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Since 2007, the SA Spurs have been pretty stagnant. Despite a great run this past 2012 playoffs, again the Spurs were exposed of their lack of speed, athleticism, toughness, and solid/experienced role players they have lacked since 2007. I don't see SA Spurs making any big free agent signings this offseason and I belive that signing Nando De Colo or Lorbek will make them any better. Should they make playoffs Nando de colo or Lorbek will again be exposed of their lack of experince in NBA. I'm really frustrated at Spurs front office of not even trying to be in hunt for a big free agent signing, even Dallas is making some pushes towards Free agents. If you see teams like Utah, New Orleans, Hawks, they all parted with their stars like Deron Williams, CP3, Joe Johnson because they knew their ceilings were 1st or 2nd round playoffs at best. I believe same with Spurs. Their ceiling next year is 2nd round at best. That being said, there has to be a culture change in SA. No more this soft crap and being the nice classy dudes. Why don't they think about parting ways with Parker or Ginobili, as clearly over the past 5 years nothing has happened. Your thoughts?
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whatareyoutalkingabout,mel?
How close to a championship are the teams you mentioned who traded away their superstars?
And how did that "go for broke" strategy work out for Dallas?
We do need a Kenyon Martin on our team. Stak5 don't count, simply because he plays on the wing. We need someone in the paint.
The nice guy boyscout image can get really old.
How about a Tyson Chandler?
Kmart would really shake things up for us. But he will try to go to a sure shot championship contender.
People dont seen to understand that there is no trade involving TO or Manu that will put you closer to winning a championship in the next couple years.
At best trade may set you up for a little better future but I think Spurs are going best route. You ride the big 3 a couple more years and develop Kawhi along with one or two Euro players and make smart use of cap space as vets contracts end.
It a tough road vs the NBA way of going all out trying to land superstar(s) and if that doesn't work have fire sale and be really bad for 2-5 years to get multiple lotto picks.
Bottom line there is no guarantees either way (see Toronto, Charlotte, etc. Not to mention
Clippers for so many years)
How is a change in "culture" going to make the team faster or more athletic?
Blowing the team up at this point basically means kicking Tim's ass out the door. I get that you think class is overrated, but don't you think that's a bit of an overcorrection?
The bottom line is that we simply need to get better. If we can find better players that we can actually bring in that are tougher or whatever, great. But I'd settle for things like a better backup point than Gary Neal and a better playoff performer than Matt Bonner. A few changes like that might have been enough to get us past the Thunder.
Plenty of un-classy, athletic teams in The Association that win nothing. That's not the solution. Some times there isn't one.
the so-called culture has given the spurs the most 50+ win seasons for the last decade and beyond.. it's the most successfully run sports organization out of the 4 major leagues in the US.. but it's the NBA.. being a big market and not having anti-spur pundits would better help attract the big and athletic players you speak of.. other than that.. they're doing everything right
I don't think the Spurs need a change in culture as much as I feel they are in desparate need of minor talent upgrades. The type of upgrades that would allow them to return to their original "defensive-first" principles. This team is loaded with shooters and CAN score points. While they cannot generate as many low post baskets since Duncan's decline, there's no denying that they can still score points. However at some point, a team must be able to generate stops and deny the opposition of scoring opportunities, in addition scoring points themselves.
Securing key defensive rebounds, shutting down drives into the paint, blocking a shot or two are all just as critical in being able to generate additional possessions, as is getting offensive rebounds or limiting turnovers.
As the league has shifted since the Spurs won their last championship, it appears Pop has been all too willing to sacrifice defense for offense, in order to keep pace. As such, Pop and RC have added players who can score, but have not been very gifted athleticially. Several of these players have been either limited athleticially, physically or undersized or all three. Because the Spurs dip their toes heavily into the international market, the downside here is usually these players have also not been very good defensively.
Unfortunately, the addition of these types of one-dimensional, role players inhibits a team's ability to play a complete floor game. Meanwhile, there has been an upsurge in the talent and athleticism arcoss the NBA and the Spurs are bit behind the curve and have paid dearly for it.
I just think the Spurs need to augment their roster with a couple of players of considerable size, quickness and length - at various positions. I'm not talking star players, but young, cheap, hungry types that are willing to do some of the dirty work where they need help - especially on the frontline. Of course, to do so would mean parting ways with a couple of players (Bonner, Neal, Blair) that Pop has fallen in and out of love on various occasions.
The rest of the NBA is trying to emulate the San Antonio culture. About a third of the NBA has former Spurs personnel in their FO, on their bench, or both. In today's news Orlando, which already has hired a former Spur exec as their GM, will interview Jacque Vaughn and Quin Snyder (former Toros HC) for their head coaching position.
trade Parker for Arenas
trade Manu for JR Smith
trade Duncan for Perkins
trade Bonner for Najera
trade Kawhi/Green/Diaw for Jordan Hill/World Peace
trade Neal for...oh wait.
no more boy scouts. le.
I agree the Spurs need to find a better offensive/defensive balance. They showed signs of being a really good defensive team right up till game 3 in the WCF. In games 1-2 they played good enough defense to close out those games. After game 3 it seems the bottom fell out of the defense. I think a big part of that was rotations. In an effort for more offense Pop didn't stick long enough with some of the better defensive players.
God damn some Spurs fans are stupid. The Spurs need a 24 year old Duncan.
If there is one thing Spurs need NOT to change is precisely their culture.
It's called team.
That's what I like about them.
+1
To nitpick, I think the Spurs could use some more vocal leaders on the court too. Tony did a good job this season but I'm not convinced hes naturally like that or completely comfortable. Duncan leads by example and Ginobili is a body language/effort guy.
When the Spurs went up 2-0 on OKC, tons of sportscasters, announcers, scouts, NBA players, and posters on spurstalk were practically anointing them with the championship. They were declared the smartest team in the NBA, the deepest team in the NBA, the team with the best ball movement, and the team that "played the right way."
Other teams envy the Spurs every single year. The Spurs may not win championships as of late, but even still other teams look at the Spurs and respect them.
The 'don't talk trash', 'it's just business', 'execute execute execute', 'you perform, you will be rewarded', 'don't miss your rotation' culture is exactly what makes the Spurs a great franchise.
Now here's the real deal....if the Spurs acted like every other franchise out there and showed no loyalty to their players, and started trading away players once they pass their prime, went for more flashy trash talking, etc....(ie. change their culture), what exactly would the Spurs selling point be to players? Come play in San Antonio, we have a small market, we get ignored by the media, so you being in the spotlight will be minimal...but hey guess what, we're like every other team out there!
Change of culture makes no sense...as someone else mentioned earlier, what is really needed is a return to the defense first culture! Defense first, now that's something unique.
Did you even watch the 2003 Finals? He's not a clutch performer. We really don't need another regular season guy. We seem to have that down pat.
That's why the collapse was so bad. The Spurs showed they could beat OKC while not playing their best and then proceeded to collapse after they lost game 3.
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