Splitter signs a four-year extension with Tau

[SPURSGOAT]

They've especially ruined it for you, haven't they? Prior to the playoffs, I can see you getting all excited, your little face glowing with optimism, telling yourself, "This is our year, baby! Shaq-daddy gonna bring it home!" This feeling especially peaked in the last minute during game 1 of this year's first round. You were high-fiving the air (since you obviously have no friends), excitement filling your whole body to the point of convulsions, then: Finley...for 3!

You knew the inevitble was coming, but you still managed to fight off submission, hopeful your Sons would pull it out. Being the cruel masochists they are, the Sons went up 3 with seconds left, and you were sure of victory. Then, Ginobili drives and passes to a wide open Tim Duncan. No way he hits that 3, you told yourself. We get this game, the series is ours.

Swish.

How did that feel? I bet your internal organs felt like they collapsed. Tears streamed from your eyes. Your soul went pitch black. You screamed "Why?" to the heavens and got no answer but deafening silence. 40 years of failure, crystallized in this singular moment, symbolic in defining the Suns' pathetic legacy.

And what do you do? Deflect your hate for the franchise you root for, a franchise who has rewarded your devotion with jack , onto a classy, RESPECTED, winning franchise in the San Antonio Spurs. It's natural, but it can also be destructive to the psyche, and I have little recourse but to advise you to get some in help.

Seriously.

[Spurtacus]

My daily FU to Splitter.


FU, Tiago.

[itzsoweezee]

it should be crystal clear now that the spurs front office genius is sitting in seattle. ie, buford is a ing joke.

[ynh]

Can't say I'm shocked.. there was a reason why he pulled out of the last couple drafts at the last moment.. if I remember right (might be wrong) we couldn't pull out this time and that's why he was drafted.. I mean honestly if there wasn't a big question about him you wouldn't of gotten him at the pick you did. I was actually rooting for the pistons to get him... glad now that we went with Afflalo.

[Cansal]

HI EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WEEK!!!!!!!!! FINALLY WE WIN THE ACB FINAL AND STILL VITORIA HAS A HANGOVER BESIDES TODAY WE KNOW THAT TIAGO IS GOING TO STAYS AT HOME WITH US FOR 2 YEARSSSSSSS AND ALL TAU´S SUPPORTERS ARE VERY HAPPY BECAUSE HE IS OUR RISING STAR. IT HAS BEEN AND INCREDIBLE SEASON AND I HOPE NEXT SEASON WE WILL MAKE AND EXTRAORDINARY TEAM THAT BRING´S US ALL THE LES. HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO ALL OF YOU THAT I´M SURE THAT SPLITTER´S FUTURE IS IN NBA SHORTLY BECOUSE HE´S A FIGHTER AND IT´S HIS DREAM BELIVE IT. AND FOR ME IT´S A PITY THAT A LOT OF SPUR´S SUPPORTERS ARE CRITIZICE TO HIM BECOUSE IF A FEW YEARS YOU ARE GOIN TO ADORE HIM LIKE A PERSON LIKE A PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KidCongo]

HI EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WEEK!!!!!!!!! FINALLY WE WIN THE ACB FINAL AND STILL VITORIA HAS A HANGOVER BESIDES TODAY WE KNOW THAT TIAGO IS GOING TO STAYS AT HOME WITH US FOR 2 YEARSSSSSSS AND ALL TAU´S SUPPORTERS ARE VERY HAPPY BECAUSE HE IS OUR RISING STAR. IT HAS BEEN AND INCREDIBLE SEASON AND I HOPE NEXT SEASON WE WILL MAKE AND EXTRAORDINARY TEAM THAT BRING´S US ALL THE LES. HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO ALL OF YOU THAT I´M SURE THAT SPLITTER´S FUTURE IS IN NBA SHORTLY BECOUSE HE´S A FIGHTER AND IT´S HIS DREAM BELIVE IT. AND FOR ME IT´S A PITY THAT A LOT OF SPUR´S SUPPORTERS ARE CRITIZICE TO HIM BECOUSE IF A FEW YEARS YOU ARE GOIN TO ADORE HIM LIKE A PERSON LIKE A PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GoOOOOOOO TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUU

[Kobayagi]

HI EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WEEK!!!!!!!!! FINALLY WE WIN THE ACB FINAL AND STILL VITORIA HAS A HANGOVER BESIDES TODAY WE KNOW THAT TIAGO IS GOING TO STAYS AT HOME WITH US FOR 2 YEARSSSSSSS AND ALL TAU´S SUPPORTERS ARE VERY HAPPY BECAUSE HE IS OUR RISING STAR. IT HAS BEEN AND INCREDIBLE SEASON AND I HOPE NEXT SEASON WE WILL MAKE AND EXTRAORDINARY TEAM THAT BRING´S US ALL THE LES. HOWEVER, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY TO ALL OF YOU THAT I´M SURE THAT SPLITTER´S FUTURE IS IN NBA SHORTLY BECOUSE HE´S A FIGHTER AND IT´S HIS DREAM BELIVE IT. AND FOR ME IT´S A PITY THAT A LOT OF SPUR´S SUPPORTERS ARE CRITIZICE TO HIM BECOUSE IF A FEW YEARS YOU ARE GOIN TO ADORE HIM LIKE A PERSON LIKE A PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LONG LIVE THE CAPS LOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111 11

[Harry Callahan]

My hunch is that, in spite of the rookie salary cap and other impediments, if the Spurs had made clear and relentless commitment to getting Splitter, and conveyed that to him through their actions, things might have been different.

Unfortunately, I think the Spurs are now conveying (unintentionally) a certain arrogance to foreign players. The situation with Scola and the others since Manu have trumped the Spurs' initial sterling reputation with the overseas guys. This has been a great loss IMO.

I don't buy your hunch. None of us were in on the conversations with the Spurs, Splitter and Scola to observe this arrogance. Scola indicated RC and Pop wanting him to work on rebounding and defense during his days with Tau as a way to get better before coming over (he went one out of two). The overseas agent for Scola said some stupid stuff. Obviously there was bad blood between the Spurs and Scola, but that was a two way street given the limitations of the neverending (and bad) contract Scola signed with Tau years ago.

The financial difference between what Splitter received and what the spurs could offer (which was capped due to the 1st round status) was very large. Money and not some kind of phantom arrogance was the issue.

Isn't Oberto an overseas guy? He likes it here.
Isn't Mahimi an overseas guy? He is here and will play next year.
Wasn't Rasho an overseas guy? I think he liked playing here and Pop treated him pretty well here overall with money and did not dwell on the things he could not do.

Beno was a knucklehead who couldn't handle being a backup player. Pop was incredibly patient with this guy and could not sacrifice championship plans to make Beno feel better with plenty of unearned playing time.

This blanket statement simply doesn't hold water.

[Harry Callahan]

$3M is the going rate for a late first round pick. If Splitter hadn't said he was coming over from Tau after one year, the Spurs could have sold the pick and used the money elsewhere.

For example, use the $3M to pay Scola's buyout . . .

And also used the high second pick on Splitter.

[Harry Callahan]

Based on his last couple interviews, I don't think you can say it was totally about the money.

I think he also wanted assurances that he would be given the opportunity to play...and given that the Spurs have Oberto under contract and are likely to bring back Thomas, you have to think he was right in his assessment that he wouldn't play much this year and maybe the next.

Plus, there was a loyalty to the team that brought him up and help mold him as a player. He had just won one championship, and has a legitimate shot at taking his team to the Euroleague le.

He's also fairly young and can point to other Euroleague stars coming over later in their careers and being successful.

I would advocate the opposite position from what you're preaching. His trade value at this point is , and it won't be worth anything until the Summer of '10 when he MAY come over. Best to hold onto his rights, keep tabs on him, and re-visit the idea of bringing him over in two years.

PT is right.

People keep coming in here and saying trade his rights. That is totally stupid at this point. I just don't get it. The guy is 23 years old. He will eventually get tired of playing against inferior talent as his bank account grows dramatically in the next few years.

If you want to trade something that currently has little or no value what do you get? Little or no value. Getting mad and just renouncing his rights is silly.

We now have to play the waiting game all over again. Its sucks but it is what it is.

[Harry Callahan]

Ha ha! I'm laughing.

That was a nice waste of a pick. He'll never play for you now. Especially now that the Euro is dominant over the $. He'll never accept an NBA contract for less than he can make in Europe.

Very funny. I laugh and gloat.

Don't gloat so much turd boy. Take a look at the recent phoenix draft history of selling #1 picks for nothing where you know a player is never coming for that asset. Just money for Sarver's wallet.

Your window has officially closed and slammed shut for the next decade or so - enjoy watching shaq and nash roll around in wheelchairs the next few years.

The Spurs have collected a bunch of LOBs in the last decade (three times at the expense of the suns along the way).

I understand the jealousy and envy you are displaying with the massive underachieving failure of your suns. Don't let it get to you.

[Harry Callahan]

You go ahead and keep telling yourself you've got it all figured out, ok? I would hate to burst your bubble on reality and let you in on the fact that every fan of NBA basketball hates you and your bag Spurs ... that would be too harsh for you to handle probably. It's not even about *my* team ... it's about how the Spurs have ruined basketball for everyone. the Spurs.

Calm down and go take your meds. You seem to need them right now.

[Balance]

http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/32889/180/item

I guess he didn't know last year that TAU would offer him a extension.

So now he had two options:

1 - pay the buyout, go to NBA and MAYBE earn a lot of money
or
2 - stay in TAU, earn a lot of money (guaranteed) and then go to the NBA and maybe earn a lot more money

Obviously he still wants to go to the NBA, otherwise he wouldn't get the NBA opt out clause in his contract (apparently for free?).

[picnroll]

[Obviously he still wants to go to the NBA, otherwise he wouldn't get the NBA opt out clause in his contract (apparently for free?).

Or use the opt out to leverage a re-negotiation for a longer term, higher paying contract with Tau.

[Balance]

Or use the opt out to leverage a re-negotiation for a longer term, higher paying contract with Tau.

well, maybe...
if so, smart kid , huh?

[exstatic]

The enormous irony is the Spurs ed themselves over. If they had played hardball with Scola, and he re-signed with Tau, Splitter falls right in our laps. By helping Scola make the NBA, we ensured that Splitter will probably never be a Spur. Tau was only going to pay one of them, and we made sure that it wasn't Scola by giving him the path to the NBA.

[picnroll]

The enormous irony is the Spurs ed themselves over. If they had played hardball with Scola, and he re-signed with Tau, Splitter falls right in our laps. By helping Scola make the NBA, we ensured that Splitter will probably never be a Spur. Tau was only going to pay one of them, and we made sure that it wasn't Scola by giving him the path to the NBA.

Dayam, you're right. That Scola trade never quits biting in the ass.

[Marcus Bryant]

Thanks Peter.

[AFBlue]

The enormous irony is the Spurs ed themselves over. If they had played hardball with Scola, and he re-signed with Tau, Splitter falls right in our laps. By helping Scola make the NBA, we ensured that Splitter will probably never be a Spur. Tau was only going to pay one of them, and we made sure that it wasn't Scola by giving him the path to the NBA.

[T Park]

yeah lets keep ing and moaning over that.

That is sooooo constructive.

[AFBlue]

yeah lets keep ing and moaning over that.

That is sooooo constructive.

C'mon T Park, it's all a part of the grieving process.

This too shall pass...

[T Park]

I guess.

I just don't see the point of beating the dead horse, thats now gone, because it got beaten so many times.

[Bruno]

All these stories are proofs that people are right when they call Spurs a class act organization.

Spurs could have given promises a NBA team can't hold like guaranteed playing time to Splitter but I guess they have been straight up and have said "you will get the time you deserve".
Spurs could have led Scola rot in Spain but they have decided to give him a chance even if it meant trading him to a rival in a less than optimal trade.
Spurs could have tried to keep member of their staff at all cost but when they get better opportunities elsewhere like Presti or PJ got last summer, Spurs let them go without asking for a compensation and Pop says nice things about them.

As a fan, I'm proud to be a fan of a team with that kind of at ude.

[Balance]

I think the Spurs will wait at least the end of the pre-Olympics games. Since the brazilian players in the NBA won't be playing (Nene and Varejao already announced it, Leandro Barbosa is expected to do the same), Splitter and the rest of the team will have to perform a miracle to get classified to the Olympics.
If Splitter makes to the Olympics, he might be able to show his value. That could indicate to the Spurs to keep his rights, or it could make his rights valuable to trade.

(Scola did an amazing job in the american pre-Olympics...)

[remingtonbo2001]

All these stories are proofs that people are right when they call Spurs a calls act organization.

Spurs could have given promises a NAB team can't hold like guarantedd playing time to Splitter but I guess they have been straight up and have said "you will get the time you deserve".
Spurs could have led Scola rot in Spain but they have decided to give him a chance even if it meant trading him to a rival in a less than optimal trade.
Spurs could have tried to keep member of their staff at all cost but when they get better opportunities elsewhere like Presti or PJ got last summer, Spurs let them go without asking for a compensation and Pop says nice things about them.

As a fan, I'm proud to be a fan of a team with that kind of at ude.

+1

Summed up very nicely, Bruno.