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Thanks timvp and ChumpDumper
Ditto on Lang. I've never liked him much. He's only fair in any one aspect of the game and has zero upside.
If we are looking at big men, I want to know where Deji Akindele is. Or maybe invite D'or Fischer. He's a bit of a head case, but he can block shots like crazy (7'6" wingspan).
Last edited by ChumpDumper; 08-17-2007 at 06:43 PM.
Thanks timvp and ChumpDumper
Speaking of big men, maybe one of our sunfans can tell me if they did anything with Otis George. I always liked him and he was rebounding very well in Vegas.
They're mad at us right now.
They've been mad at us since '03....
I'd take either one of those two just on the cool name factor.
Hopefully the uniforms will be Spurs colors now. I wish they would have changed the design of the logo as well... it just looks a bit amateurish. Anyway being in Austin I can't wait to go to some games this season. GO TOROS GO!
Toros banking Spurs affiliation will help develop young players
By Mark Rosner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Always angling for an edge in player development, the San Antonio Spurs have in recent years hired a nutritionist, added a shooting coach and, most recently, bought themselves a farm team.
On Friday, the Spurs and the Austin Toros celebrated their affiliation at a luncheon and news conference in downtown Austin and introduced a new logo for the minor-league team.
For the past two seasons, the Spurs have been one of three NBA teams tied to the Toros of the National Basketball Development League, sharing them in 2006-07 with Houston and Boston. During that time, the Spurs sent one player, James White, to Austin. He played with the Toros this past season.
In June, the Spurs joined the Los Angeles Lakers as the only NBA franchises that own D-League teams. Now that they have control of the Toros, the Spurs hope they can use their minor-league club to identify and develop good young players.
"We hope to build it like baseball," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "It's too early to tell. This is a work in progress. As much as anything, it's an opportunity to develop players at a time when we don't get to play young players."
One possible addition for the Toros this season is Ian Mahinmi, an athletic but raw 6-foot-11-inch forward from France. He was the Spurs' first-round draft pick in 2005. Mahinmi, 20, spent last season playing in France.
NBA teams are allowed 15 players on their rosters, 12 of them active for each game. Some of those on the end of the bench rarely, if ever, play. Some spend time in the D-League.
According to NBA rules, only first- and second-year players can be sent to the D-league, each of them up to three times per season.
If the Spurs sign Mahinmi, he could shuttle between San Antonio and Austin. The Spurs could have done that when they were sharing the Toros with other NBA teams, but now they can determine how players are developed.
"It's our own coaches, and it's being able to build our own developmental program," Buford said. "It's proximity to the organization, the ability to move back and forth."
Quin Snyder, a former coach at the University of Missouri, was hired by Toros owner David Kahn before he sold the team. Buford said the Spurs, because of their two-year affiliation, were consulted on the hiring.
"This was a no-brainer, a chance to work with the Spurs organization," Snyder said. "We will try to simulate some of what they do on the court."
The newest Spur, swingman Ime Udoka, was a star in the D-League before he played for Portland in the NBA. Udoka, 30, signed with the Spurs this week as a free agent.
He can provide backup for Bruce Bowen at small forward. But Bowen, 36, said he does not want his playing time diminished in deference to his age.
"No cutting back for me," Bowen said. "But if my production falls, then I'll understand."
[email protected]; 445-3958
http://www.statesman.com/sports/cont...0818toros.html
Nice read. I like Bruce's comments at the end. Shows how much he cares about the team.
ORFLROFL
chumpdumper LOVES the toros
They gave me a t-shirt and a hot dog.
What's not to love?
This could be a loophole if this is not going to be regulated....
if a big market team has there own d-league team, they can just sign all the best euros and stash them on that team, till the time is right put them into the nba team, on draft night picks them or sign them as fa's....makes no difference from system thats implemented for soccer/football how theres a reserve team....
awesome!
Salaries in DLeague are fixed and very low. Best European players have no reason to go in DLeague.
The nba make a lot of efforts to promote the DLeague but face a dilemna :
First, BB is growing in Europe. There are more and more teams with more and more money. European compe ions are growing too with more and more teams. As a result, Europeans teams take more and more quality American players. You have too some countries in Asia with a lot of money available for players.
Second, you have more and more DLeague teams. 12 last year, 14 this year and maybe 30 in the future. DLeague need more and more players.
So, you will have less and less quality player available for the DLeague because they go in Europe while the DLeague will need more and more players.
If the nba does nothing, the DLeague will be worse and worse each year (it should start this year). If the gap between nba and DLeague is too big, the DLeague will lost a lot of his interest for nba teams. DLeague won't be a player reserve for the nba because of the low quality of players available. Sending down players will be less interesting because they will play very weak level games in DLeague.
The obvious solution is to raise salaries by a significant margin. If the nba does that, more players will stay in DLeague and the level will be higher. The nba and nba teams will lost a lot of money on the DLeague product. Is a nba team ready to spend $3M per year to have a good DLeague team ?
I see it more as a cyclical situation. As good as the money is in Europe, the is no match to the exposure to NBA scouts a player can get in the D-League. Several players have shuffled between the two over the years like Ime Udoka and other players seem to have plans to do the same in the future. Players like Jamar Smith who make it through most of an NBA training camp can start out the D-League season with mid to high five-figure salaries already in the bank, so the meager D-League salary isn't so onerous.
One advantage to the low salaries of the D-League is that it allows for very easy player movement midseason. If a player gets cut from a nonguaranteed NBA contract or released from his European deal for whatever reason, he can put his name in the available player pool for the D-League. If he's a quality player, it's a simple matter for a D-League team to waive a player to get him -- if they don't already have an open roster spot from callups or attrition . It's very interesting following the player movement, especially around January when you have the start of 10-day contracts, the deadline for contract guarantees and the MLK showcase. Several players hang around until the showcase then leave for Europe if the callup doesn't happen.
It will be interesting to see what happens as the league attempts to expand. Minor-league basketball in general is experiencing a near-inexplicable period of expansion and startups. I'm going to watch the Toros open their season in the Hidalgo the day after I watch the valley's CBA team play Yakima five miles away in McAllen. Crazy.
I'm actually working for the Vipers, the new NBDL team in the valley...it's going to be an exciting product
Very cool. I do have to say I have been very impressed with the job the CBA team has done so far down there. They have been very active in the community really seem to have their act together with their venue, sponsors and media relations, etc. They were way too well-managed and serious for the ABA, and they really upped the ante in the valley by buying into the CBA. It's too bad the market likely won't be able to sustain both.
Where in the valley are the Vipers gonna play?
The Vipers will play in the Dodge Arena in Hidalgo, south of McAllen near the border. The CBA Silverados will play in the McAllen Convention Center.
Last edited by ChumpDumper; 08-19-2007 at 03:38 PM.
Bigs? Splitter is a given next year and Mahinmi is as tall as Tim and a wee less than Elson. The Spurs biggest need after next season would seemt to be a younger #2 so that Manu can continue to come off the bench which is an incredible advantage and will extend his career.
Black & Silvers jerseys. Should've gave them the old 90's style Spurs logo for the people that still sport the chick pink,blue,and orange.
That's very cool. What are you doing for them?
Marketing, Promotions, and Ticket Sales...and when the season rolls around I'll be writing the newsletter...We're actually making it a point to be involved in the communtiy and making it to every event...we sponsored a charity golf tournament last weekend....we're going to be having our dance team debut shortly
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