GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT)

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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#21 » by imagump1313 » Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:16 pm

Good points!

I guess where I am at with him currently is he CANNOT start or play a bulk of minutes like he is.
He is useful in defensive situations, I'll give him that. But he should not be on the floor for long stretches. He just does not contribute anything impactful to winning and the longer he is on the floor the more glaring it is.

I'm sorry. I like the guy but just watch him driving to the basket. Every player on the floor is a better athlete than he is and can easily stop him from getting the shot he wants. There were players on Houston and OKC that I had barely heard of before making him look like a child going to the basket.

Maybe its a conditioning thing but he constantly posts videos of himself working out.
I don't question that he wants to be good and be a leader on this team but I honestly don't think he knows how to do either.
There is such a huge difference between players wanting to be good and actually knowing how to be good.

I'm sure they have talked about his aggressiveness and driving more. It looks to me like he is driving more just because he was told to by the coaches. It doesn't look like he is driving because its a good situation to drive or because he might have an advantage on a certain matchup. He's not doing it because it puts us in a better position offensively to win. Also I would say they are telling him to drive more because his outside shot is soo bad.

Vassell has been here for what? 4 weeks? In his small sample size you can tell he knows how to impact a game, knows where to be. Knows where his teammates are, and knows how to score the basketball. He is miles and miles farther as far as basketball IQ than Murray is after 4 years.

He reminds me a tiny bit of the early Tony Parker(although TP was 100x better after 4 years). I remember that any time Parker would float or disappear or be timid on the court that Pop and his assistants would be up TP's ass and he learned to be impactful when he was on the court. It seems like now everyone just lets Murray just do whatever and no one says boo to him. I know times are different now and maybe things are said in practice or the locker room but I don't understand why they are giving him minutes when he obviously isn't getting it.

When White comes back I hope they back off playing Murray a little bit. I'm not 100% sold on White as our savior PG either but he impacts the game 1000 times more than Murray does.
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#22 » by a8bil » Sat Dec 19, 2020 9:37 pm

How long before Vassell is in the starting lineup?
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#23 » by G R E Y » Sat Dec 19, 2020 10:20 pm

a8bil wrote:How long before Vassell is in the starting lineup?

I'd love it if we could go small ball with Keldon starting at the 3 so that Devin could be the second guy off the bench instead of the third on paper - DD is now starting, KJ after him, then Devin. Hopefully he continues to get meaningful minutes with the Spurs rather than being sent down to Austin. He was pretty much our best, most consistent two-way player in pre-season already.
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#24 » by a8bil » Sat Dec 19, 2020 10:48 pm

GREY 1769 wrote:
a8bil wrote:How long before Vassell is in the starting lineup?

I'd love it if we could go small ball with Keldon starting at the 3 so that Devin could be the second guy off the bench instead of the third on paper - DD is now starting, KJ after him, then Devin. Hopefully he continues to get meaningful minutes with the Spurs rather than being sent down to Austin. He was pretty much our best, most consistent two-way player in pre-season already.
Vassell with his ability to impact the game both offensively and defensively seems like the kind of guy Pop would want on the floor at all times.
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#25 » by imagump1313 » Sun Dec 20, 2020 12:18 am

a8bil wrote:How long before Vassell is in the starting lineup?


Hopefully today!!
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#26 » by imagump1313 » Sun Dec 20, 2020 12:21 am

GREY 1769 wrote:Hopefully he continues to get meaningful minutes with the Spurs rather than being sent down to Austin. He was pretty much our best, most consistent two-way player in pre-season already.


If they send Vassell to Austin I will stop watching this team.
Pop has really done a poor job IMO the last 2 years with some of these weird decisions he makes and catering to these guys who don't help us win. I never thought I would say this but perhaps its time to retire.
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#27 » by G R E Y » Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:01 am

imagump1313 wrote:
GREY 1769 wrote:Hopefully he continues to get meaningful minutes with the Spurs rather than being sent down to Austin. He was pretty much our best, most consistent two-way player in pre-season already.


If they send Vassell to Austin I will stop watching this team.
Pop has really done a poor job IMO the last 2 years with some of these weird decisions he makes and catering to these guys who don't help us win. I never thought I would say this but perhaps its time to retire.

I'm up front about my Pop bias, but I honestly believe we've been making the right decisions with respect to the young guys. The connection to catering to vets is, I think, this other way of looking at it: we don't ever throw rookies out there when they're not ready with at least some foundation. Sometimes we do out of necessity, like when Tony got injured and DJ had to step in. So the catering to vets is also about waiting for the young guys to be more ready.

DJ, Lonnie, and Devin got plenty of minutes. Derrick and Keldon did in the bubble, too, and that's with DD and Rudy playing. Right now only Jakob is getting fewer minutes, but I expect that has more to do with LMA needing to get his feet under him. Drew is a third stringer, and Luka is nowhere near ready yet. He'd make it interesting if he were more assertive and consistent, but hasn't pushed anyone for more minutes.

DJ, Derrick, Lonnie, and Keldon all benefited from going to Austin. Their stats when they got to the G-League and when they started playing for us clearly show it. The most recent example is Keldon who averaged 25% from 3 in college and was at 40% in the bubble; his and Lonnie's handles have improved; his touch around the rim is much better, too. Except for Derrick, each of them played only one season in college - so one year removed from high school, all drafted outside of the lottery for various - lucky for us - reasons.

Interestingly, Derrick is the most polished having spent the most time developing his game in college and was averaging 18PPG with stellar D as a starter in the bubble.

But back to our young guys - they needed development that the G-League provides.

Devin is the first lottery talent we've selected since Timmy and it shows. Previously, Timmy and #2 were the rookies I recall who got regular minutes with the Spurs and deserved them. Well, Tony got thrown in there after a few games, too, but he had been playing professionally. I think Devin gets regular minutes with the Spurs, too, and don't expect him to be sent to the G-League. There is precedent for it - we do what's best for any given player at any given time.

Pop always says players have to force him to play them in the sense that they show a competitive drive and perform so well that it's to everyone's benefit to give them minutes, and Devin has been our best player. It just so happens what's best for Devin is also best for us - keeping him on the team. The fact that he averaged third in minutes from all rookies shows he's already being given a lot of time to fit into our team.

So I think it's the same as it ever was in terms of development. There's a big-picture stewardship that Pop has and continues to abide by. It has served us well for decades. And given that there's precedent for playing rookies and that Devin has been given lots of time, it bodes well for him to follow in some big shoes. I expect he'll stay and continue to contribute based on previous players who showed they could play. Frankly, we need him and seeing how Pop's been putting him out there, he knows it. We're not in the hindrance business; Devin's more ready, he'll get to show it. I think that can be trusted based on previous experience with rookies on a higher level.
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 17-12-2020, 7PM (CT) 

Post#28 » by imagump1313 » Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:18 am

I'm good with that, but Vassell does not need Austin from what I have seen soo far. Maybe if he struggles later.
If anything, Walker and Murray need Austin when White and Johnson are healthy.

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