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Funny because Splitter was the worst player in the Lakers series...
http://www.nba.com/spurs/video/2013/...ordmov-2537710
RC Buford held a press conference today to talk about the free agency movement. Here's my version of what he said utilizing some paraphrasing and reading between the lines...
-RC pointed out that Manu will be able to have the summer off. He seems to think that will help him rejuvenate his body. And, as Manu said recently, it sounds like everyone believes he'll bounce back with a better season next year.
-RC hints that Howard signing with Houston made the re-signing of Splitter more important and played a role in the signing of Pendergraph.
-RC points to Ginobili still being in the top 25% of guards in PER as a reason for he'd be difficult to replace. (I've never heard anyone associated with the Spurs quote "PER" rank.)
-"Manu made a significant sacrifice to come back." Interesting.
-RC says that people they respect with the Bulls told him Belinelli is the type of player who impacts winning, has a variety of skills that will fit how the Spurs play and that the system in Chicago wasn't very good for him but he should play better in San Antonio's system (translation: more open shots).
-The Spurs saw growth in Belinelli last year with the Bulls. RC says he played a much more serious brand of basketball on both ends of the court than he exhibited when he was younger.
-Tiago's price tag wasn't a surprise due to his productivity and the fact that he's a starting center. The Spurs knew it wasn't going to be cheap to retain him. He also hints there was an active market for Splitter.
-Splitter gives the team a solid player now and also could step into a bigger role once Duncan retires.
-Splitter is valuable to the Spurs due to his post defense, pick-and-roll defense and his passing.
-Pendergraph is a very physical player. Buford also says he's a good passer who can play power forward and center. He also believes he will prove to be a reliable 18-foot jump shooter. By the way RC is talking, he wouldn't be surprised if he earns a spot in the rotation.
-Jim Boylen, the new assistant coach who coached Pendergraph with the Pacers, is really high on him (good guess, SpursTalk).
-The Spurs liked Pendergraph in the draft and have closely followed him since joining the NBA.
-There's little to no concern regarding Pendergraph's knee injury (torn ACL) a couple years ago.
-It really does sound like the Spurs will bring back Neal unless he gets an outrageous offer. RC points out that the Spurs still have roster room to add him and hints that Neal's ability to play point guard make him a fit going forward.
Considering RC usually says a whole lot of nothing, I thought this was one of his more informative interviews
Funny because Splitter was the worst player in the Lakers series...
I am a Neal guy, but I don't get why we'd bring him back after getting Marco. Why sign Marco then?
Apparently Neal will be the backup point guard.I am a Neal guy, but I don't get why we'd bring him back after getting Marco. Why sign Marco then?
That part of Ginobili confirms what I was thinking: His and the Spurs' view of his value is higher than what we on this site estimated. $7 Million is his market value to us, but perhaps it was a lot higher than that for both sides. If that's the case, then Ginobili's contract really was a sacrifice for the team's sake.
Get rid of De Colo, then. No reason to keep him around if both Neal and Joseph are going to be ahead of him in the rotation.
The more rotation-caliber players the Spurs have the better.
LOL 8 guards. Great success Spurs.
no word on deshaun thomas? because with the lack of SF's, one has to wonder if he has a shot at the roster now.
Well they can just get rid of one of Mills/De Colo or even Joseph maybe, the point is not letting an asset go for nothing I think since he's RFA.I am a Neal guy, but I don't get why we'd bring him back after getting Marco. Why sign Marco then?
So Pendergrass is a floating pf and c and diaw is a floating pf and sf. I like
Like everything RC said except wanting to bring Neal back.
Dump De Colo or hope that Neal gets overpaid. The Spurs have way too many guards.
Color me surprised that Neal has not received and accepted a decent offer yet. I thought teams would love a guy like him to bolster their bench.
I'm calling "smokescreen" on the Neal talk. RC just trying to drum up interest in a guy he might be able to S&T.
God damn, what a disappointing offseason...
Not surprised in the least.
How is it no one asked him why we have 8 guards and just 1 SF?
He was injured most of his contract year, that's too bad for him because I agree that he deserves to get paid.
Maybe it's because of his horrible defense.
Because nobody gives a besides the fanatics on this board.
Now here's a bit of blue skying -- what if Diaw loses a fair amount of weight this summer?
Wouldn't that clear up a lot of the roster imbalance all by itself?
if manu wanted more then he could go elsewhere
he is limited to minutes and is injury prone
Yes but they'd have to pay a coach to be with him all summer and maybe even make sure he got a lap-band or something. As far as we know none of these things happened so I wouldn't hold my breath.
is he worth the max
that is basically what he is making with the minutes he will play and games he will miss due to injury
I don't know why anyone would be surprised to hear that Pendergraph may actually be in the rotation. They didn't pay him $2M to do something Baynes and/or some other minimal type could do for less than half the price. I expect Bonner to start out the season as the fourth big, but I don't think it'll take long for Pendergraph to be given a serious look.
Let's hope he usurps Bonner, because he can make the big rotation work, at least more so than it currently does. Right now, either Splitter has to double as the starting PF and backup C or Diaw and Bonner (a combination that should never play together, for obvious reasons) have to play significant minutes together off the bench, given that neither Duncan or Splitter will eclipse 30 mpg. The problem with the former is twofold: 1) Duncan and Splitter, the best defensive interior tandem in the league, can't play together for more than roughly 6 minutes and 2) To break up or at least limit the Diaw and Bonner pairing to select match-ups, Duncan has to play more than they'd prefer, since Splitter has no stamina.
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