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It is a tight locker room. Brent was one of the most liked. He always had his kids in the locker room and things like that. It is always hard to lose a good player and friend. People get emotional, but I am sure they understand.
Bowen is a guy who has made probably less than half as much money as he could have made during his Spurs career to help the team have cap flexibility. Him seeing Barry walk away from the Spurs to take a slight raise with the Rockets probably does sound pretty weird. It's probably not Bowen's business to be talking about what Barry has decided to do but I'm assuming he feels that Barry backstabbed his comrades.
It is a tight locker room. Brent was one of the most liked. He always had his kids in the locker room and things like that. It is always hard to lose a good player and friend. People get emotional, but I am sure they understand.
yeah since barry is so broke
I'm not y, just tired of the annual Spurs fan summer meltdown on this board about replacing our irreplaceable 10th/11th man.I didn't say the sky is falling did I? I'm certainly not freaking out about it like you're saying I am lol. I was just looking at another angle and saying that maybe the Spurs' hand was forced a little bit regarding Brent and possibly Horry. If you don't think so fine. No need to get all y about it
Yeah, and they're going to lock his ass down whenever we play Htown too.
So Brent will play half the season and then play Rock, Paper, & Scissors with Yao behind the bench for the other half.
That's cool. I'm more than likely wrong about Horry, but I just wanted to give a different take. Brent I'm not sure about as TimVP said it seems that Bruce could be a little miffed since he's taken numerous pay cuts for the good of the team.
The thing with Brent is he was getting paid more than Bruce and I didn't really like him at times cause I thought he was overpaid. When Brent came back I absolutely loved him for that salary. I think Brent for the LLE type money was worth keeping, but you also have a valid argument about him being injured frequently.
I agree Bruce is gonna really lock him down if he gets to defend him.
I can't blame Barry for leaving after all the trade he went through, He was all but on the plane for New Orleans two years ago and then we use him as a filler in the trade to get Thomas. No Barry showed a of a lot of loyalty by coming back here after all of that, so it makes me wonder why the disloyalty now?
What made him opt out after the season ended? And why didn't the Spurs at least show him some gra ude for coming back with a reasonable offer. It seems to me that of all the old farts he was still able to fill whatever role was asked of him, and could still regularly contribute.
Sad to see Bones go, so I just have to wonder if there isn't more to the story...Too bad Ludden is gone because without him we will probably never learn the behind the scenes truth about this fallout.
Could there be medical results showing Barry wasn't going to be able to play much longer?
Was he just fed up with the trades and wanted to go someplace he was actually wanted?
Did Pop say he was going to have a diminished role next year?
Is it just a family tradition to retire a rocket?
more to the story MONEY
Barry shouldn't have to worry about money, seriously he practically has a spot guaranteed as a broadcast analyst, with his sense of humor and how well spoken he is.
It's clear the Spurs have undertaken a youth movement for their role players. In essence, they are following the Detroit model. A core of stars (the big 3) with a youthful bench to get them through the regular season with something left in the tank for the post-season.
While it hasn't been announced, I will be surprised if Fin is back at all. I think Thomas is the last over 30 guy the Spurs bring back.
* Vaughn bumped to 3rd string, Hill drafted
* Barry let go, replaced by Mason
* Horry let go, replaced by Gist and/or Bonner and/or Tolliver
* Finley TBD
* Ian brought in, impact TBD
If I had to take a guess, I would say he did it for security reasons. He spent the past four seasons here on the trading block, even though he was contributing well. Last year he even got dealt and brought back. Now, the Spurs are obviously playing the patient game with their veteran players to see how the Free Agent market pans out.
After a while, I'm sure anybody would get tired of feeling so dispensable. It's like trying to work hard for a job that could lay you off at any point. By going to Houston, Barry finally got to decide what HE wanted to do with his career.
When it comes down to it, the only person who really knows why Brent Barry opted out is Brent Barry.
If it's about money I'm not liking Barry at all. I mean Bruce was getting paid less than Brent for most of Brent's contract here and I think we call all agree that Bruce was worth more than Brent those seasons?
If Brent is leaving because he stills feels slighted about being traded once and almost twice then that is OK, if he also feels like he'd get more court time in Houston then that is fine too. If it's solely about money then I just don't understand that and I guess Bruce doesn't either.
Also, Pop could have told him before he opted out that they are going with a youth movement which at that point Barry may have thought to himself he's better off going to Houston or somewhere else and only then decided to opt out. Barry may not have even wanted to leave. Ludden may have given us the reason's if he was still writing for us.
No doubt.
It is a double-edged sword with Spurs fans. They laugh at people when they say guys like Corey Maggette should play for less money just because it is the Spurs. But if a veteran like Bones takes the money they get pissed off and act like he has a responsibility to do it. It is a weird mindset.
The Spurs have been extremely fortunate that they have had so many guys make less than they should, that is great management and loyalty. But you can not expect it forever.
I think ducks is reaching on the money issue.
I suspect Pop told him the minutes wouldn't be there this year with Mason, Hill, and others (be it Hairston or some other FA pickup).
I think Finley is coming back. He definitely fits the need for another veteran Pop can trust that can hit big shots still.
My guess is that Barry just wanted a bigger role. The Rockets have promised to use him as an initiator ... something Barry didn't get to do enough of in San Antonio, mostly due to playing with three other players who need the ball a lot. In Houston, Barry will play a big role. In San Antonio, probably would have found himself in and out of the rotation, like usual.
I don't blame Barry for leaving. He'll get to end his career playing as many minutes as he can handle and getting the ball as much as he wants it.
Spursfan complains about spurs being too old and then complains when Spurs get younger players.
That's basically what he said in a recent interview. And I can understand that. He thinks he has to years left and he doesn't want to spend them as just a spot up shooter.
Everybody knows he has very good ball handling and passing skills that weren't really used in SA. He should have a bigger role in Houston and the opportunity to show what he can do (if not injured).
That's probably what he was looking for to finish his career. Money has nothing to do whith that. Maybe spurs weren't offering two years but I don't thing contract was the reason he left.
As much as I hat to say it, it ultimately boiled down to money.
The Spurs could not risk signing Barry for 2 years on a bigger contract knowing that he has this calf injury that can recur. I think his brother had the same injury and retired because of it.
Barry also knows this, and at this point in his career, he'll take as much money as he possible can. Who knows, he could retire in mid season when he's offered a media analyst role.
It is indeed unfortunate because Barry was playing his best as a Spur before the injury.
I think the other thing that comes into play is that Barry (other than his 3 pt talent) doesn't fit well in Pop's defensive schemes. That's the main reason he isn't played as often as he should have.
you guys should be happy about getting younger. It's the right move.
Bowen is very intelligent and well spoken, so his choice of words is disturbing. Words have specific meanings and Bowen wouldn't use disturbing if he didn't think it through.
So what was his intent with the use of the word. One interpretation was that he thought Brent's decision:
1. Had something to do with the FO and the FO decision not to bring back a good rotation player and locker room asset.
2. had something to do with Brent's evaluation of the direction of the team, and so yes, his opting out and going elsewhere could be seen as disturbing.
Brent might not want to suit up for his first game against the Spurs. I think Bowen will keep it clean but he'll send a message for the whole team.
But when you think about it, Brent's like 56 years old and was out to get one last contract before he retires to work for the Spurs or Rockets broadcasts. Can't hate on the guy.
Uh maybe Barry saw the writing on the wall. The Spurs can claim all they want that they wanted Barry to return, but they draft a combo guard in George Hill that everyone knows will be on the team because of the guaranteed contract, where in past drafts, the Spurs have traded away late first round picks or left them overseas. And, then the day after Barry signed with the Rockets, the Spurs sign Roger Mason, probably meaning they had already been in negotiations with Mason for a while. Maybe Barry feels more comfortable that he can get consistent minutes in Houston, even though they also have a logjam of guards.
And, maybe he feels deep down inside that he can play at least two more years and wanted the security of a two year contract. Maybe it wasn't about a slight pay raise at all. The Spurs were weeding out the older players, whether subtle or not. Barry just made the decision easy for the Spurs. If it was the Spurs who waived Barry at the start of pre-season, there would be no issue. But, the fact Barry opted out and left, some feel it's a bit of an issue of loyalty.
And, quite frankly, maybe Barry feels that Houston has a better chance of winning the next two seasons than the Spurs do. Spurs fans loved how Horry left the Lakers to join the Spurs. Who's to say it isn't a smart move by Barry in terms of having a better chance to win another le? Who knows. It might be.
At the end of the day, Bruce probably doesn't really know what was said behind closed doors between RC/Pop and Barry. Maybe they told him he was going to go on the Shaq regular season schedule and play half the regular season to save himself for the playoffs. Maybe they told him they wanted him back but he wouldn't play much at all. Maybe they told him they were drafting George Hill and trying to add Roger Mason and they wanted him to mentor them but he wasn't going to play much at all. Bruce needs to realize it's not about pure loyalty to help your organization have cap flexibility. The franchise does what's in its best interest about 99.9% of the time. Just because Bruce does things one way, it doesn't mean every player should as well. And, if I remember correctly, Barry took a pretty sizable paycut to join the Spurs in the first place. Didn't he have an offer from Denver or some other team for considerable more money a few years ago when he signed with the Spurs. Bruce shouldn't really criticize.
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