By Jeff | September 24, 2008 | 9 Comments | Print This Post

The Spurs today signed George Hill, their first round pick 26th overall. The deal is to pay Hill the rookie scale which is 1.22 million his first year and 1.31 million in his second year. The Spurs hold the option in the next two years. Frankly, the Spurs should hold the team option on a daily basis once the season starts because Hill has been a total piece of crap. While in the summer league, this NBA bust went 0-16 in the span of two games and looked timid during time on the floor. It got so bad for this waste of an NBA draft pick that he went back to his college to work on his shot even though he had a great field-goal percentage while at IUPUI. Incredible huh? The Spurs sure know how to pick them huh?The fact the Spurs took a while to sign this garbage should tell you something.

Spurs sign Stoudamire

By Michael A. De Leon | September 21, 2008 | 1 Comment | Print This Post

No, not Damon, Salim.

According to azstar.net, the Spurs have signed Salim Stoudamire, who has played for the Atlanta Hawks for the last three years.

During his tenure in Atlanta, Stoudamire averaged 8 points and one assist per game. He’s served mostly as a sharpshooter off the bench and he’ll likely do the same if he sticks with the Spurs.

It’s unsure whether this is just a non-guaranteed training camp signing, like the previous signings of Desmon Farmer, Devin Green and Darryl Watkins.

What worries me most about Stoudamire is his weight. He’s listed at 175, but appears very thin, likely due to his vegan diet.

The Spurs are also rumored to be interested in Juan Dixon, who just two seasons ago averaged 11 points per game for Toronto. Neither Dixon or Stoudamire are good enough ball-handlers to backup Tony Parker at the point, and George Hill has yet to be signed.

There will likely be a few more signings to fill out the training camp roster in the next couple of weeks.

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Will Manu Be Ready?

By Shawn Kirsch | August 29, 2008 | 8 Comments | Print This Post

The word on Ginobili is that he will have heel surgery. Ginobili reinjured himself during the Olympics, while playing against Team USA. While we don’t know the timetable for his return from surgery, Spurs fans worldwide will be worrying.

Might there be a silver lining though? Popovich knows his stars, and how to manage their minutes. I don’t think any of us are doubting Manu will be ready for the playoffs, and while he recovers from surgery, there could be a few extra minutes to spread around. The second year in the Spurs system is when everything seems to click for a player, so we can probably expect a breakout year from Kurt Thomas, as well as Ime Udoka. Udoka has enough versatility that he could use a few of Ginobili’s minutes to get some extra time on the floor. Even more importantly though, newcomers Roger Mason and George Hill could see some quality playing time earlier than they might have otherwise, which could be of great benefit down the stretch this year.

Our hope still remains for Ginobili to return quickly, but until then, the bench needs to take hold of this opportunity for more playing time, and put it to good use.

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Finley Returns, Fans Yawn

By Shawn Kirsch | August 22, 2008 | 1 Comment | Print This Post

The Spurs have resigned veteran Michael Finley, the aging veteran guard. While he brings a lot of leadership qualities, and has a lot he can teach the young rookies, there isn’t a lot left that he can bring to the floor. Declining productivity in recent years left many fans hoping he wouldn’t be back this year, but here he is. I, for one, hope he can teach the young guys, namely George Hill, A LOT about the NBA game in a very short amount of time. When April rolls around, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be a difference maker to help us win it all. We’ll chalk up the return of Finley to ’show us what you got,’ because we haven’t seen anything significant from him in quite some time.

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Spurscast Live in San Antonio this Sunday

By Michael A. De Leon | August 22, 2008 | No Comments | Print This Post

If you’re in San Antonio on Sunday, my Spurscast co-host Jeff will be in town and we’ll be recording a show at Blue Star Brewery starting around 1:30 p.m. Come have a drink with us, sit and share your opinions on the Spurs offseason.

If you can’t join us, we’ll be live on BlogTalkRadio as well so call in ( 718-664-9621) or join the chat.

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All Is Not Well In Beijing

By Shawn Kirsch | August 22, 2008 | 1 Comment | Print This Post

Amongst the news of Team USA beating Argentina by 20 points to advance to the gold medal game, is the news Spurs fans have been hoping not to hear. Sports Illustrated reports Manu Ginobili had an ankle injury in the first quarter, and he didn’t return.

Normally, an ankle injury wouldn’t be too much of a concern, simply give him lots of rest before the season starts, and all should be well. But this is Ginobili. The same Ginobili who doesn’t know any way to play but all out. The Ginobili who always seems to have a nagging injury every year. The Ginobili who was plagued with a foot/ankle problem throughout the playoffs, most notably in the LA series.

Hopefully everything will be ok, as there are nearly 10 weeks until the regular season starts, but we can all visualize Popovich working up new strategies and backup plans right now.

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Spurs Ink Summer League Standout Tolliver

By Michael A. De Leon | July 23, 2008 | 1 Comment | Print This Post

Seven games can reveal quite a bit. In three games in the Vegas Summer League and four in the Rocky Mountain Revue, we’ve seen that George Hill still has a ways to go before he’ll be ready to be Tony Parker’s primary backup at point guard.

We’ve also seen that Ian Mahinmi may need to bake in the oven, or stay in Austin a little longer before he is worthy of consistent minutes in Gregg Popovich’s rotation.

But anyone who has watched just about every summer league game, as I have, has had a few pleasant surprises. Anthony Tolliver and James Gist look ready now and both deserve to not only be invited to training camp, but also deserve spots on the opening night roster.

The Spurs took a step today to assure that at least one part of that tandem will have a Spurs jersey on his back, at least in preseason, by signing Tolliver.

Details of the contract were not disclosed, but it is likely an unguaranteed contract which will keep other teams from picking up Tolliver’s rights.

Tolliver displayed an impressive stroke, especially from beyond the arc, and impressed me with his versatile all-around play.

From Spurs.com

He averaged 12.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in 23.0 minutes while shooting .571 (12-21) from the field and .615 (8-13) from beyond the arc in three games in Las Vegas. At the Rocky Mountain Revue Tolliver appeared in all four games, averaging 11.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 26.5 minutes while knocking down 53.3 percent (8-15) of his shots form beyond the arc.

Last year Tolliver was in the Cavs training camp and played a few preseason games before playing for the D League’s Iowa Energy.

With Tolliver signed, Gist’s signing shouldn’t be too far behind. For more on Tolliver and summer league, download Spurscast episode 129.

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