Pop is only trying to save face coz he was ridiculed by Splitter.
one in the hand is better than two in the bush.
Pop is only trying to save face coz he was ridiculed by Splitter.
When it's Marcus Williams taken at 28 instead of 33 and Stanko Barac or some such at 33, I'd rather they take a shot at the bush.
So they should stop drafting any player. Can you force an US player to sign a contract? It should not append tomorrow but in a few years and if the NBA don't change its rules, some of the top US prospect may sign with the top Euroleague teams for huge contracts instead of taking rookie contracts.
you can't force a US player to sign a contract (unless you're Don Corleone); but when a US player does sign a contract, the US court system can be relied upon to enforce the agreement.
it just means that 2nd round picks will be used for euros and overseas players, that way no money will be committed and teams can still own rights.
Maybe CIA-Pop should have made Splitter an offer he couldn't refuse.
I don't know the situation. Did Splitter signed anything? Would it make a difference if he was an US player accepting the same kind of offer from an Euro team?
It doesn't work that way in the U.S., either. It's that whole prohibition against slavery thing, caused quite a ruckus a while back. You can't force someone to work for you, contract or not.you can't force a US player to sign a contract (unless you're Don Corleone); but when a US player does sign a contract, the US court system can be relied upon to enforce the agreement.
All of this ignores the fact that Splitter never signed a contract with the Spurs, anyway, IIRC.
drafting Splitter was worth the risk. the only player that was taken after Splitter in the 2007 draft that is worth anything was Carl Landry with the first pick of Round 2.
actually the Spurs could use a guy like Landry.......kind of ironic that the Rockets got both Landry and Scola !
sure, you can't physically force them to perform. but you can get money damages or even enjoin them from signing with another team.
and even then Carl Landry wasn't coming up on alot of teams radars.
If I am being interviewed by two company. One of them is a huge american corporation who's ex-manager is arrested and being invested by FBI for conspiracy and fraud. The other is a smaller european compe or who is an outstanding company with increasing profit. The american company offers me $50,000 with a lowly le, the european company offers me a senior level position and a $100,000 euro or $150K US. I mean i think it's pretty easy for me to pick which company to work for. Beside european has hotter chicks anyway.
Tiago Splitter, where keep it real happens.
Landry's about the only one drafted after Splitter last year who appears to be worth anything.
I don't think Pop fell on the sword for anyone. He was just as involved in the draft as RC. However, he did state the obvious.
1.No one knew or expected that Splitter would get that good an offer from Tau so the draft pick was done.
2. Splitter would have to be an idiot to turn Tau's offer down.
False. By the time Pop stopped floating down the river and put down his bottle of wine, the draft was already over. Pop let RC handle the whole draft last year.
This year he's not.
But it's new territory we're in nowaday because of the financial growth of Europe and the Euro teams. It's very conceiveable that a Euro team could offer a huge and more lucrative contract to any U.S. player who is drafted in the 1st round by an NBA team. It could even be a lottery player.
The Euro teams are in the catbird seat right now as far as a bidding war is concerned. They know to the penny what any NBA first round draft choice can be offered. It's like knowing what cards your opponent has. They could easily pick off some U. S. 1st round draft picks if they chose to build their teams through contracting young U.S. players with potential star quality.
The difference between the old bidding wars between established leagues like the NBA, NFL, etc and a bidding war between the NBA and the Euro teams is that their leagues are already well-established and some of the teams have outside financial resources that give them financial parity with some NBA owners.
Not when you consider endorsement potential and the familiarity of playing in your own country. The only American lottery pick who's opted to play in Europe instead of for an NBA team was Ferry and that's because he really, really did not want to play for the Clippers. If you have the talent to be a star, you want to be in the NBA.
Are you saying that RC didn't even bother to pick up the phone to tell Pop that Splitter was in their sights before making the pick?
Pop probably said whatever.
Yeah, hopefully the Spurs sign Tiago after 2 years, then trade his ass to Memphis.
Pop is awesome in the fact that he says what's politically correct yet inside he knows what's up. Pop knows he is a dumb ass following the money. Real talent plays in the NBA. For players that have a passion for the game it's not about the green, it's about heart and desire to prove you have what it takes at the highest level and Tiago lacks that. Knowing he opted for the money makes me glad he never came here, because it shows where his heart is at.
Props to Pop. And him sticking around this summer has me wondering if a wave is going to hit. I wonder what's going on for him to stick around.
That made no ing sense and had to do with the Spurs. What a re you are sir.
By the way Spurs fans reacted on the board from how we first heard. I'm sure Pop turned over some tables when he heard Spitter was backing out.
With the "by the way the economy is...he'd be an idiot" seemed like he was talking to himself, trying to make himself feel better for the Spurs trusting the Euro pickups.
Who knows ...maybe in two years, the dollar will have bounced back, and the Euro might see some rocky step back. In the event of that happening,
I hope they keep Splitter out of the NBA forever; if we don't need him, let him rot in a pool of lukewarm compe ion and mediocrity.
Last edited by ManuTim_best of Fwiendz; 06-19-2008 at 08:07 PM.
Damn, if Hollinger is anywhere close in this projections of Splitter, the Spurs lost a guy who would have been a beast.
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Yeah Splitter was gonna be a special one.
Damn the rookie pay scale.
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