San Antonio Spurs: March Madness Edition
By Simon Shortt
In the middle of the madness, some members of the San Antonio Spurs have seen their former schools defeated, while a few are still dancing. But what would their teams look like with their future NBA player still in school?
The San Antonio Spurs are seeing plenty of success on the court as the season winds down. But many of their players are also having success through their former schools during March Madness.
Six Spurs players have watched their former teams play in the NCAA Tournament this year. Three of them will still be dancing this weekend. Those who will still be watching their teams might wonder how their team would do with them still on it.
Those whose teams have lost may wonder if they could have helped. Needless to say, it wouldn’t hurt any team to have a future pro back on the roster.
David Lee, Florida
In the prime of David Lee‘s NBA career, he was a guy who could get you 20-10 on any given night. His college career, at its peak, was pretty similar. During his senior year he averaged 13.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.
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The Gators have had some success in those categories this year, ranking third in the SEC in both points and rebounds. But nationally they only rank 63rd in scoring and 93rd in rebounding. Lee would certainly help in those areas.
The veteran big man would also be a huge lift to a team that suffered an injury late in the season. Starting center John Egbunu was ruled out for the season after tearing his ACL in February.
Along with his production, his sheer presence to provide some depth for the Gators would go a long way in their tourney run.
Danny Green, North Carolina
Danny Green, as you’d expect, was a reliable three point shooter in his time at UNC. He shot 38 percent in his four years at Chapel HIll, including hitting 42 percent in his final year. His shooting is something the Tar Heels would welcome this season.
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They were tied for 99th in the nation in three-point percentage and 184th in threes made per game.
He’d also fit in to the starting lineup nicely, between Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson. He would be a great spot up option while those two create and get into the paint.
They could also have a pretty stellar defensive lineup with Green in the game alongside Theo Pinson, Carolina’s best perimeter defender. His defensive abilities, as well his offensive impacted without needing the ball would be a great asset to this team.
Very similar to his impact with the San Antonio Spurs.
Something that Green brings that none of his other Spurs teammates have is NCAA Championship experience. Green was on the 2008-09 team that won it all with Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.
Adding someone who has won a championship, even to a team that came as close as the Tar Heels did last year, is a benefit that won’t show in the box score.
Kyle Anderson, UCLA
Kyle Anderson made his mark for the Bruins as a point forward who stuffed the stat sheet. In his sophomore season he averaged 14.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. So there is no doubt he could provide a college team with a lot in the tournament.
The only questions is where he would fit on this team.
UCLA boasts the best offense in the nation, leading the NCAA in points, field goal percentage and assists. They have five very good starters and a sixth man in Aaron Holiday who averages 12.5 points and 4.4 assists per game.
With two bigs slotted seventh and eighth in the rotation, you wonder if Anderson could get both of their combined minutes and the Bruins just went seven deep.
This may not necessarily make them better, but it sure would be fun. Could you imagine an offense featuring Anderson, Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf, Bryce Alford and Isaac Hamilton/Holiday? That team would be the epitome of ball movement.
The defense might not be there without a rim protector in that lineup. But since the team is 13th in the nation in blocks per game (bpg) at 5.4 per, they might be able to sacrifice on that front for 10-15 minutes a game to have this type of offensive lineup in at one time.
This team plus Anderson would cause a lot of problems for teams in the tournament.
Dewayne Dedmon, USC
Dewayne Dedmon spent two years at USC after transferring to the school at the age of 22. His age coming out of college was part of the reason he went undrafted in 2014, but he seems to have found his footing with the San Antonio Spurs.
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In his two seasons at Southern California he averaged 7.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.
The Trojans were a surprise team in this year’s NCAA tournament, winning their play-in game versus Providence and even won a major upset against SMU before falling to Baylor in the second round.
While USC’s top two players are sophomore big men Bennie Boatwright (15.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per) and Chimezie Metu (14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.5 bpg) who played well against Baylor offensively (44 combined points), the defense was lacking.
Combined they accounted for just ten rebounds and zero blocks, while Baylor’s big man Johnathan Motley was a beast going for 19-10-2 despite fouling out of the game. Dedmon’s added size, rebounding and rim protection could have been a big factor in the team’s loss to the Bears.
Patty Mills, Saint Mary’s
Like Dedmon and Anderson, Patty Mills is a San Antonio Spurs player who spent two years in a California school. In his time at Saint Mary’s, Mills averaged 16.4 points, 3.7 assists and just less than 2.0 steals per game.
The starting guards for the Gaels are senior Joe Rahon and junior Emmett Naar. Both players are averaging less than 10 points per game and only Rahon is averaging at least one steal per game (1.06). Mills, in his second year, averaged 18.4 points and 2.2 steals.
Those numbers would make him a more dynamic option in the backcourt.
After a first-round win against VCU, the Gaels fell to Arizona in round two. In the loss Rahon and Naar combined for only eight points on 4-of-12 shooting. In just a nine-point loss, a big game from a young Patty Mills may have led to an upset for Saint Mary’s.
Bryn Forbes, Michigan State
Another diamond in the rough for the San Antonio Spurs is Bryn Forbes of Michigan State. Forbes went undrafted in 2016 before sticking with the Spurs in the summer.
He previously spent two season at Cleveland State before transferring to MSU and playing his last two years of eligibility for Tom Izzo.
In his final year at Michigan State he shot a blistering 48 percent from deep and had a 67 percent true shooting percentage, cementing his role as a sharpshooter going into the draft process.
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The Spartans lost to Kansas in round two of the tournament by a score of 90-70. Now, when you’re a team playing Kansas, who has both Josh Jackson and Frank Mason III combine for 43 and Devonte’ Graham adds 18, there’s not much you can do.
But that doesn’t mean Forbes wouldn’t have had an impact.
MSU played five different guards for at least 14 minutes in this game. Combined they tallied 28 points on 10-of-29 shooting. If we could insert Bryn Forbes into this game, and give him 15 of these missed shots, there’s a decent chance that equates to 20-plus points.
And while their loss was more a function of their defensive deficiencies, they may have had a better shot had the game been a shootout led by Forbes and Miles Bridges.
Florida, North Carolina and UCLA all play Friday night, while USC, Saint Mary’s and Michigan State will watch from home. With an off night between home games, Lee, Green and Anderson are sure to be home watching their favorite college teams do battle.
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Maybe Dedmon, Mills and Forbes will bring the chips.