Your first thoughts after Tony/Manu were drafted?

[MmP]

All these draft days got me curious, did you know Manu when drafted? You thought he was a scrub, good baller, wasted pick?
And before he came in in 02 , what did you expect from him?

Same for Tony

Im curious...I wasn't here in 01 and 02, so I never read your opinons.

Personally I had high hopes on Manu, he had a great WC 2002 so I kinda knew he might earn some minutes but he totally amazed me the way he iniatlly played, with that much confidence.
And TP was a total surprise, I knew he was fast and a good player but being so young and unproved it could have turned out anywhere.

[DesignatedT]

I thought Manu would be the 1st player to ever win the Euroleague, Olympic gold medal and a NBA championship and knew Tony would someday be an NBA finals MVP.

[spursfan1000]

I thought Manu would be the 1st player to ever win an Olympic gold medal and a NBA championship and knew Tony would someday be an NBA finals MVP.

:lol

[spursfaninla]

I didn't have any expectations of either when they came in.

Both topped out any hopes that I could have had.

A 2nd rounder and a very late first rounder being all-stars?

That kind of luck doesn't happen.

[baseline bum]

I thought Tony looked like a little kid in his daddy's suit when he went up and shook Stern's hand, but I was excited the Spurs got the player I heard they wanted, and figured I'd trust their talent evaluation. When Ginobili was drafted I had no idea who he was and never expected to hear the name again.

Oh yeah, I was happy as hell that the Spurs drafted Leon Smith for Dallas and not for themselves that day.

[ducks]

thought tp was going to be better then aj
thought manu would be a great role player

[Vici]

I was really surprised and baffled about Tony Parker. I really wanted Lorenz Woods or whatever his sorry ass name was. Didn't think a thing about Ginobili since he was one of the last picks in the draft.

[Ditty]

manu-didnt really care who the spurs got at that time i was only 10 years old

parker-i remember on a mock draft his picture looked like damon stoudemire,my dad and I were rooting for the spurs to pick joe forte luckily that didnt happen

[ohmwrecker]

I was fairly excited about Parker. With all due respect to Avery, The prospect of a young, quick PG running the show was intriguing.
When Manu was drafted my first thought was, "Who?". I thought he was Italian at first and I thought he had a cool name. I read a lot of press about him, but my expectations were not that great.
It is because the Spurs drafted Ginobili and Parker that I took more of an interest in international basketball. If those two were not Spurs, I can honestly say, I still wouldn't care that much about basketball outside the U.S.

[Calavera]

prior to the draft of ginobili, he was already world superstar and played great in the world cup tournament, it's funny how american fans didn't know him...

2001 FIBA Americas Championship MVP
2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis All-Tournament Team

[DBMethos]

prior to the draft of ginobili, he was already world superstar and played great in the world cup tournament, it's funny how american fans didn't know him...

2001 FIBA Americas Championship MVP
2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis All-Tournament Team

Maybe because he was drafted in 1999?

[ohmwrecker]

Maybe because he was drafted in 1999?

The biggest reason I don't care about international basketball . . . euro-ball fans are arrogant and mal-informed.

[Calavera]

haha, and which year he actually came to play for the spurs?

[smrattler]

After the Tony pick: WTF? Since when do the French know how to play basketball????? What a waste of a 1st round pick!

After the Manu pick: Ok, probably will never see the NBA floor. And I waited all night for that?

[ohmwrecker]

haha, and which year he actually came to play for the spurs?

The question was what did we think on draft night in '99, weirdass.

[Russ]

Two completely different situations.

Tony was a mid-first round pick in many mock drafts who unexpectedly fell to the Spurs at 28. He was no mystery man. Most (including me) were excited at the time the Spurs got him.

Manu, on the other hand . . . Nobody knew who he was when he was drafted (any more than we knew his companion draftee, Gordon Giricek.)

[Pauleta14]

Were you guys surprised that a this young FRENCH player had an US name?

I'm curious to know what kind of descriptions you had of him from the press...
Did they only mentioned his speed or also ability to score/go to the rim, his mental toughtness, his precocity...?

if some of you remember...

[spursfaninla]

the only word about parker was his speed. that was it.

[Buddy Holly]

Don't remember Manu's draft. I learned about Ginobili in the 20001-2002 when people on the forum were talking about him.

With Tony, I was watching in my room and when they drafted him, I literally said: "Who?, Why?". So yeah.

[TMTTRIO]

Tony....I had a feeling that he would become a good decent point guard but I didn't expect him to be as good as he was.

Manu.... I didn't know anything about him and I didn't expect him to ever come into the NBA or come over from Europe. The funny thing is that nobody knew who he was and for a while they were pronouncing his name all wrong (Ginobelleeeeeeeeeeeeee).

[Buddy Holly]

Tony....I had a feeling that he would become a good decent point guard but I didn't expect him to be as good as he was.

Manu.... I didn't know anything about him and I didn't expect him to ever come into the NBA or come over from Europe. The funny thing is that nobody knew who he was and for a while they were pronouncing his name all wrong (Ginobelleeeeeeeeeeeeee).

I was pronouncing his name:

Gee-No-Be-Lee

[ChuckD]

Loved the Tony pick. Phil Jackson raped the Spurs in the 2001 playoffs by putting Kobe on our PGs, and really disrupted the offense. It became QUITE clear that we needed much more quickness and ball handling at the PG position. I remember the first Laker game of TPs rookie year. Phil tried that shit on Tony, and he crossed over, blew by Kobe, then slammed on the brakes, forcing Kobe to both leapfrog and foul him. Keep in mind, that was also super young, super quick, super athletic Kobe from 2001, not the current older version. I don't think Kobe has guarded him more than a dozen possessions since then.

I had no idea who Manu was in 1999, or Giricek either. No one ever mentions GG when they talk about great Spurs late picks. He never played for us, but neither did Scola, and that dead horse gets beat to death repeatedly.

[Obstructed_View]

With Parker, I was so happy to see the Spurs draft a point guard that actually had a chance to start. Corey Alexander and Chris Whitney had worn me down. I actually thought Manu would turn out to be nearly everything he actually turned out to be, which is to say, I was completely delusional. I told a co-worker that the Spurs would have an international starting backcourt of allstars for the next ten years.

[lotr1trekkie]

For most Spurs fans this was a "Who" pick! Sorry, I really don't believe that the Spurs FO knew they had struck GOLD. Both players have exceeled expectations. Hopefully, Tiaggo too.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I remember mookie was like, we got this young french guy, he's not that good yet, but Pop is gonna make him into a player.

The next thing I know he's starting, getting to the playoffs, and making Gary Payton look like an old washed up scrub on his own court.

[DAF86]

Don't remember Manu's draft. I learned about Ginobili in the 20001-2002 when people on the forum were talking about him.

With Tony, I was watching in my room and when they drafted him, I literally said: "Who?, Why?". So yeah.

What forum? I thought ST was created in 2003.

[DAF86]

What did you think of Manu when (the summer before to coming to the NBA) he lead Argentina to the first defeat ever of the USA NT?

[PublicOption]

I saw manu in europe and my first thought was bring that guy over fast.

[Calavera]

The question was what did we think on draft night in '99, weirdass.

I wasn't answering your emo question, I was making a point on how narrow-minded some folks from USA are. You kind of defended my words in your previous posts, so don't try to troll me, I won't argue with you :)

[xellos88330]

Honestly both of them surprised the shit outta me. Parker more though because he was so young.

[BronxCowboy]

prior to the draft of ginobili, he was already world superstar and played great in the world cup tournament, it's funny how american fans didn't know him...

2001 FIBA Americas Championship MVP
2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis All-Tournament Team

Actually, you clearly started out trying to make a point about what was or wasn't known about Ginobili prior to his draft, and went on to cite events that occurred after he was drafted. Stop trying to weasel out of it. You're making yourself look bad.

[BronxCowboy]

To be honest, I didn't think Ginobili would come over when he was drafted. I thought Parker would take 4-5 years to amount to anything, and never expected him to peak as high as he has. I think they've both been wonderful surprises.

[Harry Callahan]

Tony looked like a 12 year old when he talked to the TNT or ESPN people the night of that 2001 draft.

Manu was a complete afterthought in the 1999 draft because the thing was almost over when his name was called with the 56th pick (a pick the Spurs had obtained from the hated Lakers - SWEET). Anyway, I think Rod Thorn was the NBA guy who butchered Emmanuel's name when he called it out.

Expectations at the time for both was probably pretty low. Tony's presence in SA ended the Spurs career of Avery Johnson.

[Mel_13]

Tony looked like a 12 year old when he talked to the TNT or ESPN people the night of that 2001 draft.

Manu was a complete afterthought in the 1999 draft because the thing was almost over when his name was called with the 56th pick (a pick the Spurs had obtained from the hated Lakers - SWEET). Anyway, I think Rod Thorn was the NBA guy who butchered Emmanuel's name when he called it out.

Expectations at the time for both was probably pretty low. Tony's presence in SA ended the Spurs career of Avery Johnson.

The Spurs selected Manu with their own pick.

[Obstructed_View]

I wasn't answering your emo question, I was making a point on how narrow-minded some folks from USA are. You kind of defended my words in your previous posts, so don't try to troll me, I won't argue with you :)

And you attempted to make said point with facts that were completely wrong, and still lack the courage to just admit the mistake and move on. You must be one of those narrow-minded USA folk.

[Man In Black]

Many of us were elsewhere, however...when TP got drafted, TP's old website had video of him doing drills and we all thought, UGLY JUMP SHOT. Because it wasn't a jump shot. And his dunks were of the 2 footed variety. But, the vids was just of him. So we had no comprehension of speed.

With Manu, it wasn't in 99 when people started to eval him. It was in the 02 Worlds. Once the 4-Letter Magazine did his rookie article titled, Lone Stranger, by Ric Bucher, the love fest was on.

[Pauleta14]

Tony's presence in SA ended the Spurs career of Avery Johnson.

and Antonio Daniels's after 5 games...

[Harry Callahan]

The Spurs selected Manu with their own pick.

OOps. My bad.

[ohmwrecker]

I wasn't answering your emo question, I was making a point on how narrow-minded some folks from USA are. You kind of defended my words in your previous posts, so don't try to troll me, I won't argue with you :)

It wasn't MY "emo" question, it was the title of the fucking thread, short bus. You clearly have some kind of agenda involving a ridiculously crack-brained theory that Americans are stupid because they didn't know who Manu Ginobili was prior to 1999. Your guise is transparent and ludicrous.

[davi78239]

I liked Charles Barkley's reaction for Tony Parker (when the TNT guys use to do the draft back in the day) It went something like.......Ernie "who's that? Some one else said, don't know is he any good? Then chuck said something like "don't know but if he's going first round then he must be good". I'll never forget that. I wish I had some old video of when he got drafted to hear all this again.

[KaiRMD1]

For Manu, I didn't know him when he was drafted but the summer before he came over, I saw a ton of highlights of him and hoped that he would deliver that same intensity for the Spurs.

As for Tony, I thought he was a scrub before he started playing for the Spurs.

[Maddog]

Manu and Gordon Giricek where probably the first intentional draft and stash. The Spurs actually drafted Giricek way before Manu. I think it was also the first time for garunteed salaries for 1st rounders so the SPurs unlaoded the last pick for two second rounders from Dallas (Giricek and Carawell) and selected a couple of Guys who where not quite ready. The oly thing most thought was that this was clever, but that was it - comming off the first title nobobdy thought much of either one until Manu started playing better and better in Europe.

Tony I thought was strange. I was glad they got who they wanted, but a point?
Heck the Spurs where grooming Antonio to be the next point...
In retrospect it was pretty clear the Spurs had no confidence Antonio could run the point full time
It's funny after the devastating playoff loss to LA in 01 everyone thought the Spurs future backcourt was the palindrome AD/DA
Who would have ever thought at the time they would have won three titles with a french/argentine backcourt

[coyotes_geek]

Manu: "Who?"

Tony: "What's a Paris Basket Racing?"