For all of you "OLD" Spurs Fans

[SenorSpur]

A poor man's Manu, minus the compe ive drive (Manu's best quality).

Bull ! That's an insult to Manu. That would like calling Chucky Brown a poor man's Bruce Bowen. In case you're wondering who Chucky Brown is... enough said.

[baseline bum]

Del Negro is more like Beno Sr.

[LakerHater]

Oh man, I w=used to love Vinny! He was 1 of my favorite players back then! He had a sweet jumper( within 18')! He can pull up on a dime and shoot with accuracy, H he was also an excellent passer!
The 1 thing that really pissed me off about him was in the '95 playoffs, he was a no show against the Lakers, and didn't show in the 1st two WCF games against the Rockets! He did show in games 3 & 4 but, it was to late! Rockets won in 6!!
Overall I'd giv'em a B+!!!

[Tacker]

And you dont remember Vinnie? I am only 23 and I remember him.

But then again, I am a Spurs fan, so it is probably easier to remember guys that played for your favorite team when you were a kid than a player who played for a different team.

I just turned 19 and im assuming you are turning 24, thats 5 years difference, kids dont watch basketball at 5 yearsold enough to remember the players..... at 10 years they know most of the players....

[SenorSpur]

I just turned 19 and im assuming you are turning 24, thats 5 years difference, kids dont watch basketball at 5 yearsold enough to remember the players..... at 10 years they know most of the players....

Don't worry, you didn't miss much. If you're a true Spurs fan, and it sounds like you are, Vinny would have likely frustrated the crap out of you, as he did with many of us. Damn poot butt!

[gospursgojas]

I'm 24 and I remember the days when I would tell myself we can win a 'ship with Vinny. I said the same thing about Terry mings and Vernon Maxwell

[mrspurs]

put it this way....i didnt like it vinny had the ball in his hands....smart? yes...made to play basketball(more like fab) smart player in a choke artist body so no.....go spurs go

[Trainwreck2100]

This question would be better if asked to a Suns fan

[Appoggiatura]

There is no comparison between Manu and Del Negro. That's like comparing Tim Duncan and J.R. Reid.

+1

Vinny always had a knack for disappearing in the Playoffs. The '95 Rockets series and the '96 Jazz series always stood out. Almost forget that he was on the team Tim's rookie year. With guys like Tim, Manu and Tony, it seems like it was a lot longer than 10 years ago. Couldn't be more opposite.

[Oh, Gee!!]

He was a punk

[SenorSpur]

+1

Vinny always had a knack for disappearing in the Playoffs. The '95 Rockets series and the '96 Jazz series always stood out. Almost forget that he was on the team Tim's rookie year. With guys like Tim, Manu and Tony, it seems like it was a lot longer than 10 years ago. Couldn't be more opposite.

Those series stood out because Del Negro disappeared like a roach when the lights got turned on.

[pjjrfan]

Vinnie was not a point guard and that what he did his first few seasons here, then when Avery got her he went to the 2 guard and he was alright, but Vinnie was a shooter until the last few minutes of the game and then he would pass up great looks, and he wasn't the only one, Sean had that affliction also, it took SEan a few seasons to get the confidence he showed in the memorial day miracle. Vinny was at the center of the controversary that cost Kevin O'Keefe his job. O'Keefe wrote an article about how Pop had set Vinnie up to look like a money hungry free agent and according to O'keefe Pop set the whole thing up and when the paper asked him or ordered him to retract the story he didn't and got canned. Don't mess with Pop.

[jag]

I loved vinny...he was great if you hit him in transition from about 15 feet, but other than that...not so much. He had good range but he didn't shoot the 3 ball too much. He was pretty soft around the rim, i think i only ever saw him dunk once and it was the weakest i've ever seen.

He did, however, have great hair.

[SenorSpur]

I loved vinny...he was great if you hit him in transition from about 15 feet, but other than that...not so much. He had good range but he didn't shoot the 3 ball too much. He was pretty soft around the rim, i think i only ever saw him dunk once and it was the weakest i've ever seen.

He did, however, have great hair.

....yeah I know and he had a fine wife too. That don't win basketball games. I loathed the presence of this guy. Especially on the heels of losing Rod Strickland.

Once he fails in Chicago, the fans will probably run both him and Paxson outta Chicago.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

There is no comparison between Manu and Del Negro. That's like comparing Tim Duncan and J.R. Reid.

Thank you! I was waiting for someone to throw that garbage out. Bo - you compared Vinnie to Manu, what were you thinking??? There is no analogy. I'll put it this way - in the mid-90s, Vinnie was the guy who made you cringe a little when he took the court, like Finley at times this season.

I always thought JR Reid had such potential, but he turned out to be a headcase and a bust.

gospurs - don't be dissing Terry mings now... that guy could ball. But for Rod Strickland, we might have won a ring with TC!

[lefty]

Vinny was basically a white shooter with good ballhandling skills (meaning he took care of the ball, nothing more).

He was a good decision maker as a player

[Admiral]

Vinny Del Negro was worthless. He was cheap-ass Red McComb's replacement when he decided not to pay to bring Rod Strickland back. Del Negro was soft, never any good in the playoffs, and the weakest Spurs starter since Alfrederick Hughes. Replacing Del Negro's soft ass with Mario Elie is one of the main things that put the Spurs over the top to win the le in '99. that soft piece of . Del Negro < Steve Smith.

Del Negro << HITA. No doubt about it. He was certainly one of our weakest links on those early-mid 90's teams. He is yet another example of the poor management we had then. David and Sean deserved much better.

[SequSpur]

Vinny was good, you guys hate the white guy.

[ChuckD]

Vinny was good, you guys hate the white guy.

Why are you jocking him? Did he go to ing West Campus, or something?

[Brutalis]

I love Tackers youtube videos of him doing crappy layups to Britney Spears.

ST Classic indeed.

[Slippy]

I loved vinny...he was great if you hit him in transition from about 15 feet, but other than that...not so much. He had good range but he didn't shoot the 3 ball too much. He was pretty soft around the rim, i think i only ever saw him dunk once and it was the weakest i've ever seen.

He did, however, have great hair.

Wouldn't call it great but the hair is probably as close as it gets to the Manu comparison.

In transition that's all i remember him being good for. When open had a nice mid-range jumper and ok passing ability. Not much of an athlete, didn't defend very well for the NBA standard required and an un-reliable 3-point shot. Playing along side DROB helped his game. This day and age, can't see him cutting it. He didn't deserve to be a starting SG, probably reserve at best

[Rynospursfan]

As far as current players to compare him to, Juan Dixon seems to jump to mind.

[KidCongo]

Hey Captain good looking is back!

oooop no hes not, this thread is a bit "old"

[ShoogarBear]

Vinny Del Negro was a slightly-above-average outside shooter, and could get to the rim on occasion. He was famous for his "hair fake."

He was probably the worst defender of any starting player in basketball at that time. The vision of Clyde Drexler scoring like it was practice in the 1995 WCF is burned into my brain. Throughout the mid-to-late 1990's, critics cited Del Negro as being too weak a starter for any team with le aspirations. They were correct.

He was also a world-class crybaby. Ray Allen is Admiral Freaking Cook in comparison. There is a reason he found the Phoenix Suns organization so attractive. He loved to cry to the media all the time. Bob Hill was his bedroom friend. Vinny never could take Pop's style of coaching, and bad-mouthed him to the Spurs' beat writer at the time, Kevin O'Keefe, who hated Popovich and David Robinson.

In 1999 Pop dumped Del Negro for Mario Elie. O'Keefe was as crushed as Steve Francis was when Cuttino Mobley was traded, and ripped Pop up and down in the paper as basically the second coming of Hitler. The E-N had enough and fired him.

The Spurs never looked back.

Del Negro went where all bags go -- Phoenix. He fit in perfectly there. Now he's going to go destroy the Chicago Bulls.

I know this is an old post, but that was awesome.

[Manufan909]

Those series stood out because Del Negro disappeared like a roach when the lights got turned on.

I submit this post for the most badass post of the 08-09 offseason. Someone should start a thread, because there sure as isn't anything interesting happening.