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Wrong. Chicago wanted more than expiring contracts. They also wanted a 1st round pick, which obviously the Spurs did not want to include.
At some point Pop needs to realize the extent to which he tests the professionalism of every player that wants to win with his ed-up lineup decisions. Finley stinks, but who blames him for thinking he could be doing a better job than Bogans? The fact is, he probably could.
Wrong. Chicago wanted more than expiring contracts. They also wanted a 1st round pick, which obviously the Spurs did not want to include.
But 37th in television market size.
All that crap being mutiple injuries? I give major props for trying to fight thru injuries this year. Jeez Potato head go back to picking on Pop.
I don't know, man. They still have Coke, Southwest and Anheiser Busch. The problem is we also have Brake Check and Pool Concepts(?). Its frustrating when you watch league pass and other teams have verizon and lexus. I think that is why they need more creative ownership to get us through the tough times ahead.
You act as if TP is holding a sign over his head offering emotional support. He's the PG and he's been in SA longer than anyone not named Tim Duncan. I fail to see how it's his fault that other players are ing to him about PT.
'All that crap' being other players unloading on him how they feel.
If you don't understand what I'm talking about, ask. Don't assume.
It's not his fault at all. I'm not blaming him AT ALL.
I actually have no doubt whatsoever that he's an excellent teammate and cares about veteran teammates confiding with him.
That, however, can turn into a distraction. So, I'm glad that's over with.
Fair enough. At this point he's probably glad to see Finley go, so i doubt it should be a problem.
That's exactly my point. He didn't ask to be the guy teammates unload their opinions on, but I'm sure he took the responsibility because he's a great teammate. So I'm glad that's over with now.
I'm so glad that scrub is no longer on the team anymore. Giving him that two-year contract in 2008 was one of the dumbest things this FO has ever done. I thought it was hilariously stupid at the time but it has actually been worse than I thought.There's something else the Spurs won't like: It appears Finley's agent talked to other teams, weighing interest, before Finley approached Popovich.
Agreed. I'm glad Fin on his reputation on his way out the door so we wouldn't have to listen to people say how great he is, and I'm also glad his behavior sheds some light on what Bowen was going through last year and how he handled it.
Don't know if this has been posted yet.
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Harvey: Does Fin know? He leaves as he arrived
Michael Finley arrived in San Antonio as a surprise. Now he leaves the same way.
But there might be more to this. When Finley pulled Gregg Popovich to the side and told him he wanted an opportunity to play elsewhere, was it because Finley still believed in himself?
Or because he didn't believe in the Spurs?
His relocation won't change playoff dynamics. Reports suggest the Celtics and Lakers might have interest, but Finley will most likely be insurance for any contender that signs him.
Maybe that's another reason Popovich said he was “very surprised” when Finley asked to be released. Finley turns 37 on Saturday, and he's gone 2 for 18 since returning from his sprained ankle. Yet Finley thinks there's another playoff team with room in the rotation for him?
If anything, Finley's departure might help Popovich better define his bench. The Spurs beat the Hornets on Monday night with basically an eight-man rotation.
If Popovich thought Finley had anything left, he would have been playing him. He always loved Finley's approach and presence, and he loved what happened in a training camp moment in the fall of 2006.
Then, the entire team had to run extra suicide sprints because two young Spurs didn't finish in the mandated time. After practice was over, Finley took control and made the two run the course again as punishment.
Finley and the other Spurs cheered them on, and they made the time. The coaches, having left the floor, returned to watch. They said they had never seen anything like it.
“He's in that Joe Dumars mold,” Popovich said later of Finley. “He comes to work, he does his job, and he cares about everybody.”
That was Finley, ever the professional. He was durable, missing only a half-dozen games in the previous four seasons, and his shooting could be spectacular. He threw in a franchise-record eight 3-pointers to close out the Nuggets in the 2007 playoffs.
Still, he wasn't like Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry or Brent Barry. Finley had been a scorer and an All-Star before he became a Spur, and he carried himself differently. He took his time after games, wearing suits as his Chicago idol, Michael Jordan, always did, and he waited to talk to the press in his own time.
When his minutes fell this season, however, he was just like Bowen, Horry and Barry had been before. He was unhappy.
Unlike the others, sitting was new for Finley. “He's a compe or,” Henry Thomas, his agent, told a reporter Monday, “who has never been in that position (of not playing) before.”
But Finley's arrival in San Antonio hints at another possible factor in his departure. Then, in 2005, Mark Cuban chose to buy out his contract to save on the luxury tax, and Finley was free to sign with anyone.
Finley could have gotten more money from Miami or Detroit then, or he could have teamed with a friend, Steve Nash, in Phoenix. Instead, he chose the defending champs, where Tim Duncan made winning more likely.
Finley was eventually proven right. After enduring Cuban's taunts that first season in the playoffs in Dallas, as well as Jason Terry's below-the-belt punch, Finley won the championship he came for.
Those who were there in Cleveland at the postgame party remember this image: Finley holding onto the trophy as if he would never let go.
Winning attracts players. Sitting on the bench of a winner is easier, too.
So maybe this is another discouraging sign for the Spurs. They are optimistic today, hoping consecutive wins against Phoenix and New Orleans will turn into something more, but they are still a seventh seed.
When they used to be a destination for those wanting a ring.
I actually love the fact that Pop got slapped by the 'ultimate professional'...
I think he's a good guy who just can't let it go. He wants to play and he wants to win. You don't go from being a great teammate, leader and professional, to a piece of , overnight. Maybe there's more that went on behind the scenes, or maybe not. Either way, it's obvious he couldn't handle the idea of ending his career on the bench with a losing team and a coach that still hasn't figured out the starting rotation.
You have to remember that he took less money to come to SA. The Spurs did a lot for him, and no, he didn't handle the end of his tenure well. But it doesn't completely negate all the good things he did while in SA.
Big surprise-- an article from Buck bashing the guy who wanted out with a side bash at Bowen.
Finley didn't take less money to come to the Spurs. Recall that he was still on his original max contract from the Mavs. The Mavs ended up invoking the one-time amnesty clause that allowed teams to release one player to avoid luxury tax penalties. Finley was getting his Mavs salary, while drawing a low-budget salary from the Spurs. In essence, he was double-dipping, which is an ideal dream for any employee.
As I've said previously, this divorce should've occurred about 2 years before. The FO should've never signed Finley to an extension.
I am disappointed that it was apparently less amicable than I thought initially. Oh, well; I'm glad it's over. Hairston better get a lot more time (though Bogans is still in the way, at least in Pop's mind).
We can all say what we want about the Spurs fiscal strategy. However, the Charlotte Bobcats are hemmorhaging more money and swimming in much more debt than the Spurs. They may not have the luxury tax implications the Spurs have this year, but somehow they found ways to upgrade the talent level on their team. They flipped a few of their expiring contracts for Tyrus Thomas and traded for Stephen Jackson.
I simply would've rather seen the Spurs use Finley's contract to do the same.
LOL @ Mike Fin
Im so ing glad this piece of garbage is no longer our problem... go rot somewhere else you ing waste...
this is reading way too far into things, but I'll throw it out there anyways.
Anybody else think its weird that 2 different veteran players have felt comfortable talking to Tony about their disappointment with the team, or their desire to leave it?
I mean I get it that they're friends, but that isn't the type of thing you'll tell just any co-worker. From my experience, people usually tell things like that to people they believe either feel the same way, or is disinterested in what's going on, and so are low risk for spreading the rumor.
Being a spurs fan has made me so paranoid. lol
Players, like Finley, who do even one thing during their entire career to make less money than they otherwise could are a rarity.
They get a lifetime exemption, in my book, from the typical fan laments about how players are way too disloyal and just out for themselves, and, the real doozy -- they don't "love the team" as much as the fans do.
It's easy to jump on a guy when he asks to leave. Finley's not a saint, but overall, he's a pretty good guy -- one who has been very much underappreciated by Spurs' fans for quite a while.
Last edited by Russ; 03-02-2010 at 09:18 PM.
You conveniantly also left out the 1st rounder Charlotte sent Chicago's way, which was probably the reason Chicago pulled the trigger on the Thomas trade.
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