James Gist with Angelico Biella and Tiago Splitter with Tau Ceramica are both in action today. I'm stoked.
Tiago tips off at 1:15 Spurs time and James at 1:30 Spurs time.
This is a two purpose post. Game thread and discussion about James G.I.S.T.
You can find highlights of Biella's game 3 loss here. They trail Milano in the best of 5 series 2-1. I'll post a link to the gamecast when it gets going. You can usually find it at the Lega Basket site.
Tau leads their best of 3 series against Real Madrid 1-0. I was able to find a feed for a Tau game in round one. I'll look later.
In the mean time, let's talk James Gist.
His numbers for Biella have been solid. Take a peek at the team stats. He's second on the team in scoring at 12.5, first in rebounding at 6.0, third in minutes. He shot 54% from 2-pt and 49% from 3-pt (this included a terrible streak in the early part of the season. Throw out the five games where he went 1-13 and he's shooting 57% over the last 39 games. NOTE: Euroleague separates FG% into 2-pt and 3-pt shooting. They don't have an overall and a 3-pt like we do. Freaks!
In way of comparison, Jonas Jerebko, his teammate, is projected to be a mid-second round pick this year. Much like James was last year.
I read last year at Draft Express that Angelico Biella was the smallest budget team in the Italian League. I'd like to think the fact that they finished 7th out of 16 and have made it to the semifinals is because of James. I'm a wishful thinker that way.
The G.I.S.T is very athletic. That's for sure. Maybe too athletic for the Spurs. What's encouraging to me, is that he seems to have a fairly reliable jumper and the ability to rebound. Those are the skills that will help him fill a hole on the Spurs roster. Since Euro basketball is so pick-and-roll oriented -- and not post offense oriented -- ballhandlers rule. James was not going to rule in Europe. I think his numbers are about as good as you can expect.
To compare, here are Josh Childress' numbers from the Euroleague competition. Admittedly, the Euroleague competition is much stiffer than the Italian League. It's not apples to apples, but his 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 16% shooting from 3-pt over 16 games isn't blowing me away. I don't read Greek so I can't find his Greek League numbers.
I really think his chances of being a Spur next year are going to come down to his ability to defend, which doesn't show up in a box score. If he can prove in the NBA Summer League, July 10-19, that he can body up and shut people down, he'll be in. If he looks lost, he'll go back to Europe.