Why the spurs are so international?

[Rapper]

This is the fact.I always think that the front office and Pop prefer signing international players than local americal players. Since the spurs drafted Tim Duncan there has been a lot of non-american players who wear/wore the black and sliver jersey. do they really prefer looking for players oversea?

Just take a look at the list:

Tim Duncan - US virgin Island
Tony Parker - France
Manu - Argentina
Matt Bonner- Canada
Sean Marks - New Zealand
Mengke Bateer - China
Tigao Splitter - Brazil
Diaw - France
Mills - Australia
Oberto - Argentina
Francisco Elson - Netherlands
Beno Udrih - Slovenija
Rasho Nesterovic - Slovenija
Alex Garcia - Brazil
Shane Heal - Australia
Hedo Turkoglu - Turkey
Ian Mahinmi - France


Does it mean anything?

[I Heart Ginobili]

Some of those are coincidental (Duncan and Bonner). But for the most part talented overseas talent tend to get overlooked in the draft and our scouts do a good job of scouting the best talent in the world, which is why we usually find steals in the draft.

[OZspurs]

Tim played for US national bball team so many times. He got his US passport back to long time when he was a kid. Why is he considered a foreign player?

[TampaDude]

...and to think, if Hurricane Hugo had never happened, Timmy might never have taken up basketball...

[Rapper]

...and to think, if Hurricane Hugo had never happened, Timmy might never have taken up basketball...

That was fate

[Libri]

Matt Bonner- Canada

:lol

[skin]

Tim played for US national bball team so many times. He got his US passport back to long time when he was a kid. Why is he considered a foreign player?
U.S. Virgin Islands residents are U.S. citizens.

[will_spurs]

This has been rehashed to death: even if Virgin Islands natives are US citizens, the NBA will list them as "international" if they aren't born in one of the 50 states.

Bonner is a US citizen and native. He applied for Canadian nationality but it wasn't granted.

[stnick2261]

For the most part, the international scouting led to an advantage in overlooked foreign players.

Incidentally, from a business standpoint... there are more Spurs fans worldwide now who buy merchandise and watch games online.

[timvp]

Matt Bonner- Canada

Never thought I'd say this but Rapper with the goods :tu

[Old School 44]

I posted something similar in another thread, but the Spurs scout countries.
It's amazing what they've done through the Tim Duncan era.

They go out and find the top young prospects from other countries who they think will develop into solid NBA players. They're not all hits, but along the way, they just happened to hit the jackpot twice, by getting two guys, Tony and Manu, that not only developed into solid players, but future Hall of Famers that panned out to be the BEST basketball players from their respective countries EVER!

Who knows, maybe someday Tiago might join them on the list, or one of their recent prospects Lorbek or Bertrans.

[DMC]

Cheaper. Once a player gets into the NBA system, they are wooed by larger markets and the Spurs have to pay a premium for them. RJ from Europe would be a 3M a year player, if that.

Not as likely to feel entitled to special treatment.

Not as likely to thug out.

[8FOR!3]

lol Matt Bonner's definitely US born.

But with the citizenship thing I guess it passes as a joke.

Why did you leave out the black Shane Heal?

[NRHector]

they are more discipline

[DMC]

Maybe, but I think the real reason is that they acknowledge the fact that basketball is a world wide sport and that there are pretty good players overseas

= the cheap

Why would you pay the same for guys who've never faced NBA level competition as you would for proven NBA guys? You wouldn't. So it becomes availability, money and attitude.

[JsnSA]

I think there are a few factors here that add to the largely international roster the Spurs tend to put together over the years.

First and foremost, since Timmy has been around the Spurs always pick later in the draft which means the highly scouted American players tend be gone by the time we pick.

This lead to the Spurs taking some risks on international players which payed off greatly but at the time where somewhat questionable (Manu, Tony).

Since then the Spurs have continued to improve their international scouting compared to other NBA teams which allows us to find international players that the US focused scouts often miss.

Then you have the fact that the Spurs are one of the first organizations that recognized the value of picking international players in the draft who may not be NBA ready at the time, but then letting them mature overseas on someone elses dime.

So I guess being frugal in that way has also increased the amount of international players we have gone after.

[temujin]

More experience, better fundamentals, cheaper, and often more intelligent.

As simple as that.

[JR3]

I also think American players don't want to play in San Antonio. They are drawn to the big markets they grow up watching on tv. Spurs rarely attract an american high profile free agent. Well, they rarely attract high profile free agents regardless of their nationality... just a few thoughts..

[TDMVPDPOY]

fiba andrew gaze or prime gaze in the nba wouldve been earning max contract

[ffadicted]

Tim played for US national bball team so many times. He got his US passport back to long time when he was a kid. Why is he considered a foreign player?

Nobody actually considers tim duncan international lol

[Darius Bieber]

Myself being from Germany (living in San Antonio, though), I can personally vouch that basketball is becoming an international sport. The United States, now, isn't the only place in the world with great basketball players. If I recall correctly, teams now hire scouts just for international purposes. (Both intentional and unintentional - unintentional would be how the Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown is the Australian National Team Coach. He would give the Spurs a great scouting report in the Oceanic region.

In today's age, I would be surprised if you couldn't find an International Player on an NBA Roster.

[timvp]

To answer the question, I doubt it's because the Spurs specifically prefer international players. It started with the team locating a market inefficiency in that other teams weren't valuing international players enough in the draft. That led to being able to steal Ginobili and Parker.

Once their core became TD, Ginobili and Parker, signing or trading for international players became less risky because of the global culture of the team. Eventually, that snowballs to other international players wanting to join the team because of the success of the current international players.

It'd make a good story that Pop and the front office doesn't want to deal with "dumb American ballers" or whatever but that's just not reality . . .

[Cane]

Spurs are very international friendly. They probably use the most hand signals out of any other team in the NBA to help break down language barriers.

Spurs scouts and assistants also are around the world in the offseason like the Mills connection.

Its also cheap to stash international talent away and let their games develop overseas.

[Hedgie]

fiba andrew gaze or prime gaze in the nba wouldve been earning max contract

Errrrr. No

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

The complete list in the Popovich era, only including those who played at least one second in the NBA regular season or playoffs (player, country, procedence):

- Carl Herrera: Venezuela, free agent, NBA
- Tim Duncan: US Virgin Islands, draft, US College
- Andrew Gaze: Australia, free agent, overseas*
- Tony Parker: France, draft, overseas
- Manu Ginobili: Argentina, draft, overseas
- Mengke Bateer: China, trade, NBA
- Alex Garcia: Brazil, free agent, overseas
- Shane Heal: Australia, free agent, overseas*
- Rasho Nesterovic: Slovenia, free agent, NBA
- Hedo Turkoglu: Turkey, trade, NBA
- Sean Marks: New Zealand, free agent, NBA
- Beno Udrih: Slovenia, draft, overseas
- Fabricio Oberto: Argentina, free agent, overseas
- Francisco Elson: Netherlands, free agent, NBA
- Ian Mahinmi: France, draft, overseas
- Ime Udoka**: Nigeria, free agent, NBA
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu: England, free agent, overseas*
- Tiago Splitter: Brazil, draft, overseas
- Cory Joseph: Canada, draft, US College
- Patrick Mills: Australia, free agent, overseas*
- Boris Diaw: France, free agent, NBA

*= These players signed up a contract as free agents from overseas, but all of them played NBA games with other teams before leaving the league and returning later to sign with the Spurs.

**= Holds dual citizenship American-Nigerian. Represents Nigeria's national basketball team.

There are also plenty of international draft picks who were either traded, never signed a contract with the Spurs or just played in summer camp. Scola, Javtokas, Karaulov, Sanikidze, De Colo, Ryan Richards, etc.

Then there's the Gary Neal case which is almost unique, but it shows that the Spurs are always scouting international leagues. Bruce Bowen also played overseas, but had NBA experience before arriving to San Antonio.

The Tim Duncan situation is well known to everyone, no need to argue that he is American, he's on the list so no one gets picky.

Dominique Wilkins was born in France, because his father (U.S. Air Force member) was stationed there, but only holds USA nationality. Steve Kerr was born in Lebanon, but also holds U.S. citizenship only.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall, a few hits and some misses, but the hits have been huge, while the misses mostly were players that weren't brought to lead the team in scoring.

The way to measure this is difficult, obviously many fans want all the players signed to become stars, but that just won't happen, even to the best-run franchises. I believe the FO knows that many of these were brought to see if they could win a spot as role players, to cover a hole with 10-days contracts or develop their potential.

Obviously the biggest hits in the draft are Manu and Tony, while in free agency I think Oberto had the better impact comparing expectations and actual on-court production.

The biggest disappointment? For me, Turkoglu, considering how he has performed before and after his season with the Spurs. Rasho and Beno got a lot of hate (some deserved) around here, and performed below the expectations but they played some role in the 2005 and 2007 rings.
:wakeup

When they no longer wear the Spurs uniform, or at least after 4 seasons in silver and black, we can decide in what categories Splitter, Joseph, Mills and Diaw fall into.

[SpurSpurSpurs]

fiba andrew gaze or prime gaze in the nba wouldve been earning max contract

One of my favorite Spur, but he's unlikely to get a max contract.

[DMC]

I also think American players don't want to play in San Antonio. They are drawn to the big markets they grow up watching on tv. Spurs rarely attract an american high profile free agent. Well, they rarely attract high profile free agents regardless of their nationality... just a few thoughts..
The Spurs make high profile players, they don't attract them.

[Dr. John R. Brinkley]

It all starts with Zarko and I'm embarassed that he keeps getting omitted from your lists.

[JR3]

The Spurs make high profile players, they don't attract them.

Yup! That's what sets us apart and makes me proud to be a spurs fan.

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

It all starts with Zarko and I'm embarassed that he keeps getting omitted from your lists.


The complete list in the Popovich era...

[Darkwaters]

Darius Washington is Macedonian now also

Although he wasn't at the time that he played for the Spurs. But I just wanted to make a reference to Darius Washington so somebody could comment on his one amazing defensive game against Baron Davis.

[mikekim]

Darius Washington is Macedonian now also

Although he wasn't at the time that he played for the Spurs. But I just wanted to make a reference to Darius Washington so somebody could comment on his one amazing defensive game against Baron Davis.

Darius Washington > T.J. Ford

[Rapper]

I remember that when we won the 2007 nba championship timmy put a flag of US virgin Island on his shouders

[YoMamaIsCallin]

To answer the question, I doubt it's because the Spurs specifically prefer international players. It started with the team locating a market inefficiency in that other teams weren't valuing international players enough in the draft. That led to being able to steal Ginobili and Parker.

Once their core became TD, Ginobili and Parker, signing or trading for international players became less risky because of the global culture of the team. Eventually, that snowballs to other international players wanting to join the team because of the success of the current international players.

It'd make a good story that Pop and the front office doesn't want to deal with "dumb American ballers" or whatever but that's just not reality . . .

You must be smart because that's exactly what I was going to say. :)

As they say, you take what the defense gives you. In this case the defense is the other 29 teams. If they don't do their homework and see the value in some international player, sneak in and steal him in the draft. Same for IUPUI graduates or players with no ACLs.