Keita Bates-Diop was an unlikely candidate to become the first Spurs player with a 30-point game this season, but the little-used forward reached that number in Thursday’s win over the Lakers, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. Bates-Diop had 88 total points in his first 23 games, but he exploded in L.A., hitting all 11 of his shots from the field in the best night of his career.
“That’s why he’s in the NBA,” teammate Lonnie Walker said. “You’ve got to put respect on almost any player that’s out there. We’re all here for a reason.”
Bates-Diop was named Big Ten Player of the Year at Ohio State in 2018, but he has found only limited success in the NBA. Taken by the Timberwolves with the 48th pick in that year’s draft, he spent a season and a half in Minnesota before being traded to Denver. He signed a two-way contract with the Spurs last season and earned a standard deal this year.
“He’s a conscientious guy,” coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s a great teammate. He’s becoming more and more conscientious all the time — and also a bit more confident, like he feels like he has a place.”
There’s more from San Antonio:
- It took a lot of years and a lot of help for Dejounte Murray to develop into a top-level point guard, McDonald notes in a separate story. Drafted in 2016, Murray got to learn from Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard early in his career, but also had to overcome a torn ACL that wiped out his entire third season. “He had very little experience coming into the league and basically missed one whole season where he wasn’t able to develop,” Popovich said. “So at this point to see him playing the way he is, the confidence arena, where he’s got habits that are formed now — he understands the position. He understands the role and responsibility every night.”
- Two WNBA teams have expressed interest in hiring Spurs assistant Becky Hammon as their head coach, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces have both reached out and there is mutual interest, according to Charania. Hammon has been rumored for years as a potential replacement for Popovich whenever he retires.
- With the G League delaying the start of its regular season, Joshua Primo, Joe Wieskamp and Devontae Cacok may join the Spurs for Sunday’s game against Detroit, Orsborn tweets.
What a depressing season for the Spurs. No player on their team has even scored 30 points in one game until Keita Bates-Diop, a guy who should have been cut in the offseason but somehow beat out Al-farouq Aminu and Luka Samanic for the final roster spot, scores 30 in a win over the ultimately terrible Lakers. Ooooooof.
This is clearly coming from somebody who doesn’t watch the Spurs, because there’s a lot to be excited about if you’re a Spurs fan.
I’ve always liked Pops as he finds ways to make it work and plays to his players strengths. Honestly though Murray, Johnson, maybe Primo and next year’s lottery pick is all they have to get excited about. Problem is they’re winning too many games to get a high pick but the roster as stands is too mediocre to be any good any time soon. There best hope is too get lucky and find another unknown like Kawhi and develop them into a star.
I assure you, Spurs fans are very excited about Vassell.
Don’t forget about White, who continues to be underestimated by a lot of folks and seems to be rounding into form now. The only thing missing is for Bubble Derrick’s three-point shooting to make a reappearance.
What gets lost in the Spurs current record—which is already on the rise—is they had a pretty brutal schedule start to the season. And with a significantly softer second-half schedule, it would not surprise me if this team manages to end up playing .500 ball and making the play-in as, say, the 8th seed.
.500 team…lot of talented young players…Primo has barely seen the floor to this point….yes, a lot to be excited about.
How is this about Aminu & Samanic and feeling down? Diop busting out is a good thing.
Murray must be an All-Star this year, his season is outrageously good, combined with a lot of old guards in the WC, is gotta be a no-brainer to get the kid in the team, guard position in the conference is not exactly very exciting aside of Luka, Ja & Murray, then you just have the oldies like Westbrook, Dame, Curry & so on!
Spurs should be excited about what they have. Murray took some time, but he looks like a finished product now and should be a borderline All Star for years to come. White, Vassel, and Walker all look like they can be great third and fourth options on a championship team. Johnson looks like a really nice piece as well, and Jakob hasn’t looked better in his career than he has this year. Best part is that White is only player of that group who is over 25 (27).
There’s still a few things the Spurs need to be a playoff contender, including better 3PT and Free Throw shooting and more frontcourt depth. For everything that Murray, White and Johnson do well, none is an overly effective three point shooter. McBuckets and Forbes can drain it from deep, but that’s about all they offer.
Truthfully though, there are already so many good pieces in SA that a single Superstar could make this team really good, really quick. Unfortunately this offseason doesn’t look to have a great FA class to pick from, especially as the Spurs are one of the few teams that have cash to spend.