Solid D
07-26-2006, 11:38 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA072706.1C.COL.BKNharvey.spurs.32a5c57.html
Web Posted: 07/26/2006 10:29 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Peter Holt likes what his team has done this summer. The Dallas Mavericks do, too.
Holt's Spurs dumped Rasho Nesterovic's salary, passed when Nazr Mohammed got a better offer and generally yawned at What Was Out There. The Spurs upgraded their payroll far better than they did their talent.
That's the management theme under Holt, whose current payroll is about $30 million less than Mark Cuban's. So what the Spurs need now, to beat Cuban, is the continuation of another theme.
They need to get lucky on another bargain. They need an overlooked kid to become a power off the bench. They need a 6-foot-10 manchild named Jackie Butler to be this season's find.
They need for Butler to be the next Stephen Jackson — another McDonald's All-American who didn't play in college and needed the company of adults.
The Spurs haven't been illogical this summer. They weighed dollars vs. productivity, and more teams should try it.
An ESPN.com article recently said as much. Over the past two years, 34 different players have signed free-agent deals worth at least $35 million, and the writer estimated that 20 of those have been mistakes.
The Spurs haven't often overpaid, and they saw Mohammed's demands as similarly inflated. But as prudent as they have been, they also didn't get better the past month, especially compared with what the Mavericks did.
Dallas signed its free agents, then packaged a few unneeded pieces for a backup point guard (Anthony Johnson) who scored 40 points in a playoff game last spring. Among those who tried to slow Johnson that night was a new Spur, Jacque Vaughn.
The Mavericks used their first-round pick on a promising guard (Maurice Ager), and they managed to dump their own bloated contract. In place of Marquis Daniels, Dallas got an experienced version of Matt Bonner (Austin Croshere).
Meanwhile, the Spurs carved out financial flexibility for the future, which is smart but doesn't do much toward countering Dirk Nowitzki. Besides, should the Spurs be worrying about the future or the present? Tim Duncan is 30 years old.
The former Nugget, Francisco Elson, will help Duncan. Mohammed and Nesterovic are better, but not for two or three times the money.
Duncan's hope, however, is his opposite. Butler. Whereas Duncan stayed at Wake Forest against the advice of those who knew he would be the No. 1 choice overall, Butler went pro out of high school against the advice of those who knew better.
Butler wasn't drafted, and this career decision fits his demeanor. Those in New York say he's hard to understand because he mumbles, and they say he has a few social issues.
And when he played well at times last season? Even that was hard to measure, because the Knicks were so chaotic and awful.
But Larry Brown saw it all, and he saw how hard the guy tried and how quickly he improved. "I love the kid," Brown said this week from Long Island. "He can just play."
Brown can get carried away. When coaching the Spurs, Brown would say "I love the kid," then cut his love the next week.
But Brown knows everything about his players, and he sees nothing in Butler that a more mature locker room wouldn't cure. Put Butler next to Duncan and Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley, and Brown says, "In that environment, he will be phenomenal."
Jackson needed the same. He had already endured the CBA, as Butler did, and had received some NBA experience in the New York market, as Butler did.
Jackson left the Nets with some bitterness, and the attitude would fester later. Jackson lost half a season after going into the stands to defend Ron Artest.
But in San Antonio, calmed by those around him, Jackson closed out playoff series after playoff series in 2003 on the way to a title. Would the Spurs have won that championship without him?
Butler can score, too, and his post game could be handy when Duncan sits. Brown says Butler isn't afraid, just as Jackson wasn't, and he comes with gifts that can't be taught, just as Jackson did.
Brown's assessment: good hands, good passing touch and "great instincts" for the game.
Only 20 years old last season, Butler shot 55 percent from the floor and averaged almost 16 points per 40 minutes. Duncan will notice, too, that Butler is a 75 percent free-throw shooter.
Butler won't be the solution to Nowitzki, and he's not known as a shot-blocker. He won't help the Spurs go small, and he likely won't play in many fourth quarters, either.
But given what else has happened this summer? Given what Dallas has done?
Another Jackson is as much as the Spurs can hope for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
Web Posted: 07/26/2006 10:29 PM CDT
San Antonio Express-News
Peter Holt likes what his team has done this summer. The Dallas Mavericks do, too.
Holt's Spurs dumped Rasho Nesterovic's salary, passed when Nazr Mohammed got a better offer and generally yawned at What Was Out There. The Spurs upgraded their payroll far better than they did their talent.
That's the management theme under Holt, whose current payroll is about $30 million less than Mark Cuban's. So what the Spurs need now, to beat Cuban, is the continuation of another theme.
They need to get lucky on another bargain. They need an overlooked kid to become a power off the bench. They need a 6-foot-10 manchild named Jackie Butler to be this season's find.
They need for Butler to be the next Stephen Jackson — another McDonald's All-American who didn't play in college and needed the company of adults.
The Spurs haven't been illogical this summer. They weighed dollars vs. productivity, and more teams should try it.
An ESPN.com article recently said as much. Over the past two years, 34 different players have signed free-agent deals worth at least $35 million, and the writer estimated that 20 of those have been mistakes.
The Spurs haven't often overpaid, and they saw Mohammed's demands as similarly inflated. But as prudent as they have been, they also didn't get better the past month, especially compared with what the Mavericks did.
Dallas signed its free agents, then packaged a few unneeded pieces for a backup point guard (Anthony Johnson) who scored 40 points in a playoff game last spring. Among those who tried to slow Johnson that night was a new Spur, Jacque Vaughn.
The Mavericks used their first-round pick on a promising guard (Maurice Ager), and they managed to dump their own bloated contract. In place of Marquis Daniels, Dallas got an experienced version of Matt Bonner (Austin Croshere).
Meanwhile, the Spurs carved out financial flexibility for the future, which is smart but doesn't do much toward countering Dirk Nowitzki. Besides, should the Spurs be worrying about the future or the present? Tim Duncan is 30 years old.
The former Nugget, Francisco Elson, will help Duncan. Mohammed and Nesterovic are better, but not for two or three times the money.
Duncan's hope, however, is his opposite. Butler. Whereas Duncan stayed at Wake Forest against the advice of those who knew he would be the No. 1 choice overall, Butler went pro out of high school against the advice of those who knew better.
Butler wasn't drafted, and this career decision fits his demeanor. Those in New York say he's hard to understand because he mumbles, and they say he has a few social issues.
And when he played well at times last season? Even that was hard to measure, because the Knicks were so chaotic and awful.
But Larry Brown saw it all, and he saw how hard the guy tried and how quickly he improved. "I love the kid," Brown said this week from Long Island. "He can just play."
Brown can get carried away. When coaching the Spurs, Brown would say "I love the kid," then cut his love the next week.
But Brown knows everything about his players, and he sees nothing in Butler that a more mature locker room wouldn't cure. Put Butler next to Duncan and Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley, and Brown says, "In that environment, he will be phenomenal."
Jackson needed the same. He had already endured the CBA, as Butler did, and had received some NBA experience in the New York market, as Butler did.
Jackson left the Nets with some bitterness, and the attitude would fester later. Jackson lost half a season after going into the stands to defend Ron Artest.
But in San Antonio, calmed by those around him, Jackson closed out playoff series after playoff series in 2003 on the way to a title. Would the Spurs have won that championship without him?
Butler can score, too, and his post game could be handy when Duncan sits. Brown says Butler isn't afraid, just as Jackson wasn't, and he comes with gifts that can't be taught, just as Jackson did.
Brown's assessment: good hands, good passing touch and "great instincts" for the game.
Only 20 years old last season, Butler shot 55 percent from the floor and averaged almost 16 points per 40 minutes. Duncan will notice, too, that Butler is a 75 percent free-throw shooter.
Butler won't be the solution to Nowitzki, and he's not known as a shot-blocker. He won't help the Spurs go small, and he likely won't play in many fourth quarters, either.
But given what else has happened this summer? Given what Dallas has done?
Another Jackson is as much as the Spurs can hope for.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]