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Green as far as initial expectations are concerned.
Which current Spur has improved the most since joining the team?
- Tony Parker going from a young, skinny late-round, unknown pick that developed into a star PG with a top-10 player peak and nice longevity
- Kawhi being a 15th pick that couldn't shoot or play on the perimeter when he entered the league, obviously had a ton of potential, though; Currently playing like a top-10ish player in the entire league
- Danny Green entering the league as the 46th pick in the draft and a bench warmer for the Cavs; Arguably the best 3&D guy in the NBA, has improved significantly off the dribble and as a passer, too
- Patty Mills was the 55th pick in the draft, a little too chubby, bench warmer cheerleader for the Blazers and Spurs; Became a big part of a championship rotation, last year, following his off-season weight loss
- Aron Baynes coming in as an undrafted bruiser, was known more for his screen-setting and build, last year IMO..had trouble with his conditioning and hands, as well; Has really developed into a great 4th big, improved his conditioning, consistently makes the short jump shot, always finishes strong at the rim, understands the system, etc
- Other(Cojo? Was Manu expected to be as good as he is? I don't remember)
Green as far as initial expectations are concerned.
Wasn't Pop scared to play Green in the playoffs four, five (?) years ago to the point that he benched him?I say that one.
Leonard.
Easily DG.
I'll go with Verde, he wasn't supposed to be NBA talent and is now a monster defender and a top 5 or so shooter.
I can't pick Parker because he was already pretty impressive by the 2001 summer league. So much so that the Sonics offered Gary Payton for him, Malik Rose, and Antonio Daniels after his first couple of games in the summer league. I mean Parker earned the starting job over Terry Porter and Antonio Daniels four games into his rookie season.
1 - Green
2a - Parker
2b - Kawhi (only because it hasn't been sustained long enough yet. if he keeps this up throughout the playoffs one more time, he's moving up to 2)
3 - Mills - 13/14 patty was great. his regression has been ugly
4 - Baynes... he's basically what we thought he would be
If kawhi wins MVP or mutiple all star selections then he runs away with it. But he was a lottery talent that slid so not really the same as the others.
Parker was a euro talent in the age when the spurs were the only team really giving a about French basketball. In modern times he'd be picked much higher, think Dante Exum. So I'd say that he was just a lottery talent that developed. it's pretty amazing that when the spurs do get top 20 talent they get good players and don't squander them like most teams.
So yeah, unless KAwhi sustains god mode I got to go with Danny.
But the real winner is Boris Diaw.
When we drafted Kawhi, I just wanted another Bowen replacement. Never thought we'd be seeing top ten level impact from him. Far exceeded my expectations in that regard.
But Danny probably wins this one - never even heard of him coming out of college.
Green. Dude got cut multiple times and was exiled to Slovenia. Now he's a 3 point machine and a solid asset defensively.
Amazing considering Spurs haven't had a lottery pick of their own since 1997, and had to trade up to grab Leonard.
Green is amazing considering the Cavs cut bait after Lebron left. Only guys from the '09 draft that would definitely still go before him today are Griffin (1), Harden (3), Curry (7), DeRozan (9 - still prefer DG), Teague (19). Evans, Rubio, Jennings, Holiday, Lawson, Gibson could have as well depending on the team. Crazy that second round included Ayres, Blair, Green, McClinton, De Colo and Mills.
And who can forget Kahn, extracting the #5 pick from Washington for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, and then going with Rubio+Flynn back to back with Curry on the board. Right then and there, the Knicks should have traded up to one of those two Minnesota picks and instead of Curry ended up having to waste Jordan Hill to expunge Jared Jeffries deal for a second time.
Solid asset defensively is like saying Jamal Crawford has modest handles.You have a gift for understatement. Green is one of the best defenders in the league.
Green because of the path he took to get to where he is today, followed by Kawhi. Scary thing is Kawhi has another god damn 7-8 potential years of improvement to go before he peaks.
-Pop going from
scared of rookie coaches
playing soft, flaming SF/PFs
Abandoning winning Tall Ball with schrivelled up small balls
#1 seed flame outs
Robbing greatest PF/C of his era of les
To
Ball distribution excellence
No favored gots given excess playing time
great minutes distribution
letting role players play their role. Patty, Green etc.
One of the greatest one year bounce back coaching jobs in history of NBA (Winning the le for the Heat then coming back and winning it for the Spurs)
Great end to the regular season so far.
Lets hope his growth continues into 2015 playoffs.
Danny Green....but Manu's got to be in there somewhere. 57th pick to a first ballot HOFer!
Wasn't Manu MVP overseas prior to his NBA career, though?
Same with Splitter, they had a lot of hype with Spurs fans IIRC..
The Manu draft pick was actually pretty lucky. He wasn't known or scouted much at all at the time IIRC. The same monkey-and-dartboard strategy got us Karulov too.
Hm, interesting..the age of not having message boards
Green....
Dude was cut twice....and now he is one of our best players. 2nd best defender for sure.
Manu
Green and KL need more time.
Duncan the most ready player by far when he entered.
Back in 2001 everyone knew the Spurs wanted Parker. I remember watching that draft and seeing him come up to the podium and thinking this skinny little er is the guy the whole front office has been creaming themselves over? But I was still happy they got their man. The Spurs didn't start getting tight-lipped until the Nets stole Nenad Krstic from them the next year after the success they had with Parker. The Spurs had been in love with Krstic since he was like 16 and everyone knew they wanted him.Hm, interesting..the age of not having message boards
Have to go with Green on this one.
Verde, followed by Pendergraph.
depends on if Leonard's current unconscious shooting is an anomaly or not. if he can keep this up: mind boggling
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