It's a GREAT time to be a Spurs fan...

[Joe Schmoogins]

First off... I just want to remind everyone... Hey, we're still the champs for at least another week or so... enjoy it!

Moving along... Losing Splitter sucks, but just relax we are still in great shape.
Our big situation really isn't as dire as everyone is making it out to be. I expect the core of the situation will look like this...

C-Thomas, Oberto
PF-Duncan, Mahinmi, Bonner

Pretty much the same as this year. With any luck, Mahinmi will be able to produce and become an agile athletic big capable of guarding the other athletic bigs in the league.
Also, hopefully Pop will cut Bonner a little slack and allow him to prosper now that Horry is gone. The situation really isn't that bad. In fact with these bigs we still have the potential to be quite versatile...

offense:
Duncan - will still be a force on the block, able to draw fouls, and hit the open J.
Thomas - due to now being comfortable with the system, look for him to knock down
his mid range jumper consistently. Pop will try to incorporate it into the offense.
Oberto - not going to be a scoring threat, but still helps the flow of our offense with
his brilliant interior passing.
Bonner - expect him to be given more trust and feel much more comfortable
stretching the floor for Duncan now that Horry won't be breathing down his neck.
Mahinmi - hopefully he has what it takes for this level, and if given time to develop
early, he has the potential to be our best secondary post threat since Five-O, and help
tony run the break. I for one am looking forward to the "F.C.S.A."

defense:
Duncan - still the heart of our D. Excellent help defender, great on ball defender, I
expect him to be the same as he was this year.
Thomas - his stellar on ball D won't be changing, and will be helpful against the likes
of Shaq, Bynum, Oden, Yao, Jefferson, Boozer, Howard, and others.
Oberto - not the best defender, but not bad. As timvp has pointed out numerous
times, he has great lateral movement, and does an ok job on athletic bigs. Even
when he is not getting boards, he's tipping them to open teammates and that is an
underrated skill.
Bonner - the weakest link, but who knows, he's still young, maybe he will show
something. At least he boards and that is always valuable.
Mahinmi - the biggest question mark again, but he has showed flashes of great
defensive ability. He has the potential to be our much needed second shot blocking
presence, and he is ridiculously athletic. If he can stay out of foul trouble, and if he
develops quickly (two big ifs unfortunately) he could be invaluable against bigs such
as amare, dirk, west, kg, lamar, howard, and others.

All in all, I think are bigs are more than adequate for a championship contending spurs squad... therefore I firmly believe we should focus the majority of our resources on finding an athletic swing via FA, and an athletic swing and potential back up point via the draft. And perhaps we could even find another stop gap point with the LLE to allow our rookie pg to develop.

If we can pick up a Golden State swing caliber FA, and draft a Rush,Batum, or Walker caliber swing... We will still have all the pieces for another run at the chip, and I'd expect nothing less. It will be 2009 of course. :toast

Instead of coasting through this upcoming regular season, I really hope Pop force feeds Mahinmi and other new players time in order to develop them as quickly as possible.

The sky is not falling, our window is still wide open, and of course we still have Tim, Manu, and Tony... enjoy it while it lasts... it's a great time to be a Spurs fan.

:flag:

[SPURSGOAT]

Bonner has to go... he is horrible!

[smrattler]

As a pessimist, I find your optimism extremely annoying. :depressed

[dknights411]

The short version: Hey! We could be Mavs fans! :spin

[manufor3]

Bonner!

[timaios]

Bonner has to go... he is horrible!

So, you saw him play ?

[Joe Schmoogins]

As a pessimist, I find your optimism extremely annoying. :depressed

lol so sorry... I know the cool thing around here right now is to be a pessimist... :downspin:




The short version: Hey! We could be Mavs fans! :spin


of course anything is better than being a Mavs fan!

[Brutalis]

We lost the right to still be the champs when we lost.

That slogan is on a mantle awaiting these Finals. We are not the champs anymore.

[mrspurs]

we come back with those bigs....minus duncan of course and we are in more trouble then this past season.....i guess kurt is gonna get younger and taller and faster...bonner is like buck harveys articles...waste of space....and fab is the biggest choker of them all....and that leaves ian....impossible to give me any hope unless he is proven, and that aint happened yet.....go spurs go

[kobyz]

i agree that Bonner is one of the most bad players in the NBA, what the spurs think about when they give him that contract, every one was know that he is not good enough to play in the NBA, what an horrible mistake buy Pop and R.C.
the only idea that i have of how to get rid of Bonner is to offer him to the bucks in exchange to Charlie Bell, maybe the bucks will agree because Charlie Bell want to leave and the bucks have a young PG that they want to develop in Ramon Sessions and the bucks will get a shorter contract!!! and the spurs will get a back up PG

[SenorSpur]

I've lost some confidence in both Pop and R.C. to this point.

Having said that, my quick fix plan is to pickup a FA swingman like a Pietrus, then actually spend the 1st round pick drafting another wingman like either Rush, Batum or Walker (depending on who's available), and obtain a backup PG in either the 2nd round or via waiver wire or free agency.

Personally, I think they errored in evaluation Bonner. Same as the did with Stoudamire this year, and NVE back in 2006. It's personnel decisios like this don't instill confidence and ultimately wreck your bench production. I'd prefer they jettison Bonner and pickup a FA PF like Najera or Turiaf.

I disagree with you on the big situation. With the loss of Splitter, the Spurs definitely do need to bridge that gap while Ian adjusts to the NBA grind. Desgana Diop is my projected pickup. So long as he can be had at a reasonable cost.

To make room for these newcomers, they've got to part with Finley, Horry, Stoudamire, Vaughn. I would've added Barry to this list, but I just don't expect Pop will retain one of the veteran swingmen (Barry or Finley).

That's just my wish list. If they can accomplish even 2/3 of this, I'll feel better. I don't expect them to, but I can dream.

[RussN]

I agree with you Joe. We will be alright. Spurs fans are spoiled, which is great by the way, but come on. We can't win every year. We have to regroup, draft well and sign a good free agent swingman and big this summer and we will be fine.

Enjoy it, we have 4 championships in 10 years, if you don't like that, be a bandwagon Lakers fan and go away.

[RussN]

We lost the right to still be the champs when we lost.

That slogan is on a mantle awaiting these Finals. We are not the champs anymore.


Once a Champ, always a Champ.

And as for this year, we are still the champs until someone else wins the finals.

:flag:

[oligarchy]

Just wait for the 2010 plan to kick in!

[SenorSpur]

I agree with you Joe. We will be alright. Spurs fans are spoiled, which is great by the way, but come on. We can't win every year. We have to regroup, draft well and sign a good free agent swingman and big this summer and we will be fine.

Enjoy it, we have 4 championships in 10 years, if you don't like that, be a bandwagon Lakers fan and go away.

Most reasonable Spurs fans know that the team can't win the title every year. What most of us want to see is the team given its best chance to win it every year. What many of us, including myself, are upset with the FO about is the decision NOT to improve the roster over the past offseason and instead go with a couple of guys whose warts showed up during the year. With the roster limitations they had coming into this season, the Spurs did well to get to the conference finals.

The Spurs can easily be setup to win big over the next 3-5 years iF the front office makes good personnel decisions and balances out both the talent and the roster, while keeping the team out of salary cap hell.

[baseline bum]

Any time we have a player like Ice, David, or Tim is a great time to be a Spurs fan.

[Joe Schmoogins]

Most reasonable Spurs fans know that the team can't win the title every year. What most of us want to see is the team given its best chance to win it every year. What many of us, including myself, are upset with the FO about is the decision NOT to improve the roster over the past offseason and instead go with a couple of guys whose warts showed up during the year. With the roster limitations they had coming into this season, the Spurs did well to get to the conference finals.


eh, hindsight is 20/20... It's easy to say that now, but the FO gave them a great shot to win it and repeat. Granted we were old and unathletic, everyone knows that, but Pop let the champs defend their title and you can't blame him for that. Tim Duncan said it best, he loved what they had this year. They just weren't good enough through stretches. I'm not a big "if" type of guy... but there were so many little variables that could have gone slightly different, and "if" one of them had, we would be in the finals up 1-0 on the celtics right now. (we would have had about 5 days off after dropping the Fakers so of course we would have won game one!) I don't think it's fair to say they weren't given a chance to win the title... they were, it was right there for the taking, and they had a great shot at it. Sometimes basketball can be a funny game, and if you don't catch any breaks, you lose. Unfortunately we didn't catch any breaks against the Lakers.

About Diop... I know you have been leading the Diop bandwagon charge for quite some time now... I like Diop, however, I think he will take all or the majority of our MLE to land... and I'd rather spend that money on a skilled wing player, a fourth consistent scoring threat. I feel that the need for a fourth scorer is greater than our need for another solid big. If he could score it would be a different story, but he can't so imo he isn't worth the chunk of change he would cost. Our D wasn't bad this year, our rebounding wasn't bad this year, but our offense was the worst I've seen since I can remember... we need another consistent offensive threat.

[Joe Schmoogins]

Any time we have a player like Ice, David, or Tim is a great time to be a Spurs fan.

:tu

[SenorSpur]

Any time we have a player like Ice, David, or Tim is a great time to be a Spurs fan.

Agree too

[jimo2305]

i hope we just dont draft another player that noone's heard of and wont hear of for another 2-3 years.. the udrih thing ticked me off.. if we do do that.. at least get someone effective from the free agency pool.. it's time to rebuild

[Mr. Body]

As long as we have Bonner this team will never fail.

[jimo2305]

As long as we have Bonner this team will never fail.

lol...

boy i miss spurs of '03 tho.. jackson in the lineup.. claxton off the bench.. omg that was a squad you couldnt F with..

[NewJerSpur]

i hope we just dont draft another player that noone's heard of and wont hear of for another 2-3 years.. the udrih thing ticked me off.. if we do do that.. at least get someone effective from the free agency pool.. it's time to rebuild

I keep thinking more and more that if the the Spurs do attempt to find another backup PG it will be in the draft....that way it'll be easier for Pop to mold him early into his type of player, ala Tony Parker. The younger guy would likely be more susceptible to what Pop tries to impart to him and also a bit more intimidated by his new coach than a veteran guy that isn't over the hill and is coming from playing in a different system (like a more open offense). I think the new swingman comes from Free Agency, but I think the PG comes out of the draft....although I'd REALLY like for them to make a little run at Pargo.

[SPURSGOAT]

I keep thinking more and more that if the the Spurs do attempt to find another backup PG it will be in the draft....that way it'll be easier for Pop to mold him early into his type of player, ala Tony Parker. The younger guy would likely be more susceptible to what Pop tries to impart to him and also a bit more intimidated by his new coach than a veteran guy that isn't over the hill and is coming from playing in a different system (like a more open offense). I think the new swingman comes from Free Agency, but I think the PG comes out of the draft....although I'd REALLY like for them to make a little run at Pargo.

Yea, I think that with one of their second round picks they will get a backup PG. Don't use the MLE on a backup PG.... use it for someone like Pietrus and some one else if they can. The Spurs will probably go after him since we have the French connection...ala Parker. :hat

[NewJerSpur]

Yea, I think that with one of their second round picks they will get a backup PG. Don't use the MLE on a backup PG.... use it for someone like Pietrus and some one else if they can. The Spurs will probably go after him since we have the French connection...ala Parker. :hat

I'm actually pulling more for Barnes (and I think he's more enticing as a "buy low" kind of player given his potential and the dismal year he had), but either way I believe the wing/swing player comes from Free Agency and the backup PG is a draftee.

[BuzzerBeater]

Reading all of this makes me feel better.
Losing is bad, for me! It must be more frustrating for the players on the team
Losing now makes victories later on that much sweeter, and reading all these ideas and thoughts helps me to focus on just what got us successful in the first place.

[SenorSpur]

Yea, I think that with one of their second round picks they will get a backup PG. Don't use the MLE on a backup PG.... use it for someone like Pietrus and some one else if they can. The Spurs will probably go after him since we have the French connection...ala Parker. :hat

Agree with all of this. The 2nd round would be a perfect opportunity to invest in a backup PG. As for their MLE, if they've got to use it on a potential FA, then Pietrus would be my guy.

[Joe Schmoogins]

Agree with all of this. The 2nd round would be a perfect opportunity to invest in a backup PG. As for their MLE, if they've got to use it on a potential FA, then Pietrus would be my guy.

I agree, I hope to see a wing in the first round and a pg & big in the second...
A potential backup pg that could fall to us in the second is Lester Hudson, and I wouldnt' mind grabbing him if he was still available. Austin could be very valuable in developing both of our second round picks.

Now with the full MLE and the LLE, It'd be great if we could snag a quality wing and a respectable big. Perhaps an Azubuike, Elson combo, or also even a Barnes, Diop combo. Out of the two, I'd actually prefer the Barnes, Diop combo, but don't know if the money would stretch that far.

[Marcus Bryant]

When exiting in the WCF is seen as a major disappointment, yeah, this isn't exactly a tough time for Spurs fans.

[jimo2305]

I keep thinking more and more that if the the Spurs do attempt to find another backup PG it will be in the draft....that way it'll be easier for Pop to mold him early into his type of player, ala Tony Parker. The younger guy would likely be more susceptible to what Pop tries to impart to him and also a bit more intimidated by his new coach than a veteran guy that isn't over the hill and is coming from playing in a different system (like a more open offense). I think the new swingman comes from Free Agency, but I think the PG comes out of the draft....although I'd REALLY like for them to make a little run at Pargo.

wow this quote was way back in june before the draft lol.. go figure.. points to you :D

[SRJ]

When exiting in the WCF is seen as a major disappointment, yeah, this isn't exactly a tough time for Spurs fans.

It blows my mind that the first time the Spurs won two playoff rounds in the same playoff year was 1995. We have really come a long way.