The Youth Movement is Here

[20beastie45]

You ain't gonna find a better example than the '03 Spurs, IMO.

but Duncan was part of the old core in 03 and there was no REAL core besides Twin Towers!

[SenorSpur]

Great post Lurker. Couldn't have framed it any better than you already have.

Frankly, I've been waiting for the Spurs FO to begin "dipping their toes" into the youth movement. It's been a long time coming. I've never been one to believe that having 1-2 young players, at the end of the bench, who were being groomed for larger roles later, would adversely affect a team's ability to contend for a championship. Consequently, I"ve been calling for the FO to at least begin implementing such a strategy after the 2007 championship. In my mind, such a strategy would help mitigate a full-on roster dismantling and total rebuilding effort, during Duncan's waning years. It just makes more practical sense.

Lo and behold, as we've seen, the talent infusion started two summers ago with the drafting of George Hill. While I was extremely disappointed that the Spurs weren't able to nab Nicolas Batum, that long, sought-after "young and athletic SF, (thanks Houston and Portland), yet no one can understate the impact that Hill, and his development, has had on this team.

Then to draft Dejuan Blair and James Anderson in consecutive drafts, along with the long-awaited signing of 2007 draft pick, Tiago Splitter this summer, and one has to like the direction and position the team is currently in. Couple those acquisitions in with having Malik Hairston, Garrett Temple and Alonzo Gee on deck, while simulataneously waving goodbye to some vets that were kept around too long, and the future looks promising. Job well done by the FO.

As someone stated earlier, the Spurs STILL need that young, long, athletic SF, as well as another athletic PF. While this is true, I'm hopeful that perhaps Gee, with his athleticism, slashing ability and willingness to defend, can be an emerging, stop-gap, backup SF for this team.

[Blackjack]

but Duncan was part of the old core in 03 and there was no REAL core besides Twin Towers!

They went from the Twin Towers to the start of the Big 3. That was also a year in which they only returned Tim, Dave, Manu, Tony and Bruce from their last year's rotation. It was a supposed transition year before they landed a max free-agent and would challenge for the championship.

03' was the definition of a transition. I can't say that I can recall any other team doing what they did when you consider they didn't add one marquee free-agent or acquire one marquee player via trade -- this wasn't max players deciding to play together or a couple of All-Stars being united through trade to form a new Big 3.

[VI_Massive]

GREAT POST..was thinking the same thing....

My question is....Has any other NBA franchise successfully transfer power from their "Old Core" to their new "future Core" while all playing together(not taking any losing season in between)???????

I think Boston has done a reasonably good job, right now. They have a championship caliber young point and a championship caliber young center (defense and rebound-wise). It remains to be seen how well they'll do in continuing to rebuild as their old guys finish out their last legs, but they definitely have young guys you can build a championship team with.

[20beastie45]

They went from the Twin Towers to the start of the Big 3. That was also a year in which they only returned Tim, Dave, Manu, Tony and Bruce from their last year's rotation. It was a supposed transition year before they landed a max free-agent and would challenge for the championship.

03' was the definition of a transition. I can't say that I can recall any other team doing what they did when you consider they didn't add one marquee free-agent or acquire one marquee player via trade -- this wasn't max players deciding to play together or a couple of All-Stars being united through trade to form a new Big 3.

So the Spurs are the best franchise in the WORLD!

lol...Great stuff Blackjack

[lurker23]

Nice post, until the last sentance:

I didn't mean any offense by it, but I suppose I should explain. There are a few reasons I included that last sentence:

-I've never really been a part of the "get younger now" crowd. For better or for worse, that was a banner for others to carry.

-As I implied in the 2nd paragraph, I felt that chant was carried to absurdity at times. There's getting younger and better, and then there's getting younger just for the sake of getting younger. Sometimes I felt fans' focus leaned toward the latter.

-As a Spurs fan, I truly do hope that it works.

What other choice is there? Continuing to sign ageing vets in an increasingly fast and athletic league? I think going young was inevitable.

I must admit, I generally align my preferences toward veterans. Given the debate between known quan ies and possible upside, I'll go with known quan ies 9 times out of 10, simply because upside fails more often than that.

However, I do (finally) agree that this is the way to go, and that perhaps I've been stuck in the allure of proven veterans for too long. With Tim and Manu's natural abilities and durability slowly declining, the promise of upside, youth, and athleticism is a calculated risk that the Spurs have to take. Should they have taken the plunge sooner? I'm not sure, and that's a decision for history books to make. However, I am glad that when the Spurs finally did decide to go young, they decided to do it right and with (what I perceive to be) legitimate talent.

[spursfaninla]

With the exception of Splitter the Spurs still lack a young big man, and an athletic on that can guard combo forwards is a must. That's the only thing this youth movemnet is missing. They have the guards, the center and a good rebounder/forward. Still a 6'9" athletic and long big is in need.

Blair is the best bigman the Spurs have had in 10 years outside of TD or Drob.

And Horry does not count, because he was mostly a playoff warrior and did not bring it during the regular season. Further, Horry was a hybrid because he shot the 3 so regularly.

Anyway, Dblair per48 is the best we have had in a long time.

Recognize.

[8FOR!3]

Question: What are chances Splitter, Hill, Anderson or Blair will be a future all star? Who has the best shot of being a future all star? My money is on Splitter

Splitter's last with me. Not because I don't think he has a chance to be, but once he'd get a shot to take on that big of a role, his window will likely be closing because he's already 25 coming into a somewhat stacked team and being asked to be a role player. George Hill and DeJuan Blair showed all star potential last year, but then again I look at James Anderson and think the sky's the limit with that kid.

[analyzed]

The Spurs could easily stretch their streak of consecutive 50 wins seasons to another 5 years. If you include the lockout year in 98-99. This must be some kind of record.

[DrSteffo]

Question: What are chances Splitter, Hill, Anderson or Blair will be a future all star? Who has the best shot of being a future all star? My money is on Splitter

I'm with you on this one mainly because C is such a weak position compared to the other. Blair would be my second bet.

[TD 21]

Good stuff, lurker23.

This.

Considering where this team was in '08, it's fairly remarkable they've went from having zero young talent (unless you want to count Parker, but he was an established player) to having four quality young players (granted, they had the rights to one of those players in '08) and a few other somewhat intriguing prospects, all while never picking higher than 20th in that span.

[Truth4sale$]

Do the Spurs youngsters have true all-star potential? Still to early to say. The true youth movement won't begin until there is a "Franchise" type youngster on the roster ready to take the mantle from Duncan or Parker.

[lurker23]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I do think the moves (or lack thereof) this offseason were made easier by the fact that they were very restricted financially after locking up Splitter for more than half the MLE. However, considering the fact that practically every FA got overpaid in some form or fashion this offseason, it's perhaps a blessing in disguise that the Spurs couldn't really dip their toes in and will be more reliant on young talent.

[ginobilized]

Great post and it's always nice to have a positive spin on the facts.

[analyzed]

A line-up of Tiago, Blair, Anderson and Hill can start for lottery teams , agree or disagree ? I do think they are at that level "can start for half of the teams in the NBA"

[5in10]

A line-up of Tiago, Blair, Anderson and Hill can start for lottery teams , agree or disagree ? I do think they are at that level "can start for half of the teams in the NBA"

Agree at least for sure with Hill,Tiago, and Blair.