Translating RC Buford's Press Conference

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Originally Posted by timvp

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/2013/...ordmov-2537710

RC Buford held a press conference today to talk about the free agency movement. Here's my version of what he said utilizing some paraphrasing and reading between the lines...

-RC pointed out that Manu will be able to have the summer off. He seems to think that will help him rejuvenate his body. And, as Manu said recently, it sounds like everyone believes he'll bounce back with a better season next year.

-RC hints that Howard signing with Houston made the re-signing of Splitter more important and played a role in the signing of Pendergraph.

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Bullshit - just flat out bullshit.

-Tiago and Pendergraph were done before Howard had decided
-We play Houston the same number of times as the Lakers and are just as likely to face either in the playoffs.

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-RC points to Ginobili still being in the top 25% of guards in PER as a reason for he'd be difficult to replace. (I've never heard anyone associated with the Spurs quote "PER" rank.)

-"Manu made a significant sacrifice to come back." Interesting.

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If he got a bigger offer elsewhere then OK. But I think this is bullshit too.

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-RC says that people they respect with the Bulls told him Belinelli is the type of player who impacts winning, has a variety of skills that will fit how the Spurs play and that the system in Chicago wasn't very good for him but he should play better in San Antonio's system (translation: more open shots).

-The Spurs saw growth in Belinelli last year with the Bulls. RC says he played a much more serious brand of basketball on both ends of the court than he exhibited when he was younger.

-Tiago's price tag wasn't a surprise due to his productivity and the fact that he's a starting center. The Spurs knew it wasn't going to be cheap to retain him. He also hints there was an active market for Splitter.

-Splitter gives the team a solid player now and also could step into a bigger role once Duncan retires.

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LOL to the last one - that is all. Unless Tiago is somehow going to develop a post game when Duncan is gone then no.

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-Splitter is valuable to the Spurs due to his post defense, pick-and-roll defense and his passing.

-Pendergraph is a very physical player. Buford also says he's a good passer who can play power forward and center. He also believes he will prove to be a reliable 18-foot jump shooter. By the way RC is talking, he wouldn't be surprised if he earns a spot in the rotation.

-Jim Boylen, the new assistant coach who coached Pendergraph with the Pacers, is really high on him (good guess, SpursTalk).

-The Spurs liked Pendergraph in the draft and have closely followed him since joining the NBA.

-There's little to no concern regarding Pendergraph's knee injury (torn ACL) a couple years ago.

-It really does sound like the Spurs will bring back Neal unless he gets an outrageous offer. RC points out that the Spurs still have roster room to add him and hints that Neal's ability to play point guard make him a fit going forward.



Considering RC usually says a whole lot of nothing, I thought this was one of his more informative interviews :tu

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Makes sense on Neal. I have high hopes for Pendergraph.

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Originally Posted by timvp

http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/2013/...ordmov-2537710

RC Buford held a press conference today to talk about the free agency movement. Here's my version of what he said utilizing some paraphrasing and reading between the lines...

-Splitter gives the team a solid player now and also could step into a bigger role once Duncan retires.

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Absolutely frightening the thought of Splitter playing without Tim. Does RC think we are stupid enough to believe his bullshit?

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Originally Posted by Twisted_Dawg

What does he mean by "significant sacrifice"? That can only mean that Manu could have made a lot more money playing for another team. I call bullshit on that one and think RC is trying to defend the Spurs decision to sign him to that large contract in view of the firestorm of criticism they received. Had some team offered Manu a 3 year $30 million contract, Manu woudl have jumped on that and you couldn't have blamed him. My guess is Manu had little of any interest from any other teams based on his horrid playoff performance and injury history. A Phoenix, LAC, Houston or even Miami might have signed him to a 2 year $6 million deal to help sell tickets ot the Hispanic market. I highly doubt any other team was offering a 2 year $10 Million and no team was crazy enough to offer a 2 year $14 million save one. And his "Thank You" contract was that $14 million per year he just finished while wearing out his body playing for Argentina.

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the goods. previous deal hurt us and this one looks like another bs deal as well. Not happy with it, I really think the organization has overrated his overall value. It sounds like he's finally willing to rest up and not give the Spurs his leftovers on a bloated deal, so perhaps he can live up to his contract, i hope anyways.

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Originally Posted by HemisfairArena

Bottomline: Buford had to bring everyone back or his ass was on the line. Can you imagine letting Manu and Splitter go and we fizzle next year or go out early in the playoffs? He would be crushed for his off-season moves. But re-signing Splitter and Manu and fizzling out or going out early in the playoffs...he simply has to say...I brought back a Finals team...we had to give them the opportunity to see what they could do. I dont like the Manu signing at all but it was a safe signing as far as public opinion and front office decisions go.

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agree, i understand why they did it. it was ultimately a safe move, but i still think they are trying to spin the deal which was another loyalty/legacy contract for a player who just blew the Finals and is declining. I understand why RC did it, and least with AK47 signing a total shady deal with Nets, we realize that Manu fleecing the Spurs out of a couple million may not have made a difference anyways.

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Originally Posted by ChumpDumper

Now here's a bit of blue skying -- what if Diaw loses a fair amount of weight this summer?

Wouldn't that clear up a lot of the roster imbalance all by itself?

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hahahahaha...one can only hope.

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/def...ribble_220.jpg

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Originally Posted by ChumpDumper

The only firestorm of criticism is on this board tbh.

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Because pocket protecting nerds that live in their mother's basement know better!!!!

On the the signings were made before Howard decided. It had been an almost forgone conclusion Howard was going to Houston.

Boris won't drop weight, the Manu deal would have been good if he showed consistency but he was pretty lousy at the end of the year and through the playoffs, I don't know who pays 14 Million to a 35 year old 6th man. Pendergraph won't pan out but it really doesn't matter for that kind of money, most pissed that Bonner is still on the team and eating up money. Splitter having any kind of role on this team without Duncan is a huge joke..

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Originally Posted by timvp

Neal's ability to play point guard make him a fit going forward.

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:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang:bang :bang:bang:bang:bang:bang

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Originally Posted by timvp

Apparently Neal will be the backup point guard.

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Then apparently, there's no need for De Colo or Mills. Nothing like wasting roster spots.

Neal at the PG? haven't we tried this scenario before?

I like what he said about most things but I just don't get the Neal is a backup pg BS. Again. :bang

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Originally Posted by TheGoldStandard

Neal at the PG? haven't we tried this scenario before?

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Yeah, I don't know how many times a player has to fail before somebody takes notice. I guess around here, you get nine lives.

You guys really believe everything that is said?

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Originally Posted by Hoops Czar

Yeah, I don't know how many times a player has to fail before somebody takes notice. I guess around here, you get nine lives.

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I remember Cory getting a lot of minutes and then Neal comes back and he's back at backup PG. More dribbling into the corner, turning his back and losing the ball.

apparently the Spurs didn't know Neal would stay when they gave Beli the contract. Signing beli for 3m/yr is a real bargain but it would still be a waste of money and talent to use him as the 10th or 11th man, a role that marco wouldn't feel content with. You got him cheap but will probably sell him cheap too imho.

Same happened in Dallas, we signed Calderon for 7m/yr although I believe that's a fair price for him, I still believe that we wouldn't have signed him in the first place had we known we would bring DH back for only 3m/yr. We could've saved the 7m and used the money to sign a shooting guard like Monta.

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Originally Posted by Rogue

apparently the Spurs didn't know Neal would stay when they gave Beli the contract. Signing beli for 3m/yr is a real bargain but it would still be a waste of money and talent to use him as the 10th or 11th man, a role that marco wouldn't feel content with. You got him cheap but will probably sell him cheap too imho.

Same happened in Dallas, we signed Calderon for 7m/yr although I believe that's a fair price for him, I still believe that we wouldn't have signed him in the first place had we known we would bring DH back for only 3m/yr. We could've saved the 7m and used the money to sign a shooting guard like Monta.

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It's not up to Neal if he returns or not. .Spurs could always renounce him.

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Originally Posted by timvp

Apparently Neal will be the backup point guard.

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Then there's a major log jam at PG with Joseph, Mills, and De Colo sitting behind him. Joseph not being the backup is very odd to me. He just spend the past two seasons developing and now he is possibly going to spend another as the 3rd PG. I'd hope that we would at least trade one.

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Originally Posted by cd021

Then there's a major log jam at PG with Joseph, Mills, and De Colo sitting behind him. Joseph not being the backup is very odd to me. He just spend the past two seasons developing and now he is possibly going to spend another as the 3rd PG. I'd hope that we would at least trade one.

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Joseph was getting minutes and then all of a sudden Neal returns to the lineup.. Pop does a lot of stupid things from time to time.

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Originally Posted by TheGoldStandard

It's not up to Neal if he returns or not. .Spurs could always renounce him.

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He could sign is QO, which essentially would guarantee he stays on the team the whole year if he wants to.

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Originally Posted by Rogue

apparently the Spurs didn't know Neal would stay when they gave Beli the contract. Signing beli for 3m/yr is a real bargain but it would still be a waste of money and talent to use him as the 10th or 11th man, a role that marco wouldn't feel content with. You got him cheap but will probably sell him cheap too imho.

Same happened in Dallas, we signed Calderon for 7m/yr although I believe that's a fair price for him, I still believe that we wouldn't have signed him in the first place had we known we would bring DH back for only 3m/yr. We could've saved the 7m and used the money to sign a shooting guard like Monta.

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I think that He is a much better guard than Harris is. Can't defend but a 4 to 1 assist T.O ratio for a point guard is pretty damn good. Harris never became anything close to what every thought he would be he is a backup in this league.

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Originally Posted by Chinook

He could sign is QO, which essentially would guarantee he stays on the team the whole year if he wants to.

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Regardless if the Spurs offer him a QO or is that just something that's out there?

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Originally Posted by TheGoldStandard

Regardless if the Spurs offer him a QO or is that just something that's out there?

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Spurs already offered him the QO. They can withdraw it at any time, but as long as it's out there, Neal can accept it.

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Originally Posted by TheGoldStandard

Joseph was getting minutes and then all of a sudden Neal returns to the lineup.. Pop does a lot of stupid things from time to time.

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That made sense. Miami didn't respect Joseph and Neal had a good series. Joseph needs regular season minutes (16 mpg) instead of having him go from D league to playoff rotation player in a matter of weeks. Neal actually has improved as a PG. It used to be he dribble up the court and look for an option and them if that fails take a shot.

I'm starting to think Beli is our 3 now, Cause Manu and Neal are going to eat up most of the minutes at SG this season.

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Originally Posted by cd021

That made sense. Miami didn't respect Joseph and Neal had a good series. Joseph needs regular season minutes (16 mpg) instead of having him go from D league to playoff rotation player in a matter of weeks. Neal actually has improved as a PG. It used to be he dribble up the court and look for an option and them if that fails take a shot.

I'm starting to think Beli is our 3 now, Cause Manu and Neal are going to eat up most of the minutes at SG this season.

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Neal at the 2 is fine off the bench but his ball handling is just crap.

lol @ "they did this because of the public perception" after bitching how ":madrun nobody holds them accountable! :madrun"...

maybe they think they know what they're doing and the results have been largely positive doing exactly that?