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Damn cheap ass Holt.
The truth is that nobody wants Rasho. If we could have gotten a bag of pretzels and a Coke Zero for him, Pop would have pulled the trigger.
Future hangs in balance for Spurs' Nesterovic
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
A little more than two years after signing Rasho Nesterovic to replace David Robinson in their starting lineup, the Spurs have reached a few conclusions about the Slovenian center: He's a better position defender than expected, his defensive rebounding could improve and he's still too unselfish.
All of which are reasons the team has explored trading him.
And also why the Spurs won't be too disappointed if they don't.
Nesterovic said he isn't worried about his future with the team. His goal, for now, is to play well enough to earn back some of the minutes he lost toward the end of last season.
"I'm going to be OK with whatever role I get," he said, "but I'm going to work to get my way back to the starting five."
Considering that Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has said he expects to begin this season with the same starters he used at the end of last season, Nesterovic has a lot of work in front of him.
Nazr Mohammed inherited the starting job after Nesterovic missed the final six games of the regular season because of a sprained left ankle. Although Nesterovic returned for the playoffs, he played sparingly and was used as a reserve for the first time in more than four years.
"You want to play so bad because it's the best time of the year to be playing," he said. "Fortunately, other guys did a really good job. I was OK with that.
"It wasn't a pleasant experience with the injury, but I took good points out of it. I hope it makes you a better player."
Nesterovic also seems to have benefited from the work he received while helping Slovenia qualify for the World Championships last month. After fouling out in 14 minutes against Miami on Monday, he totaled eight points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists against Philadelphia.
"I think he still gave away some shots he had, but at least he looked for some shots," Popovich said. "When he's aggressive offensively, he's a much better player."
While Mohammed lacks Nesterovic's touch, as well as his length on defense, he finishes better at the rim. To be more specific, he dunks — a skill that comes in handy given that many of the scoring opportunities for the team's centers come from offensive rebounds.
The Spurs aren't as concerned by the type of shots Nesterovic takes as they are by the number he attempts. During his final season in Minnesota, he averaged a career-best 11.2 points. He averaged a little more than half that last season.
"I'm not going to force shots," Nesterovic said. "When I'm open, I'm going to take the shots. If not, I'm going to pass it. I think that's what made us champions last year — we were sharing the ball."
The Spurs talked with a handful of teams over the summer about trading Nesterovic but didn't receive much interest. Among the concerns: If this is what Nesterovic contributes playing next to Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett, how much better can he get?
In truth, however, Nesterovic has played his best with Duncan off the floor. Two seasons ago, he averaged 16.3 points and 12.5 rebounds during a six-game stretch when Duncan was out with a knee injury. The Spurs have considered showing him video of those games to help discern the difference in his aggressiveness.
For now, the Spurs insist they aren't actively shopping Nesterovic. Not only do team officials first want to see how Fabricio Oberto fits, they also know there will be games such as tonight's exhibition against Houston when it helps to have a 7-footer who can guard Yao Ming.
Yet, while the four years and $30million Nesterovic has left on his contract isn't unusual for a serviceable starting center — New York recently gave enigmatic 7-footer Jerome James a five-year contract worth $30million — few teams want to pay the 11th man on their roster an average of $7.5million a season.
The Spurs also are about $600,000 above the luxury tax threshold. Though chairman Peter Holt appears willing to digest the estimated $2million of kickback money the franchise will lose if it incurs the tax, the team likely will try to get below the threshold by the June30, 2006, deadline.
"They talk trades all the time in the NBA," Nesterovic said. "Until it happens, I'm not going to think about it. This is a championship team, and I'd rather be here than go to a team that's barely going to make the playoffs."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b....22568196.html
Damn cheap ass Holt.
The truth is that nobody wants Rasho. If we could have gotten a bag of pretzels and a Coke Zero for him, Pop would have pulled the trigger.
Interesting read.
A couple things stand out to me. First of all, I guess Pop is pretty much admitting he was blowing smoke last year when he was defending Rasho early in the season. He even said at one point that he'd take Rasho over any center not named Shaquille O'Neal. Obviously, that was a bit of an overstatement.
I like Rasho's at ude going into the season. He's not sulking, he's just going to go out there and try to help the team. That's exactly what he should be doing and it's all Spurs fans could want. Rasho could make things for the rest of the team by demanding a trade or diving the locker room, but instead he's just going to go out there and play the minutes he is given. Props to him.
Translation: Somebody will be traded. They'll attempt to move Rasho, Barry and then Udrih in that order. If it comes down to it, the Spurs will ship off Udrih for a future first round pick to save Holt some $$$$.The Spurs also are about $600,000 above the luxury tax threshold. Though chairman Peter Holt appears willing to digest the estimated $2million of kickback money the franchise will lose if it incurs the tax, the team likely will try to get below the threshold by the June30, 2006, deadline.
It's time for the current ownership group to exit.
Marcus Bryant, you are a ing idiot. You should be kissing their ass for what they have given the city of San Antonio and ingrateful fans like yourself. Questioning and criticizing the FO is one thing, but your constant ing is tired and terribly unwarranted.
In addition, this is precisely why Spurs fans should expect this to be Mohammed's last season with the club. Not much is going to change in the payroll (as is) until 2008. NVE is the only other rotation player whose contract will end before then.
Sure, if they are able to shed some guaranteed contracts before then or net a decrease in their guaranteed payroll then the situation could change.http://www.nationwide.net/~patricia/contracts
San Antonio Spurs Date # of total
Player signed years salary misc FA
Tony Massenburg ....... 8/4/04 1 minimum '05
Glenn Robinson ........ 4/4/05 1 minimum '05
Kyle Bailey ........... 9/29/05 1 minimum '06
Michael Finley ........ 9/2/05 1 $2.675 million '06
Sharrod Ford .......... 9/29/05 1 minimum '06
Stephen Graham ........ 9/29/05 1 minimum '06
Nazr Mohammed ......... 7/19/01 5 $25 million '06
Melvin Sanders ........ 9/29/05 1 minimum '06
Nick Van Exel ......... 8/29/05 1 ??? '06
Jawad Williams ........ 9/29/05 1 minimum '06
Brent Barry ........... 7/15/04 4 $19.6 million '08
Bruce Bowen ........... 7/14/04 4 $14.25 million '08
Tim Duncan ............ 7/16/03 7 $122,007,704 p-opt '08
Robert Horry .......... 8/2/05 3 ??? '08
Radoslav Nesterovic ... 7/16/03 6 $42 million p-opt '08
Fabricio Oberto ....... 8/2/05 3 $7.5 million '08
Beno Udrih ............ 7/14/04 4 $4,461,496 rc t-opt '08
Emanuel Ginobili ...... 7/15/04 6 $52 million '10
Tony Parker ........... 9/21/01,11/1/04 4+6 $3,946,521 + $66mill '11
Sean Marks ............ 9/6/05 ?? ??? '??
But Spurs fans should understand what is going on.
Suck a . I'll criticize the ownership as I see fit.
Do you not realize what the county has given the franchise? Essentially all of the arena revenues without having to pay for it.
I kiss nobody's ass. If you do, well, that says enough about you.
That sums up what you have brought to this forum. At least, that is what I recall.
"It takes a great man to be a good listener." Calvin Coolidge
Rasho plays better when he is needed. Otherwise he defaults to others. His lack of aggressiveness and inability to go strong to the basket and dunk when he's within 6 feet of the rim has been his problem.
"Until it happens, I'm not going to think about it. This is a championship team, and I'd rather be here than go to a team that's barely going to make the playoffs."
No, dammit, THINK ABOUT IT!
Play like you want to stay with the Spurs, make the Spurs want to keep you around. You will regret bitterly blowing your golden opportunity to play your prime years with Tim Duncan in his prime years in an organization as excellent and successful as the Spurs.
First, I highlighted those comments for people who say he doesn't care. Just because he doesn't show it in a way you think he should, Rasho hates to sit on the bench.
Second, if the Spurs REALLY want Rasho to shoot the ball more, they need to talk to Tony Parker. Rasho is getting more shots in the pre-season when he is on the floor with NVE and Beno.
Third, will people finally believe the Spurs are not now shopping Rasho around even though Ludden already claimed it twice before this week and now has apparently changed his story. Will they also believe that the Spurs only talked to a few teams about Rasho this summer- some they called and some who DID call the Spurs, but that there was not some all out attempt to shop him around the whole league.
Finally, the problem some with the Spurs have with Rasho is that he blows the out of the whole notion that Tim makes other players better.
Basically, Rasho is a much better basketball player than a lot of people realize. He has skills that he could contribute to a team, but with the Spurs, he has bent over backwards and twisted himself inside and out trying to fill the role he thinks they want from him. He would be better off if he just went out and played and made his presence known in the game, but I am awaiting the day he figures a way to do that with the Spurs. It took a couple of years for him to accomplish that with Minnesota and part of that impetus came after a summer spent with his national team, so I am hoping the third year and a summer with his national team are the charm again.
Kevin McHale said: "Rasho's biggest problem is he wants to please so badly that he's afraid to make mistakes. He is such a good guy that all he can think about is, 'How can I help this team? I tell Rasho, 'I hope my daughter marries someone like you, but you've got to get meaner out there.' I just went out and played and I didn't care what anybody thought. Wally [Szczerbiak] has got some of that and Kevin [Garnett] has got some of that. It's great. But you know what? It doesn't make us very good people, sometimes."
Rasho would never do any of those things you are describing- he would not demand a trade and would not divide the locker room- although that might be an easier thing to do than some Spurs fans would want to admit.
I am interested in what the Spurs were asking for Dogsho---and more importantly what might have been offered...if anything. I wonder if we could even dump him to another team for one second round pick.
But strange things do happen. Wouldn't we have the last laugh if all Rasho did this year was to help neutralize Yao during the season and play some hard minutes against Shaq in the finals---which we would win of course?
Totally agree. I also believe Rasho can be very good.
yes lets blame tp for rasho lack of agressiveness
tp usually gets 2 assist from rasho a game
I agree with this. While it's nice that Rasho's not ing, it would be even better if he recognized what he needs to improve upon and start doing it.
I would pay to see the angel_luv vs. McHale's Daughter steel cage match.
The point about Rasho not playing as well when he's out there with Tim has more to do with offense, not defense. Tim is best in, or near the low post. Tim allows other players to have better scoring opportunities through the attention that he receives and the spacing he creates. That's why the other Big needs to play high post or out on the floor when Timmy is set up low. That's also why it helps to have the other Big either be able to knock down a 15 foot jumper (or farther out), or produce in another way like by being an effective offensive rebounder. The offensive rebounding is what gives Nazr productivity. Rasho and Horry are better at tip-outs to save trips, but Nazr (Malik used to also) gets in there and grabs them and goes back up with authority.
Otherwise, Rasho is going to be unproductive stat-wise and only able to create opportunities for others through screens and passing. If he doesn't shoot when he's open and if he doesn't score when he does shoot, his movement won't help the team and players will sag or double off him to someone like Tim.
Horry does well with Tim because he plays hi-lo well and he can score from the outside. Malik did too. Neither of them hesitate and they do it with confidence.
I don't buy it, for the reason that you yourself state: in Rasho's best offensive year with Minny, his bread-and-butter was the 15-ft jumper. He gets that shot with the Spurs, regardless of whether Tim is in. But he's just stopped being able to hit it with any consistency, and now he's stopped taking it when it's there. When was the last game you can recall him hitting more than 1-2 jump shots?
When was the last game you can recall his shooting more than 1-2 jump shots?When was the last game you can recall him hitting more than 1-2 jump shots?
I don't have any stats on his outside shooting, but it probably is down from years past. But what are you going to do? That's the Spurs offense and whoever is there is supposed to take the shot when he's got it.
Rasho has skills that Nazr lacks--better defender, low TO's, good blocker
Nazr has skills that Rasho lacks--offensive rebounding, aggressiveness, willingness to dunk the ball.
Personally, I can't wait to see what Oberto has to offer.
I wasn't very clear, perhaps. If Rasho hits his outside shots, the Spurs don't have a problem. When Tim is in there, Rasho won't get many inside points unless he rebounds and decides nobody is going to block his shot.
I agree about your comments on the offense. The reason people wonder why Rasho plays differently offensively when Tim is out is because Rasho then has room to work inside that is usually taken up by Duncan, a couple of guys defending him, and Rasho if he goes anywhere inside, as well. In Minnesota, KG liked to stay out of the paint giving Rasho more room to work inside.
As for shot attempts, all TP has to do is run a little screen and role with Rasho rolling to the baseline for that open baseline jumper which is Rasho's best shot- and which he will always take. They almost never did it this past season. The Spurs also abandoned a lot of the motion offense of the previous season that played better into Rasho's skills. I just think it ironic that the Spurs line-up outscores their opponents by so much with Rasho in the lineup and yet people still moan about how many points he is actually scoring. He makes it easier for other guys to score, especially Manu. I will say this one thing, though, if what the Spurs want most from their center is garbage points then play Nazr. If they want a more all-around contribution, then play Rasho.
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