right on Timvp
next odd year is last Spurs opportunity. There is no tomorrow after next season.
Offseason priorities:
1- sign Splitter NOW!
2- get a defensive oriented, long, young, athletic SF
3- health for Tim, Manu and Tony
4- fire Mason and Bonner
5- Tony needs to play DEFENSE. His improvement of defense will be the X factor.
Damn timvp right on the money with his posts again...
i will say this for the final time, we fcked up when pop starting to play small ball, allowing the other team to dictate smallball made us weak, it should be the other way around where we force our strengths onto the enemy and force them to play our game, the game style that won us 4 rings, the style that made other teams to rebuild to compete against us.
Therein lies the big flaw with this roster. In fact, this has been a consistent roster deficiency since the last year of Bowen era.If you are going to beat the Heat, you need at least one quality one-on-one defender at a swingman position. Currently, the Spurs have no one who qualifies.
The sooner, the better.Acquiring a perimeter defender or two in place of Jefferson would theoretically give the Spurs a better chance to compete against the Wade and James duo.
Word has it that Portland is hot on his trail too. Then again, what player aren't they hot after?Reports indicate that Wesley Matthews has received interest from the San Antonio. If the Spurs were to acquire him, that would make a lot of sense. He's a gritty defender who can space the floor with his shooting on the other end.
One of these cheaper options is likely to be the more realistic route. My fear is if the Spurs continue to wait, their chances of landing one of these "bargain basement" guys will be slim.Cheaper options that would fit well include Raja Bell, Matt Barnes, Rasual Butler and Tony Allen. But the chances of getting a bargain are diminishing. First of all, with the way franchises are throwing around money this summer, any free agent with a pulse will likely get a healthy wad of cash. On top of that, the Heat just became an irresistible destination for bargain basement players to quickly raise their stock.
Great analysis, by the way.
The Heat should be the last thing on the Spurs' mind. They need to get past LA first, and they currently don't have a roster that can compete.
Bruce Bowen has left those shoes to fill and RJ has not been able to fit in them. Damn Bowen was a Spurs legend. Shane Battier is the only player that comes to mind that could defend and play the same kinda role Bruce used to but theres no way we are getting him.
All the more reason why the Spurs should've planned better for the eventual departure of Bowen.
Youre right. Bowens departure is still kinda a mystery. He really didnt show any signs that he wouldnt be at least a servicable bench player.
I wonder what really happened....
lay down the crack pipe
This was my thought. There's the gargantuan hole at SF as you said, but also the Scott connection. We'll see how desperate Jefferson is to leave the Spurs if he takes a comparable offer from the Cavs, who are officially in no man's land. By that I mean, not good enough to do any damage, not bad enough to get high enough picks to get to the point of doing any damage.
Right now, the Cavs have about $9 million in cap space. Once they jettison West (sounds like Law may be his replacement) they'll have about $13 million in cap space. If they're just desperate to plug a hole and grab a headline or two, they may overpay for Jefferson.
building a roster to beat the lakers will NOT help when the spurs are getting eliminated by another team who presents bad matchups for the spurs...
and having re-signed bonner already gives ANY team a matchup advantage...
next to sign is probably rj ---which will be matchup advantage for MOST western conf teams...
on & on
the spurs are not striving for excellence---or dominance---anymore
but rather for MEDIOCRITY...
No they weren't. The Spurs had ~$15 million in cap space that summer. They first went after Kidd, then talked about Brand or O'Neal, then tried to get PJ Brown ... and then had to settle
Uh, he got benched for no reason and then he got traded.
the Heat and Lakers. I'm gonna cheer for the Spurs even if Timmy already hangs up his shoes. Go Spurs Go!!
Unholy Trinity...at first I thought this was about RJ, Bonner, and some unnamed scrub/savior to be named later.
that would show youre a spursfan and not a duncan fan, awesome.
I don't see what's so hard about sticking to a team and rooting for them during good times and bad
I'm proud to call myself a Spurs fan for life
Let's beat LA
then the Heat
drive for five!!
The Bowen mystery works like this. Bruce got old... Bruce lost a fair amount of quickness both in his first step and lateral movement, This resulted in Bruce getting beaten by his man more.... The NBA changed Bruce guarded perimeter superstars the ability to touch them went away, this hurt Bruce as much as the quickness thing that which wasn't a foul now was....... Bruce wasn't getting the benefit of the doubt against these guys the NBA wants protected at all costs anymore either...... The Spurs changed Bruce used to be helped by a 7 footer coming up to alter a shot if Bruce got beat.... Bruce funneled them in, between Duncan's declining speed and a general lack of solid interior defensive play by others Bruce couldn't funnel people to the shot alteration station anymore. Therefor due to the above factors Bruce was traded for his replacement with minor hard feelings to be had. The decently defensive but makes up for it with his scoring Richard Jefferson, Jefferson hasn't worked out quite as planned.
There was very apparent reasons why the much beloved Bruce was done and traded. I think there probably was an offer for a vet min contract for a year to groom his successor after he was "wink, wink" waived by the bucks then a retirement to the scouting, publicity, or coaching staff but something fell through there.
I think what fell through was Bowen was annoyed that Pop chose Finley over him.
Matt Barnes would be an awesome addition. Give some at ude and defense.
Tony+Manu+Duncan+Splitter+(any good SF not named RJ) >>>> Miami s
timvp, with the goods.
Somewhere along the line Pop started to value offense over defense. This has been the fatal wound. Aside from the corner three, Bowen was never much of an offensive threat. When his effectiveness on defense started to slide he went with Finley. This led to more bad decisions like sticking with RMJ and Bonner even though they provided no virtually no defense and wilted on offense in pressure situations. He couldn't turn Bulldog Bogans into Bowen either.
The truth is, there is not going to be another Bowen. The Spurs have to refocus on team defense if they are going to succeed. I don't know if Tim still has enough juice to be the defensive anchor. Hopefully, Splitter will help. If Matt Barnes would sign for the LLE, I think that's the best we could do, but I'm not counting on it.
Any good SF not named RJ does not exist. It's time to get over this. We aren't getting anyone better. It's not happening. Wake the up.
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