Five Step Rebuilding Plan

[Bruno]

Bruno, you need to step away from the computer while you're mourning this loss. You're not thinking clearly at all. They were a legit contender a week ago and suddenly the best way to ever have a sniff is to get rid of Parker, Manu and Duncan and spend several YEARS hoping for a lottery pick? In a month you're going to cringe when you read this stuff that you're writing.

They weren't a legit contender in my book a week ago. Even before the 6 games losing streak, I put Lakers way above them. So, no, it's not a knee jerk reaction. I've been low on Spurs the whole year. It's sure that I'm even lower on them after the loss against Grizzlies. I also think that it will be getting worse and worse with time because Spurs youth won't be enough to offset the aging of some players.

[objective]

I mean, it's not a bad point, but the future is what is important now. Yeah, this year's team peaked at the wrong time and its strategy was flawed from the beginning.

But let's say Splitter erupts, Hill, Blair and/or Neal take the next step, and a couple more quality role players can be found, what team's would be unbeatable next year for the Spurs ... even with the Old Big 3 one year older?

I'd say probably the Lakers ... then again, without Phil Jackson and an older Kobe ... who knows?

I absolutely see no reason to blow up a team that has the ability to be a top three team in the conference. Yeah, the Spurs will need to be fortunate for that to happen ... but not nearly anywhere as fortunate as they'd need to be to become a legit championship contender within the next few decades in a total rebuild scenario.

I'm with you if you want to see the band back together just for the reunion tour.

But they're not making any more hits. I'm afraid you're just talking yourself into it like you talked yourself into believing that Splitter shouldn't play. That's okay, it's just natural.

It's like wanting to see The Who in concert. You think, wow, The Who were awesome! But you forget that Daltry's lost his voice, Townsend is old and deaf, and the other two guys are corpses. The Who aren't The Who anymore. They can put on a show, bring back memories of better times and fill you with nostalgia. But that's it.

Except that unlike the Spurs in San Antonio, The Who can probably sell out their shows.

[objective]

They weren't a legit contender in my book a week ago. Even before the 6 games losing streak, I put Lakers way above them. So, no, it's not a knee jerk reaction. I've been low on Spurs the whole year. It's sure that I'm even lower on them after the loss against Grizzlies. I also think that it will be getting worse and worse with time because Spurs youth won't be enough to offset the aging of some players.

I'm with Bruno here, others like myself were posting that the Spurs were frauds for awhile now.

Manu and Parker after an offseason of international play means they likely won't be any more healthy in the next playoffs. Duncan's age means that those injuries like ankle tweaks and sprains aren't going away.

And OKC is still so young. And good. With no worries yet about losing players to free agency.

And that's just OKC. , Memphis now will have at least 5 home games of playoff revenue this year, that might be enough to keep Gasol. They're not going to fall off due to age.

Up and down the West it's just going to get harder for the Spurs. And that's just the west.

Pop is supposed to suddenly come to his senses and not pull his bullcrap like "It's not fair to the team/These playoffs aren't for him" and get back to defense and toughness?

[Josepatches_]

They weren't a legit contender in my book a week ago. Even before the 6 games losing streak, I put Lakers way above them. So, no, it's not a knee jerk reaction. I've been low on Spurs the whole year. It's sure that I'm even lower on them after the loss against Grizzlies. I also think that it will be getting worse and worse with time because Spurs youth won't be enough to offset the aging of some players.

This.And it's better to accept it.We are not going to win more championships with the actual core of the team.

It was a big surprise the regular season but finally they did what I expected in November.

[rascal]

I mean, it's not a bad point, but the future is what is important now. Yeah, this year's team peaked at the wrong time and its strategy was flawed from the beginning.

But let's say Splitter erupts, Hill, Blair and/or Neal take the next step, and a couple more quality role players can be found, what team's would be unbeatable next year for the Spurs ... even with the Old Big 3 one year older?

I'd say probably the Lakers ... then again, without Phil Jackson and an older Kobe ... who knows?

I absolutely see no reason to blow up a team that has the ability to be a top three team in the conference. Yeah, the Spurs will need to be fortunate for that to happen ... but not nearly anywhere as fortunate as they'd need to be to become a legit championship contender within the next few decades in a total rebuild scenario.

The problem is getting those role players that will put the Spurs over the top.
The Spurs have tried that route the last four years and haven't even been able to get a legit starting big.

The big 3 can't carry the load anymore like the past so the role players have to be better than what they had in the past. Where are these very good role players going to come from if you don't want to move any of the better core players on the team?

[Chomag]

And OKC is still so young. And good. With no worries yet about losing players to free agency.

And that's just OKC. , Memphis now will have at least 5 home games of playoff revenue this year, that might be enough to keep Gasol. They're not going to fall off due to age

Throw in Chicago and the Heat into that mix. Maybe not this season but the next I think this is the turning point in the NBA for awhile. These top tier young teams are going to be the ones battling it out for a few seasons to come, at least untill the older teams like Boston, Spurs, and LA can rebuild with new cores and get back in the mix.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

Anderson was fine when he was healthy. He got hurt and nobody ever thought it was important to give him any minutes. Might have been nice to have him available when RJ went s up. Actually, it's entirely possible that RJ's performance was directly related to the amount of pressure put on him by Ja.

If he stays healthy and his stamina problems were rectifiable, I have no doubt that given the minutes Anderson will take RJ's starting job from him.

The inherent problem with that is that IMO he is undersized for today's NBA Small Forward. That leads me to say that if Ginobili returns to the bench, we can possibly see Anderson take the starting SG spot. Making George Hill even more expendable.

Anderson is going to be very solid for us if he can stay healthy.

[baseline bum]

Man, I hate being on the same side as rascal; he ing hates the Spurs.

[ElNono]

And OKC is still so young. And good. With no worries yet about losing players to free agency.

And that's just OKC. , Memphis now will have at least 5 home games of playoff revenue this year, that might be enough to keep Gasol. They're not going to fall off due to age.

Throw in Chicago and the Heat into that mix. Maybe not this season but the next I think this is the turning point in the NBA for awhile. These top tier young teams are going to be the ones battling it out for a few seasons to come, at least untill the older teams like Boston, Spurs, and LA can rebuild with new cores and get back in the mix.

With that in mind, I wouldn't be opposed to the farewell tour, seeing that unless you get absolutely incredibly lucky in the draft and manage to draft a top 50 all time player, you probably won't be contending anyways.

[Spur-Addict]

In reference to Neal, Splitter and Blair.

Pop: "We look forward to having all those guys back and putting it together again "

In reference to Memphis exposing us, pointing to a need.

Pop: "Their defense was excellent....To some degree that was size and strength. They man handled us in some situations....Size was definetly a factor"

In Reference to Changes.

Pop: "There are always going to be some changes. We never get drastic in that sense. Someone asked, 'we lost, are we going to blow it up?' You know, that's the most preposterous at ude to have right after you lose. Because, twenty nine teams lose. McDyess is the one guy who is probably leaning towards retirement"

In reference to Tim being back regardless of lockout

Pop: "I don't see why he wouldn't"
________________________

So, in what I take from this for the purpose of this thread is that there will most likely not be any changes in regards to the Big 3. I think Pop wants to change the suppporting cast a bit in light of what has happened this series.

Aside from the Big 3, I don't think Tiago or Neal is going anywhere. Anderson would be traded only in a absolutely must trade situation. He has played well earlier this season. Additionally, he defends well, has the size to rebound and stretches the court. The only players I see on the block are Blair, Hill, Bonner and Jefferson. Although Pop said he wants Blair back, Tiago played so well that it wouldn't be a stretch to say that their could be a trade he's involved in. But, to be honest, I don't see many changes coming.


As far as the draft goes, who knows what will be there when our pick arrives. It's a roll of the Dice.

As many others have said, Jeff is likely stuck here. Maybe Pop can help him develop a backbone like he helped him develop his ability to shoot in our system. But, unlikely. He's a waste of money.

So we're really looking at Free Agency, the draft, and maybe some sort of trade that will not move Jefferson or much else. We will most likely have two (or three if Dice retires) new players on the roster. One (or two) bigs, and one wing. They will be "defensive minded" etc. Hopefully a miraculous trade occurs, but don't get your hopes up.

[baseline bum]

Well, I'm not going to complain too much because I still love seeing Tim, Tony, and Manu in Spurs jerseys and Pop on the sidelines, even if he does some things that baffle me. The team being compe ive in the next 3 years is a monster long-shot though. I really hope Splitter, Anderson, Blair, Hill, and Neal blow up though, because there aren't too many other options for this team to get any better. Jefferson is a total write-off, but I want to see him back because the Spurs can't afford to give up a good player to salary dump his sorry ass. Hopefully the Spurs can dump Bonner for an unguaranteed second round pick or something.

[Obstructed_View]

Well, I'm not going to complain too much because I still love seeing Tim, Tony, and Manu in Spurs jerseys and Pop on the sidelines, even if he does some things that baffle me. The team being compe ive in the next 3 years is a monster long-shot though. I really hope Splitter, Anderson, Blair, Hill, and Neal blow up though, because there aren't too many other options for this team to get any better. Jefferson is a total write-off, but I want to see him back because the Spurs can't afford to give up a good player to salary dump his sorry ass. Hopefully the Spurs can dump Bonner for an unguaranteed second round pick or something.

Anderson, Green and Butler are going to have some chances to develop, and the odds aren't bad that one of them will be impressive. I think Splitter is already the best all-around center since Five Oh left, and he's going to get better. There's really no reason not to expect Neal to improve. Richards is coming in at some point, and you'd hope that Pop will learn his lesson about not giving young guys burn. If Duncan's defense and rebounding continue at the same level, and if the Spurs go back to gameplanning to defend, then they should be fine and I like their chances against anyone.

[HankChinaski]

Honestly I don't see the spurs getting rid of Bonner. His contract isn't that bad at all. If anything he makes for a regular season rotation player to bring in off the bench. I don't see him being anything extremely useful come playoffs. He can shoot, but his release is slow and without a post presence that gets buckets in the paint he isn't going to get his shot off often at all.

Only way they are dumping him is with a package of neal/hill i would imagine. Honestly there's a good chance at above average to average team that could use someone like bonner to help facilitate the offense out at the 3pt line. He's shown that he is scrapy but overall isn't a major impact that puts you over the top. So a trade could be possible, but for them to give us anything back well i think they would want either one of those two added in the deal (Hill/Neal). And if it comes to that it will depend on the team the spurs are attempting to trade with has available and willing to trade for with those players in mind.

Richard Jefferson isn't effective in the half court offense with this roster. His contract isn't going to help either in ridding him. Unless we try and pull a bad contract type player with a combination of RJ and Bonner or RJ and a nice rookie contract like blairs I don't see them getting anything. Off the bench like TVP mentioned sounds as good of a plan as any.

The spurs need a younger post presence in the paint on offense. and a wing defender that can if possible stretch from 1-4 on defense. Something like that with the current squad minus a Dice since he's most likely retiring would

I like what I've seen from anderson. Would like to see him at the SG position playing 20+ a game. Curious to see if there is a possible steal in Butler. Neal off the bench is always nice. Hill, Blair, Bonner are contracts that are useable to bringing something in, but RJ is almost an albatross of a contract considering his age. It will take Buford some extra wheeling and dealing to bring something in with regards to RJ. Although there are a ton of stupid Front Offices in this league so who knows.

And Ryan Richards, well I would love to believe he could be an impact player right out the gate next season, but I seriously doubt it.

[HankChinaski]

Honestly I think a 4/5 post presence defender should be the spurs primary objective during the draft and off season. If we can bring in someone to make impressive difference there spurs can just evaluate the young talent or sign a vet wing to fill in the rest and make do from there.

[mingus]

since the big 3 are probably going to be kept intact, i hope the FO approaches the off-season with defense in mind. Spurs badly need it at the SF and back-up center & PF positions.

ideally, they get a guy that can play great defense at SF so that RJ can come off the bench. best case scenario would be Shane Battier, but he seems to have a really good relationship with his town and team so i doubt it happens. Tayshawn Prince? Grant Hill? there are some nice options at SF.

as for Blair & Bonner: bottom line if Spurs walk into camp trotting Bonner & Blair as the back-up 4 & 5 respectively i will literally cry and i will question why the team just didn't decide to blow it up.

[Obstructed_View]

I have much less problem with Bonner and Blair as backups if a couple of things happen:

Splitter and Duncan are starting
One of them (Splitter/Duncan)is on the floor at virtually all times.

I'd also like to see the Spurs get some size from the draft or the free agent market, or both, and let them play. If Richards comes over and isn't in Austin the entire season, I'd like him to get some burn to see if he can defend.

[james evans]

I have much less problem with Bonner and Blair as backups if a couple of things happen:

Splitter and Duncan are starting
One of them (Splitter/Duncan)is on the floor at virtually all times.

I'd also like to see the Spurs get some size from the draft or the free agent market, or both, and let them play. If Richards comes over and isn't in Austin the entire season, I'd like him to get some burn to see if he can defend.

at NO POINT should splitter and bonner ever be on the floor at the same time though. and pop did it quite a bit.

[mingus]

I have much less problem with Bonner and Blair as backups if a couple of things happen:

Splitter and Duncan are starting
One of them (Splitter/Duncan)is on the floor at virtually all times.

I'd also like to see the Spurs get some size from the draft or the free agent market, or both, and let them play. If Richards comes over and isn't in Austin the entire season, I'd like him to get some burn to see if he can defend.

that or make a trade.

all these guys should be on the table IMO:

Gary Neal, Blair, Bonner.

as much as i like Gary Neal, his stock might be the highest it'll ever be right now. i think for next year and for the future, James Anderson is a way better option. he's young, pretty athletic and has good size. i would say that George Hill should be used as an asset too, but there's no back up pg on this team. Quinn won't cut it. if trading one or all of those guys can net a guy with size i would be all for it. then you hope to draft a big to go along with that. as for Richards, i put no stock into this guy. i've seen a youtube video of him, but anyone can look goon on a youtube compilation.

[james evans]

i wouldn't trade neal. he can hit the open 3 while creating his own shot off the dribble. he will never be a franchise player, but can get buckets when everyone else is cold.

[Obstructed_View]

that or make a trade.

all these guys should be on the table IMO:

Gary Neal, Blair, Bonner.

as much as i like Gary Neal, his stock might be the highest it'll ever be right now. i think for next year and for the future, James Anderson is a way better option. he's young, pretty athletic and has good size. i would say that George Hill should be used as an asset too, but there's no back up pg on this team. Quinn won't cut it. if trading one or all of those guys can net a guy with size i would be all for it. then you hope to draft a big to go along with that. as for Richards, i put no stock into this guy. i've seen a youtube video of him, but anyone can look goon on a youtube compilation.

Neal looks like a winner to me, and he's making nothing. He's got no value to the Spurs if they trade him. All the things you said about Neal go double for Hill. He's actually got some value and it looks like he's never going to be worth more than he is now. And Hill isn't a point guard; Neal can probably run point as well as he can. I'd like to see Anderson get some time at shooting guard which is why Hill becomes odd man out.

I don't want Richards to get minutes because I think he's good, I want him to get minutes so we can find out. The Spurs went into a playoff series this season and could have gotten some use out of Ian Mahinmi. I'm sick of not knowing what the team has on the frontline because everyone's too chicken to play them.

[HankChinaski]

Hill looks identically to Parker in a lot of ways his first few years. If we didn't have such a small squad I think Hill could perform and do much better out there. He still hasn't hit his ceiling in my opinion, but I think this summer now more than ever is a time where you seriously look whats out there for a few of the guys we have on the roster.

[mingus]

Neal looks like a winner to me, and he's making nothing. He's got no value to the Spurs if they trade him. All the things you said about Neal go double for Hill. He's actually got some value and it looks like he's never going to be worth more than he is now. And Hill isn't a point guard; Neal can probably run point as well as he can. I'd like to see Anderson get some time at shooting guard which is why Hill becomes odd man out.

i would rather trade Hill but that leaves a big hole at back up PG, and i've not seen enough of a sample size of Neal playing it to back trading Hill. i would personally love it if Neal were able to come in and fill the back up pg spot though. do you bank on him to do that though?

[yavozerb]

Neal looks like a winner to me, and he's making nothing. He's got no value to the Spurs if they trade him. All the things you said about Neal go double for Hill. He's actually got some value and it looks like he's never going to be worth more than he is now. And Hill isn't a point guard; Neal can probably run point as well as he can. I'd like to see Anderson get some time at shooting guard which is why Hill becomes odd man out.

I don't want Richards to get minutes because I think he's good, I want him to get minutes so we can find out. The Spurs went into a playoff series this season and could have gotten some use out of Ian Mahinmi. I'm sick of not knowing what the team has on the frontline because everyone's too chicken to play them.

Seriously....

[Obstructed_View]

i would rather trade Hill but that leaves a big hole at back up PG, and i've not seen enough of a sample size of Neal playing it to back trading Hill. i would personally love it if Neal were able to come in and fill the back up pg spot though. do you bank on him to do that though?

No, Neal's not a backup point guard. The point is: Neither is Hill. I'd get a backup point guard like a normal team does.

[ducks]

rj for jr smith