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http://www.talkbasket.net/7503-san-anto ... aynes.html

Seems likely that Blair will be out of here soon. The signing makes sense since Baynes was on the Australian national team and therefore has some knowledge of the Spurs system via Brett Brown.

And a multi-year deal likely implies the Spurs are looking to shore up big man depth and in the likelihood of some team trying to give Splitter a lucrative offer sheet.

Nice

He is a very good rebounder.

franktony wrote:Nice

He is a very good rebounder.

And a good finisher (65% FG in the Olympics). Pop should play him with Patty a lot.

A little biased as is a friend of a friend, but he has really improved his game over the last couple of years and is mobile for a big.


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I have only watched him once or twice with the national team and can't say much about him but I really like the news. I was expecting us to sign a European big man in the summer (or draft one) but I guess the FO had a move up their sleeve. I have complete faith in Pop and the scouts so I believe he can be a good player for us.

Blair is definitely not going to be with us next season and I wouldn't be surprised if we moved him this season for a draft pick. (I was hoping we can showcase him a little bit to get a first-round pick back but I don't think it's gonna happen anymore.)

About Tiago - yes, if he gets overpayed by some other team in the summer, we could not match. Otherwise, I think we keep him as well. As far as I remember, Matt Bonner's next season is only partially guaranteed so we can let him go in the summer (even though we usually don't do that). Or we can use him as a trade chip so that another team can cut him and shed some salary (much more likely).

A bit off-topic but still with the things I'm hearing about the upcoming draft (don't know too much about the college prospects), I'd expect us to draft a European player and play the waiting game. Plus, we are so deep that I wouldn't expect a late draft pick to be able to make the team (just look at Cory Joseph) unless someone really slips (like Blair in 2009). But then, we were nowhere near this deep back then so we knew we could use the pick.

"If russians teach bears to ride the bicycle than we can teach Aaron to play basketball" - Rimas Kurtinaitis, head coach of BC Rytas

Never seen the guy play but from everything i've been hearing and reading about him he seems like he could be exactly what we need if he pans out.

And like others have said this signing, when it does happens will mean the end of Blair's time as a Spurs.

Very good rebounder, great hustle guy, he was uterly bad when he came to Europe but has improved dramatically. Hasn't any go-to move on offense and on defense he gives great effort but his athleticism limits him against longer opponents

I am a WSU Cougar fan and watched Baynes a lot in College. He was on the WSU team that made it to the sweet 16. He's a BIG body. Has great hands, not an over whelming athlete but at 7' do you really need to be? I was surprised when no one drafted him out of WSU. He's much better than Rob Sacre, the rookie for LA and I'm a Gonzaga homer. Those are my two favor college programs. But yeah I am excited for the Big Aussie, he really clogs the paint.

The Spurs love Aussies, must be the Brett Brown influence. I've seen him play a bit and he's pretty strong and surprisingly athletic. I'll have to watch more Spurs games when the stars are resting and Mills and Baynes are getting more minutes.

i watched almost every game this year when he played in Olimpija

he improved even from the start of the season
very nice body to bang(yeah, that sounds great)
doesnt get intimidated
uses both hands down below
athletic
he even managed to cut down his foul trouble

Signing's official:

http://www.nba.com/spurs/news/130123_sp ... ron_baynes

Spurs are one of the best international player pickers. MINN has tried to copy what SAS does, and have seen a great crop brought in.

I mean Duncan, Parker, Ginobli, and Splitter. However, I never considered the United States Virgin Islands an international place.

Still Baynes is gonna be another great pick. I just wonder how many more years Greg and Tim got left in them. I would like to see them win a couple more for Tony and Manu.

Well, only saw him for one game.

If I'm judging based on that one Bobcats game, I think he doesn't have good hands and he's not a good screen setter yet. Got caught for an illegal screen a couple of times. But he does have the size to do it well. I do love his activity. He's big and he's obviously more athletic and physical than any of our current bigs. He definitely has an NBA body. Didn't get to see him shoot the ball other than the one turnaround jump shot that he was forced to put up. Not a post up guy, looks alright as a pick and roll guy though.

Well Baynes just unleashed 30 points on D-league today.

Here's the link if anyone wanna watch:

http://www.nba.com/dleague/games/201302 ... einfo.html

I'm about to watch the game. Kinda interested on seeing how he played so I can know a little bit more about his game.

Okay that's rather disappointing.

Just about all his points come from the paint off guard penetrations and lots of awful defense from Bakersfield.

Baynes shot 8-10 from the FT line but I think his shot looks rather awkward. I'm now wondering what his career FT% is. When he misses, he missed it quite badly. Still not a good screener yet. Even got it called againts him a couple of times for moving too quickly.

Baynes definitely not a post up player. He's not much of a finisher either. Basically, it looks like he has trouble putting the ball in the basket if he's not dunking it. He tried to show off some jumpers but no, that's definitely not his game.

Defensively, he looks like an awful help defender. Unlike Tiago (who attempts to take charges instead of blocks), Baynes will try to block shots in the paint, but he's got bad timing. It doesn't look like he's much of a shotblocker though.

I don't really know about his rebounding. What I do see is that he's a hustle guy. But if he saying he wants to be like Reggie Evans, he's nowhere near the rebounder. Baynes can get the rebounds that's coming his way. But he doesn't track the ball like Evans does. Where Baynes can excel is in getting offensive rebounds because he's got the size and he's physical. But when it comes to defensive rebounding, he looks more like Matt Bonner out there in the sense that he can only get the rebounds he's supposed to get, which is what Matty does.

I don't know. That D-league performance was good statistically, but I'm quite disappointed by it.

I checked his FT% in Euro League games and it's .684 over 20 career games (.698 over 10 games this season).

I haven't watched the D-League game but I noticed some of the stuff you're saying in his NBA game against CHA. He was quickly called for a foul on a moving screen (I dismissed it as a rookie call though) and didn't show much of a jumper. Still, he is very mobile so I can see him rolling quickly to the rim for a layup/dunk after a pass, much like Splitter.

I am surprised that he attempted so many blocks, doesn't strike me like the shot-blocking type. If he learns how to just stay down when defending the post and take charges every now and then, I'd be happy.