New Manu Interview

[BillMc]

[tmtcsc]

Thanks, Bill.

Quick Summary -


* He misses certain aspects of the game - preparing for an opponent, teammates, post-game dinners. He doesn't miss the traveling, sleepless nights, aches and pains

* Applauds Patty's leadership and legendary status on his Australian National team

* Likes the up & down pace of today's game and would've enjoyed playing in it, shooting more, etc.

* Likes the fact that there are more Super Teams - something that started with the Lakers (Karl Malone, Gary Payton), Boston Celtics (Garnett, Pierce, Allen) & continued with Golden State. I think he left out the Miami Heat.

* Manu gave an honest take on the Spurs upcoming season by regarding them as "NOT" one of the top 6 teams but being well-coached & having a healthy Murray joining an improved Derrick White and Demar Derozan.

[BillMc]

Thanks, Bill.

Quick Summary -


* He misses certain aspects of the game - preparing for an opponent, teammates, post-game dinners. He doesn't miss the traveling, sleepless nights, aches and pains

* Applauds Patty's leadership and legendary status on his Australian National team

* Likes the up & down pace of today's game and would've enjoyed playing in it, shooting more, etc.

* Likes the fact that there are more Super Teams - something that started with the Lakers (Karl Malone, Gary Payton), Boston Celtics (Garnett, Pierce, Allen) & continued with Golden State. I think he left out the Miami Heat.

* Manu gave an honest take on the Spurs upcoming season by regarding them as "NOT" one of the top 6 teams but being well-coached & having a healthy Murray joining an improved Derrick White and Demar Derozan.

Good summary bro.

[exstatic]

Thanks, Bill.

Quick Summary -


* He misses certain aspects of the game - preparing for an opponent, teammates, post-game dinners. He doesn't miss the traveling, sleepless nights, aches and pains

* Applauds Patty's leadership and legendary status on his Australian National team

* Likes the up & down pace of today's game and would've enjoyed playing in it, shooting more, etc.

* Likes the fact that there are more Super Teams - something that started with the Lakers (Karl Malone, Gary Payton), Boston Celtics (Garnett, Pierce, Allen) & continued with Golden State. I think he left out the Miami Heat.

* Manu gave an honest take on the Spurs upcoming season by regarding them as "NOT" one of the top 6 teams but being well-coached & having a healthy Murray joining an improved Derrick White and Demar Derozan.

By the time they got to LA, they were both TOSBs. The reality is, the first super team with players in their primes were the Spurs, from 2003 to 2014, with TT&M. They legitimately EACH could have had a Finals MVP in that stretch, were all All Stars, and were each All NBA at least once. They didn't get as much attention, because...Spurs, plus the fact that they were built, not bought.

[SAGirl]

Appreciate Manu being realistic about the team.

[Dex]

By the time they got to LA, they were both TOSBs. The reality is, the first super team with players in their primes were the Spurs, from 2003 to 2014, with TT&M. They legitimately EACH could have had a Finals MVP in that stretch, were all All Stars, and were each All NBA at least once. They didn't get as much attention, because...Spurs, plus the fact that they were built, not bought.

I always find it funny that the Spurs are never included in the super team conversation.

I know they went the unconventional route of building it through the draft over time. But, as you said, they had a two-time MVP, two other All-Star caliber players (and future Hall of Famers) all playing at or near their peak and surrounded by very impressive role players (Barry, Horry, Finley, Kawhi at the time, etc.).

They set the tone in the mid-2000s of the "Big 3" structure, when the league had previously been dominated by duos (Jordan/Pippin, Shaq/Kobe, Hakeem/Drexler) since like the days of the Magic Lakers and Bird Celtics.

Yet when people start talking about super teams, they typically immediately start with Boston's Big 3...I guess because they were established players who all joined forces instead of building a dynasty the hard way.

All of the talk about these other teams, but its still the Spurs and Lakers standing on top with 5 les in the last 20 years.

[cutewizard]

[tmtcsc]

I think the term "Super Team" refers to players leaving different teams via trades or free agency to join up with each other. Had KD stayed away from Golden State, they would've never been in that category. Curry, Thompson and Green were all drafted.

The Warriors were built through the draft as were the Spurs. Boston got savvy vets through trades, Miami got Bosh and LeBron essentially through Free Agency (Bosh ended up doing a sign and trade to help Toronto), LA got Malone and Payton as old vet free agents.

The Spurs will most likely go down in history as the most successful franchise ever built through drafting and development. They will also be remembered as one of the luckiest teams to ever successfully tank.

[testies]

Did he mention that Argentina performed much better without him forcing his country to start his paraplegic ass? After getting rid of him they went from group stage fodder to finalists

we should do the same for rc buford and pop

[offset formation]

I think he's wrong about the team being top 6 capable. Very wrong. In fact **if the team stays healthy**, there are likely only 3 teams that finish ahead of us. We will have one of the best defenses in the NBA this year -- better than last year for sure. We will have an even better and more cohesive defense than last year.


Thus we will finish higher than we did last year assuming we stay healthy.

[offset formation]

Did he mention that Argentina performed much better without him forcing his country to start his paraplegic ass? After getting rid of him they went from group stage fodder to finalists

we should do the same for rc buford and pop

Yeah, no.

[tmtcsc]

I think he's wrong about the team being top 6 capable. Very wrong. In fact **if the team stays healthy**, there are likely only 3 teams that finish ahead of us. We will have one of the best defenses in the NBA this year -- better than last year for sure. We will have an even better and more cohesive defense than last year.


Thus we will finish higher than we did last year assuming we stay healthy.

1. Clippers
2. Lakers
3. Sixers
4. Bucks
5. Nuggets
6. Jazz
7. Portland

If you want to be objective about the Spurs, just take into account they were a 7th seed in the Western Conference last year & ended their season by not fouling their opponent when they HAD TO. That's not a smart team.

They were wildly inconsistent on defense and their best players didn't show much fight. Derrick White showed flashes of what he could be but ultimately got choked out by the Denver Nuggets. There's tons of hype surrounding Murray returning after tearing his ACL last year but he has a LOT to prove just to be a solid contributor. I don't even think he's as good as White. So, yeah..Manu was totally justified in ranking them AT MOST 7th in the entire league. Actually seems very generous.

Pop will have to pull a rabbit out of his ass and some newcomers to the team will have to step up to really propel this team far in the playoffs. I'll be rooting for them but my expectations are firmly in check.