Vassell showing off long-range ability
Spurs rookie Devin Vassell is finally heating up from outside.
Vassell displayed his long-range shooting ability in the Spurs’ 121-101 win over Washington by sinking 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range en route to 14 points.
Those numbers represented season highs for the ex-florida State player, who has hit 8 of 16 from downtown over the past four games.
It was a welcome development for the Spurs, who were eager to see him show off the skills that enabled him to hit 41.5 percent of his shots (44 of 106) from beyond the arc as a sophomore for the Seminoles last season.
Through his first 14 games with the Spurs, Vassell had shot 36.4 percent from 3-point range while averaging 2.4 attempts per game.
“When he’s ready to catch and shoot, he’s a terrific 3-point shotmaker,” Spurs guard Lonnie Walker IV said. “As he gets more comfortable on the floor, as he gets more experience, his confidence is going to go up.”
Drafted 11th overall in November, Vassell is the first Spurs rookie with four or more 3-pointers in a game since Gary Neal in 2011.
While waiting for his shot to come around, Vassell impressed the Spurs with his all-around game.
“Devin is just a natural basketball player,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He always seems to know what he should be doing on the court, where he should be, how he can help on defense, getting a rebound, taking a good shot, not turning it over.”
For the season, Vassell is averaging 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals.
“A lot of people look at points, but there are going to be games where the ball is going in and there are going to be games where it’s not,” Vassell said. “But, at the end of the day, you can’t let that determine how hard you play and how you help the team. As a shooter, sometimes you have good days, sometimes you have bad days, but, at the end of the day, you can control your effort and how you play the game, and that’s what I am trying to do.
Weatherspoon off injury report
The Spurs removed secondyear guard Quinndary Weatherspoon from the injury report Monday.
Weatherspoon, who the Spurs selected in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft, has been out since undergoing surgery on his left knee in October to repair cartilage damage he suffered during the seeding games in August at the NBA bubble in Florida.
Praised by Popovich for his leadership skills, Weatherspoon averaged 14.8 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in 36 G League outings last season. The ex-mississippi State player was part of Popovich’s youth-oriented rotation in Orlando, where he averaged 7.8 minutes, 1.5 points and 1.3 assists per game over eight contests.
Poeltl surprises by hitting long jumper
Watching Jakob Poeltl sink a 20-foot jumper from the top of the key in the first quarter Sunday left some observers wondering if the 7-foot-1 Austrian has been putting in some extra time with Spurs shooting coach Chip Engelland.
Walker quickly dismissed that notion.
“I think that’s all on Jakob,” he said.
It was the longest shot Poeltl has attempted since joining the Spurs as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to
Toronto after the 2017-18 season. The only longer shot Poeltl has made during his five NBA seasons came in 2017-18 when he sank one of the two 3-pointers he attempted that season.
Walker jokingly suggested Poeltl might soon be stretching the floor more often.
“He’s got a little bit of flavor with him,” Walker said. “He’s not trying to show it all off yet.”
Trinity graduate Hill on Pelicans’ staff
The son of former Spurs coach Bob Hill is a member of Stan Van Gundy’s Pelicans coaching staff.
Casey Hill, who helped the Trinity University Tigers reach the Division III playoffs three times as a player from 2003-07, joined New Orleans after spending the past two seasons as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers under Doc Rivers.
Before moving up to Rivers’ staff, Hill spent the 2017-18 season as coach of the Clippers’ G League affiliate. He joined Los Angeles after four seasons as coach of the Golden State Warriors’ G League affiliate, which he guided to a G League championship in 2015.
“He’s definitely someone as a player you can relate to,” Pelicans guard Josh Hart said. “You can talk to him about different things. He’s been good for us in terms of offensively helping us with spacing, helping us with generating the shots we want. His addition has been great. He’s been in the league for a long time and knows his way around.”
Bob Hill forged a 124-58 record in two-plus seasons with the Spurs, guiding them to the Western Conference finals in 1995 and the Western Conference semifinals in 1996. Popovich, then the Spurs general manager, replaced Hill as coach after the Spurs got off to a 3-15 record in 1996-97.