Blazers Edge: The State Of The Spurs

[duncan228]

The view from a Blazers fan.

The State of the Spurs
by HurraKane212

As BlazersEdge ambassador to San Antonio, Texas I wanted to give everyone a sneak peek into what the mood is like here in San Antonio.

Being a Blazers fan over the last 6 years has meant living on hope and promises. We listened to the whispers of potential and salivated about what might be. We hung our hope on every rookie and every trade. Maybe this guy could make it better, then Roy came and things started to get better. However, we are still (to quote KG) "a team in progress."

The Spurs, however, are the model franchise, the juggernaut, the monster of legend that came every other year and destroyed everything in the way. The Spurs were the "boring" team, the "dirty" team, the team that played overwhelming and frustrating defense. Those Spurs, are on life support.

Sure, Manu has a bum wheel and Timmy has a bad knee, maybe they get healthy and they bounce right back, they won 54 games, no need to overhaul this team right? Wrong.

This Spurs team doesn't play D like they used to. Part of this is because of the sacrifices they have made to get a little more offense. Matt Bonner is starting alongside Tim Duncan at the 4/5. Bonner is the white Channing Frye but with less toughness. Backing him up is Vidal Sassoon Oberto, who has fallen right off. Behind him, is athletic but unproven Ian Mahenmi, and not exactly your franchise guy, Drew Gooden. Oh, Kurt "Imma Cut You" Thomas is there too.

Tim Duncan is the only one of the bunch who could guard ME on a consistent basis. Suffice it to say, they could use about 3 decent near 7 footers.

At the 3, they have an ageing Bruce Bowen, and a bunch of people trying to plug the gigantic hole there. Looks like Ime Udoka will walk.

At the 1 and 2 they (when healthy) have probably the best 4 guard rotation in the league, consisting of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, George Hill and Rodger Mason Jr.

Spurs fans are not feeling the whole Tiago Splitter thing right now. The spurs could really, really use him and he may never come over. There is a potential loophole where after 3 years you can sign a guy to whatever amount you are under the cap and in 10 they should be under the cap quite a bit as in 2010/11 they only have Tim and Tony under guaranteed contract.

As luck would have it, this is where the light at the end of the tunnel may indeed shine through. The Spurs will be able to totally overhaul their roster in the summer of 2011. However, complications arise on two fronts. 1.) What will happen with the CBA that year and will it affect what players do and how available free agents are? and 2.) Timmy will be 2 years older, as will Manu if he stays in S.A.

I don't really know what will happen with the CBA, and I think the Spurs will be OK because Duncan's game is not really predicated on athleticism. With Pop and R.C. Buford at the helm, I am sure that the Spurs will be OK. They will rise again, but we are approaching their nadir. It's going to be a rough few years, and the fans know it. San Antonio has some excellent and well informed fans that have all the affection that only a small market can. However, the fans are used to winning. They have been a darn good franchise for the last 20 years with only a dip or two here and there (like when they got Duncan). This is the first bleak horizon the organization has seen in 2 decades. The fans have an interesting blend of thankfulness (for championships past), and resignation. Other than recovering from injuries and a distant Tiago Splitter, there is no hope, there is one prospect (George Hill), and there is only disappointment with mediocre role players unable to play defense.

One unorthodox mechanism to help reboot the system might be to trade Manu Ginobli for picks and projects. It could happen, but all of San Antonio may riot... it would be akin to when we traded Drexler. It would be a sad thing to see Ginobli in say, a Thunder uniform.

It is an interesting contrast to be a Blazers fan and become intoxicated on the tail of potential, youth, and surprising success, and then to live among Spurs fans with their Parker #9 jerseys and thousand yard stares. It’s a slow funeral. These fans will never stop coming to games, even if the team drops off a bit, but they know. They know that save for a miracle or roster altering trade of Kwame for Pau Gasol proportions, this run is over and it will be a few seasons before the Spurs return to glory. The only question is whether the Spurs will languish in mediocrity or plunge directly into the depths to (hopefully) arise quickly. Make no mistake, this thing is getting rebuilt. Outside of Tim, Tony, and maybe Manu, no one is safe and it would not surprise me to see those three and only those three from the current roster still on the team in 2011.

So, do the Spurs sign Sheed, maybe make a play for Trevor Ariza and hang around for a couple more one and done seasons, or do they blow this mother up and trade Manu in the summer of LeBron? I don’t think anyone, not even Pop and R.C. know yet.

~HK212, BE Ambassador to San Antonio

[Sean Cagney]

LOL this article is just flat out stupid. I wasted about 2 mins on it.

So, do the Spurs sign Sheed, maybe make a play for Trevor Ariza and hang around for a couple more one and done seasons, or do they blow this mother up and trade Manu in the summer of LeBron? I don’t think anyone, not even Pop and R.C. know yet.


^^^^^^^^^^ How the with Manu back and with Sheed as an upgrade and huge upgrade with Ariza at the 3 are the Spurs one and done? That makes no sense at all, without Manu and them sure, but with all of them plus Tim and Tony? WCF at least.

[Mel_13]

I wouldn't even try to challenge whatever convoluted points this person was attempting to make. The writing itself, however, is atrocious.

"They will rise again, but we are approaching their nadir."

That is truly painful to read.

[The Truth #6]

I didn't see too many convoluted points. I think he's saying outside of our Big 3 our roster sucks, and other than Splitter we don't have anyone in the pipeline who is any good.

[Sean Cagney]

I didn't see too many convoluted points. I think he's saying outside of our Big 3 our roster sucks, and other than Splitter we don't have anyone in the pipeline who is any good.

Gist? If we signed Sheed and Ariza though how would we be one and done lik ehe said? How would that happen with Manu out there and them two and maybe Gist too? They are WCF at least then, period.

[SouthTexasRancher]

Not sure which hallucinogens that guy is using, PCP, LSD, Peyote, or Magic Mushrooms (Psilocybin) but, he's damn sure stoned enough to be floating through the skyscrapers of San Francisco. Probably has The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane/Starship going full blast in his drug induced gray matter.

If Coach Pop were dead, he'd be rolling over in his grave busting his gut. That guy posts over on the Yahoo sports mssg. boards. He has been waiting for this for a long, long time. Only problem is Pop will have the ship righted and back on course and will lead us to Championship #5 before Portland gets to the WC Finals.

[GSH]

[Oh, Kurt "Imma Cut You" Thomas is there too.]

The rest of the article is stupid. But that comment is totally un-called for. His/her mom obviously didn't raise him right. And I'm pretty sure nobody here asked for a ing ambassador to Portland.

[NewJerSpur]

[Oh, Kurt "Imma Cut You" Thomas is there too.]

The rest of the article is stupid. But that comment is totally un-called for. His/her mom obviously didn't raise him right. And I'm pretty sure nobody here asked for a ing ambassador to Portland.

That mention of Kurt struck out to me as well....didn't see any reason for it, even if he has some sort of bias against him.

[superbigtime]

[Oh, Kurt "Imma Cut You" Thomas is there too.]

The rest of the article is stupid. But that comment is totally un-called for. His/her mom obviously didn't raise him right. And I'm pretty sure nobody here asked for a ing ambassador to Portland.

Laughed pretty hard at that one.

[Ditty]

ahit if we had sheed and ariza

we would be pretty much unstoppoble imo

[mosdef17]

Trade Ginobili? That surely is a joke?

[samikeyp]

Yes because an author who goes by the name of "HurraKane" inspires journalistic integrity.

[urunobili]

Give me back my 3 minutes...

[Marcus Bryant]

This thing could turn on a dime. Between the return of a healthy Manu, a Duncan back at full speed, and the use of the MLE to land a quality starting bigman, a fair number of problems would be solved in short order. George Hill just earned himself a spot in the rotation and a fair number of minutes next season. Then we have the wildcards. Mahinmi is at the head of that list. If he is good enough to make the bigman rotation then it just became a lot more athletic and Bonner is back where he should be as the 5th big. Between Williams, Hairston, and Sanikidze perhaps there's one (or two -ok, i'm getting greedy) NBA player. The Spurs will also have the #37 pick in this year's draft that could land an impact rookie. And they still have Javtokas' rights. Not to mention they have the LLE to use in free agency as well. And, of course, they have the expiring contracts of Bowen, Oberto, Bonner, Mason, and Thomas that could be used to pull off an opportunistic trade. Not to mention that they should be able to sign Splitter next summer.

While it's clear that we are nearing the end of the Duncan era in SA, it's a bit early to write them off.

[urunobili]

This thing could turn on a dime. Between the return of a healthy Manu, a Duncan back at full speed, and the use of the MLE to land a quality starting bigman, a fair number of problems would be solved in short order. George Hill just earned himself a spot in the rotation and a fair number of minutes next season. Then we have the wildcards. Mahinmi is at the head of that list. If he is good enough to make the bigman rotation then it just became a lot more athletic and Bonner is back where he should be as the 5th big. Between Williams, Hairston, and Sanikidze perhaps there's one (or two -ok, i'm getting greedy) NBA player. The Spurs will also have the #37 pick in this year's draft that could land an impact rookie. And they still have Javtokas' rights. Not to mention they have the LLE to use in free agency as well. And, of course, they have the expiring contracts of Bowen, Oberto, Bonner, Mason, and Thomas that could be used to pull off an opportunistic trade. Not to mention that they should be able to sign Splitter next summer.

While it's clear that we are nearing the end of the Duncan era in SA, it's a bit early to write them off.

Do you think the Spurs may also use Splitter's rights to land an impact player? i mean those rights have some value... maybe for a team that is thinking of getting way better in 3 years form now..

[Marcus Bryant]

Splitter will be that impact player.

What has value is the $4 mil a team can lop off its payroll next season by dealing for Oberto and Bowen's partially guaranteed contracts, not to mention any contract liability that extends beyond 2009-10.

[Marcus Bryant]

I forgot Gist as well. The Spurs don't have to go that far to add some youth, length, and athleticism to the rotation. The real question will be if Pop can handle giving some of these younger players significant minutes early in the season.

[SenorSpur]

I forgot Gist as well. The Spurs don't have to go that far to add some youth, length, and athleticism to the rotation. The real question will be if Pop can handle giving some of these younger players significant minutes early in the season.

[rayray2k8]

Blazer will never win a championship..

[Marcus Bryant]

At least the Scola debacle should result in the Spurs believing that Splitter can be a starting bigman in the NBA.

[urunobili]

At least the Scola debacle should result in the Spurs believing that Splitter can be a starting bigman in the NBA.

He'll likely never wear Silver and Black MB... trade his rights for something valuable it's the right way to proceed... we're talking about one of Luis Scola's mentees/ best friends... He saw first hand how the situation evolved and i bet his view about the Spurs is similar to Scola...

Don't get me wrong my wish is to have him... but this already started to get complicated if we use our common sense... it should come down to Trade or bust

[Marcus Bryant]

Manu is a friend of his too.

[urunobili]

Manu is a friend of his too.

Manu was already in the Spurs before all this started to happen... read my post again since this was way off...

[Marcus Bryant]

Yes, you are way off.

[urunobili]

Yes, you are way off.

It seems the idea of losing Tiago bothers you big time and I dont blame you for that... I'll hate to say "I told you so" but it sure looks like it'll be the case...