Something about Butler that I have never understood...

[Big Shot Rob]

Remember when people stated that Pop took Butler after being told by Larry Brown that he was an incredible player--that Brown has lots of inside knowledge about the guy and told Pop to have the FO pull the trigger on him.

I remember those stories distinctly.

I do not believe that Brown would lie to Pop.

Something happened to the guy--there has to be a reason why he is not playing at all. Did he get hurt early on and just has not been able to pick up the system?

[ChumpDumper]

Something happened to the guy--there has to be a reason why he is not playing at all.He stopped being on the worst team in the league.

[The Truth #6]

Maybe Pop told him he wasn't going to play this year and Butler believed him and gave up on the season.

[Leetonidas]

He is not at the weight they want him to be at, he's very young, and can improve. Like White, he'll be in the rotation next year. He's on the Stephen Jackson plan.

[Kermit]

He stopped being on the worst team in the league.

which is funny because he outplayed curry and the jerome james to get playing time, yet he can't seem to beat out the two worst centers in the league. i say this only to point out that spurs fans would kill for eddy curry right about now (not so much for the other guy).

[ChumpDumper]

which is funny because he outplayed curry and the jerome james to get playing time, yet he can't seem to beat out the two worst centers in the league.Our centers are better defenders than Curry and James.

[Kori Ellis]

Remember when people stated that Pop took Butler after being told by Larry Brown that he was an incredible player--that Brown has lots of inside knowledge about the guy and told Pop to have the FO pull the trigger on him.

I remember those stories distinctly.

I do not believe that Brown would lie to Pop.

Something happened to the guy--there has to be a reason why he is not playing at all. Did he get hurt early on and just has not been able to pick up the system?

At the very beginning of the season, Pop made it pretty clear that Jackie was picked up as a project and wouldn't be playing this season unless there were injures. He repeatedly referred to him as being on the Stephen Jackson plan this season.

Nothing changed. It's been the Spurs plan for the start for him not to play this year.

[Big Shot Rob]

Stephen Jackson plan?

Is that like a lay-a-way like they used to have at Joske's?

[Kori Ellis]

Stephen Jackson plan?

Is that like a lay-a-way like they used to have at Joske's?

You haven't heard the Spurs use the term?

It means that he will sit on the bench and learn in practice - getting little or no playing time for the year - like Stephen Jackson did when he first got here.

[txallstar]

Our centers are better defenders than Curry and James.

which isnt saying much

[Big Shot Rob]

No Kori--I never heard that phrase.

Its too bad we couldn't get someone who might actually be able to contribute this year, especially since our Bigs are so awful that the Mother Superior at Mt. Sacred Heart Catholic School here would whip their ass in a rebounding contest anyday of the week and she's only 4'11

[baseline bum]

God I hope they can get Butler to play in the summer league, and he has a summer league performance like Jack did when he was tearing it up in 2002.

FREE JACKIE BUTLER

[Holt's Cat]

This is getting ridiculous. The Spurs' title fortunes as currently constructed rest on Ginobili and Bowen. They aren't getting any younger or healthier. What the fuck are they waiting for? The centers suck. Give Butler a chance. Fuck it, this team is dead. I'm out of the litter box.

[dbestpro]

You haven't heard the Spurs use the term?

It means that he will sit on the bench and learn in practice - getting little or no playing time for the year - like Stephen Jackson did when he first got here.
The way Pop is handling young talent I'm afraid it is more like the Udrih plan.

[AFBlue]

The way Pop is handling young talent I'm afraid it is more like the Udrih plan.

I think it's too early to tell whether his lack of PT has hurt his confidence, though it doesn't sound like he's impressed in practice. Still, I'd throw this kid out there because no matter how "green" he is, he'll instantly become the Spurs second-best low-post option. The Spurs have diddly in the middle when tim is out...it's pathetic.

[lebomb]

This is getting ridiculous. The Spurs' title fortunes as currently constructed rest on Ginobili and Bowen. They aren't getting any younger or healthier. What the fuck are they waiting for? The centers suck. Give Butler a chance. Fuck it, this team is dead. I'm out of the litter box.



I agree with you 200% .................... :bang

[Gros Membres!]

He stopped being on the worst team in the league.
Correction. Knicks got rid of Butler and now they are a competitive team in the Eastern Conference with the same number of total win last year at this point now. Lost Butler and added Jeffries.

Begs the question, is Brown overrated? I think so.

[Gros Membres!]

Our centers are better defenders than Curry and James.
You're wrong. Have you freakin' watched Elson and Oberto play?!! They're horrid. Curry plays a helluva lot tougher than those guys.

[Kori Ellis]

Plenty of times the Spurs have picked up someone that they are real high on. Its hyped up all you guys swing from his balls.

Then the player rides the pine and they call it development. Then things change and the player leaves and never gets 5 minutes of garbage time with team. He'll then disappears or thrive somewhere else. Thats whats going to happen with this guy. No Jax plan or covert opps. This guy will never see significant minutes with the Spurs. Mark my word.

Well Butler was signed for 3 years. So do you think they are going to just cut him or what?

[Kori Ellis]

No I don't think he'll just be cut. I think he'll be packaged sometime in the offseason or possibly before the draft. The whole thing has an LJ3 vibe to it. Don't get me wrong I'd like to see him play, I'd like to see what it is that we have with him.

I'm guessing he's not as good as they expected and rather than play him and show his liabilities. They'll just sit him and wait for a decent deal on him or toss him in on another deal. Being that he hasn't played I think his hype value is still there. People still think he has tons of upside. If he is indeed worthless playing him would not be a good idea. Just speculating but I don't see him coming in next year and making a difference.

Well when he got here, they said he wasn't going to play this year. Pop said before the season started that we'd only see him play significant minutes this season if there was a major injury. So I'm not sure by him not playing if that indicates anything at all. They got him as a project.

[AFBlue]

No I don't think he'll just be cut. I think he'll be packaged sometime in the offseason or possibly before the draft. The whole thing has an LJ3 vibe to it. Don't get me wrong I'd like to see him play, I'd like to see what it is that we have with him.

I'm guessing he's not as good as they expected and rather than play him and show his liabilities. They'll just sit him and wait for a decent deal on him or toss him in on another deal. Being that he hasn't played I think his hype value is still there. People still think he has tons of upside. If he is indeed worthless playing him would not be a good idea. Just speculating but I don't see him coming in next year and making a difference.

I'd package him with something right now if it could help the Spurs with an immediate need. The one thing the Spurs have a surplus of is PF/C, both here & overseas, and none of them are "difference-makers" in a championship run.

If it takes Butler to get Maggette, Knight, Arroyo and whoever else could be an immediate contributor, I'm all for it.

[Spurs Brazil]

Well when he got here, they said he wasn't going to play this year. Pop said before the season started that we'd only see him play significant minutes this season if there was a major injury. So I'm not sure by him not playing if that indicates anything at all. They got him as a project.

I agree he was a project at the beggining of the season but Oberto and Elson SUCKS.

There's no reason to leave Butler on the bench

If he gets any playing time he can't do any worst than the horrible Oberto and the terrible Elson

[objective]

Stephen Jackson plan?

Is that like a lay-a-way like they used to have at Joske's?

The Stephen Jackson plan is the farce that the fans, the media, and the Spurs have bought into.

It basically means that the Spurs are determined to ride bad, old, veterans into the ground (Smith/Porter/Oberto/Elson), and refuse to give youth a chance. So the next year when people get hurt (Smith/Manu) and the youth gets playing time and shows why he should have been playing all along . . . the Spurs take credit for the development, pat themselves on the back, and bask in the congratulations from the media and fans about how smart they are.

[The Truth #6]

They may have said he was going to be on the lay-away plan but given how wretched our back up post players are its crazy he hasn't gotten a chance. The situation has changed but not surprisingly Pop's inability to react hasn't.

Or, he really is that bad and they don't want to play him because it will hurt his trade value. Pop said the top 9 or 10 players won't be traded. To me that means, Butler is available for trade, as well as Beno since he now doesn't play and isn't in the top 9 rotation.

[objective]

the guy's only making what, 2.5 million? Whatever trade value he has, it's as a throw in to make salaries match.

Other teams aren't going to look at his non-playing this year as some kind of plus because he's an unknown as he hasn't played . . . they're going to look at him as being so bad they wouldn't even give him a sniff over the worst combo in the NBA, Oberto and Elson.

Who would want that?

The only way for him to have any value other than just the numbers in his contract is for him to play.

[kevm2]

Him and White need some playing time. Are they supposed to just magically get better sitting on the bench all of the time? What we've got now surely isn't getting it done, so we might as well use this situation to develop some youth and see if they are really what we need.

[Kermit]

spursfan: "i demand to see james white and jackie butler. their lack of playing time i killing this team. who knows if they are better options than osucko and francisca elson. we'll never know because pop is the worst coach ever."

after seeing them play...

spursfan: "holy shit! they're the worst players ever!! why would pop stick them out there without learning the system. he's the worst coach ever. bring back hill. damn you peter holt, you cheap bastard..."

[AFBlue]

the guy's only making what, 2.5 million? Whatever trade value he has, it's as a throw in to make salaries match.

Other teams aren't going to look at his non-playing this year as some kind of plus because he's an unknown as he hasn't played . . . they're going to look at him as being so bad they wouldn't even give him a sniff over the worst combo in the NBA, Oberto and Elson.

Who would want that?

The only way for him to have any value other than just the numbers in his contract is for him to play.

Butler is a 21yr old PF/C that has displayed good scoring ability in the low post and he ONLY makes $2.5M. No GM would fault him for riding the pine on a veteran, championship-calibur (this is still the opinion around the league) team like the Spurs. Granted he's still a "project", but he could still get legit PT on a lottery team. He's far from worthless, he's just worth less to this team than he could be to another right now....

[timvp]

If Butler were eligible for this past draft, he would have been a top ten pick. He's the same age as LaMarcus Aldridge. He's younger than Adam Morrison, Shelden Williams, Brandon Roy, Randy Foye, JJ Redick, Hilton Armstrong, etc.

The way Spurs fans talk about Butler, no wonder the Spurs never bring young players into the system. Spurs fans expect them to be studs right out of the box. Oberto was a 30-year-old rookie last year who had tons and tons of experience on every level and he barely played. Butler is a 21-year-old player who didn't play any college ball and didn't even play that much in high school.

The same Spurs fans who whine about the Spurs not developing young talent are the same ones who are saying Butler sucks now when he's played all of like 10 minutes this season. It's amazing.

[wildbill2u]

Stephen Jackson plan?

Is that like a lay-a-way like they used to have at Joske's?
Nah, I think it has something to do with being on probation with the possibility of jail time. Sorta ruins the rotation roster. :rolleyes