Travis Trice – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Travis Trice PG – 6’2, 177lbs – Born 22nd January 1993 Austin Spurs The Spurs acquired Trice from the Wisconsin Herd for Nick Johnson two thirds of the way through the season, and in so doing, they got themselves a lead guard. Because of his size, Trice cannot play or guard any position other than the one spot. He is small (the 6’2 listing, which like all listings in this Manifesto is taken from the NBA’s official numbers, seems generous), with no great wingspan or strength to compensate. To survive defensively, then, Trice has to utilise his speed and put on as much pressure as he can with footwork and energy alone, staying in front and contesting cleanly. And notwithstanding the permanent disadvantages he has, particularly on any kind of switch, he does that. Trice applies that speed offensively too to be a dynamic lead guard who exploits the in-between game well and often. Shooting a lot of pull-up jumpers, Trice pairs that by utilising hesitations, stutter-steps and the like to get to the rim, and although he struggles to finish there with inefficient floaters, the fact that he is prepared to try means having to defend him accordingly. This in turn makes the step-back especially deadly, because defenders really must track back as if he is going to go the whole way to the bucket. Trice’s ability to stop on a dime when running at high speed and then shoot has become the defining characteristic of his game as a pro, and it is an impressive feat whenever a player so undersized can create for themselves an unblockable shot. Passing off of that threat when appropriate, and being shoot-first while being unselfish, makes for quite the half-court primary playmaker. From an NBA point of view, Trice’s size […]
Cameron Rundles – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Cameron Rundles PG/SG – 6’2, 180lbs – Born 27th April 1988 Austin Spurs Rundles is a somewhat unlikely candidate to have made a G-League debut at age 30. He made the team via the local tryout route back in October, and survived all the subsequent roster turnover to still be there at the end, making it through a full season at the end of the bench after a seven-year international professional career taking in too many countries to mention. (Although due to personal bias, I will mention that he played one season in Britain at one point. Not many players in this Manifesto can say that.) Where once he was largely used as a defender and streak-shooter prior to his senior season at Wofford, Rundles has played the majority of his professional career on the ball as a point guard. An athletic player with speed and a long stride if not necessary a big leaper, Rundles combines that athleticism with a good catch-and shoot jump shot, and makes good passing plays out of the pick-and-roll. He can play three-and-D, with some physicality to go with that good length and speed, or he can play more as a playmaker; the versatility is a virtue. His numbers in his inaugural G-League season, however, were not good. Not when compared to some of what he has done on the continent. Rundles has been all over Europe in his professional career, and even returned to Wofford (where he spent three years after two with Monmouth) to be an assistant coach back in 2012 -13 in the midst of that tour. He should be able to eke out some more seasons at the lower tier European competitions yet, but the G-League may have been a step too far. – 20th June, 2019 This […]
Jeff Ledbetter – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Jeff Ledbetter SG – 6’3, 195lbs – Born 15th June 1988 Austin Spurs Ledbetter started the season with the Spurs, going for his third consecutive season with the team, after also having appeared for San Antonio’s summer league team for two consecutive seasons. However, he stayed for only 19 games before leaving the team, seemingly unannounced, to return to Mexico and played with the Manzaneros de Cuauhtémoc. Ledbetter has been a good G-League player and solid pro mostly on account of his sweet shooting; he lacks for size and athleticism, yet he gets looks away in tight space, off the catch and off screens, being one of the better exponents of the latter category, which immediately conveys value. He does less work off the dribble, but he does pass with a bit of flair out of pick-and-roll situations, a bit like a younger, smaller version of Marco Belinelli. I am sure the (Austin) Spurs would take him back if he wanted to continue his G-League career, because he is an excellent role player whose talents complement the development of any prospects he is paired with. It seems as though he does not want that, though. – 20th June, 2019 This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball. – View tons more player profiles like this from the Manifesto here.
Corey Henderson – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Corey Henderson SG – 6’5, 190lbs – Born 1st August 1995 Austin Spurs Henderson’s first professional season started with a spot on the Austin roster for training camp via a local tryout, but was waived early when Nick Johnson became available to return. It appears as though he did not play elsewhere. Henderson is a particularly shooty shooting guard, with a .731% three-point rate as a senior, plenty of clutch baskets, and a propensity for shooting from Stephen Curry-range. He does however do little beyond this; while he demonstrates good discipline with kick-out passes and with the ball in general, he handles it little, catching with an intent to shoot and rarely probing inside the arc at all. When he does do so, the 6’4 Henderson struggles to finish at the rim, and makes little impact defensively either. Confidence is a virtue, though. Become even more confident, make some more shots and become the Belgian league’s Troy Daniels – 20th June, 2019 This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball. – View tons more player profiles like this from the Manifesto here.1
Jeff Coby – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Jeff Coby PF – 6’8, 227lbs – Born 4th February 1994 Austin Spurs Beginning his second professional season with an unexpected training camp contract from New York – admittedly lasting only seven days before being waived – Coby managed only one day longer than that with the Knicks’ G-League affiliate Westchester before being cut again. He was latterly picked up by the Spurs for a couple of weeks as cover for Travis Trice and John Holland while they went off for national team duty, but barely played, was cut, and finished the season with Racing in Luxembourg for the final three games of their postseason, averaging 13.3 points and 15.0 rebounds per game. Coby has a good physical profile, a well-built 6’8 with good mobility, and he is a good offensive rebounder with potential as a transition threat, roll man, athletic finisher, mid-range shooter and perimeter defender. He employs a reasonable free throw line jump shot, floats baseline and is mobile enough to fill in space. However, it is all more potential than reality; Coby creates no offence, relies on being set up, is out of control in the post, frequently loses position on defence mostly through being over-aggressive, and lacks for poise on both ends. At this level and above, better finishers are available. – 20th June, 2019 This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball. – View tons more player profiles like this from the Manifesto here.
Demetri McCamey – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Demetri McCamey PG – 6’3, 205lbs – Born 21st February 1989 Austin Spurs McCamey has spent three of the past four seasons with the Spurs now, yet the player he was as a senior at Illinois seems to be a thing of the past. The McCamey of back then was an excellent spot-up shooter (an enormous 1.634 points per possession) who, while he did not move the opposing half court defence around like other lead guards out there, passed well enough on the move and used the mid-range shooting weapons of Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale to average a hefty 7.1 assists per game. Defence was a concern – McCamey’s tendency to switch off on that end, particularly when things were not going his way offensively, led to the unflattering nickname of McComa – yet McCamey was a lead guard of some note, on the fringes on the NBA, and perhaps in it were he able to better establish himself defensively and consistently stay in shape. However, McCamey has simply never shot as well as that since. Over 158 games in his four G-League seasons, he is shooting 32.3% from three-point range and 37.7% from the floor, and no longer getting to the foul line, attempting only 8 foul shots all season. It is also hard to put McCamey on the ball here in Austin in a way that he was back with the Illini when players such as Ryan Arcidiacono, Keifer Sykes, Nick Johnson and Travis Trice are always with him – the niche McCamey fills now is as the reserve, slow-it-down, streak-shooting replacement-level player. Upperclassman McCamey, the one who consistently hit difficult jump shots and passed with some flair, was great fun. Very good, too. Here’s hoping he can get back to shooting like that again. […]
Connor Burchfield – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Connor Burchfield SG – 6’4, 180lbs – Born 6th April 1994 Austin Spurs In his first professional season out of William and Mary, Burchfield moved around. He signed early with Juventus in Lithuania, was cut after two months just before the season began, was drafted by the Spurs with the penultimate pick in the first round of the G-League Draft, lasted two further months, before latterly spending 13 days with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and 11 days with the Greensboro Swarm. Across all these gigs, he managed only 113 minutes played, enough time to get up 21 three-pointers but hitting only five of them. Burchfield is of course a shooter by trade, and an elite one, hitting 50.8% from outside across his four-year collegiate career on 354 total attempts. He moves off the ball, runs to the wing, cuts back door, and works to get open without dribbling. That said, apart from the very occasional drive of a close-out, Burchfield almost never handles the ball, and hasn’t demonstrated the ability to much do so. And with a small stature, a short and skinny wing span and little athleticism, defence will forever be the valid concern. After all, while he can chase around other Connor Burchfield types, he is changing no one’s plans. [2020 UPDATE: Retired and works in insurance.] – 20th June, 2019 This above is extracted from the following page in the The Basketball Manifesto, an entirely free 3,775 page, 1.2 million word-ish basketball reference book which contains reviews, strategies, ideas, opinions, and a whole lot of scouting on men’s world basketball. – View tons more player profiles like this from the Manifesto here.
Josh Huestis – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Josh Huestis SF/PF – 6’7, 230lbs – Born 19th December 1991 Austin Spurs Coming out of college, although he had scored 11.2 points per game as a senior, Huestis had yet to establish what kind of offensive player he was. Sometimes he played in the post, sometimes he spotted up from the perimeter, yet in neither case did he stand out. Instead, Huestis was a defence -first player, a rebounder and a shot blocker, who scored through cuts, put-backs and the like as much as he did through any designed plays. Not much was run specifically for Huestis as, with his limited handle, merely average shooting and college basketball’s refusal to run stuff for rolling screeners for some reason, it was not easy to know how to do so. Struggling to finish through contact around the basket, Huestis needed a role. As a pro, Huestis has sought to establish himself as a perimeter shooter. All this has really done for him, though, is show that he isn’t one. Huestis fell out of the NBA last season because the guaranteed money ran out after the Oklahoma City Thunder declined his fourth-year team option. Immediately after doing so, they then gave him over a thousand minutes, as opposed to the mere 96 he managed over his first two years combined. The Thunder at the time were desperately looking for a wing defender who could also space the floor. Huestis, however, didn’t, shooting only 28.7% from three on a high volume of attempts. He needed a bounce-back season this year to re-establish his NBA credentials; instead, though, he again shot poorly in the low-30% range that is usual for him. The 38.5% he shot with the Blue in the 2016/17 season is clearly anomalous compared with the rest of his career. […]
John Holland – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
John Holland SG/SF – 6’5, 205lbs – Born 6th November 1988 Austin Spurs Holland initially began this past season on the second year of the two-way contract with which he began the 2017-18 campaign, but was waived by the Cleveland Cavaliers in favour of Andrew Harrison. When Harrison himself was then replaced by Jaron Blossomgame a month later, it was largely Holland who filled Blossomgame’s spot with the Spurs. They do things quite differently, though. Offensively minded, Holland is a useful if not dynamic off-ball scorer. He has some strength on his frame but not the speed and leap of, say, Jordan Green – this, combined with a solid but unspectacular handle on the ball, limits his ability to change direction all that quickly, which in turn makes Holland more of an off-ball threat than on one. That said, Holland has a very strong understanding of how and when to get open. He runs the court, he cuts off the ball, and he spots up with frequency. Holland is always someone for a defence to pay attention to, because while he will not handle the ball up top much, he will work in tandem with whoever does, and he is a confident shooter with any slither of space. He also makes tough ones. Defensively, Holland has never exactly stood out, but he has never shirked his responsibilities either. He uses his strength and plays with good effort level on that end; others are quicker and longer, and some apply more ball pressure, but Holland uses what he can. In conjunction, these two main aspects to his game make Holland a solid three-and-D player. From an NBA point of view, it may be very difficult to make it back given his age, but there are several G-League seasons still […]
Jordan Green – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Jordan Green SG – 6’5, 191lbs – Born 5th May 1993 Austin Spurs Since leaving the Texas A&M basketball team in 2015, Green has a spotty CV, barely playing save for a brief local tryout spot with the Erie BayHawks over his first two professional campaigns, before making the Spurs roster via the same tryout route to begin the 2017-18 season. That time, it worked, as Green has now been on the team for two full years. In an era of shooters, Green is not one. Nor does he seem to much aspire to be one. Green has always been an average-enough spot-up shooter to merit taking catch-and-shoot looks, yet he does not much look to do so, and even less often does he try and create them with a dribble. Instead, Green can be found on the wings, cutting sometimes, driving sometimes (albeit always finishing with his left hand), and spotting up only when very open. In the half court, as a shooting guard who neither handles up top nor uses screens on the wing, he has limited use. For the most part, Green gets his offence in transition. It is there where his excellent athleticism is best on show. Green is a very good leaper who attacks the rim when he can, and leaks out often so as to maximise the number of these opportunities. In doing so he often forgoes helping out with the rebounding, but at least he is a good transition finisher. Green’s role instead is primarily defensive, where he takes primary assignments against off-ball shooters and elite wings. With a knack for highlight blocks, Green puts up ball pressure and uses the length and speed to stay in front fairly well, albeit with lapses. It would serve him and his job security […]
Amida Brimah – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Amida Brimah C – 6’10, 230lbs – Born 11th February 1994 Austin Spurs After four years at UConn, the book on Brimah was written a long time ago. Long, athletic shot blocker, looks smooth, limited offensively, prone to fouling. Given the prolific nature of his shot blocking ability, the question was whether he could iron out the kinks over time and maximise the value of this one unteachable skill. The answer thus far:….sort of. Having completed his second consecutive season with Austin, there are small improvements to be found between Brimah’s numbers this year and last year. His scoring is up to 8.8 points per game from 6.6, his rebounding is up to 8.2 per game to 7.4 (with almost all of those extra ones coming offensively), his assists per game nearly doubled from 0.7 per game last season, and even the blocks are up from 2.6 per game. This comes in almost exactly the same minute share; Brimah played two more total minutes this season in one less game. There are incremental improvements, then, and while Brimah’s foul rates are still very high (thus capping the minute share he can receive), that is not too big of a problem from an NBA point of view considering that the role he would be looked at to fill would be small anyway. The biggest problem is the free throw percentage. It has completely gone to the point that one in particular briefly went viral. A player who hit 82.4% of his free throws as a junior (admittedly on a small sample size) is now hacked with every touch in the paint, because to do so is the most efficient strategy available. And thus instead of developing offensively, Brimah has in fact regressed. The blocking (forsaking position to overhelp be […]
Devon Bookert – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Devon Bookert PG – 6’3, 195lbs – Born 27th January 1993 Austin Spurs In the three years since he graduated from Florida State, Bookert has spent two years on the cusp of the G-League, some time in the Czech Republic and one year unsigned. Twice he has been drafted – 75th overall by Rio Grande Valley last year, 42nd by Capital City this year – yet neither time has he made it out of camp. He was called up to the Spurs when Travis Trice went on international duty, yet kept his place upon his return, with Maverick Rowan waived instead. Presumably, this was to add balance to the team; whereas Rowan strives to be a shooter, Bookert is more of a deferential combo guard whose efficiency trumps volume. Bookert shot 41.9% from three-point range over his four-year Seminoles career, and in the 24 Czech league games he managed with Praha last season, he shot 47-93 for a further 50.5%. He is not a creator of looks; these are catch-and-shoot attempts, as Bookert hasn’t the handle or speed to create the space for his own. Nor for anyone else, really – as willingly deferential as he is, being a pass-first player should not be confused with a half-court creating point guard. Nevertheless, as a role player, Bookert has slowly found a niche. He has improved his handle over the years, spots up from long and mid-ranges, finds good looks for team mates even without collapsing the defence first, keeps the possession moving and doesn’t overdribble. He is a smart extra passer/refeeder, and although he does little in the paint, he wisely knows not to force himself in there much. Without being particularly, fast, big or athletic, Bookert has improved his defensive commitment over the years, chasing shooters around […]
Dejuan Blair – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Dejuan Blair PF/C – 6’8, 270lbs – Born 22nd April 1989 Austin Spurs Three years removed from his last stint in the NBA, and the veteran Blair is still trying to get back in it. Blair has had short G-League stints in two of the last three seasons, yet this season he landed a spot only by going via the draft mechanism. Blair was drafted with the 107th pick in the 2018 G-League Draft; to put that into some context, that was the second-last pick of the entire thing, and of the 106 “picks” in front of them, 33 had actually been passed (i.e. no selection made whatsoever). It is true to say that roster size limits were a large part of why, but it also evidenced that Blair is not just a forgotten man in NBA circles; he had become one in the G-League, too. Nevertheless, as 107th picks go, Blair has yielded some excellent value. In his limited minutes, Blair, who now has big hair, has played the physical bully ball that he always did, something which is increasingly rare in the modern era and something that the smaller GLeague 10-man rosters do not always have good defenders for. He has not become someone else; Blair still does not much shoot or handle, is heavily right-handed dominant, has very slow feet on perimeter defence and struggles outside of the paint on both ends. He never was explosive, but he really isn’t now, and while he posts to righty hooks and rolls to the basket off his own meaty screens, the resultant shot attempts are from below the rim. Still, while the NBA has moved away from players like Blair, the rest of the world has yet to do so. If his health holds up, he should […]
Travis Bader – 2018-19 G-League Player Profile
June 20th, 2019
Travis Bader SG – 6’5, 190lbs – Born 2nd July 1991 Austin Spurs Bader returned to the G-League this January after three and a half years away, time which he had spent in Lithuania, Italy and Greece. In his time away, he has actually been working to reduce his three-point rate. Whereas most players increase theirs over time, Bader – who came out of Oakland in 2014 as an out-and-out off-ball shooting specialist – has lowered his three-point rate from .828 in his first G-League stint with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers down to only .579 with the Spurs this season. Still high, but not as one-dimensional as it once was. This is not because Bader has turned into some ball-dominant probing go-to half court paint collapser or dunker or post-up guy or something. He remains true to what he is; a man who runs around off the ball, using screens, trying to get open, turning to face the basket and raising up to shoot. Minimal dribbles for maximum points, is the aim. What he is instead doing more of is throwing fakes to get the player giving him the required hard closeout in the air, then stepping in for a two-point shot. Quite a lot more often, in fact. It diversifies the attack and leads to more open looks than he would get just by shooting over the closeout every time. Beyond this, though, Bader is still limited. Minimum dribbles is partly by choice, but also because Bader does not have much handle on the ball, making it extremely rare for him to get to the rim and limiting the range of backcourt partners he can play with. Moreover, his limited size and athleticism makes him a bit of a non-factor defensively, and so he has to […]
