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Since forfeiting games is out of the question, that's exactly what you are saying.
If it's not, explain again in one clear sentence what the big gamble/risk was.
They would have still won a le with Van Horn next to DRob.
Since forfeiting games is out of the question, that's exactly what you are saying.
If it's not, explain again in one clear sentence what the big gamble/risk was.
That Van Horn wasn't NBA ready becuase he came out of Utah. Duh.....
You think they would have brought Robinson back to play in a few meaningless games at the end of a season that he sustained two injuries? For what? You just said they "saw no point in it," how does the elimination of Tim Duncan from the scenario give incentive to playing Robinson?
They would have overplayed him with the hope of him incurring an injury that would keep him out of the next season and then give them a shot at the lottery after that.
1 - I think it was one reason of several, so yeah.
2 - yeah
Why would they not care about getting the #1 pick, regardless of who is in it?
and why are you making this to be either one reason or the other?
I think they sat Dave for both reasons.
Because they had nothing to gain by sitting him if Duncan was not in the draft. There was no franchise player for Robinson to sit for.
That's the part you're not getting... Robinson was sitting for a franchise player.... HIMSELF!
You're not getting it.
So you believe he was still injured that entire season.
I believe he was healthy and good to play towards the last month of that season.
I think the argument is that Robinson was sitting toward the end of that season because he was a hall of fame player in the prime of his career and they didn't want to risk reinjury of a broken foot for the sake of meaningless games. They still put all their healthy players on the floor and tried to win every game. There's no requirement that teams force their players back on the floor. The Celtics a few years ago ran end-game plays with the purpose of losing the game, which is something completely different.
Reinjury would imply that he was not healthy enough to play.
Fear of reinjury would imply that he was not healthy enough to play without an increase of risk of injury.
Again it goes back to if you thought he was over the injury and healthy enough to play .
You can be healthy enough to play before a bone is completely healed, and you can also risk reinjury when you haven't been playing and don't have your rhythm. You never really know with a foot injury anyway. If the Spurs had been a contender Robinson might have played, and they'd have taken those risks to try to win a le. You certainly don't risk your franchise player during a lost season. Kevin Garnett was held out of the last few games of several seasons when he was a Timberwolf.
Did you even follow the spurs back then? Many arguing here did not even follow the team back then and don't even remember that season.
I doubt if that is true about being able to play on broken bones in the foot not yet healed. And i never heard of that being the case with Robinson.
So his bone was not healed completely now. If that is not your argument then why bother bringing it up.
We are not talking about the Timberwolves.
Um, yeah I followed the Spurs back then. Not sure why it matters. I remember that season clearly. There were a number of games where guys could have played and were held out.
a) Popovich has done that every year since then
b) The Spurs tried to win every game with the players they had on the floor
c) The Spurs did not end with the worst record in the league.
lol You're an idiot, and you're clearly not interested in actually debating or listening. Teams routinely keep superstars out of meaningless games. Foot injuries are always something to worry about (ask the Rockets, even though we are "not talking about them"). Broken bones, especially in the foot, require recovery times anywhere between 4-12 weeks, and that's for people who aren't incredibly athletic professional athletes.
Let me ask the question a different way.
Say there was NO draft in 1997, so there is no hope for the Spurs improving their team with a rookie pick. Robinson is coming off his second injury of the season and the Spurs are out of the Playoff picture. Does he still sit?
Unless you're rascal, you'd probably answer Yes. So it wasn't for both reasons. Robinson's status as a franchise player was THE reason. The draft pick was a lucky byproduct of that decision, but was not a factor.
yes, he still sits...... because you are saving him from playing this year in order to improve your chances of winning next year.
I'd still call it a tank job. I'd be fine if someone wants to call it sandbagging.
You saying that them sitting Dave for health reasons only is an opinion that you or I will never be able to prove one way or the other.
Last edited by Blake; 02-22-2011 at 01:56 PM.
Still have this issue. I kept it because for one Tim looks rediculous in that Celtic green and I wanted to read it again after a few years.
The article states, how the Celtics put all their eggs in one basket. They seriously thought that Tim was going to go there without a doubt. That he was going to save the franchise and bring it back from the dark times since the deatch of Reggie Lewis. The Sporting News even came up with a fake time line of what would have happended had they got Duncan.
97: Draft Duncan and they take a risk on T-mac because Duncan is sure thing.
98: After getting eliminated by the Bulls, the Celts trade Dana Barros to Pheonix for Nash
99: Celtics lose to the Blazers in the Finals (thats right Tlong)
2000: After winning 70 and having been in the most watched Finals in NBA history the Celtic beat LA.
2001-2004: the Lakers and Celtic meet in the finals for four more years and the NBC renews its contract with the NBA. Jordan joins up with the lakers in '02 and the lakers win the next two with the Celtics winning in 04
2005-present: Billy Donavan is now the coach of the Celtics and Duncan and nash keep are in the eastern finals every year. The spurs win the lottery in '07 and draft the next great big man in Greg Oden.
They went into more detail but that was just the highlight of timeline they came up with. Talk about not letting go.
I remember the Spurs were saying that Robinson would be available end of Feb, then the whole thing just dropped off the map with no mention.
That said, Robinson went through a pretty significant surgery with screws in his ankles around Christmas time, so the original time of end of Feb was really aggressive.
Makes perfect sense to sit Robinson at that point in the season, or you'd risk something like a Brandon Roy by pointlessly rushing a franchise player to play absolutely meaningless games.
If you're on the fence about bringing Robinson back from that injury, the potential of getting Tim Duncan makes that a pretty easy decision. There was clearly nothing, and I mean NOTHING to gain by bringing Robinson back. Giving him an extra four months for the bones in his foot to knit and getting a good player in what was considered at the time a very deep draft was a no brainer.
I don't think the '97 draft pool was ever considered "deep". I remember that Duncan was widely considered the one and only prize of that draft.
It's true that Duncan was historically good, and the only absolute no-brainer superstar in the draft, but guys like Van Horn, Billups, Thomas, Daniels, Battie, Mercer, were all projected to be good pros, and though few of them were standouts, a huge percentage of those guys turned out to be legit NBA players.
I did a lot of reading on draft boards that year because I didn't think the Spurs had any chance at Duncan. The Spurs probably would have been pretty good with Billups. There's no telling how AD might have turned out if he'd been in a situation like San Antonio instead of Vancouver. Thomas
I was pretty sure the Spurs were going to wind up with KVH. You can imagine my relief and elation.
Billups would've been an upgrade, as would a few of those players, but there was no one else outside of Tim that would have improved the Spurs significantly.
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