One more piece missing on this team

One other wrinkle to add to this is that if it's taking a full season for experienced players like Dice and RJ to learn the system, you can't expect anybody coming in to be an impact player for the same reason. As a good example, look at Gooden last year. He wasn't a bad player for us, but he was so lost on defense, it made a huge hole in the middle.
With that in mind, I think we're going to have to figure out how to win with this roster.

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Originally Posted by ElNono

One other wrinkle to add to this is that if it's taking a full season for experienced players like Dice and RJ to learn the system, you can't expect anybody coming in to be an impact player for the same reason. As a good example, look at Gooden last year. He wasn't a bad player for us, but he was so lost on defense, it made a huge hole in the middle.
With that in mind, I think we're going to have to figure out how to win with this roster.

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Well, Gooden has kinda always looked lost on defense his entire career. :lol

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Originally Posted by urunobili

Foster or Collison >>> Camby on this roster... :wakeup

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Foster is done imo. His rebounding has fallen off, his chronic back issues have caught up to him and his offense is non-existent.

Collison is a good player, but taking out contracts and likelihood of a trade, no question Camby is much better for the Spurs than Collison or Foster imo.

Guys, you can't just "take out contracts and likelihood of a trade". Otherwise, this just turns into any sort of dream team wish list.

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Originally Posted by Mr.Robinson

Bonner will get exposed by the Lakers.

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What?

I thought he was already exposed

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Originally Posted by Interrohater

Guys, you can't just "take out contracts and likelihood of a trade". Otherwise, this just turns into any sort of dream team wish list.

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Well, he was saying from a basketball perspective as I understood it. From a basketball perspective, Camby on the Spurs > Collison/Foster. But I don't think the Clippers are willing to trade Camby.

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Originally Posted by DPG21920

Well, he was saying from a basketball perspective as I understood it. From a basketball perspective, Camby on the Spurs > Collison/Foster. But I don't think the Clippers are willing to trade Camby.

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:tu

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Originally Posted by the crimson blur

The Cleveland frontline is one of the worst in the league defensively. Shaq and Big Z get lost in the pick and roll, JJ is arguably the worst starter in his position, and despite their length, they barely block/alter shots.



As you say that, Lou Amundson beasts on them. Nah, they aren't good at all, and neither should ever be used in the same breath as Tim Duncan.

Don't underestimate our talent. Once (or if) we put it all together, it will be a beautiful thing.

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Did I argue that? All I said was that some people's line of thinking is that the sheer length and mass of the Cavaliers front line would stand a better chance against the Lakers front line than the Spurs. Didn't say I agreed with that; in fact, I said that I disagreed with that.

Never draw conclusions from one game. The Nuggets front line is solid defensively and I didn't use any of them in the same breath as Duncan. The point is, if the Nuggets front line, which is comparable to the Spurs front line in size, had trouble defending the Lakers bigs in the playoffs last year, then that's not a great sign for the Spurs. It doesn't mean they can't/won't do a better job, though.

I'm not underestimating the Spurs talent.

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Originally Posted by Chomag

Are you kidding? Didn't you see how Ray Allen destroyed Bogans? Bogans is a great defender but he has his limits. He struggles against taller guards. IMO we currently don't have anyone to guard the Kobe, the wades, or the LEbrons. Unless RJ steps it up and becomes a consistent defender we don't have anyone that can match them body wise.

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Perfect example of someone not understanding the game. Bogans did in fact struggle defending Allen, but Allen and Bryant are two very different players. Theoretically, at least, Bogans should match-up better with Bryant. It has nothing to do with who's better between the two, it's simply a matter of style. Allen is in constant motion and usually runs his man ragged chasing him through and around myriad screens. Bryant has the ball in his hands a lot more and initiates his own offense. He doesn't drive as much anymore and plays more in the post, which is why I suspect Bogans has a fighting chance at at least making it difficult for Bryant to do what he does. Bogans has the strength and the tenacity to keep Bryant from getting to his spot and this also masks Bogans' greatest weakness as a defender, which is his lack of overwhelming athleticism/quickness.

Very few players in the league can guard those players effectively, or limit them. I'm not expecting that from the Spurs, nor do I find it to be the key to beating the Lakers (I outlined my keys on page 1, if you care). All I'm expecting is that they guard him adequatey and make him work on the other end; two things I think the Spurs are capable of.

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Originally Posted by superjames1992

And, people, our front courts in our 2005 and 2007 Championship teams were hardly exceptional, either. Heck, we probably have a better front court now than we did then. Yet we still got two rings.

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You're right, but here's where your theory is flawed: the league has changed drastically since then. The other main contenders now have a lot better and bigger front courts than the contenders in '05 and '07 did. Except for when the Spurs played the Pistons, that was always their biggest advantage against the Mavs and Suns. Those teams just didn't have anyone who could even come close to guarding Duncan adequately. The difference now is the Lakers, Celtics, Magic and Nuggets do have players who should be able to do an adequate job on Duncan and Duncan is no longer at his absolute peak (though his decline is greatly exaggerated).

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Originally Posted by ElNono

We'll be fine just as long as Dice comes around... and I think he will... Ratliff should get spare minutes and should help us protect the rim. And Bonner will be helpful against their bench big (powell) IF he's hitting shots. Otherwise, just throw Blair in there.

What are Pargo and Tyrus Thomas going to do? Mason is arguable as good or better than Pargo. Tyrus Thomas is a very dumb basketball player right now. Gasol could probably toy with him all night.

I would take a chance on a Camby for Bonner and Finley type of deal, but the clips don't seem to be interested in getting rid of Camby, and they'll probably want to package some other bad contract with him (like Kaman).

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Barring injury, there's virtually no chance of Powell being in the Lakers rotation in the playoffs. He isn't even in it now, as they're essentially playing 8 guys most nights.

Agreed. Mason is better than Pargo and Thomas doesn't have the size, nor the basketball IQ to effectively guard Gasol.

The Clippers say that now, but if they're out of the race or close to it by the deadline, their stance might change. Like a lot of teams, they don't want to take on salary for after this season, so the deal would have to be expiring contracts + either a promising young player or a 1st round pick, I presume. With Splitter (hopefully), Blair and Hill are likely to be in the Spurs top 9-10 next year (which means that roughly a third of the rotation would be quality young players; more than enough when you're trying to win a championship) and their commitment to trying to win the championship this season, I suspect the Spurs would give up the 1st round pick in a second if it landed them Camby. Potentially significantly improving their chances is more important than another early-mid twenties draft pick, even in the event that they got a useful player out of it.