Our new backup point guard??

[alh1020]

Come on down, Patty Mills. I think the Spurs have found their backup point guard. The guy can hit those 3s and looks to have settled into the Spurs offensive schema pretty nicely. Do we sign him long term or go after somebody else? I think we find a home for him in SA, the silver and black looks pretty good on him from where I'm sitting.

[crazytlingit]

He is going to pay dividends for us down the line. He can create, shoot and he is fast! He is basically what T.J Ford was, but he can shoot. Our team is looking scary right now, and for that ahole that put a thread that Boris D. was injured go slap yourself, my stomach dropped for the last couple of days and then I see him out there today.

[SleepyAdamII]

His 3 is sick, not even hitting the net. That's crazy good.

[jrtristan2003]

Originally Posted by crazytlingit

He is going to pay dividends for us down the line. He can create, shoot and he is fast! He is basically what T.J Ford was, but he can shoot. Our team is looking scary right now, and for that ahole that put a thread that Boris D. was injured go slap yourself, my stomach dropped for the last couple of days and then I see him out there today.

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[mckennaspur1]

No indication that he's a distributor or a floor general yet. But DAMN he's a shooter! Looks like a shorter version of Gary Neal so far.

[Cruzzer]

TP wasn't much of a passer when he first started either. I think Patty Mills is only about 21 or 22.

He's got TP's speed, and Neal's shooting. Makes an interesting acquisition.

[Money4Nothing]

Originally Posted by mckennaspur1

No indication that he's a distributor or a floor general yet. But DAMN he's a shooter! Looks like a shorter version of Gary Neal so far.

Agreed, he can shoot well but his passing decisions are not great and he seems to be prone to turnovers. Also his defense is not that great.

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[buttsR4rebounding]

Originally Posted by Money4Nothing

Agreed, he can shoot well but his passing decisions are not great and he seems to be prone to turnovers. Also his defense is not that great.

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Compared to Neal he's like Bruce Bowen! Neal's defense this year has been awful.

[Uwe Blab]

He's a great backup. That second unit is dangerous offensively. None of them can defend, but they will put pressure on opposing defenses. And that has been the problem in the past, no offense once the starters get a break.

[ibanezsr]

Originally Posted by Money4Nothing

Agreed, he can shoot well but his passing decisions are not great and he seems to be prone to turnovers. Also his defense is not that great.

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HAHAHA... The dude has played 30 minutes total and only turned the ball over 2 times. His career average is .9 TOs a game. What are you talking about? And his defense isn't bad from what I have seen. Are you sure you are not talking about Gary Neal?

[e_93gsx]

I don’t get to watch many games anymore but how many has he played in? It can't be that many. From the box score it looks like he can shoot a little. Nice but doesn’t seem like anything special.

[Uwe Blab]

Originally Posted by e_93gsx

I don’t get to watch many games anymore but how many has he played in? It can't be that many. From the box score it looks like he can shoot a little. Nice but doesn’t seem like anything special.

He's a backup and that's it. He's small and fast and a streaky shooter. That's his niche. I'm sure some will want him to start over Tony at some point, that's Spursreport's niche.

[Jose_TheGenius]

Mills can create for himself, he can shoot, and he can defend (better than Neal anyway). he's way faster than Neal too (which could help torch 2nd units along with Manu/Jax/Diaw/Bonner).

the thing about Gary Neal is this: as much of a great shooter that he is, he can't handle the rock or defend nor is he fast. he's just a guy who can stand around a spot and wait for the ball so he can shoot it. the fact Mills can do that and create for himself while tiring the opposition would benefit us because now Manu doesn't have to handle the rock off the bench and he doesn't have to be worn out to be included in every play (same with everyone else).

[McGyver]

Honestly...Where DID you get that this guy turns the ball over? Also, he knows the Spurs' defensive scheme. His rotations were on point last night. Haven't seen a downside yet. He may be streaky but, I it seems to me that he knows when he's off, unlike Gary Neal sometimes.

[grizzly_bexar]

Mills is actually reputed to be a pretty good defender. But he isn't big. Hopefully we will see a lot more of him as he acclimates and TP rests getting closer to the playoffs.

I don't see TP resting much as close as we are to OKC though.

[clovisnmspurfan]

So the dude has played a couple of games and we have him figured out? Give him a little more time before we pass judgement.

[ibanezsr]

Originally Posted by Jose_TheGenius

Mills can create for himself, he can shoot, and he can defend (better than Neal anyway). he's way faster than Neal too (which could help torch 2nd units along with Manu/Jax/Diaw/Bonner).

the thing about Gary Neal is this: as much of a great shooter that he is, he can't handle the rock or defend nor is he fast. he's just a guy who can stand around a spot and wait for the ball so he can shoot it. the fact Mills can do that and create for himself while tiring the opposition would benefit us because now Manu doesn't have to handle the rock off the bench and he doesn't have to be worn out to be included in every play (same with everyone else).

I agree 100%. I actually think Gary Neal, along with Blair, should only be used as spot players depending on the situation. I think the Spurs would maximize their play as follows:

Start Duncan, Diaw, TP, Green and KL. Diaw gets to mainly play with TP and our defense against the opposing starting bigs becomes stronger. Diaw has playoff experience and is a playmaker who can spread the floor much better than Blair. Diaw also won't force all the stupid shots Blair does.

Primary 2nd unit as SJ, Gino, Mills, Bonner & Splitter. Splitter and Gino have the magic so it's only fitting to run it this way. Like you said, Gino doesn't always have to handle the ball with the 2nd unit. Neal/Gino can't keep up with the quick PG's in the league so our defense would be better with Mills being in when Parker is out to cover that aspect. That would have the 2nd unit with 3 players that can create, Splitter setting the screens and rolling. If he gets the ball he kicks it out for the 3's from Mills, Bonner, SJ or Gino. I don't see many teams keeping up with the 2nd unit if ran this way.

[spurduncan21]

Originally Posted by ibanezsr

I agree 100%. I actually think Gary Neal, along with Blair, should only be used as spot players depending on the situation. I think the Spurs would maximize their play as follows:

Start Duncan, Diaw, TP, Green and KL. Diaw gets to mainly play with TP and our defense against the opposing starting bigs becomes stronger. Diaw has playoff experience and is a playmaker who can spread the floor much better than Blair. Diaw also won't force all the stupid shots Blair does.

Primary 2nd unit as SJ, Gino, Mills, Bonner & Splitter. Splitter and Gino have the magic so it's only fitting to run it this way. Like you said, Gino doesn't always have to handle the ball with the 2nd unit. Neal/Gino can't keep up with the quick PG's in the league so our defense would be better with Mills being in when Parker is out to cover that aspect. That would have the 2nd unit with 3 players that can create, Splitter setting the screens and rolling. If he gets the ball he kicks it out for the 3's from Mills, Bonner, SJ or Gino. I don't see many teams keeping up with the 2nd unit if ran this way.

I understand with your logic but there is no way Neal does NOT see significant PT in playoffs. He showed last year that he is a gutless player who thrives to seize the moment and take the big shot (game against MEM ring a bell?) Diaw I think will end up seeing more PT than most assume and hopefully it turns to be true. Id love to have Diaw be the #3 come time for the real season

[katyspursfan]

Originally Posted by spurduncan21

I understand with your logic but there is no way Neal does NOT see significant PT in playoffs. He showed last year that he is a gutless player who thrives to seize the moment and take the big shot (game against MEM ring a bell?) Diaw I think will end up seeing more PT than most assume and hopefully it turns to be true. Id love to have Diaw be the #3 come time for the real season

True.
Neal did not shrink up in the big time last year. The early exit should be blamed more on those three individuals considered large.
Execution was poor. Defense of the bigs was less than spectacular. I have no issue with Neal on the floor, as long as he fits into the overall defensive strategy. Green, Leonard and Bonner will help this year.

[Kager]

While Cleveland was not the best offensive team we have seen if you watched the game you would have seen that he actually was the best PG defensive option picking up from full court and pestering all the way to the other end..... he also did it last game too, I thought till he shot 20 that his biggest drawcard would be D while running the team.

In the 4th Patty went out for a couple of minutes and Cav's went straight to a full court press on Neal and Green, Pop had to bring back Patty to stop that.

So his D is actually good rather than a liability, he is obviously best option ball handler after TP (not wanting to burden Manu either) and he has shown he can score..... that sounds like everything we want from a backup.

Final disclaimer though I am not getting to excited yet as it has been only one real game with minutes, just think its all positive and better than what we have had after TJ went down.

[ibanezsr]

Originally Posted by spurduncan21

I understand with your logic but there is no way Neal does NOT see significant PT in playoffs. He showed last year that he is a gutless player who thrives to seize the moment and take the big shot (game against MEM ring a bell?) Diaw I think will end up seeing more PT than most assume and hopefully it turns to be true. Id love to have Diaw be the #3 come time for the real season

I understand that Neal hit some big shots for SA last year. But he is being used differently now than last year too. And his defense is not improving and is a mega liability. Take last night for example... Yea he hit some big shots but he also let Avery Bradley go off in the 2nd quarter and had 5 turnovers. THAT RING A BELL? Defense will only be tougher in the playoffs and I am not ready to see Gary Neal be a PG at playoff level... Sorry.. You are not going to convince me otherwise. I have no problem with Neal as a true shooting guard but not at the PG when we have someone like Mills sitting on the bench.

[e_93gsx]

Just seems like Neal was all the rage awhile back and now Mills is the toast of the town. I'm sure Mills will mess up soon and we will have someone else to talk about soon.

[Grego]

Originally Posted by katyspursfan

True.
Neal did not shrink up in the big time last year. The early exit should be blamed more on those three individuals considered large.
Execution was poor. Defense of the bigs was less than spectacular. I have no issue with Neal on the floor, as long as he fits into the overall defensive strategy. Green, Leonard and Bonner will help this year.

RJ and of course Bonner get most of the blame, but

Ummm, if you take away that one big shot, everything else Neal did was horrid. He missed a bunch of open 3s. Bonner hit a clutch 3 too. In that sense, he was nearly as clutch this past post season.

Neal was bad, bad in the playoffs. Grizz chased him off the line. He does have a better drive game, but they many times got him while he was dribbling deflecting the ball or slowing his drives.

So yeah, he's not a sure thing in the post season, just yet.