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I know.. Chances are that there is still some leeway to get Ariza via S&T of Blair + Bonner. Lets see.
my thoughts exactly..thx
I know.. Chances are that there is still some leeway to get Ariza via S&T of Blair + Bonner. Lets see.
I'm gonna stick with C-, sounds about right regarding how I feel about the Spurs offseason. If Oden picks Spurs, I would bump it to a C but nothing more.
Oden is redundant to the Spurs' requirements, atleast this season, but an asset for the future. I would still grade this offseason as a D. I thought the Spurs could have sequenced their moves better in order to get a free agent backup SF. They instead felt it necessary to get replacements for Neal and Blair as priorities, and even there with Belinelli & Pendergraph, I think they were just marginal improvements and mostly lateral moves. Belinelli, I think, is just marginally better than Neal, while Pendergraph doesn't seem to be any big upgrade over Blair. In prioritising their signings, retaining Bonner (without amnestying him) and not finding a backup SF, I think the Spurs haven't improved beyond small margins than last season, when they could have after Jackson's contract came off their books. Manu was a tad overpaid, yes (while Splitter got market value), but that was understandable for me. Rest was meh.
I'll give C+.
The C is for re-signing all the veterans except Neal. That's a wise move considering our main strenght is the fact that all the people knows the system and can use this knowledge from the start of the season.
It's wiser considering that there are at least 2 players (I mean Baynes and Joseph) and maybe four (add Mills and De Colo) that should play a lot more minutes from the start after the one entire year past with the team necessary for learning the system.
Cannot be more than C (apart the + that I'm explaining after) 'cause we probably needed to add a big name to take some of the big responsabilities or, at least, some of the dirty working, off of the shoulders of our main players.
In this sense I think we could miss Neal, 'cause he had become a reliable part of the rotation.
The + it s 'cause, however, I like the way we replaced the two guys we were supposed to lose.
Beli, imho, has a good basketball IQ (so, probably, he won't need a big amount of time for undestanding Pop's way and system), should give a more wide kind of options on offense than Neal (he's not as clutch, precise end fast-shooting as Neal, but is anyway a more than decent shooter, also after screens, is higher than Neal -so having more variety for passing and more time for shooting - and, for sure, can go to the rim better than Neal), and should be better for sure on defense (thanks to some of Thib's lessons).
Pendergraph should also be a high basketball IQ player (and so entering our system should't be a too big deal for him). I liked him since the first time I've seen him defending Duncan and thought he had a very good two way potential. If, like I think, it's been only unlucky in his career 'cause of the bad (but only) injury he suffered, he could became, in little time, a real steal (that's, at least, what I hope about him). In any case, considering how little Blair has played last season, he should replace him more than well.
Blair didn't need to replaced tho.
Oden won't pick the Spurs, but in the rare event he does I give them a B.
I disagree on Oden. If he is back at a level close to the last he played in the NBA, he will tremendously help Spurs as soon as this season. A frontcourt of Splitter/Duncan with Diaw/Oden subbing them would be just great.
I'm also surprised Spurs didn't add a backup SF but they have a very good option for that spot with Ginobili. Even if he is primarily a SG, he played a lot of SF in his Spurs career with good results.
But that assumes that Oden, after three, microfracture surgeries, a self-confessed alcoholism problem, basically two years without playing at any level, will be back to perform at a decent level again. It is not impossible, but I doubt if it will happen this year. And that is why I consider him one for the future, with Popovich playing him in, rather than attempting to make him contribute rightaway.
Fair enough on Manu at the 3, but I don't think it will be fruitful in small ball lineups when Kawhi will need to have a backup relieving him. And that remains the one "hole" in the Spurs. Hopefully they get something done in the trade deadline and don't repeat last year's passiveness during that time.
I don't see Oden as a player needing a year to get back his game because it wasn't based on skills but more on instincts and physical abilities. We will know quite quickly if he still has it or not.
Agree, Spurs lack of options when they will have to go small is an issue. It's even a relatively big issue because a lot of good teams like Warriors, Clippers, Rockets or Heat will go small.
Blair signed with the Mavs.
Yeah, so no Ariza.
so much for that sign n trade. that was never happening anyway. So long dejuan.
C. Not getting a SF was a travesty.
I give it a B.
I think the lack of significant aquisitions means that they are content if need be with the current rotational players. They must expect continued growth from Leonard, Splitter, and Green. With that being said it's easy to see how we could improve as much as other teams have during the offseason. No big free agents means more minutes and more time for development for our medium 3.
Here are some internal improvements that could help our team get better:
Green: Develop a better in between game and better finishing at the rim. More Ray Allen like.
Leonard: Further develop his post and face up game for isolation play calls.
Splitter: Keep the ball high after the catch on the pick and roll and finish better against smaller defenders. Requires calls from Pop.
Belinelli: Hit the open shot and play better D than what Neal gave.
Baynes/ Pendergraph: Give solid minutes off the bench protecting the rim, crashing the boards, finishing around the rim and hitting the j.
The Spurs did their due dilligence. They were interested in getting some quality players, but it just didn't work out. I bet if the Spurs were willing to throw draft picks at people deals would get done but we value picks very highly.
If the above mentioned improvements take place and the Big 3 continues to play at a relatively similar high level than we got a good chance at making it to the Finals again next year.
The Spurs needed a better defensive option at the backup 3. Manu can't defend 3's anymore. He has a hard enough time staying in front of 2's as it is. He really needs to get back to work on his defense. He was sloppy last year in that regard.
I think we graded a "C" for average. Backup PG and SF weren't addressed and those were two of the biggest needs. Granted, we don't need much but TP was gassed for playing too many minutes and we don't need to run Leonard in to the ground going forward.
Do people realize that if we get Oden, it will be a long while before he contributes ANYTHING to the team? He's not lasted a full season yet in his 5 year career. No reason to think he will now. He's injury prone and his body isn't built to take running and jumping. He's a risk with high potential, thats it. I expect Baynes and Pendergraph to play a bigger role than Oden. Any chance taken on him won't payoff until the season after next.
Last edited by tmtcsc; 08-01-2013 at 04:15 PM.
First off, we aren't getting Oden.
Second, we were never getting AK47 either, he was always going to the Nets.
Third, we apparently didn't want Ariza probably due to his contract.
So who is there to get? No one that I can see.
Good post.
Many talk about the fact that they can get away with it against run of the mill teams in the regular, but what about if they get back to the Finals? Three of the four realistic opponents have the personnel to punish them. We've discussed the Heat ad nauseam, but the Nets (Pierce, Johnson, Kirilenko) and Pacers (George, Granger), are more than formidable in this regard, too.
I agree, their plan was likely for Oden to be the sixth big next season, utilized when Duncan or Splitter are injured or when they give Duncan a game off. The only scenario I could see where he'd have been fourth/fifth, is if Pendergraph looks terrible.
Speaking of which, everyone talks about backup SF and PG, but backup C is the most underrated need on the team. Should Pendergraph show he's not up to the task, their options are to overplay Duncan and to a lesser extent, Splitter, or go long stretches where Diaw and Bonner are paired together, which should never happen.
C-
A week ago I would've said C- but now I'll just say C. I know, huge upgrade. Not getting a backup SF really puzzles me and we replaced Neal with Belli which is basically a wash. Didn't really improve at all. Pretty disappointing tbh.
The jury's out, but if most of the perceived "misses" were guys that care more about $ than winning, it may have been the best possible with the hand the FO was working with. Remember all else equal we only needed to get one point better, and I think we have at least done that with Bellinelli for Neal.
Getting rid of 2 of the worst defenders on the team is doing pretty good.
Bringing in a defender worse than the two going out and adding a 4th-5th big off the bench type role player, using MLE money doesn't strike me as pretty good.
We still don't know what type of defense (if any) pendegraph will bring off the bench. He may surprise some people.
True. If he plays that is.
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