Tarris Reed Jr. can help the Spurs win the physical battles that decide games

"I love it," was Mitch Johnson's response when San Antonio Express-News reporter Jeff McDonald asked the Spurs' head coach what he thought about Tarris Reed Jr.'s rebounding after the team's first preseason game. Six rebounds, two on the offensive glass, and several other plays of wreaking havoc in the paint. What's not to love?

Tarris Reed Jr. is already too big to move

A lot of fuss is made about Reed's massive frame, and for good reason. At 265 pounds, he was moving players out of the way, and his 7'4" wingspan allowed him to get his hands in the action when he couldn't get close enough to pull down the rebound himself. That occasionally led to another teammate getting the board or the ball going out of bounds, heading back to the Spurs.

He also drew a couple of fouls, as opponents can't really go through him, so they have to fight around him or try to move him out of the way. It's no simple task. Good. That's exactly why the Silver and Black brought him here. His size makes him an imposing force. His effort makes him a headache to deal with. Spurs Nation should want to see much more.

Reed wasn’t brought here to score 20 a night

Tarris went 0/2 from the floor, but I'm not worried about that, and I doubt Coach Johnson is concerned either. You want all of your players to be somewhat of a threat offensively, but he wasn't brought in to score 20 a night. He may be older than Wemby, but he's still a rookie, and that was his first taste of NBA action.

I'm confident he'll have solid scoring performances if given enough minutes because he'll push guys out of the way on his way to offensive rebounds and putbacks. Besides, he didn't get in the game until the second half of the third quarter, so he was playing with all backups. That may be much of his reality right now on a roster so deep, but it won't always be the case.

Once he gets on the floor with better players who can dictate pace and manipulate defenses better, the spacing will improve and work in his favor. Obviously, that also means his job will become harder overall, but Reed, like almost all young players, will likely welcome the challenge. Let McDonald tell it; the Bear is pretty hungry.

The Bear plays like every rep is a tryout

"Reed has a habit of playing as if every rep is a referendum," McDonald wrote in a recent piece on the ex-UConn center (paid). Having that kind of competitive fire from a man that size will be a huge boost for this team once he understands how the game is played at the NBA level.

Hell, it could be a significant boost now. Luke Kornet looked good last night, but it's nice to know that there's more depth at that position now. If Victor Wembanyama or Kornet has to miss any time, the backup plan has natural abilities that can help the team. All he has to do is be big and play hard. Fortunately, he's already good at those things.

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