The 1997 Draft

[Pandaemonaeon]

When you had the #1 pick in 1997, is Tim Duncan the player you really had in mind or were you leaning on picking http://img113.exs.cx/img113/7830/lol1.gif Keith Van Horn? I haven't seen Duncan during his College years, but I do recall that "being weak and thin" was the knock on him while KVH was having a fantastic career in Utah.

[Leetonidas]

Tim was the #1 pick, and Boston wanted him, but didn't get him.

[samikeyp]

but I do recall that "being weak and thin" was the knock on him while KVH was having a fantastic career in Utah.

You recall incorrectly. Duncan was the consensus #1 pick in '97 and would have been also if he had come out a year earlier.

[timvp]

Or the year prior to that.

[Pandaemonaeon]

Yes, I know that. In the KVH threads I've been here, they were saying that "what if we drafted KVH" and some shit like that, so I was wondering if the thought of getting KVH ever crossed the Spurs head honchos' mind or was it Duncan all the way?

[timvp]

1. Duncan
2. Billups
3. Derek Anderson

[Pandaemonaeon]

And the "weak and thin" scouting report was from Dick Vitale, BTW. Does he count as a 'great basketball mind'?

[CHAMPS AGAIN]

You recall incorrectly. Duncan was the consensus #1 pick in '97 and would have been also if he had come out a year earlier.

correct me if I'm wrong,was A.Iverson the #1 pick the year before if so maybe the SPURS would have taken toot the horn(van horn) as the #1 pick a year later man that is scary.Everything happends for a reason

[IcemanCometh]

Not only was 97 a weak draft but only 1 player even stayed with the original team that drafted him. Mcgrady eventually became a star but he's been with 3 teams, Billups and Daniels finally became contributors but they went to so many teams. Tim Thomas and Van Horn have had sporadic moments.

No wonder they had a lockout

[Pandaemonaeon]

Do you think Duncan would've made something out of Stackhouse? Or Hughes the following year?

[ShoogarBear]

There were some people at the time who though KVH would turn out to be a better pick. Nobody who would admit it now, but if you google through the Spurs newsgroups, people were making comments about what a "great character" KVH had.

[T Park]

At first, I didn't dream of the Spurs "getting" the first pick.

I assumed it would be the 3rd or 4th pick.


I was thinking of Adonal Foyle, another big man.

[Man In Black]

Larry Bird...Van Horn is not. He is more Kelly Tripuka than Larry Legend.

[Pandaemonaeon]

Gringos can't be franchise players.

except for Dirk and Bird

[tsb2000]

See avatar at left... I stand corrected! :)

[Man In Black]

You missed Bill Walton in 1977.

[mookie2001]

didnt tripuka average like 27 ppg?

[Solid D]

The moment the Spurs won the lottery, the whole city was abuzz. "We got Duncan. We got Tim Duncan!!! People at gas stations. People at church. People at school. People at HEB. "We got Duncan, did you hear?"

This was weeks before the draft. The whole town knew who the Spurs should take. I mean they had a big rally in front of the Alamo when Tim hit town, from all the high hopes and expectations. This town knew, alright.

[Obstructed_View]

The moment the Spurs won the lottery, the whole city was abuzz. "We got Duncan. We got Tim Duncan!!! People at gas stations. People at church. People at school. People at HEB. "We got Duncan, did you hear?"

This was weeks before the draft. The whole town knew who the Spurs should take. I mean they had a big rally in front of the Alamo when Tim hit town, from all the high hopes and expectations. This town knew, alright.
Yep. There was absolutely no question Duncan was the number one pick. He was very much like Shaq when he came out. Everybody knew. The thing was that the Spurs weren't supposed to get the first pick, so most of us as fans were expecting Adonal Foyle or Tim Thomas or maybe Chauncey Billups or KVH if we got really lucky.

[mookie2001]

there was buzzings that since we had a bigman we might trade duncan for mitch richmond and a 1st rounder or sprewell and a 1st rounder

[Samr]

Hell, our DOG knew we were getting Tim Duncan. We were all sitting on the couch watching the draft, and when it came down to announcing the number 2 pick, and we saw it wasn't the Spurs, we went nutts. It was our aging Beagle, though, that celebrated the most. I'm not sure if it was from our excitement, or from the common knowledge that the Spurs had just gotten away with a steal, but that dog was running around the house barking and just generally causing chaos for the better part of the day after that.

[TroyF]

Must be nice with the lotto balls falling your way. Never happens for the Nuggets. Wherever we should pick, we end up three spots lower.

The only break this organization has had with the draft in the last fifteen years was when Joe Dumars decided Darko would be a better fit than Melo.

You can all bash Melo til your blue in the face. Before he got here, we hadn't made the playoffs in a decade. With him, we've been there back to back. I doubt very seriously I'd be saying the same thing if Darko was the guy we had.

[mookie2001]

well the spurs dont have a lifetime seat at the lottery

and yall still should have picked dwayne wade

[picnroll]

Must be nice with the lotto balls falling your way. Never happens for the Nuggets. Wherever we should pick, we end up three spots lower.

Well you have to admit it's not for lack of trying.


Sorry. :angel

[TroyF]

well the spurs dont have a lifetime seat at the lottery

and yall still should have picked dwayne wade


No way, no how.

We got the right guy. Wade has 3 years on Melo. Lets see how melo plays when he's 23. Obviously your coach respects him. He's putting your best defensive player on him and is making sure to slide over a big for help shading to that side.

And lets not forget, having a lifetime seat in the lottery can be as much about bad luck as it can anything else.

1996, you guys win 20 games because David Robinson gets injured. We win 21. You get Tim Duncan, we get the fifth pick and Tony Battie. While you guys already had a superstar player, Denver didn't. You got a second, we were stuck without one. 1987 you finish with 31 wins. Five teams are below you. You win the lottery and get David Robinson. #2 pick that year? Armon Gilliam. Slight difference.

1992, we win 36 games. Orlando wins 41. Orlando gets Shaq. We get the fifth pick, Laphonso Ellis. Ellis is a budding superstar when he blows out both knees in a span of two years.

Don't get me wrong, the Nuggets had horrific management during that last decade. But between 83-88 while you were floudering below .500 every year, we were going to the playoffs. Sports goes in cycles.

[sickdsm]

Ahhh, 92'. The year the wolves won 15 games all year. Somehow they fall to third with Orlando with 21 wins and Charlotte with 31 picking two HOF centers ahead of them.

But Christian Laettner wasn't much of a step down from Shaq or Alonzo.


LOL at anyone trying to look back and think that Duncan wasn't the consensus pick.

And Cleveland almost took Darko too right?

[mookie2001]

No way, no how.

We got the right guy. Wade has 3 years on Melo. Lets see how melo plays when he's 23. Obviously your coach respects him. He's putting your best defensive player on him and is making sure to slide over a big for help shading to that side.



who cares about age, youre talking like dwayne is 34 at this point dwayne is much better than carmelo and when dwaynes 26 and carmelos 23 he'll still be better
and who else would bowen guard demarr johnson or bucker?

[picnroll]

Melo if he pans out will be a great scorer. Wade looks like he's on his way to being a great scorer, great playmaker and great defender. Wade by a mile.

[Leetonidas]

Wade > Melo

Duncan > Van Horn

[pjjrfan]

The moment the Spurs won the lottery, the whole city was abuzz. "We got Duncan. We got Tim Duncan!!! People at gas stations. People at church. People at school. People at HEB. "We got Duncan, did you hear?"

This was weeks before the draft. The whole town knew who the Spurs should take. I mean they had a big rally in front of the Alamo when Tim hit town, from all the high hopes and expectations. This town knew, alright.

Hey, I still got the paper they were giving out that day, I muscled my way down to the door he came out of, and my son sitting on my shoulder came out in the TV, (I didn't), it was like the second coming. When did you become a Spurs fan? It had to have been after that 1997 draft. And if Pop had traded that pick he would have been run out of town that same summer.

[spur219]

Van Horn was never even on the Spurs list. It would of been either Billups, Derek Anderson, or Ron Mercer. But they got Duncan.

[AgSnake361]

and yall still should have picked dwayne wade

I'll be glad when this series is over and every thread on this board will stop devolving into this argument.