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until tonight.I haven't made a SINGLE thead ing about them.
Could you please do me a favor and link me to the last thread where I ed about the Spurs as a whole?
Just do me that one favor.
Ever since they managed to win it all last year, after having an iffy-ish season (by SA standards) I haven't made a SINGLE thead ing about them.
Even this thread was to be taken in jest, as oppose to an angry Anti-Elson tirade.
So seriously T Park, give it a rest.
While I have no doubt that I was one of the more pessimistic posters and maybe complain about certain things here or there, I haven't ed nearly as much in the last year as you may believe.
And the reason for that?
Well damn, starting off 17-3 and still having a lot of room for improvement on the defensive end makes it tough to .
until tonight.I haven't made a SINGLE thead ing about them.
Gotta hate somebody.
i think that's the reason right there. he has 5 different ways to say to himself "Switch, you moron!" and has to go through all five languages to get it through.
can't deny, he does comes up with the occasional gem and that he's freaking fast and long.
once again, this thread was more of a joke, but clearly that went over your head.
Keep trying, though.
Soometimes Elson just wanders around the paint looking for something to do and by the time he figures it out, it's past him. On the other hand, sometimes when he's wandering around he gets in the way of the other team's play.
That's why people like Horry are so valuable. Even if he's out of shape, his basketball IQ is so strong it makes up for lack of skill in other departments.
Elson may be a great athlete, but in his second year with the team, he looks just as lost as ever.
I understand his price tag is very modest, but it actually feels like he hurts the team on most nights than he helps them.
Which is why he's not in the game in the 4th quarter. Elson's performance at the end of the Mavs game served as a footnote and a micro-summary of his tenure with the Spurs. Promise & potential mixed with confusion and stupidity. He makes a wonderful block, then on the next play loses his man and gives up a wide open, potential game-winning 3-pointer. Dirk hits that shot and I guarantee we're all still crucifying Elson today. He really makes you scratch your head and wonder why he's not producing more.
I do agree, but ...
Elson = Nazr x 10 + Rasho x 20
It's three million dude, three million.
Which, coincidentally is about what Oberto is making.
Argument lost.
Still, I don't blame the Spurs for making the move to get him. They made great moves to trade Rasho and let Nazr walk for rediculously more than he was worth. Then they snagged Elson....a guy who had a different skill set from any big the Spurs had before with his speed, length, and decent mid-range game.
Sometimes, it just doesn't work out the way you'd envision.
Elson hasn't made effective use of his speed on fastbreak opportunities, hasn't used his length effectively on defense (except in the Dallas game), and hasn't employed the mid-range jumper enough to be an effective threat. Add to that his extremely sub-standard BBIQ and you've got a player that just didn't work out.
Let's hope that next year either Mahinmi or Splitter can exceed expectations set for the backup Center spot framed by Elson....they're pretty low, so it shouldn't be hard.
I think we may see the value of Elson to this team when we play Phoenix. Oberto can't keep up in a run and gun game, like I know we are going to play with the Suns. Elson can. And since we know there will be little to no defense played in these games with Phoenix, his head scratching on where to be defensively shouldn't matter.
What will matter will be the ability to get up and down the court and snag rebounds.
If he makes a difference just in the Phoenix games alone this year, he will be worth every cent we are paying him.
'Tiago (rookie late first contract) >>>>>>>> Elson
Phoenix 2007 WCFs numbers:
Oberto 13.7 minutes
Elson 11.0 minutes
Small ball - the rest
Somehow, we survived with Oberto eating more minutes than Elson.
Elson was plain awful against jazz. It was one of his worst game ever played with Spurs.
Now, you had to put thing in perspective.
The nba is full of bad 7 footers. There are very few players with size and talent. Elson isn't a good players but he is sometimes useful and he has the edge to be cheap. $3M per year isn't that cheap. What is cheap is that Spurs offered him only a 2 years contract. Elson is still an expiring contract. If he doesn't show enough things this year, he will be gone next summer and won't hurt Spurs' salary cap state.
Until then, Elson remains at worse an end of the bench player who could bring sometimes a good spark from the bench with his athleticism in certain matchups (like during last year playoffs).
Great teams dictate the pace of the game.
While there will certainly be some running and gunning in these games, I would look for the Spurs to get back in transition and stop the fastbreak opportunities for the Suns.
They'll concentrate on stopping Steve Nash's penetrate-and-kick game, and they'll make Stoudemire beat them in the half-court set. The other frontcourt player not named Duncan will be charged with limiting Stoudemire, and my guess is they'll go with heavy doses of Oberto as long as he doesn't get into foul trouble.
Bottom Line: Your notion that the Spurs are just going to concede the Suns scoring 130+ and playing no defense is rediculous.
And, while Elson has a different skill set than Oberto, he is a matchup problem for NO ONE because he doesn't take advantage of that skill set on O or D.
Note that two potential replacements to Elson are already in the Spurs' system and that their collective salaries are roughly half of Elson's current salary.
It's called rookie scale.
And when you think about next year roster, don't forget that Spurs likely won't have only three vet PF/C (Duncan, Bonner and Oberto) next year.
Bottom line : Spurs will sign a vet PF/C this summer. It could be Horry, a FA or even Elson. Elson gone at the end of the year isn't a sure thing.
With their salary structure, and the fact that they HAVE two young'uns in the pipeline, I would think that adding a young(er) wing to replace Fin/Barry might be the priority.
no doubt, but dont think they wont also bring in another big also. with elson and horry (possibly) on the way out, and tiago coming over, that still leaves one spot left. even if its a vet min or LLE kind of player, the spurs will be looking at that as well.
Unless a better option becomes available, they could just keep Elson another year. , he already knows the system. Get the wing player in here QUICK.
Elson has been in the system for over a season, but I think he proves night in and night out that he truly doesn't "know" the system at all.
Also, I wonder if he would take a one-year deal for similar/less money than he's getting right now.
To me, it makes sense to bring in a veteran for the minimum (i.e. Kurt Thomas) who could play solid minutes if asked, but would be okay in a reserve role in case the young guys develop sooner than expected.
It should...but I think they'll accomplish both, especially if Horry retires.
If it were me, I'd do just what you said...
I'd focus on getting a wing player to replace fin/barry (i.e. Childress, Smith, Pietrus, Gomes, Wright, etc.) and then picking up a 6th center for the vet min. A guy I mentioned in the previous post seems to make alot of sense...Kurt Thomas.
Thomas knows how to play defense (one of Duncan's toughest matchups), can hit a reliable baseline 15ft shot, and would probably come on the cheap as he is getting up there in age and would probably like a ring.
Keep in mind, the Spurs almost traded for this guy a few years back, so there's probably interest.
Kurt Thomas market value is way higher than the minimum or the LLE. the only thing you can hope is that he does like Grant Hill and sign below his market value with a contender to have a shot for a ring.
Bottom line: stop dreaming.
To me the toughest problem with Elson is that when I watch him he looks like he has all the right tools; he is tall, damn fast, can rebound and can shoot. He can also make an occasional vicious dunk! Its maybe gonna take more time is all I can think of, hopefully he can get it together this season or Im afraid Mahinimi/Splitter are going to take him off the roster one way or another.
Yeah if they could trade Elson to get Kurt Thomas that would be great.
Thomas would be fantastic on the Spurs.
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