how good is tiago splitter.?.

[samikeyp]

They are professional athletes, they all play for money.

Mark in Austin explained Splitter's situation, he was offered a deal 2-4 times more lucrative to stay in Spain. In 2010, the Spurs can make a compe ive offer.

Maggette took over 48M instead of the 32M the Spurs could offer. He made the same decision nearly every professional athlete would make, and that includes Manu.

Before Manu signed his current 52M deal with the Spurs, he had talks with Denver. Do you seriously believe he would have accepted 32M from the Spurs if he was offered close to 50M by Denver? He stayed in San Antonio because he wanted to be here AND because the Spurs were able to make a compe ive offer. They were not able to make compe ive offers to Splitter or Maggette.

He might have knowing that his best chance for winning a le was to stay with SA. I don't know that for certain but I also don't know for certain that he would have taken more money elsewhere. Neither does anyone else here.

IMO, that is what it comes down to for a player, do you want to go somewhere that improves your chance to win a le, or would just go for the money, even to a crappy team.

[ploto]

I have not seen him play lately but in the past he kind of reminded me of Rasho. He plays tough on defense but is soft on offense. He will initiate contact when defendng a guy but shy away from contact on offense.

[Mel_13]

He might have knowing that his best chance for winning a le was to stay with SA. I don't know that for certain but I also don't know for certain that he would have taken more money elsewhere. Neither does anyone else here.

IMO, that is what it comes down to for a player, do you want to go somewhere that improves your chance to win a le, or would just go for the money, even to a crappy team.

Of course there is no way to absolutely know. There are, however, numerous examples of professional following the money. How many examples are there of professional athletes taking deals worth 50% of the best available deal? And finding some guy at the end of his career who takes 1M from a contender instead of 2M from bottom dweller doesn't really apply.

At the time Manu signed his extension in 2004, he had made a total of 2.9M in the NBA. I don't think, at age 27, he would have left 20M on the table. And Denver wasn't a crappy team in 2004. Adding Manu to Melo, Nene, Camby, and Andre Miller would have resulted in a very good team. Of course, we can't say that with certainty, but point me to the example of some professional athlete in a similar situation who turned down that kind of money.

[samikeyp]

Of course there is no way to absolutely know. There are, however, numerous examples of professional following the money. How many examples are there of professional athletes taking deals worth 50% of the best available deal? And finding some guy at the end of his career who takes 1M from a contender instead of 2M from bottom dweller doesn't really apply.

At the time Manu signed his extension in 2004, he had made a total of 2.9M in the NBA. I don't think, at age 27, he would have left 20M on the table. And Denver wasn't a crappy team in 2004. Adding Manu to Melo, Nene, Camby, and Andre Miller would have resulted in a very good team. Of course, we can't say that with certainty, but point me to the example of some professional athlete in a similar situation who turned down that kind of money.

I agree they are few and far between. One recent example is Jason Taylor turning down an $8M dollar deal with the Redskins to take a $1.1M deal from the Dolphins. (Neither really contenders) While its not probable, it is possible and while it is not probable that Manu would have taken that kind of deal from the Spurs, it is possible.

[planaria]

I have seen him 3, 4 times playing for Brazil...

Tends to choke on big games with Brazil's National team... what is encouraging though is that he has always shown to be better than Nene when playing together... it always ends up in a two man show in between him and Barbosa and sometimes Marcelinho shows up too...

Are you serious? This is the ONLY guy in Brazilian NT who never choke in big games.

Actually, the best games I´ve seen from Splitter were against USA (D_Howard) and China (humillating Yao Ming).

[Mel_13]

I agree they are few and far between. One recent example is Jason Taylor turning down an $8M dollar deal with the Redskins to take a $1.1M deal from the Dolphins. (Neither really contenders) While its not probable, it is possible and while it is not probable that Manu would have taken that kind of deal from the Spurs, it is possible.

First off, I'm not sure that you and I have any significant disagreement on this issue. My initial post was not in reply to anything you posted, but rather to those who condemned Splitter and Maggette for taking considerably more money to play elsewhere. To say that they lack compe ive fire based on these decisions when then cannot provide examples of players who have done otherwise, is at least disingenuous.

The Taylor example you cite is interesting, but he is a guy that has made a fortune and wants to go home to finish his career. Which supports some of what you have said, and with which I agree. There are, indeed, many factors that influence the decisions of professional athletes.

As far as I'm concerned, the future value of adding Splitter to the Spurs is neither increased nor diminished by virtue of his rather logical decision to secure his financial future and provide the best possible medical care for a sister with a fatal disease. Knowing that he could make top money for two seasons, playing for a good team in a good league, provide for his sister, AND be able to move to the NBA at age 25 for a compe ive salary seems to be the actions of a responsible person with his priorities in order.

[planaria]

He is 100% not as good as Spanoulis

These are all Euroleague players better than Splitter

Spanoulis
Siskauskas
McIntyre
Bourousis
Navarro
Pekovic
Papaloukas

Debatable ones, players in same general class is guys like

Andersen
Reyes
Lorbek
Batiste
Ilyasova
Prigioni
Rakocevic
Diamantidis
Vujacic
Vazquez


Keep on drinking kool aid of NBA hype machine.

NBA hype machine? What about Greek hype machine? I´m surprise that you didnt list all these greek players as better than TD.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

NBA hype machine? What about Greek hype machine? I´m surprise that you didnt list all these greek players as better than TD.

Oh yes because everyone know Greek basketball is consider joke in Europe right?

[samikeyp]

First off, I'm not sure that you and I have any significant disagreement on this issue. My initial post was not in reply to anything you posted, but rather to those who condemned Splitter and Maggette for taking considerably more money to play elsewhere. To say that they lack compe ive fire based on these decisions when then cannot provide examples of players who have done otherwise, is at least disingenuous.

The Taylor example you cite is interesting, but he is a guy that has made a fortune and wants to go home to finish his career. Which supports some of what you have said, and with which I agree. There are, indeed, many factors that influence the decisions of professional athletes.

As far as I'm concerned, the future value of adding Splitter to the Spurs is neither increased nor diminished by virtue of his rather logical decision to secure his financial future and provide the best possible medical care for a sister with a fatal disease. Knowing that he could make top money for two seasons, playing for a good team in a good league, provide for his sister, AND be able to move to the NBA at age 25 for a compe ive salary seems to be the actions of a responsible person with his priorities in order.

With his sister's condition, that changes everything. I don't blame the guy for wanting to be there for her.

[ElNono]

IMHO, he's average at best. That said, he's an improvement over the current big rotation.
I definitely don't think he's the player that will put our frontline over the top.

[Bruno]

Splitter is a good player. He is also a way better defender than Scrubla.

[Bukefal]

Bourousis is better

[urunobili]

He is also a way better defender than Scrubla.

I think that deserves further explanation/proof... I'd love someone to enlighten me

[Bruno]

I think that deserves further explanation/proof... I'd love someone to enlighten me

Maybe you should have watched Splitter when he was in Tau and less when he was 18 years old.

Splitter is a very solid defender. OTOH, Scrubla is seriously limited by his lack of size and athleticism.

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

Maybe you should have watched Splitter when he was in Tau and less when he was 18 years old.

Splitter is a very solid defender. OTOH, Scrubla is seriously limited by his lack of size and athleticism.

Scola has very bad post defense on big players. Everyone know this. But Scola is definitely a better player than Splitter at least in current time.

[urunobili]

Maybe you should have watched Splitter when he was in Tau and less when he was 18 years old.

Splitter is a very solid defender. OTOH, Scrubla is seriously limited by his lack of size and athleticism.

Bruno... I have seen Tiago play with Brazil's national team a couple of times... as an adult... and still... overall... he didn't convince me that he is better than Scola as a defender...

EDIT: as a Position defender... one on one and against bigger guys Tiago has the advantage.. but i have seen him getting yelled at by different coaches for being out of position or not rotating appropriately...

[Bruno]

Bruno... I have seen Tiago play with Brazil's national team a couple of times... as an adult... and still... overall... he didn't convince me that he is better than Scola as a defender...

Well, we disagree.

[stéphane]

He's clearly and already one of the top center in europe and everybody that watches him play see room for improvement... So guess what, he's an instant upgrade over everyone not named Duncan and has a high ceiling. What could we ask for?

[Kill_Bill_Pana]

He's clearly and already one of the top center in europe and everybody that watches him play see room for improvement... So guess what, he's an instant upgrade over everyone not named Duncan and has a high ceiling. What could we ask for?

Actually all these centers and centers/forwards in Europe could help make Spurs better at 4 and 5 positions. There is a lot of players in Europe that could help them at 4 and 5 positions.

Pekovic
Bourousis
Splitter
Javtokas
Batiste
Lorbek
Reyes
Shermadini
Savrasenko
Vujcic
Vazquez
Andersen
Borchard
Glyniadakis
Mavrokefalidis
Lavrinovic brothers

[Mark in Austin]

He might have knowing that his best chance for winning a le was to stay with SA. I don't know that for certain but I also don't know for certain that he would have taken more money elsewhere. Neither does anyone else here.

IMO, that is what it comes down to for a player, do you want to go somewhere that improves your chance to win a le, or would just go for the money, even to a crappy team.

I'm honestly surprised by your take on this. For players, basketball isn't simply a game, it's their profession. Duncan, who has already already made more money than god and has 4 rings gave the Spurs what was considered a huge discount on his extension - about 10 million over two years.

Why should anybody expect Splitter to take 10+million less (easily 50% less) on his FIRST deal when Duncan, who is really only playing for the history books at this point, took about 20% less on an extension to a contract that has already paid him Splitter's entire Tau contract total more than five times over?

Duncan and Garnett are the only two players I can think of who have left $10+ million on the table in the NBA. And both of those guys had already made over $100 million when they did so.

[samikeyp]

I'm honestly surprised by your take on this. For players, basketball isn't simply a game, it's their profession. Duncan, who has already already made more money than god and has 4 rings gave the Spurs what was considered a huge discount on his extension - about 10 million over two years.

Why should anybody expect Splitter to take 10+million less (easily 50% less) on his FIRST deal when Duncan, who is really only playing for the history books at this point, took about 20% less on an extension to a contract that has already paid him Splitter's entire Tau contract total more than five times over?

Duncan and Garnett are the only two players I can think of who have left $10+ million on the table in the NBA. And both of those guys had already made over $100 million when they did so.

Sorry for the surprise. Its just a different view than yours. No right, no wrong, just different. No big deal.

[ploto]

Duncan and Garnett are the only two players I can think of who have left $10+ million on the table in the NBA. And both of those guys had already made over $100 million when they did so.

Rasho left $10 M in Minnesota to come to SA.

[Spurs Brazil]

I think Tiago is solid on one on one D but he must improve his rotations.

[Mel_13]

Rasho left $10 M in Minnesota to come to SA.

Was there ever anything in the press reporting this?

[ploto]

Was there ever anything in the press reporting this?

Rasho accepted $42 M from the Spurs when Minnesota was offering $52 M- albeit most of the difference was that the Timberwolves could give larger % increases each season and one more year in the contract. Kevin McHale was actually ready to increase the offer even higher to get Rasho to stay when Rasho told him that at level, it really was not about more money but about where he wanted to play. What it means in reality is that Rasho would have made a little more money each subsequent season and then he would still have had one more year on his deal and be making about $9M next season.