Johnson joins injury-depleted frontcourt
The Spurs churned the bottom of their roster Tuesday, signing fifthyear forward Alize Johnson to a one-year deal after waiving undrafted rookie wing Jordan Hall.
With center Jakob Poeltl and power forward Jeremy Sochan sidelined with quad injuries sustained in Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the addition of Johnson gives the Spurs muchneeded depth in the frontcourt.
Johnson joins the Spurs after averaging 22.2 points on 59.8 percent shooting from the field and 10.7 rebounds in five games this season for the Austin Spurs. While playing for the Spurs' developmental team, he also connected on 40.7 percent of his shots from 3-point range on an average of 4.5 attempts per outing.
Johnson, 26, entered the NBA when Indiana drafted him in the second round in 2018 after he averaged 14.9 points and 11 rebounds at Missouri State.
He's appeared in 72 games, averaging 2.5 points and 3.0 rebounds playing for Brooklyn, Chicago, Washington and New Orleans after spending his first two seasons with the Pacers.
Johnson participated in practice Tuesday and made the trip afterward to Oklahoma City, where the Spurs (6-15) will face the Thunder (8-13) on
Wednesday night.
The workout came after the Spurs, who have lost eight games in a row and 13 of their last 14, had the last two days off.
Hall, a 20-year-old former St. Joseph's standout, appeared in nine games for the Spurs, averaging 8.8 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists. The Spurs could re-sign him and add him to Austin's roster.
Movie Till has players’ attention
The Spurs as a team bused to Lacantera on Monday to watch the film Till, which tells the story of the brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi nearly 67 years ago.
“It was really good,” said forward Isaiah Roby, who grew up in Dixon, Ill., not far from Till's hometown of Chicago.
The vicous, racist
torture and lynching of the Black teen shocked the nation and served as a catalyst for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
“Me being from Illinois, I knew a lot about Emmett Till's story already,” Roby said. “But it was good especially for guys like Jeremy, who (grew up in England) and might not know the story. We talked about it a little bit afterward and it really opened up his eyes to what 1950s America looked like.”
The field trip was part of coach Gregg Popovich's ongoing efforts to teach his players about the importance of social justice.
“Pop informs us a lot of things that are going on just outside of basketball, and I think that is more important than what is going on out on the floor,” guard Doug Mcdermott said.
Practices focus on transition D
Shoring up the Spurs' woeful transition defense has been the focal point of several recent practices and shootarounds.
“We are going to improve,” Mcdermott said. “Pop has been drilling us pretty hard the last few weeks and eventually it will click.”
The Spurs rank near the bottom of the league in fast break points allowed (17.1 per game), transition points allowed (25.3) and opponents points off turnovers (21.3).
“It is pretty much a matter of communication,” Mcdermott said. “I know it sounds pretty cliché, but we have to speak up. We have got a lot of young guys who haven't played a ton of minutes in the league. It is important we are all on the same page and we know our matchups every time coming out of timeouts.”