A little history

[Marhq]

I was surfing the Internet Archive (http://web.archive.org) looking for older versions of Spurs forums, trying to find information and comments related to the arrival of Tim, Tony and Manu to the Spurs. I found some articles, but not many and almost none forum threads (I did find one titled "Will the EuroArgentinaKobe pay off?" :lol). So I decided to ask directly to you.

When you first heard that they were coming to the Spurs, what did you know about them? What were your expectations? What were Tony's beginnings like? I know Manu had a slow start because of his ankle problem. When or how did you realize you had something special in your hands?
I know Tim's case was different him being the No 1 pick in the draft, but I'm sure even then there must've been a moment when you found out how good he really was. I wonder if those times were similar to the "discovering" of Beno this season (and I'm not implying that Beno=Tim or something like that).

I re-read that article on Manu for the ESPN Mag (Lone Stranger (http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no25ginobili.html)) from time to time, and I can't help smiling, thinking how things turned out (it seems decades ago! :)).

[johnny00]

When I first heard the Spurs had wasted a draft pick on some forgien player who wasn't even going to play or contribute immediately to the team, I couldn't believe it.
When he joined the squad a couple of years later I felt it was still a mistake with the constant ankle problems. Thank goodness he has proven me wrong and is now the sweetheart of San Antonio and Charles Barkley!

[TMTTRIO]

That was kind of a sad article about Manu but wow what a success story. He went from dreaming about playing in Europe to actually making it to the NBA to winning a championship his rookie year. Later on winning a gold medal in the olympics to becoming an All Star in the NBA. I'm just glad Rick Carlisle and the Pistons didn't take a chance on him and the Spurs did.

[BronxCowboy]

Believe it or not, I actually was a little skeptical about taking Duncan with the #1 draft pick at first when I first heard it. He has never been very athletic or very strong for his size, and I thought that he wouldn't transition well to the NBA, and he might not play well with the Admiral. I've been wrong about a lot of things, but I couldn't have been more wrong than that. Parker and Ginobili were both fairly late picks, so I wasn't too worried. Even if they hadn't worked out, the Spurs didn't lose a lot.

[TNT21]

I felt the same way as Johnny 00, when they said they had drafted Manu, I was like "who?!" I knew he was special watching him play throughout the season, the way he played with tenacity and no fear. That was something this Spurs team needed badly! I remember watching Manu play against the Lakers sometime during the regular season and watching him steal the ball and bother Kobe. Right then and there I knew that this was going to be our season. I mean, who would dare steal the ball away from Kobe, the 3 time champion right at halfcourt! I will never forget Kobe's reaction to that. He looked at the ref as if saying how did this scrub (Manu) get away with that! Well, FUCK YOU KOBE!! Anyway, that's what I remember.

[Dex]

I remember hearing my Dad tell me that we when we had just signed this guy named Tim Duncan, who was to a force in college ball and was supposed to be the next big thing in Basketball. I remember my Dad telling me this guy was supposed to make our Spurs one of the best teams in the league year in and year out. Looks like, for once, Pops was right.

I also remember hearing about Tony for the first time, wondering what kind of French guy has a name like Parker. Furthermore, I was a little surprised to see the Spurs put the point in the hands of such a young player, but I'm sure everyone saw the potential there. Even as a rookie, it was obvious that he is lightning quick as the dickens and was very impressive. I finally gave him the thumbs up when I watched him drop 32 on Dallas from a suitebox at the SBC. Good times.

My dad also told me about Manu a couple seasons ago, after getting swept away by the Lakers once again. He told me about a guy whose name I could hardly remember, let alone pronunciate, and that he was supposed to be a crazy and athletic gaurd from Argentina who was supposed to be our star gaurd and help us combat Kobe. The next year, Manu came, and coincedentally enough, so did a championship. :smokin

[Solid D]

When the Spurs won the lottery for the 1st pick, it was euphoria around San Antonio. People went nuts...guys you don't even know in the store saying, "We got Duncan! We got Tim Duncan". Anyone that follows basketball had a reaction well before Draft Night. Duncan was the forgone conclusion.

Ginobili and Parker were basically unknown by most people in San Antonio. I had seen Ginobili play on TV against Team USA one time before Manu came to the Spurs and he went something like 1-11 from the field so he wasn't very impressive. Parker was only known by most people in the USA by his Chicago pre-draft play... and only a few basketball nuts even knew that. Most people would have preferred Tinsley, who had had a great year at Iowa St.

[CosmicCowboy]

There was a core group in here following Manu in Europe after the Spurs drafted him...following game stats, downloading video etc...I for one was not surprised at all...I was at a Christmas party in December of '01 and a loud mouth doctor was bagging on the Spurs for never drafting/trading for talent and I called him out big time and told him about this guy named Manu Ginobili that was gonna change his mind...I ran into him at a party a couple of months ago and he still remembered me calling him out and he came over and admitted that Manu was everything I had said he was and more...

[T Park]

I remember reading about GInobili, how the Spurs drafted him in 99, and how they had just "guessed" on this guy.

Then read about this guy being an MVP over in europe. A fantastic superstar and that he was considered one of the best european players ever.

Then I remember reading his name was pronounced Gin O beelee

and then there were constant threads, HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE THIS GUYS NAME!?!?!?

Gin o belee
gin o billy
gee no beelee
gin o buhlee

then finally

Ginoblee err Ginobili :)


Parker was reallly a suprise. I mean, Paris basket racing?? holy cow.

[FromWayDowntown]

When the Spurs won the lottery for the 1st pick, it was euphoria around San Antonio. People went nuts...guys you don't even know in the store saying, "We got Duncan! We got Tim Duncan". Anyone that follows basketball had a reaction well before Draft Night. Duncan was the forgone conclusion.

Ginobili and Parker were basically unknown by most people in San Antonio. I had seen Ginobili play on TV against Team USA one time before Manu came to the Spurs and he went something like 1-11 from the field so he wasn't very impressive. Parker was only known by most people in the USA by his Chicago pre-draft play... and only a few basketball nuts even knew that. Most people would have preferred Tinsley, who had had a great year at Iowa St.

I was away at school when the Spurs won the lottery in 1997. I had been hanging around to watch the lottery show, but needed to get to the library to study and recall thinking, "well, it will be nice if they can get one of those top 3 picks." When I found out later that the red chameleon had worked again, I was exstatic. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical about Tim because his Wake teams had flamed out so dramatically in the tournament each year, despite high seedings. But I also started paying much more attention to analysis of his game and really became enamored of his play. My initial, "trade the pick to Boston for two number 1's" thought, which was a fairly common sentiment, gave way to my "Wow. Two dominating bigs" wonderment. Tim has been everything I had hoped for and more.

I recall being aware of the Manu pick in 1999 and thinking that it was probably wise to stockpile the rights some young players without incurring contracts, since the roster was pretty well set at that point. I remember the buzz about Manu and seeing the footage of his terrific athleticism and skill, but keeping a healthy skepticism until the World Championships in 2002, when the justification for all of the hype became quite clear.

As for Tony, I watched the 2001 draft with my buddy, still reeling in the disappointment of the WCF debacle. I remember both of us thinking that the Spurs were going to find some way to get Joe Johnson, though I don't remember exactly how we had that one figured out. So, after Johnson was picked, with every announced trade, we got hyped up thinking the Spurs had pulled off a deal. When they announced the pick of Tony Parker, we looked at each other and wondered what Pop had just done -- a 19 year old point guard from France? We kept thinking that there must be a trade coming, but
obviously there wasn't. I must say, I was absolutely sold on Tony on opening night of 2001-02 against the Clippers, when he came off the bench and played a solid game but showed that incredible quickness.

[TPCris09]

Tim Duncan- I was like 11 when I heard about the Spurs winning the first pick. Kept hearing that name over and over, so I decided to actually watch a Spurs game, and Timmy seemed like a cool guy. I liked Tim back then, but then I start loving him when he was bringing championships.

Tony Parker- I was watching the draft, and I saw that we drafted this hot guy, I even called shot gun on him haha. But I never expected him to be so good. I thought he would end up being traded or cut.

Manu Ginobili- I had no clue we drafted him in 99. He was a late pick, and I was like we can't be as lucky as were with TP. But then I saw him in the world champioships, and I heard about all his accomplishments in Europe. I still wanted him to prove himself in the NBA, and in his rookie season he helped win a championship. Now he's an All-Star. I think he proved himself. :)

[Solid D]

Here are three ESPN mock draft projections by Andy Katz from 2001. Tony Parker wasn't in Andy's first round in May, nor in his early June mock draft, but he slipped him in there and guessed right on the Mock right before the draft. By that time, a few knew that TP had some ability.

May 21, 2001
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2001/s/2001/0521/1202147.html

June 11, 2001
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2001/s/2001/0611/1212447.html

June 20, 2001
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2001/s/2001/0620/1216570.html

[Useruser666]

Who are Manu and Parker? :lol

[Athenea]

Nice thread!!
Keep'em coming!! :)

[Duff McCartney]

Here are three ESPN mock draft projections by Andy Katz from 2001. Tony Parker wasn't in Andy's first round in May, nor in his early June mock draft, but he slipped him in there and guessed right on the Mock right before the draft. By that time, a few knew that TP had some ability.

May 21, 2001
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2001/s/2001/0521/1202147.html

June 11, 2001
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2001/s/2001/0611/1212447.html

June 20, 2001
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2001/s/2001/0620/1216570.html

Amazing that he had Tayshaun Prince on there as our first choice. I wouldn't have minded that except we wouldn't have Tony right now.

[Marhq]

Wow I didn't expect so many answers. Those are great stories, thank you so much for sharing.

It's amazing how the Spurs have managed to gather such a trio depending solely on the draft.

[Mark in Austin]

I remember standing in the family room of my parent's house in SA, watching the draft lottery and talking on the phone long distance with my oldest friend. (He was such a huge Spurs fan every season he would clip out each game's write-up, pictures or box score, and staple them to the walls of his room. He'd damn near cover two full walls each season that way.) We were both thinking at the time that maybe the Spurs could pick up Mercer from Kentucky. When they won the lottery, we both started screaming at each other over the phone "WE GOT DUNCAN!!!!" "HOLY SHIT DUDE!!!!!" "OH MAN. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!" I was jumping up and down, too. (Bear in mind I was a college senior at the time... acting like a 12 yo Backstreet Boys fan. :lol) Freaked out my parents pretty good too, since they didn't know what the hell was going on or what I was watching.

As far as Manu, I didn't really pay much attention at the time. But as CC said, there was a group of posters who really started to keep tabs on him as reviews and clips started coming out that showed what he was capable of. The summer before his rookie season with the Spurs, the big question mark was: Is he like Dejean Bordiroga, who is a dominant euro superstar but would at best be a role player here because of the different style of play or will his game translate to the NBA? A lot of us fans were cautionsly optimistic; but most people outside of SA didn't think he would do much.

Tony was one that took us all by surprise. Untill he got to Chicago, nobody knew anything about him. When Pop announced after four games that they were making Tony the starting point, I knew he was special. When I read Rudy T's quote about him after we played Houston (paraphrasing here, but it went something like "He's got that intangible quality like Duncan has. You know they are special players, and it just makes me sick to my stomach. I hate him already."), I knew that we potentially had a future star.

[Solid D]

The draft: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Beno Udrih, Romain Sato, Tony Massenburg*

The draft (own or traded picks) Signing Rights: Robertas Javtokas, Luis Scola, Victor Sanikidze, Sergei Karaulov.

Free Agency: Bruce Bowen, Malik Rose, Devin Brown, Rasho Nesterovic, Robert Horry, Brent Barry, Sean Marks, Mike Wilks, Linton Johnson III.

Trades: None on current roster.

* Drafted initially by Spurs. Signed this year as Free Agent.

[Mark in Austin]

Trades: None on current roster.

That is an... interesting bit of information. Ghostbait, perhaps?

[GoSpurs21]

I remember hearing my Dad tell me... Looks like, for once, Pops was right.I guess he was wrong the night he nailed your mom?

[MaNuMaNiAc]

I guess he was wrong the night he nailed your mom?
:jack bad joke

[whottt]

I got sick of college hoops around 1993(dunno why, too many teams I guess). Combine that fact with the fact that the Spurs had a ton of bad drafts in the late 80's and most of the 90's...and I really don't pay much attention to the draft or have much of an opinion on who the Spurs should draft.

But I remember in 96-97, I was arguing with this girl I know who was trying to say that Scottie Pippen was a better basketball player than Drob, and this other guy joined in on the argument and helped me educate this girl on the error of her ways, talked about how anyone with a brain knew Drob was one of the greatest ever.....

After the argument, it was already known the Spurs would have the #1 pick, the guy started talking about how adding Duncan to Robinson would equal an NBA title within two years...I said, "Is Duncan really that good? Cuz you know we'll still have to deal with Vinny and AJ as our guards, and the choking that goes with them.", and the guy said, "Oh yeah, he's that good, we'll win an NBA title inside of two years of drafting Duncan, he'll help Drob overcome AJ and Vinny"...

The rest is history. That guy knew his shit(as if the fact that he was a Drob fan didn't already prove that).

Other than that I am usually totally in the dark on the draft and have no clue about the players the Spurs draft...

I knew nothing of Parker, Manu, or Beno prior to the Spurs drafting them...I had seen Manu play before, but like Solid mentioned...I didn't know what he was then.

The exception to my draft antipathy was in 03...

I will admit to getting pissed when the Spurs traded away their pick in 03...mainly because I knew Kidd wasn't coming...and I wanted the Spurs to draft Greek Baby Shaq.

I do not care if Greek Baby Shaq ever plays in the NBA or is a bust of epic proportions.....

All I know is that if you have a chance to draft a guy named "Greek Baby Shaq", you draft him, no questions asked :).

Because it is unlikely you will ever get a second chance to draft a guy named "Greek Baby Shaq"...and a well lived life consists of capitalizing on your unique opportunities and experiencing them to their fullest...The Spurs dropped the ball by not drafting Greek Baby Shaq, IMO.

I'm still pissed about that draft...

[whottt]

I forgot another story...the last draft I actually had enough knowledge to have an opinion on prior to it, was the draft where the Spurs drafted Billy Curley...

I remember sitting around with some my co-workers....

As David Stern made that fateful announcement, "The San Antonio Spurs, with their first pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, select...................a white guy".... :wtf

There was a huge collective outburst by me and my friends, "WHAT IN THEEEEEEEEE FUCK!?!?!?!?! A WHITE GUY!?!?!?!?!?!? A WHITE GUY!!!!!!!" we cried! Talk about fucking trauma!

New expletives were invented...a bunch of new expletives were invented.

We couldn't believe all our hopes and dreams were shattered like that. The Spurs were the stupidest team in NBA history...

Now I am not racist, I am white and so were my other co-workers that were "WHAT THE FUCKING" along with me. Try to remember, this was 1994...probably the bleakest point ever for the White Guys in the NBA, the era of white men can't jump. They all sucked, and the influx of awesome and hoop hungry, international white guys(as well as a few American ones) had yet to begin...

So I still believe to this day that our WTF'ing and decrying of that pick was the correct response given the knowledge we had, as well as the state of the game, at that time...

There were five good white players in the entire world that we knew of at that time...Sabonis, Schrempf, Stockton, Hornacek, and of course, the god-like Zarko Paspalj...and that pick wasn't used on any of them.

We were also right in our assessment that Curley was a lump of shit. Luckily, the Spurs had no intention of actually trying to play him and instead used that pick to get Elliott back.


Elliott returned, and white guys started to make a comeback(bigtime) after Brent Barry showed the world that, white men can indeed jump(I knew white guys were back when some of my black friends started predicting Barry would win the dunk contest), to the extent that I would no longer WTF if we drafted one of them...but I guess that was the draft where I realized it was best to leave the drafting up to the teams, and not get too emotionally worked up over the picks.