Reply With Quote
Bad plan. O'B=Soft
Not that bad of a plan. It's too bad O'Bryant couldn't spend any time in Austin, but the failure of a center to stick in a Don Nelson rotation is more of a neutral signal than a negative.
Buy low.
Bad plan. O'B=Soft
Eh, he'd be cheap and wouldn't be called on to do too much with all the other big men on the team. If there is anything worth reclaiming the Spurs could find out pretty quickly. Dude isn't even 22 yet.
I'd take Elson over O'Bryant - anytime
Anthony Fuqua from Austin is a beast and went 2 UTSA
What is your basis for these final conclusions on the career of O'Bryant?
He's a really nice guy, but not NBA material. He needs to try to make some money overseas.
we base this role on Splitter and now we screw, we need to change our plane
what's to be reclaimed?
the guy's entire hype was based around a hot 10 game stretch in the MVC and 2 decent tournament games. It's not like he dominated at a mid-major and just hasn't figured out the NBA yet.
I watched him every game in college. I no he is not 2 great but he is awesome we should give him a shot in the summer league
Yeah, and someone else bought high -- not us. I don't know why we are acting like the Spurs have current All-Stars available to them this summer.
I watched him every game in Austin. He actually worked out in the Spurs facility last summer. They know what they had with him and traded him for Darvin Ham.
I'm telling you I was really sad to see him go -- he was the last original Toro -- but he seems to have plateaued as a basketball player. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on a summer league squad somewhere, but I would be surprised to see him make an NBA squad.
I've liked what I've seen from O'Bryant in D-League this year. He is more interesting than other bigs available for the LLE or less.
All we are saying is that there are better options out there most likely. If s*** hits the fan and nothing pans out, then yeah, I guess we'll have no choice. But until that happens, i'll pass on Patty O'Braynt
Realistically who? The frontcourt rotation is already pretty crowded. Often it can be quite difficult to find a young, established player willing to take a reduced role on a team like the Spurs.
Horrible trade. darvin sux. he is way 2 old to be playing in the dleague
This has yet to be proven.
It worked out pretty well. He was more consistent than Fuqua. The "bad" trade that kept the Toros from winning the championship was Cheyne Gadson for Josh Gross (effectively speaking - it wasn't a one-for-one trade) -- but that was strictly because Gross has considerable upside.
Last edited by ChumpDumper; 06-03-2008 at 04:02 PM.
Whether or not the Spurs need a bigman depends on what they think about Ian Mahinmi. If they think he's ready to produce, he can fill what you are looking for. Mahinmi will basically be the team's rookie big, so there's not too much need for another one .... unless the Spurs believe he's a couple years away from producing.
I was concerned about Mahinmi's lack of blocked shots in D-League but he started blocking more and more shots once the games got more important. In the last two championship games, he blocked five shots in each game. He definitely has the athleticism needed to be the shotblocker and rebounder the Spurs need.
Now, if Mahinmi is deemed not ready, then drafting a big in the first round comes into play -- but it must be the right big. The big I think the Spurs need is a shotblocker who can rebound and is also mobile enough to step out on the court to defend the quicker power forwards. And the player has to be able to step in now and contribute. Basically, the skillset Splitter was going to bring to the table.
Of the players you listed, I don't see Koufos, Ibaka, Ajinca or Hibbert fitting into the profile. Koufos, Ibaka and Ajinca are all long-term projects and I don't think either Koufos or Hibbert are mobile enough. You pair those two players with Duncan and the frontcourt would be too slow.
The two bigs who could be available around where the Spurs draft that could fill the needs are Robin Lopez and Joey Dorsey. This half of the Lopez twins is pretty mobile and is the better shotblocker. Dorsey is almost exactly a poor man's Ben Wallace. Neither one could start anytime soon but off the bench they'd give the Spurs the shotblocking and energy they oftentimes lack from the bigman position next to Duncan.
Another reason why the Spurs would draft a big would be to replace Mahinmi at Austin. Obviously, that would mean they aren't interested in any of the other available players. Instead of trading away the pick like they usually do, the two bigs who I think are perfectly built for the D-League experience are DeVon Hardin and Jason Thompson. Both seem like they could be one full season in the D-League away from being ready to contribute in the NBA -- while at the same time eventually give the Spurs what they need.
Regarding DeSagana Diop, I find it tough to convince myself that he's worth the MLE. I really like his defense but he's such a horrible offensive player that he might negate much of his defensive work. The Spurs can't really afford to take a step back offensively, especially since it was their offense that let them down against the Lakers. I'll have to think about Diop some more but his offense really is pitiful and is the reason why the Mavs basically gave him away and the the reason why the Nets hardly played him. Perhaps he could work as long as the Spurs bring in that much talked about fourth scorer . . .
Overall, I agree with what you said about the Spurs needing shotblocking. Duncan is a very good defender but there will come a time where he can't defend the entire paint. He needs someone on his side.
I do disagree with your stance that the trading of Elson affected this need. Elson wasn't blocking shots when he was here. He looked like he should block shots but he had stopped blocking shots. In fact, Horry and Thomas both blocked more shots per minute than Elson. Even Oberto's landlocked azz wasn't too far away. The need for a shotblocker predates Elson and basically goes all the way back to Robinson's retirement. Rasho was a good shotblocker but he wasn't really the weakside shotblocker that the Spurs need next to Duncan. Nazr was the closest thing the Spurs have had to a weakside shotblocker since Robinson's retirement.
Best case scenario is that Mahinmi is ready to rumble and the Spurs can set their sights elsewhere. If not, mobile shotblocking bigman will be right up there in importance next to fourth scorer.
Well, you've got Duncan, Oberto, Bonner and Ian will get some burn -- Thomas is a good bet to come back.
Which established center will be willing to try to fit himself in there?
I agree with you that Elson and Bargs are both bad. The difference between them is that Elson is 9 years older than Bargnani, which means that Andrea will probably play better in the next season.Don't be suprised, you shouldn't be. Kwame is like the Big kid from the boys and girls club, he can only dominate the little people (PHX in playoffs). I'd prefer Fran back before Kwame. Barg is soft, and he couldn't produce in the east playoffs against orlando. ORLANDO!........and they really needed him.
You said that Kwame did dominate Phoenix. Now tell me if Oberto or Elson are able to dominate anyone? High school team maybe?
With Kwame and Andrea I'm not trying to find a new Shaq, but someone who could be affordable and better than what Spurs have at the moment.
we should be able to teach kwame a damn thing about basketball
If Mahinmi isn't ready yet, I don't see the Spurs drafting another young big, beacuse he'll probably need a year or two to develop as well.
I agree with timvp in the disagreement over Elson.
Elson wasn't a shotblocker. He should have been, but he wasn't. He went a lot of games of 20+ minutes in his career in Denver and with the Spurs without a single block.
Mahinmi is where it's at. He has to be allowed to fail, fall, pick himself back up, dust himself off, and fail again until he gets it right and his athleticism and raw skills overtake his inexperience.
And there's more to it than just Mahinmi blocking shots.
Mahinmi on the court with an athletic wing will do wonders . . . for Tony Parker.
Parker has no safety valve on the court, no horses to run with.
Everyone oohs and aahs at Parker being a one-man fastbreak, but that's a bad thing. Parker needs other guys out there with him, and in the halfcourt Parker needs someone to lob to for easy dunks, provided Parker doesn't throw them all out of bounds like he does in all-star games. Mahinmi helps there.
Mahinmi could also mean the return of the 4-5 alley-oop Duncan used to throw to Robinson a couple of times a game. That's been extinct for 5 years now.
Signing a young big to play in Austin next season makes sense.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
