Reply With Quote
Green went from being a D-League scrub that was cut by the Cavs to being a Ray Allen three pointer away from winning a Finals MVP. I'd pick him tbh
All of the above, including Splitter and Diaw.
Green went from being a D-League scrub that was cut by the Cavs to being a Ray Allen three pointer away from winning a Finals MVP. I'd pick him tbh
Didn't he win the world Cup for Argentina the year before coming to the Spurs?
It's funny, I remember how badly the Spurs wanted to draft Diaw. I can't imagine him playing in the four down offense.
Parker. I defy anyone saying they thought he'd become a Hall of Famer and Finals MVP.
Yeah, Manu was Euroleague MVP in 2002 I think. May have been 2001. By the time he got to San Antonio he was a star in Europe and a lot of the media was picking him for rookie of the year before the season.
The Spurs improved play has coincided with Diaw's improved play. Although not athletically gifted, he falls in line with guys like Manu and Duncan that take a cerebral approach to the game. He is a match up problem for any team.
Parker looked like he was going to be a star from the second he put on a Spurs uniform. Back in the old Spursreport days everyone was hyped as seeing this guy get to the basket even though he could not finish a layup to save his life until the end of the season. But Chip Engelland definitely worked wonders turning Tony's slow set shot into a pretty devastating 18 foot jumper off the screen.
Diaw is an incredibly gifted fat athlete.
Diaw is actually incredibly athletically gifted, he has just let himself get fat.
http://valleyofthesuns.com/2014/06/1...-jumped-amare/
“Boris walks into the gym one day wearing flip-flops and holding his customary cappuccino, which was a staple for him every morning,” Griffin recalled. “It was during pre-draft workouts, so he sees the Vertec [machine] and asks what it is.
“We tell him it measures your vertical leap by determining how many of the bars you can touch. He asks what’s the highest anyone has ever gone, and we tell him Amare’ [Stoudemire] cleared the entire rack.
“Boris puts down the cappuccino, takes off his flip-flops and clears the entire rack on the first try. Then he calmly puts his flip-flops back on, picks up his cappuccino and walks away, saying, ‘That was not difficult.'”
Manu was an unknown when drafted. He actually developed with Messina overseas in the time between his pick and coming over to the Spurs.
But yeah, by the time the Spurs got him, he was a known quan y somewhat. He just kicked Team USA ass in Indianapolis and was heading into the prime of his career.
He kinda came over late, tbh...
For "good story" it's probably Green, IMO... but for development between raw and into a NBA caliber monster, Kawhi gotta be up there. He wasn't a consensus #1 pick like Tim, there were some doubts about his shooting, etc...
He really put the work, and it's impressive.
i say parker because he his peak was MVP-worthy but he got injured. Leonard didn't really start lower than Parker did and he hasn't hit that MVP-peak yet.
Yeah, I always heard the Spurs drafted Manu because they saw him hit like 11 threes in a game in Argentina when they were scouting one of his teammates. Then they told him to go to Euroleague and two years later he's the best player outside the NBA.
I think RC also said he was the worst defender he had ever seen when the team drafted Manu.
To the Spurs credit, Baynes has paid off. Some people were wondering if he was worth paying in the summer, and I think the ROI worked out there.
I watched him from the floor and he is the fastest guy I have ever seen with the ball.
Faster than Iverson. I had never seen anything like it. Shocking stuff.
Yeah... Boris isn't athletic or anything...
parker didn't start at his potential though. It doesn't matter what people thought he could become because that isn't what he was.
He didn't look like a star, he looked like a really fast kid with the basketball.
This is the 2001 Euroleague Final full game:Yeah, I always heard the Spurs drafted Manu because they saw him hit like 11 threes in a game in Argentina when they were scouting one of his teammates. Then they told him to go to Euroleague and two years later he's the best player outside the NBA.
I think RC also said he was the worst defender he had ever seen when the team drafted Manu.
Interesting that they were playing against Tau Ceramica, who had Oberto and Scola off the bench. Manu ended up winning the MVP of Euroleague (not for that game specifically, but for the entire Euroleague campaign).
Manu was already extremely good back then and had a terrific first step.
The fastest kid with the ball.
I can't describe it, I was just so dumbfounded I probably expected too much.
Even when Pop was constantly berating him making him ready to cry.
Parker was already destroying Gary Payton in the playoffs his rookie year. Everyone knew he was going to be a star. Even my Laker fan friends who hate everything Spurs knew he'd be an allstar early his rookie season. Parker was only supposed to be playing 15 MPG but he was earning 30 minutes from the start. Tony didn't come out of nowhere, he was starting for a le contender over a dependable vet in Terry Porter by the fourth or fifth game of his career. When he destroyed the summer league it was apparent he was going to become a great player. He was insanely fast by NBA standards the second he stepped on an NBA court. Parker was no rags to riches story like Green.
But Euros still had the soft, no D you can't play in this league label. Manu played a huge role in getting rid of the soft label.
I dismissed his Euro success.
I remember downloading his Euroleague games back in the direct link era and just thinking holy , the Spurs basically have Vince Carter overseas to pair with Duncan and Robinson. I was so ing pissed when the Spurs didn't bring him over in the summer of 2001.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
