How did the Spurs overlook this guy?

[SenorSpur]

Don't know if this question has ever been posed, but with knowledge that the Spurs have been desparately seeking to identify and acquire a long-three for some time, this raises the question as to how in the hell did the Spurs manage to overlook this guy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7g3CBvgn1c

#33. Jamario Moon
Height: 6' 8"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Position: Small Forward
College: Meridian (CC)
Born: 6th January, 1980
Experience: Rookie

Stats
Year Team GMs MPG FG% FT% 3PT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
07-08 TOR 33 29.5 45.0 63.3 26.1 6.5 1.0 0.9 1.7 8.1

Moon, 6-foot-8, 205 pounds, saw action in 44 games with the Continental Basketball Association’s Albany (N.Y.) Patroons in 2006-07. He finished seventh in the CBA in scoring (18.8), fifth in rebounding (7.8), third in steals (2.0) and second in blocks (2.4). He also ranked fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage at .401 (73-182) and shot .503 per cent (316-628) from the field. He was named the CBA Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-CBA honours.

The native of Rockford, Alabama has also spent professional playing time in the National Basketball Development League (Huntsville (Ala.) Flight and Mobile (Ala.) Revelers), American Basketball Association (Kentucky Colonels) and the World Basketball Association with the Rome (Ga.) Gladiators. He averaged 13.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 21 games for the Gladiators, leading them to the 2005 WBA Championship. Moon went undrafted as an early entry candidate for the 2001 NBA Draft after one year at Meridian Community College in Meridian, Mississippi.


He certainly fits the mold of a Spurs-type of player. This kid is 27 and has been toiling in various outposts here in the States and is as good of a defender as he is an offensive player. There's no doubt he has paid his dues.

How did the Spurs overlook him? He was a domestic player, not an international one.

Proof, yet again that while the Spurs are the unquestioned NBA forerunners in international talent scouting, they really suck at identifying talent here in the United States. Props to the Raptors for finding him.

[T Park]

Yeah the front office is horrid.

[urunobili]

give the Raptors some credit... it is not only US missing this prospect is them finding him and giving him a contract

[SAGambler]

Damn, how did the Spurs let this guy get away!!!!!

[sa_butta]

Clearly someone saw him when he was a Globetrotter.

[MoSpur]

He is a very solid player.

[degenerate_gambler]

how in the hell did the Spurs manage to overlook this guy?



'bout the same way everyone else but toronto did.

[MajorMike]

That looks like Melvin Sanders' resume.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Jackie Butler's CBA numbers were pretty good too, weren't they? Big props to the Raptors for finding a diamond in the rough.

[m33p0]

aside from the Spurs, 28 other teams overlooked this guy. don't be too hard on the FO just because they brought san antonio 4 championships instead of 6.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Fvcking Spurs!!


First rule of basketball...never look...I mean always look at players who played their college ball Meridian CC.


:pctoss :bang

[m33p0]

when was the last freshman globetrotter who made it big in the NBA? i could only think of one. wilt chamberlain.

[The Truth #6]

Who's to say he would have done shit on the Spurs? A lot of successful players look terrible when they first play here, veterans included. The Spurs aren't in the business of developing players right now. They seem to want players who can contribute now or they cut them and look for the next one.

[ploto]

The Raptors brought him in to Toronto for a mini-camp early in the summer and signed him to a deal before anyone else could get a chance to see him play this summer. People thought they were crazy. Sam Mitchell loved him!

[ChumpDumper]

They signed that grizzly bear -- what more do you want?

[genomefreak13]

Don't be too harsh on the spurs office. THEY DIDN"T OVERLOOK HIM, they were just not looking at him. They were more interested in a big man (power forward/center type). I think, they're not interested in the "present" but rather with the "future".

If you look closely to their draft choices:

Tiago Splitter -Big , fundamentalist, defender , no apparent attitude problem, patient and loyal (since he opted to play out the remainder of his contract with his euroleague team). Who does he look like? A young Timmy right? Spurs isn't wasting time on a show off during this time. But intends to build for the future. They understand that the team right now is ok, but once the veterans start to wear down and retire that would be a problem. Duncan isn't getting any younger. They need a prospect now. They can't rely on ginobili and parker all the time. They need a reliable, consistent center. They took chances with splitter.

Marcus williams is an experiment, they were looking for another bruce bowen. Athletic, can play 3 and 2 positon, and can defend. Unluckily, williams fell short on all of those. Sooo...out he goes. Spurs sign in Ime udoka. A defender. recognizing the trend? building up for the future!

But why did they sign Richardson? - because barry is injured and they need to patch up that hole.

As you guys can see, spurs org. isn't really that dumb. They're a thinking org. and they plan. They don't draft to get the best player but they get the most useful one. They don't want a one man team like lebron james but a player that can fit with their system.

The rule of thumb in SA is...If you can't fit the system then out you go. Spurs wouldn't want to adjust their team identity according to their players capabilities rather, the players must adopt to the spurs team identity. Want proof? why does a player like ginobili and finley allow themselves to come off the bench? when they can be starters on other team. Why does duncan allow parker (a guard) to score all the time? because that's the system. Everybody has a role and all must play it.