BigDiggyD
07-28-2005, 10:25 PM
http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_13577.shtml
Most NBA teams fear that if they don’t keep moving, they’re going backwards. Certainly there is something to that. But even as schools of fish always move in the ocean, many of the “students” therein are either swallowed whole or fall victim to the nets of the tuna boat. So far this summer, the San Antonio Spurs are pretty much floating in place with their roster. In hardly an earth shaker, Fabricio Oberto will join the team from the Spanish League and big men like Tony Massenburg and/or Sean Marks figure to become former Spurs. But things are changing in San Antonio. Which of the following two more significant changes is more important depends on your perspective.
Change #1. Tony Parker should keep getting better. He’s age 23. His problems with turnovers in the NBA Finals were more because of a quantum step up in class than with his ballhandling and passing. Tony is actually one of the speediest and best dribblers in the NBA. He’s not normally a turnover factory. How many other teams pose the overplaying defense and the swarming quickness and reactivity of the Detroit Pistons? None. And who is to say if the Pistons will keep dominating the East coming out of their 2nd coaching change in just over two years? As it is, Detroit hasn’t held the top seed in their conference since 2003. Parker’s continued strides of progress look like a change for the better in San Antonio.
It’s a matter of opinion on the other change. If you’re a player or an agent, you love it. If you’re an owner of the Spurs, you don’t. If you’re a rival of the Spurs, you’re looking on with interest. For everyone else, you’re probably thinking this is the inevitable – like death, taxes, and another season of CBS’ “Survivor.” NBA Champion San Antonio was 23rd in the 30-team NBA in payroll in the recently completed season, an indication that Tim Duncan is perhaps the best player in the game, coached by the exceptional Gregg Popovich. The Spurs’ 2005 success indicates how well the whole organization is run. And it’s an indication that David Stern has put together a league in which money can only take a team so far. A franchise has to manage itself well to win big. Still, change is coming.
Change #2. Here is the other change, and it’s not chump. The Spurs may exceed $60 million dollars in payroll in 2005-06, moving its players into the league’s Top 10 list of most well-compensated rosters. Yes, the team they call “boring” is star-studded enough to have about $49 million tied up by six players for the coming season. Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili, Rasho Nesterovic, Nazr Mohammed, and Brent Barry. Add Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Oberto, Beno Udrih, the probable re-signing of Devin Brown, and still some exception money available to spend on an incoming small forward...and there, you are at about the big six-oh!
Speaking of a small forward, looking at the current market, could the Spurs do much better than Maurice Evans? Six-five and 220, he is a leaper and runner with a decent shooting stroke. Evans is an energetic defender, who has been around the world working on his game, making a living, becoming a full-grown 26-year-old adult who doesn’t need babysitting. Having played in Greece, Russia, and Italy, between two stints in the NBA, he fits a Bowen-like profile in dedication that Pop seems to appreciate. While Evans is restricted, the former Sacramento player can have his offer sheet matched by Geoff Petrie only up to CBA restrictions. The Kings do not hold “Bird Rights” to Maurice.
The Kings have swings Bonzi Wells and rookie Francisco Garcia incoming, and also have the developing Kevin Martin at the position. But Martin didn’t play in the playoffs last April, and by the end of Sacramento’s series with Seattle Evans was looking good, subbing for the injured Cuttino Mobley. Evans played 33 minutes in the final game of the series, playing defense as best he could on Ray Allen and also not missing any of his 5 FGAs, including 2-2 from downtown. You could not expect the Kings to want to let Evans go, but it would be a decision for the Kings whether to use their limited exception dollars on Evans or for a player(s) at other positions. As far as teams staying on the move...like those doomed fish, franchises don’t always go in the best direction. One courtside wag at the Rocky Mountain Review quipped at Bonzi’s recent trade, "This may be the only 3-way trade in league history to hurt all three teams equally.”
Mailman Reset
Here is a little elucidation on the possibility of Karl Malone joining the Spurs a few months ago. You may have thought, from the physical way that Malone defended Duncan and Kevin Garnett in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, that he could have asked the latter day All-NBA stars who their daddy was. It turns out that the Mailman really likes and respects Duncan very much. That was the appeal of Mailman exploring the chance of playing for the Spurs...playing with Tim.
Not wearing the same uniform as Duncan, with one or the other waving a towel on the bench when the other made a great play. Not doing a tag-team act when the coach made a substitution. Not a Shaq-Alonzo combo that never took the floor together for the Heat until ever-so-rare moments in the Detroit series. Karl wanted to be on the wood with Tim – at the same time. Exchanging interior passes or running the high-low. Throwing the no-look from the post to a cutter whose man Duncan would have rubbed away.
Such specified minutes were an assurance that the Spurs couldn’t make to Malone. His San Antonio meeting with Tim and the coach was on February 5th, back before the Spurs-Knicks trade of Malik Rose for Mohammed. With Rose, Horry, and Nesterovic all still figuring in for court time with Tim, Malone probably wouldn’t have gotten enough of those longed-for minutes playing alongside Duncan that made the league’s #2 all-time scorer consider joining the Spurs in free agency. About a week after that sit-down with Pop, Mailman announced his retirement in Salt Lake City.
Most NBA teams fear that if they don’t keep moving, they’re going backwards. Certainly there is something to that. But even as schools of fish always move in the ocean, many of the “students” therein are either swallowed whole or fall victim to the nets of the tuna boat. So far this summer, the San Antonio Spurs are pretty much floating in place with their roster. In hardly an earth shaker, Fabricio Oberto will join the team from the Spanish League and big men like Tony Massenburg and/or Sean Marks figure to become former Spurs. But things are changing in San Antonio. Which of the following two more significant changes is more important depends on your perspective.
Change #1. Tony Parker should keep getting better. He’s age 23. His problems with turnovers in the NBA Finals were more because of a quantum step up in class than with his ballhandling and passing. Tony is actually one of the speediest and best dribblers in the NBA. He’s not normally a turnover factory. How many other teams pose the overplaying defense and the swarming quickness and reactivity of the Detroit Pistons? None. And who is to say if the Pistons will keep dominating the East coming out of their 2nd coaching change in just over two years? As it is, Detroit hasn’t held the top seed in their conference since 2003. Parker’s continued strides of progress look like a change for the better in San Antonio.
It’s a matter of opinion on the other change. If you’re a player or an agent, you love it. If you’re an owner of the Spurs, you don’t. If you’re a rival of the Spurs, you’re looking on with interest. For everyone else, you’re probably thinking this is the inevitable – like death, taxes, and another season of CBS’ “Survivor.” NBA Champion San Antonio was 23rd in the 30-team NBA in payroll in the recently completed season, an indication that Tim Duncan is perhaps the best player in the game, coached by the exceptional Gregg Popovich. The Spurs’ 2005 success indicates how well the whole organization is run. And it’s an indication that David Stern has put together a league in which money can only take a team so far. A franchise has to manage itself well to win big. Still, change is coming.
Change #2. Here is the other change, and it’s not chump. The Spurs may exceed $60 million dollars in payroll in 2005-06, moving its players into the league’s Top 10 list of most well-compensated rosters. Yes, the team they call “boring” is star-studded enough to have about $49 million tied up by six players for the coming season. Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili, Rasho Nesterovic, Nazr Mohammed, and Brent Barry. Add Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry, Oberto, Beno Udrih, the probable re-signing of Devin Brown, and still some exception money available to spend on an incoming small forward...and there, you are at about the big six-oh!
Speaking of a small forward, looking at the current market, could the Spurs do much better than Maurice Evans? Six-five and 220, he is a leaper and runner with a decent shooting stroke. Evans is an energetic defender, who has been around the world working on his game, making a living, becoming a full-grown 26-year-old adult who doesn’t need babysitting. Having played in Greece, Russia, and Italy, between two stints in the NBA, he fits a Bowen-like profile in dedication that Pop seems to appreciate. While Evans is restricted, the former Sacramento player can have his offer sheet matched by Geoff Petrie only up to CBA restrictions. The Kings do not hold “Bird Rights” to Maurice.
The Kings have swings Bonzi Wells and rookie Francisco Garcia incoming, and also have the developing Kevin Martin at the position. But Martin didn’t play in the playoffs last April, and by the end of Sacramento’s series with Seattle Evans was looking good, subbing for the injured Cuttino Mobley. Evans played 33 minutes in the final game of the series, playing defense as best he could on Ray Allen and also not missing any of his 5 FGAs, including 2-2 from downtown. You could not expect the Kings to want to let Evans go, but it would be a decision for the Kings whether to use their limited exception dollars on Evans or for a player(s) at other positions. As far as teams staying on the move...like those doomed fish, franchises don’t always go in the best direction. One courtside wag at the Rocky Mountain Review quipped at Bonzi’s recent trade, "This may be the only 3-way trade in league history to hurt all three teams equally.”
Mailman Reset
Here is a little elucidation on the possibility of Karl Malone joining the Spurs a few months ago. You may have thought, from the physical way that Malone defended Duncan and Kevin Garnett in the 2004 NBA Playoffs, that he could have asked the latter day All-NBA stars who their daddy was. It turns out that the Mailman really likes and respects Duncan very much. That was the appeal of Mailman exploring the chance of playing for the Spurs...playing with Tim.
Not wearing the same uniform as Duncan, with one or the other waving a towel on the bench when the other made a great play. Not doing a tag-team act when the coach made a substitution. Not a Shaq-Alonzo combo that never took the floor together for the Heat until ever-so-rare moments in the Detroit series. Karl wanted to be on the wood with Tim – at the same time. Exchanging interior passes or running the high-low. Throwing the no-look from the post to a cutter whose man Duncan would have rubbed away.
Such specified minutes were an assurance that the Spurs couldn’t make to Malone. His San Antonio meeting with Tim and the coach was on February 5th, back before the Spurs-Knicks trade of Malik Rose for Mohammed. With Rose, Horry, and Nesterovic all still figuring in for court time with Tim, Malone probably wouldn’t have gotten enough of those longed-for minutes playing alongside Duncan that made the league’s #2 all-time scorer consider joining the Spurs in free agency. About a week after that sit-down with Pop, Mailman announced his retirement in Salt Lake City.