Since being signed by the San Antonio Spurs, Brandon Paul has shown the value of staying ready.
How do the San Antonio Spurs do it? It seems every year they are able to sign an obscure player and turn him into a solid rotation player. This summer they signed Brandon Paul, who played in Europe for the past few seasons.
The other foray Paul had into the NBA was at the start of last season with the Philadelphia 76ers. Paul was not considered good enough to stay on this roster, being waived before he played an NBA game.
Fortunately for Paul, he met a man named Gregg Popovich. The Spurs coach has kept the franchise relevant with a long history of free agent signings and successful late first round draft picks.
This season the other players to enter the Spurs system with Paul are Matt Costello and Derrick White. Of the three, only Paul has seen significant minutes this season. The mature rookie has played 32 of a possible 35 games this season.
Paul’s stats have not set the world on fire. In 12.0 minutes per game, Paul is averaging 3.3 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.7 steals per game. However, it is not Paul’s numbers that are getting him game time. It is his effort and ability to fit into the system that is surely impressing Popovich.
Game time increase
In the first two games, Paul collected 21 seconds of playing time. Then, in the third game of the season he was given over seven minutes on the court. Paul did not take a shot, but had two assists and two fouls. The Spurs won by four points, so this was certainly not junk time.
From that game on, Paul has had nine games with more than 20 minutes playing time. In four of these games, Paul has had double-digit scoring efforts, with his worst shooting night being 42.9 percent.
For the season, Paul is shooting 43.0 percent from the floor, including 31.7 percent from deep. However, drilling down into the numbers, it is easy to see why Paul has earned more playing time.
Paul has fit into the San Antonio Spurs’ system almost flawlessly. With his shooting, Paul has attempted 52.3 percent of his shots from inside the arc. He is shooting 70.4 percent from 0-3 feet and 50 percent from 3-10 feet.
Where he shows best he is fitting into the system is that out of all of his made 2-point field goals, he has been assisted on 66.7 percent of them. This shows an understanding of where he needs to be when he is on the court.
The other 47.7 percent of Paul’s shots have come from 3-point land, where he is making 31.7 percent of his attempts. Of these makes, Paul is being assisted on 92.3 percent of these shots. He is getting to the spots where he can be most useful for the Spurs.
The intangibles
However, it is not the numbers that define Paul the best. They are certainly not the reasons he has increased his playing time or the fact he has started twice. He has the attributes that coach Popovich values.
Paul plays hard on defense and has the ability to make good decisions on both ends of the court. He also has a tremendous work ethic. Paul brings effort and an edge to everything he does. Quite simply, he has grown from his college days where he was an inconsistent defender.
This is thanks to his time overseas, where he showed a tremendous work ethic. On a recent Spurs game broadcast, one of the commentators stated he was at practice first and was frequently there after the others left.
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It was also said he was the last person you wanted to be involved in a pickup basketball game. He plays every moment on the court like it is his last. Is it any wonder the Spurs signed him? You can’t be more San Antonio Spurs than Brandon Paul. He is ready to play basketball with intensity any time you ask, especially on an NBA court.