Tiago Splitter Close to Signing Two-Year Extension with Tau

[carrecaminos]

So, did the FO ed it up again?

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

If Papaloukas comes over next year, how much do you think he will command? Only the MLE? Because if he gets the MLE he should be ok. However if he thinks he is worth much more than this, and the NBA does not match his true worth, what reason is there for him to come over?

His worth would be much more than MLE base on what he can make in Europe. But his statement is if he play on team that has chance to win championship and has coach that is friendly to Euro players and rookies and will give him at least 20-25 minutes in rookie year then will accept MLE.

Issue for him is if he want go NBA he better do it now. He is 31 so he can sign 3 year contract and have 3 good years left and this is all maybe. he realize this and so if he does not get such offer this summer he will never play in NBA. he is very careful now because he keep saying after what happen to Spanoulis he is very careful about which team and coach he would pick. And he will not take less than MLE most likely because Spanoulis take pay cut and what happen to him.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

rofl.

You are idiot. No person can deal with you just like Sam Fisher of Rockets board.

[ChumpDumper]

It shows you how great the almight D-League is when Mahinmi couldnt get on the court in the French league yet he averages 20 and 10 here.

Who has described the D-League as "almight"?

[VaSpursFan]

i love the spurs as much as anyone else, and would have loved to see Tiago lined up next to duncan...but, how can anyone be upset at a man making a financial decision to take more money (fiba players don't pay taxes), more perks (free housing, car, etc), and play fewer games. it sounds like he made a sound decision. i can't hate the guy for doing that. , with the euro worth more than the dollar now, he still comes out way ahead.

ty for us, but good for Tiago. oh well, another one gone...it is what it is.

[Holt's Cat]

You is stupid person nothing more. NBA is barely even notice in Europe. I not just talk about Greece. I have family in several country and same thing there. In Lithuania or Spain NBA have maybe a little bit of viewers. Just little bit. In other countries no one care at all.

Compare to how popular NBA was in Europe in 80s or 90s is like big joke. You are just stupid fool if you believe otherwise.

Yes, you talk about Greece. A lot. And you get bent when nobody buys your delusions of grandeur for the European leagues. Not to mention your angst at the fact that your hero couldn't cut it in the NBA.

[Holt's Cat]

You are idiot.

Poor bas . The European leagues still have a long way to go. You can dress up a league, bring in a few players from across the Atlantic and pretend that it's on par with the more advanced league on the other side. In the US that's known as the MLS.

[Bruno]

It shows you how great the almight D-League is when Mahinmi couldnt get on the court in the French league yet he averages 20 and 10 here.

Sorry but that's a stupid statement.
You can't compare two leagues only by looking at what a single player has done in both years.
Some players have started this season in D-League before signing in France this year and they have done very well there.
D League players aren't worse than French league players, they are at about the same level.

[mathbzh]

If you look at what happened to Saras or Spanoulis... I think top European players will think twice before accepting pay cut... to end up at the end of the bench without a chance to prove what they can do.

[Don Quixote]

φιλοξενοι εις αλληλους ανευ γογγυσμου !

[mystargtr34]

Who has described the D-League as "almight"?

No one, i think Mahinmi can be awesome... and i appreciate your updates on him... i just disagree with people saying hes the answer next season... because hes not. He might get spot minutes but he wont be in the rotation unless he improves dramatically in the space of a few months.

Down the line... yea he looks really nice.

But right now, and for the forseeable future... Splitter is better

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

Ok i officially want Spanoulis at the Spurs.

I dont give a if he doesnt cut it... at least were gonna have someone under 35 on the ing team.

Hes only 25... we should sign him to back up TP.... i dont even wanna see Jaque Vaughan on the court in an important game again.... ever... hes a practice player... a regular season scrub... the Spurs cant seriously contend with that dude as the back up point guard..

We could pair him in the backcourt with TP to and allow Manu to play less minutes...

They should ocncentrate their efforts on him..

Kill Bill what are the chances of Spanoulis coming over next year? What do the Spurs have to do?

Im a lot less informred on him than i am on Tiago... but as of now... Tiago.

One small thing... he has a buy out after next season of just 500K.... maybe the Spurs want him to develop some more and they came to some sort of agreement in terms of money to make up for the rookie scale..

I think theres a high chance he only stays in Europe for one season rather than two...

But then again.... Tiago

Spanoulis is special case. He is one player of Europe that really want prove himself in NBA. He was hurt so much by what Rockets did to him. He would kick Van Gundy ass if he could I believe this no doubt.

Problem Spanoulis have is once he sign with PAO even though he have no buyout PAO owner have been doing everything to keep him in PAO. He want him to stay with PAO for whole career and be franchise player like Alvertis was because this is maybe last year of Alvertis. Team need new franchise player or such thing.

Spanoulis does really want prove himself in NBA and he is very capable of this. He is NBA style player and he is by far best Greek player. There is so many stupid things say about him even in Europe. He is much better than even most hype players there. He loves the Spurs a lot. But the big problem now is PAO owner realize he can lose him to Spurs. So everything he can do to keep him he is. I do not think he will leave PAO until end of his contract to try NBA again. Just because as he say PAO owners have 5 personal meetings with him in recent times and he is being offer many things that NBA can never offer.

But true thing is Spanoulis is determined player he is super compe or and he will come back NBA there is no question about this. But for Spurs to gets him they will need have someone like Popovich come to Greece and make clear to him they want him and how they view him. This because PAO owner has done same thing and he still see that Popovich did not use Beno either.

If Spurs wants him they need come after him and make him understand. He will join them if he really believes they will give him fair chance. He is VERY good player. I do not lie about him. He has all star level potential in NBA if he just get fair chance.

[mathbzh]

Sorry but that's a stupid statement.
You can't compare two leagues only by looking at what a single player has done in both years.
Some players have started this season in D-League before signing in France this year and they have done very well there.
D League players aren't worse than French league players, they are at about the same level.

The talent level may be the same, but I think the french league is much more compe ive (for the only reason that it is not a development league). That means that a very raw player (like Mahinmi was) will not receive a lot of playing time.

[mystargtr34]

Sorry but that's a stupid statement.
You can't compare two leagues only by looking at what a single player has done in both years.
Some players have started this season in D-League before signing in France this year and they have done very well there.
D League players aren't worse than French league players, they are at about the same level.

Well i dont know how bad the French league is... but my point was that the D-League is a joke.

Julius Hodge came to play here in Australia for a bit and he was way over hyped... he wasnt really that good at all.

Then i see what he was doing in the D-League... the dude was putting up LeBron James numbers.

And the Aussie League... well thats a joke too.

[mystargtr34]

Spanoulis is special case. He is one player of Europe that really want prove himself in NBA. He was hurt so much by what Rockets did to him. He would kick Van Gundy ass if he could I believe this no doubt.

Problem Spanoulis have is once he sign with PAO even though he have no buyout PAO owner have been doing everything to keep him in PAO. He want him to stay with PAO for whole career and be franchise player like Alvertis was because this is maybe last year of Alvertis. Team need new franchise player or such thing.

Spanoulis does really want prove himself in NBA and he is very capable of this. He is NBA style player and he is by far best Greek player. There is so many stupid things say about him even in Europe. He is much better than even most hype players there. He loves the Spurs a lot. But the big problem now is PAO owner realize he can lose him to Spurs. So everything he can do to keep him he is. I do not think he will leave PAO until end of his contract to try NBA again. Just because as he say PAO owners have 5 personal meetings with him in recent times and he is being offer many things that NBA can never offer.

But true thing is Spanoulis is determined player he is super compe or and he will come back NBA there is no question about this. But for Spurs to gets him they will need have someone like Popovich come to Greece and make clear to him they want him and how they view him. This because PAO owner has done same thing and he still see that Popovich did not use Beno either.

If Spurs wants him they need come after him and make him understand. He will join them if he really believes they will give him fair chance. He is VERY good player. I do not lie about him. He has all star level potential in NBA if he just get fair chance.

How many more years on his contract? And whats he being paid?

[stxspurs]

But true thing is Spanoulis is determined player he is super compe or and he will come back NBA there is no question about this. But for Spurs to gets him they will need have someone like Popovich come to Greece and make clear to him they want him and how they view him. This because PAO owner has done same thing and he still see that Popovich did not use Beno either.
If Spurs wants him they need come after him and make him understand. He will join them if he really believes they will give him fair chance. He is VERY good player. I do not lie about him. He has all star level potential in NBA if he just get fair chance.

Beno wasnt serious about getting better as far as i remember......not good work ethic. im glad he is doing well in sacramento but it seemed like he didnt care here in san antonio. if v-span is to come and contribute and work hard similar to how hard manu works on the court i would love to have him next year.

[Bruno]

The talent level may be the same, but I think the french league is much more compe ive (for the only reason that it is not a development league). That means that a very raw player (like Mahinmi was) will not receive a lot of playing time.

The talent level is the same but D-League teams aren't as good as French league teams because their roster always changes and isn't well built with some players playing out of position.

At 19 years old, Mahinmi was a 10/5 player in French league. I don't think he failed the year after in Pau because he was to raw or he hadn't the ProA level.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

i love the spurs as much as anyone else, and would have loved to see Tiago lined up next to duncan...but, how can anyone be upset at a man making a financial decision to take more money (fiba players don't pay taxes), more perks (free housing, car, etc), and play fewer games. it sounds like he made a sound decision. i can't hate the guy for doing that. , with the euro worth more than the dollar now, he still comes out way ahead.

ty for us, but good for Tiago. oh well, another one gone...it is what it is.

Yes. I would like see Tiago in Spurs but fans must accept new reality of how basketball world is now. Some fans it seem refuse accept this and say dumb thing like Tiago is fault. Is not his fault he make right decision for him and family.

Spurs cannot control US dollar and cannot control NBa salary rules and also how owner is able to spend.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

Yes, you talk about Greece. A lot. And you get bent when nobody buys your delusions of grandeur for the European leagues. Not to mention your angst at the fact that your hero couldn't cut it in the NBA.

You is one with delusion. If you believe nonsense you say about NBA image in Europe. NBA is nothing in Europe these days. There is only very few people try follow it like me. Even biggest basketball fans in most countries never even watch single NBA games in Europe these days.

I guess you is fooled by NBA marketing?

In China NBA is see as you talk about it but Europe is not China.

[mathbzh]

The talent level is the same but D-League teams aren't as good as French league teams because their roster always changes and isn't well built with some players playing out of position.

At 19 years old, Mahinmi was a 10/5 player in French league. I don't think he failed the year after in Pau because he was to raw or he hadn't the ProA level.

This is not my point. Le Havre could afford to develop Mahinmi, not Pau (they had to give minutes to Vaty, where in a difficult position in the French League and missed the playoff for the first time in a while, add his injury...).
It does not mean he didn't have the talent to play in the Pro A.

[Holt's Cat]

You is one with delusion. If you believe nonsense you say about NBA image in Europe. NBA is nothing in Europe these days. There is only very few people try follow it like me. Even biggest basketball fans in most countries never even watch single NBA games in Europe these days.

I guess you is fooled by NBA marketing?

In China NBA is see as you talk about it but Europe is not China.

The NBA doesn't need Europe, except for some of its players who aren't weak.

[remingtonbo2001]

Splitter coming only in 2010 is just too late for Spurs. If it take shim one year to adapt to the NBA, it means that he will start to be effective in 2011-2012 when Duncan will be 36.

If reports are true and Splitter hasn't signed his extension for the moment, I want Spurs to put a lot of pressure on him and say to him "if you don't come this summer, we will only offer you in the future 80% of the rookie scale instead of 120%". Spurs should convince him that it's now or never if he wants to play one day in NBA.

Popovich needs to pull a Riley, blow off Game 5, and head to Brazil.

We need Splitter. We need him NOW.

[mathbzh]

And for the record Ajinca had the same problem in Pau.
Pau had 3 prospect:
- Mahinmi, a player who had an injury, was not immediatly productive (not enough), was not a valuable investment (Gone to the NBA a few season later)
- Vaty a young prospect with a solid frame a bit raw but physicaly ready for the Pro A fight (in Euroleague he even faced up Scola in the eyes)
- Ajinca maybe the more promising prospect of the 3. He was probably not physicaly ready and didn't receive any playing time.

The winner was Vaty, Mahinmi didn't lose too much, Ajinca didn't play at all.

[T Park]

Boy this is a lovely bit of news to come to after a vacation.

Unreal.

[T Park]

Popovich needs to pull a Riley, blow off Game 5, and head to Brazil.

We need Splitter. We need him NOW.

If hes going for money, WTF is Pop gonna do other than sell him on taking less money.

I don't see how its on anyone but Splitter. He knew the guidelines, he knew it last year, its like all of a sudden he was told he was gonna make a crap salary for a couple years last week.