Hindsight 20/20: Spurs Made Mistake

[BronxCowboy]

I agree with timvp, lets get SJax back, and while we are at it, lets get Steve Kerr and Danny Ferry too, those guys really contributed to the 2003 championship.

, maybe the admiral would suit up and give us another ring...

I'm sorry for the sarcasm, no I don't like Stephen Jackson style. Spurs front office might have done a mistake letting SJax go, but they got Hedo Turkoglu, Ron Mercer and Brent Barry its not their fault none of those guys fit.

Move on already, if Brent Barry doesnt cut it, lets get someone else who does, that doesnt mean we should get SJax back.

BINGO!! Jackson was on of those guys that you love when he does something good, but most of the time you just want to bang your head against the wall. Maybe Barry is too, but that doesn't mean that Jack should be back.

[Rick Von Braun]

If the Spurs would have given him that 5-year, $24M he wanted after the championship, that is LESS money than they have tied up in Brent Barry and in the same amount of years. How would that have made a difference in re-signing Parker and/or Manu.

SJax not only wanted more years, but also more money. His original expectations were $30+M. I remember an article saying he wanted more years and 3 times more money than the offer from the Spurs. Several people in the board laughed about that.

First of all, the only team that was willing to pay what the Spurs wanted to pay Manu was Denver. But Denver got their number one option in Kenyon Martin. Who else was going to break the bank for Manu?

It was reported at the time that Denver was willing to pay Manu $58M. They could have made Manu their number one option if they knew they had a realistic shot at him. Manu signed with the Spurs for $52M. Denver went for Kenyon because they had a realistic shot at him. Manu made much more sense for them from a basketball point of view. Miller, Manu, Anthony, Nene, and Camby would have made a strong, fast and athletic starting 5.

In addition, there weren't many suitors because teams knew it was a long shot. Changing the conditions would have made many other teams more interested if they knew they had a realistic chance at him. Could you imagine Manu with the Suns this year?

Second of all, if Manu is just about starting, that isn't the type of team player you want on a championship team. But if he really, really want to start, you could either started both Manu and SJax or demote SJax to the bench.

Well, may be Manu is not the type of player for the Spurs. Trade him. The only thing I know is that if SJax or Parker were asked to come off the bench like Manu has been asked several times during his carreer, even after he was elected an All-Star, they would be pouting like no one else. What does this say about them? Are SJax and/or Parker Spurs' championship team material in your opinion?

[Nikos]

Could you imagine Manu with the Suns this year?

That thought has crossed my mind from time to time. Imagine a lineup of Nash Ginobili Johnson Marion Amare

The fastbreaks would be even more ridiculous then right now.

[GSH]

NBA players need skills... the Spurs like them to have character and brains. Jackson is solid on the first count. He's pretty short on the last two. For every game that Jackson helped them win, he helped them lose one by being stupid. If he wasn't so stupid, he would have been a Spur the year after he got a championship ring with them.

The Spurs gave Jackson a chance, when no one else wanted to. He learned a lot while he was here. (Remember the "anger management" issues he had during games when he first came here? They really helped him with that.) Being stupid and a hothead doesn't fit into the Spurs' system well, but they would have kept him and worked him in. But not at the price the Pacers paid for him.

[picnroll]

Jack was coming off the bench in Indianna behind Miller.

If Jack and Manu were both Spurs Bruce could have come off the bench. Manu and Jack are superior defenders, not as good as Bruce but good enough, particularly considering the added offense it Jack and Manu could have brought. That would have also put pressure on Manu and Jack to stay focused on D (not that Manu needs it) knowing if they were lax Bowen would be subbing in.

If you remembers back it would generally be Jack and Manu that were on the floor in the 2003 le run when the game was in the balance in the fourth.

Whether Spurs would have had the $ reserves to stave off a run at Manu by Denver, that definitely would be a risk and a guessing game. How much Manu would sacrifice to be a Spur and how committed Denver would be to spend big money on a SG of Manu's caliber at the time? He has since certainly elevated his standings value and if it were this year Spurs might be looking at near max money to resign him. Not so last year.

But it's all what ifs. Jack's agent Fegan was a prick, Hedo was available, maybe Pop thought ultimately Jack was too much of a time bomb, ...

[MadDog73]

Hey, if Jackson is so good, why did it take 7 games to beat the Celtics?

Just wondering....

[duncan2k5]

Jackson's shooting % would have been better on the spurs this year than indy because of more open looks for one thing. he has proven himself to be more clutch than barry for another. when barry shoots i usually dont expect it to go in, thats how bad it has become. when jack shoots, in my mind its money. anyone see the game with indy and heat like 2 months back when jack shot a 3 for overtime, missed then the ball swung back to him and he beat the buzzer? AND in ovetime he killed them with another big 3. thats ice cold. and he is not a liability on the defensive end either. if we had him there is no question who would guard rashard.

[pjjrfan]

My argument back then was why break up a championship team. The Pistons didn't, the Lakers didn't, the Bulls didn't, well they waited until the 3rd le to break it up. The Rockets didn't, in the last 15 years the only teams to totally change from one year to the next after a championship have been the Spurs, in 99 and then in 03,(I forgot the Bulls of 98) but they cited financial worries and the future for not bringing Jax back, they could have given him what he wanted like an earlier poster said and still come out ahead. But they didn't and Jax is gone, gotta live with that. In the meantime this Spurs team is set for a long run with some good players and some more potentially good players coming aboard, so it's hard to 2nd guess the FO, but being a huge sports fan, I just never have seen a team that has broken up a young nucleus of champions from one year to the next in any sport. The only guy they really had to replace in 03 was David, cause he was retiring, othen than that, they could have kept the nucleus of that group.

[bigbendbruisebrother]

I don't see the point of this argument. Didn't Jax refuse to entertain offers from the Spurs? As I recall, he wouldn't even return phone calls.

[Obstructed_View]

Yeah, that's the way I remember it. His agent was trying to play hardball with the Spurs, they signed Hedo because they were worried that Jack was gonna wait until all the free agents were gone before negotiating and Jack ended up signing with the only team that would take him for a fraction of the money talking about how that's where he wanted to be all along.

Try to remember that the reason Jack was able to hit so many big shots in 2003 is because the Spurs couldn't hold a lead to save their life that year, and that's partially due to Jack in the first place. Absence makes the fan grow more delusional. The guy was a good player with potential, but if anyone in the NBA thought he was worth anything after the '03 championship, he would have ended up somewhere other than Atlanta.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

If they were reluctant to pay Tony with Barry's contract on the payroll, what makes you think they would have been willing to s out when Jax would have commanded either more money or more years (if not both)

They were reluctant to pay because Holt is a tight ass who just watched his team get worked over by the Lakers.

It's all a moot point though. The Spurs have owners like Nations Bank, Clear Channel, etc. They could have come up with the money.

And then not use the MLE last year, and it wouldn't have been an issue.

Here's the thing: if we had Jax, we wouldn't have Barry. And we'd probably have another thing. You don't think that the ownership wouldn't have made whatever more they were s ing out with another ring last year?

As for the Jax negotiations, there is a lot of blame to go around. His agent was a , fine.

But you can't tell me that Pop, Tim, etc. didn't have Stephen's phone number. Jax's agent certainly hijacked things, but there's a lot of people who probably could have done more.

[IX_Equilibrium]

I don't miss Stephen Jackson at all. Good riddance, I said.

[bigbendbruisebrother]

Try to remember that the reason Jack was able to hit so many big shots in 2003 is because the Spurs couldn't hold a lead to save their life that year, and that's partially due to Jack in the first place. Absence makes the fan grow more delusional. The guy was a good player with potential, but if anyone in the NBA thought he was worth anything after the '03 championship, he would have ended up somewhere other than Atlanta.

Too true. The guy is a head band. His 1st round performance wouldn't be heroic had he not ventured into the Detroit stands with Artest, gotten suspended and then ensured that every postseason Indy win would be "miraculous". Instead of being the surpising 6 seed beating the 3 seed, Indy should be at least the 3 seed and a heavy favorite to win the east. Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest share the responsibility of ruining Reggie Miller's last year. Everything Jax contributes now is just going towards digging Indy out the hole he helped dig.

[SequSpur]

I have written this article at least 10 times over the past 3 years. Lets give credit where credit is due.

Me.

[danyel]

props Sequ

and props on the "Giricek > Manu", and "Manu: the worst shooting guard in the world" too.

I'm sorry you are not being taken as seriously as you deserve every time you post.

[Manu'sMagicalLeftHand]

And next season, Manu is going to average 36-38 minutes per game, make a vBookie on it, or whatever, I'm willing to bet real money on it.

[TNT21]

I'm so sick of this sjax is better than barry bull ! Look we have to make it work with what we have, whether it be barry or sjax or (insert random name here). There's no use in crying over spilt milk!

[wildbill2u]

Barry's playing some good smart minutes in the playoffs. And we have Manu and Parker under contract. I can live without the erratic play of Jax.