Props To An Old Friend

[Nikos]

AD. When he was with the Spurs he was one of the most mentally weak, anti-clutch players on the team. Pop would chew his ass constantly because he was so soft. You could count on his nuts to shrivel in the crunch like clockwork and I still believe he's the same player. He's had his moments in this series because for some reason, the Spurs flat out refuse to honor him with the least bit of defense.

It's maddening because AD is just not that good. Never has been, never will be. I predict the minute the Spurs pay any serious attention to him he'll be shut down. They haven't paid him any respect yet.

Isn't that a bit harsh? He did pretty well in 2000-01 vs the Lakers when every other player played about their worst basketball conceivable (except Duncan in Game 2, gave up in all the other games).

[Obstructed_View]

AD isn't the same player he was when he was here. A tour in Portland will do that to a guy.

[TwoHandJam]

Isn't that a bit harsh? He did pretty well in 2000-01 vs the Lakers when every other player played about their worst basketball conceivable (except Duncan in Game 2, gave up in all the other games).

That's what bugged me about him. He only showed up when the games were already over. If the game was still in question and there was any kind of pressure, he sucked badly. The outcome of the games in the Laker series in 2001 were never in question. It's easy to hit shots where you're down 20 pts and it really doesn't matter.

[Nikos]

I think I remember AD doing OK when DA went down. Sure they ended up in blowouts, but I am pretty sure he did well from the start of games (with DA out).

[Mark in Austin]

Like it or not, not every player with talent that gets drafted comes into the League mentally prepared. It takes some guys a while to get their head on right (some never do). Its disappointing that AD didn't get to that point in SA, but I'm happy for him that it happened.

By the way, why all the " AD" bitterness? If we hadn't traded AD for Kerr, do we win a le in 03? Both AD and the Spurs benefitted from that trade in different ways. But make no mistake, both parties did benefit.