duncan228
02-20-2009, 01:37 AM
The trade off — there's another side (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/The_trade_off__theres_another_side.html)
Buck Harvey
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Bruce Bowen grabbed the rebound with about 10 seconds left, then called time.
Maybe the referees didn't hear him over the roar of his teammates. They were screaming for time, too. The Spurs didn't want the alternative, which was a Pistons foul that would have sent Bowen to the free-throw line.
But the refs opted for the foul call, and the Spurs stomped around and argued until they had no choice. Blast it — they would have to rely on Bowen and his career free-throw percentage that is below 60 percent.
Hence the trade parable. The Spurs didn't get what they wanted Thursday afternoon, either, when a trade for Marcus Camby fell through.
And yet, the Spurs kept a few things.
Had the Clippers agreed to the deal that everyone says was close to happening, the Spurs would have happily accepted. Camby would have given Tim Duncan his best shot-blocking partner since David Robinson.
Maybe, with Camby, Gregg Popovich could have rebuilt a defense that is ranked 18th in the league in field-goal percentage. Camby would have helped the Spurs matchup with the Lakers, too, and his trademark 20-foot jumper from the top of the key would have continued to create some space for Duncan.
Camby's money wasn't a problem. And when his contract ran out after next season, maybe Tiago Splitter would arrive from Europe.
Still, the price for him was not insignificant: Bowen, Fab Oberto and George Hill.
Nearly every trade not involving Pau Gasol comes with a drawback, and this one would have been no different. For starters, the Spurs would have been Argentina-less for the next two to three weeks, and that just seems wrong.
The Spurs would have also lost Thursday night had the deal gone through, and not just because Camby wouldn't have been available yet. When Bowen wasn't chasing Allen Iverson, Hill was, and maybe nothing meant more in this game.
Iverson has sucked the life out of a Detroit franchise that had been one of the best of the decade, and Thursday showed why. He squeezed off 28 shots when he wasn't dribbling down the clock, and his teammates mostly watched.
So the Spurs just had to make sure Iverson didn't have one of his crazy, 40-point shows, and there's the twist. Hill grew up loving the crazy, 40-point shows. Hill says Michael Jordan and Iverson were always his favorites.
“Guarding him is something I always wanted to do,” Hill said. “It was like a dream come true.”
So was a play with about five minutes left. Then Iverson came down on a fast break, with Tony Parker running with him, and Hill sprinted from behind and measured the distance.
“I looped around,” Hill said. “If TP didn't foul him, I thought I could get it.”
Hill got it, all right. That was one of three blocks he had on Iverson.
“George Hill was really important,” Popovich said afterward. Popovich likely thought the same during the day, even when hashing out trade details. How much better will Hill get over the next few years?
Hill said he's tried not to pay attention to the trade stories. “I'm too young to be worried,” he said.
Bowen took a similar stance, albeit for the opposite reason. He said he didn't get caught up in the rumors “because I'm older.”
Bowen thinks there ought to be a class taught to players, about how to separate business from personal. But it seems as if both have already attended. They played Thursday free of any sense that they might have been traded.
For Bowen, there were other possibilities. The Clippers could have traded for him and then released him, as Seattle did Brent Barry a year ago. He might have come back to the Spurs.
But nothing was certain, especially at the end of Thursday's game. Then, with the Pistons down by a point, Rasheed Wallace missed a turnaround on the baseline, and Bowen was there for the rebound.
Bowen wanted a timeout, and his bench wanted one more. But the Spurs would have to live with Bowen, against their will, as if the Clippers were the ones blowing the whistle.
Completing the parable, Bowen made both.
Buck Harvey
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Bruce Bowen grabbed the rebound with about 10 seconds left, then called time.
Maybe the referees didn't hear him over the roar of his teammates. They were screaming for time, too. The Spurs didn't want the alternative, which was a Pistons foul that would have sent Bowen to the free-throw line.
But the refs opted for the foul call, and the Spurs stomped around and argued until they had no choice. Blast it — they would have to rely on Bowen and his career free-throw percentage that is below 60 percent.
Hence the trade parable. The Spurs didn't get what they wanted Thursday afternoon, either, when a trade for Marcus Camby fell through.
And yet, the Spurs kept a few things.
Had the Clippers agreed to the deal that everyone says was close to happening, the Spurs would have happily accepted. Camby would have given Tim Duncan his best shot-blocking partner since David Robinson.
Maybe, with Camby, Gregg Popovich could have rebuilt a defense that is ranked 18th in the league in field-goal percentage. Camby would have helped the Spurs matchup with the Lakers, too, and his trademark 20-foot jumper from the top of the key would have continued to create some space for Duncan.
Camby's money wasn't a problem. And when his contract ran out after next season, maybe Tiago Splitter would arrive from Europe.
Still, the price for him was not insignificant: Bowen, Fab Oberto and George Hill.
Nearly every trade not involving Pau Gasol comes with a drawback, and this one would have been no different. For starters, the Spurs would have been Argentina-less for the next two to three weeks, and that just seems wrong.
The Spurs would have also lost Thursday night had the deal gone through, and not just because Camby wouldn't have been available yet. When Bowen wasn't chasing Allen Iverson, Hill was, and maybe nothing meant more in this game.
Iverson has sucked the life out of a Detroit franchise that had been one of the best of the decade, and Thursday showed why. He squeezed off 28 shots when he wasn't dribbling down the clock, and his teammates mostly watched.
So the Spurs just had to make sure Iverson didn't have one of his crazy, 40-point shows, and there's the twist. Hill grew up loving the crazy, 40-point shows. Hill says Michael Jordan and Iverson were always his favorites.
“Guarding him is something I always wanted to do,” Hill said. “It was like a dream come true.”
So was a play with about five minutes left. Then Iverson came down on a fast break, with Tony Parker running with him, and Hill sprinted from behind and measured the distance.
“I looped around,” Hill said. “If TP didn't foul him, I thought I could get it.”
Hill got it, all right. That was one of three blocks he had on Iverson.
“George Hill was really important,” Popovich said afterward. Popovich likely thought the same during the day, even when hashing out trade details. How much better will Hill get over the next few years?
Hill said he's tried not to pay attention to the trade stories. “I'm too young to be worried,” he said.
Bowen took a similar stance, albeit for the opposite reason. He said he didn't get caught up in the rumors “because I'm older.”
Bowen thinks there ought to be a class taught to players, about how to separate business from personal. But it seems as if both have already attended. They played Thursday free of any sense that they might have been traded.
For Bowen, there were other possibilities. The Clippers could have traded for him and then released him, as Seattle did Brent Barry a year ago. He might have come back to the Spurs.
But nothing was certain, especially at the end of Thursday's game. Then, with the Pistons down by a point, Rasheed Wallace missed a turnaround on the baseline, and Bowen was there for the rebound.
Bowen wanted a timeout, and his bench wanted one more. But the Spurs would have to live with Bowen, against their will, as if the Clippers were the ones blowing the whistle.
Completing the parable, Bowen made both.