions
Duncan and Dice are way past playing in the Summer League. Bonner and Mahinmi aren’t under contract anymore. Bonner is past playing in Summer League as well. Blair should play in Summer League but he has more important training it seems (his jump shot). We traded Ratliff last season and he might have kids in the Summer League at this point.
On top of all that, the Toros biggest weakness was lack of size before and after the Suns stole Dwayne Jones from us. Splitter is way too valuable to play in Summer League if he does sign. Gist hasn’t panned out and is more of a 3-4. Haislip also didn’t work out, although it never seemed he got a fair chance, but maybe he never showed Pop enough to earn one.
The key to transitioning from the Duncan era will be stockpiling young bigs into our system to back up Splitter (fingers crossed) and Blair similar to how we are loaded with SG/SF potential right now.
Spurs short of bigs
I agree with BlaseE. The Spurs are hurting for front line players. Mahinmi, who never got a fair shake, will receive several offers more than doubling his salary and Bonner could be gone as well. He wouldn’t play summer ball anyway. Hairston has served his dues, but he is only a bench player. Even with Splitter on board Pop has got to go for a young big with the 20th pick. If we fail to sign Splitter and don’t draft more rebounders it will be a extremely long season for San Antonio. Watch what happens to the Celtics without their starting center in game seven. Small ball only works for a short period in a game, eventually rebounding dominance takes over. It is very tough for penetrators like Parker to take it to the hoop in a half court offense when two or three big defenders are sagging to the rim. The Spurs don’t have enough speed to use a run and gun game. The legs of Duncan and McDyess eliminate that option. If the Spurs draft a 6’5"- 6’7" swing player, and there are a few good ones out there, instead of a force in the middle strong board player the season could end up being a fingers crossed hope for the bingo number one ball next year. Still we’ve seen that route work before.
If the Spurs draft a 6’5"- 6’7" swing player, and there are a few good ones out there, instead of a force in the middle strong board player the season could end up being a fingers crossed hope for the bingo number one ball next year..
That is some pessimism like I’ve never seen before. There is no way in hell the Spurs end up in the lottery with Manu and Duncan on the team and healthy regardless of whom they draft @ 20. Eighth seed and out, maybe, but they make the playoffs no doubt.
While complacency costs, perseverance pays
He is searching the world trying to find his jump shot
"Rock and Roll angels bring that HardRock Hallelujah"
by Chilai on Jun 17, 2010 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
My reasoning
I agree with your opinion that the Spurs should make the playoffs, but if we don’t get Splitter and we lose Mahinmi and Bonner we could be in deep s**t. An injury to Duncan, whose knee is very suspect even when he says he’s healthy, could mean a write-off season. Do yhou remember the year that Robinson was hurt. It led to San Antonio’s pick of Duncan? The same situation could rear its head up again this upcoming season leaving us in hopes of a top draft pick. Duncan will not be able to play as many minutes as he did this season and Dice will slow down a bit a well. Blair, despite all of his board banging heroics can’d defend guys like Bynum and Gasol and neither can Bonner. The Spurs are in desperate need of bigs. Pray for Splitter and another big to spell Timmy and Dice.
I might take a lot of heat for this but I think that if Tim was injured and even if Manu was too, a team consisting of Tony Parker, George Hill, Dejuan Blair and Tiago Splitter is good enough to at least crawl into the playoffs. I say ‘crawl’ because of how competitive the West is. I’m not worried about Tim getting injured. I think as long as the team has enough bigs to limit Tim’s minutes during the season we will be fine as long as we make the playoffs. We saw how good he was when healthy in the playoffs.
"I've got Tim (Duncan) and you don't. That's the difference." -Gregg Popovich
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