The last player to leave the practice court, San Antonio Spurs rookie point guard Cory Joseph worked tirelessly, hoisting jump shot after jump shot from the elbows, each off a different basketball move.It took long enough for Joseph to join his teammates in training camp, with immigration issues holding him out of practice until literally hours before the Spurs first–and second-to-last–preseason game. No sense in leaving the court now that he is finally allowed to be on it.
“(The learning curve) is still pretty steep,” Joseph said. “We’re just getting together, I’ve only been here a couple of days now. They’re brigning me along fast, I’m just here everyday trying to get back to work, trying to learn as much as I can as fast as I can.”
A quick combo guard with defensive potential, iffy jump shot, and a preference for scoring would seem to draw favorable comparisons to George Hill in his rookie season. A surprise one-and-done first round draft pick out of the University of Texas, Joseph is probably more of a mystery than even his predecessor was coming out of IUPUI.
“I thought he was from Brazil,” joked Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich when training camp opened, possibly referring to where Joseph spent his summer competing for his Canadian national team.
Joseph hopes his time spent with the Canadian team in Brazil against superior competition helps make up for time lost in the summer league and in a shortened training camp.
“Playing for the Canadian national team, meeting Manu and Tiago in Argentina, it was great,” said Joseph. “There were a lot of NBA players there, NBA quality players, and a lot of older guys. I was just learning from that.”
With backup point guard T.J. Ford on the roster and Gary Neal having spent much of the summer honing his point guard skills to help pick up the slack for departed combo guard George Hill, Joseph has the luxury of developing at his own pace this season. Perhaps even in continued anonymity in Austin with the Toros.
While Joseph acquitted himself well in a preseason game with only a shoot around to prepare, the Spurs have a little more depth than when Hill was thrust into action his rookie year. Replacing Popovich’s favorite player, for Joseph, is a longer road than the commute from Canada to San Antonio. Being the last one in the gym is a good start.
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