Brendan Maloney- USA TODAY Sports
San Antonio Spurs’ point guard Cory Joseph enters the 2013-2014 season looking to prove his worth to the organization and solidify his spot in the rotation. Now entering his third season, Joseph has so far split his time in the NBA in and out of the Spurs’ rotation and in the D-League.
Joseph gave the Spurs some valuable minutes at the backup point guard spot down the stretch and during much of the postseason. He seems to have learned a lot during the Spurs’ Finals run, as evidenced by the following quote of his:
Related: Denver Nuggets 2013 Player Profile: Quincy Miller
“Playing on the biggest stage in basketball, in the world, nobody could ask for more. Obviously we were excited, happy, anxious, dialed in, focused, all of the emotions you could possibly think of, we were feeling. I mean, at the end, all of them. Mad, sad, all of it at once.”
In his two seasons, Joseph has shown occasional flashes as to why the Spurs selected him in the first round two years ago. He is a smart player who takes care of the ball, two critical things that a point guard needs to do well. He is quick and a pretty good on ball defender against other guards. He has a pretty good outside shot and can score at the rim. At this point in his career, Joseph does a lot of things well, but nothing exceptionally well. He certainly will not be challenging Tony Parker for starters minutes anytime soon, but he does have the makings of a future starting point guard in the league if he continues to work.
At 19 and only having played one year in college, Joseph came into the league two years ago extremely raw. He has already shown marked improvement and most importantly, the desire to get better. Joseph will continue to work hard and look to build on his playoff experience this upcoming season. If he succeeds, he will be a valuable piece of the Spurs’ rotation this year.
Justin Brown covers the San Antonio Spurs and NBA in general for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Real_JBrown, like him on Facebook, add him on Google
