Reply With Quote
All aboard the good ship PANIC
Sorry if this has already been posted.
Do you agree about Pop playing mind games?
Spurs' Center Picture Getting Desperate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Bill Ingram
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jul 15, 2006, 07:54
Rasho Nesterovic had to go. Nothing against Rasho, but for his own sake he needed to move on. His work ethic was such that Gregg Popovich rarely let him onto the court and it makes little sense to have a top dollar player who you never play. The trade to Toronto was a mercy move for Rasho, who will no doubt have a career year for the Raptors. The move made sense. At least it might have.
Nazr Mohammed was in a position to be the guaranteed starter for the Spurs had he chosen to accept the role. The only problem with that scenario was the fact that Popovich completely went away from Nazr late last season and so the man who started for the 2005 NBA Champs suddenly began to question how committed the Spurs were to him. Nazr decided to test the waters, and when the Detroit Pistons sat down and defined a clear role for him he took a walk.
The Spurs were left a little dumbfounded. Suddenly they were without a center on their roster. Popovich's mind games had come back to bite him in the hindquarters. With Tim Duncan being very vocal about not wanting to play center, the Spurs scrambled to find a list of free agent centers.
Their first choice was Portland free agent Joel Przybilla, but Przybilla liked what he had going in Portland. Choosing the low-expectations environment in Rip City over the intense and highly-demanding situation in San Antonio, Przybilla re-upped with the Blazers.
Next up was Jazz free agent Jarron Collins, but like Przybilla the Jazz center is expected to stay put. How sad is it that the Spurs were rejected by a player like Collins, who couldn't grab a rebound if you threw the ball at him? At least Przybilla can grab a board once in a while.
So - the A list is gone, the B list is gone, and the bottom of the barrel has officially become the resting place for the Spurs as they try desperately to fill their gaping hole in the middle.
At the bottom of the barrel is Jackie Butler, the New York Knicks' third-string center. Don't let his 6'11" 260lb. frame fool you - he's slow and clumsy. Even Isiah Thomas is scratching his head over this one, saying recently that he finds it difficult to justify matching a $7 million price tag for a guy who wouldn't play. You know it's bad when even Isiah Thomas ridicules your move.
The other guy the Spurs are trying to lure to Texas' River City is Denver free agent Francisco Elson. This powerhouse of the paint gave the Nuggets basically five and five last season before drastically falling off in the playoffs. Not that you can fall off drastically from a five and five season.
The Spurs absolute, last-ditch plan is to give 2005 draft pick Ian Mahinmi a shot. How solid is that plan? In the Spurs' win over the Dallas Mavericks in their first Rocky Mountain Revue game on Friday Mahinmi played 23 minutes and recorded four points, three rebounds . . .and seven fouls (you get 10).
I don't think the Mavericks will sweat the summer league loss to San Antonio when their chances of winning the Southwest Division get better by the day. If the Spurs can't do better than Elson or Butler their chances of being among the NBA's elite teams next season would seem to be between slim and none. They've got trouble in River City - with a capitol T and that rhymes with C and that stands for center - as in having none.
All aboard the good ship PANIC
hoopsworld. next.
So the FO sucks. What's new?
Mavs have done fairly well while not having a center. Diop is ok, though.
yeah those 3 les suck.
yawn..
sorry bill i give pop the benefit of the doubt on shaping the team. by the way does anyone think bill ingram has insight on tim duncan that pop doesn't?
Hey, let em get Butler and Mahinmi and bring em over.
Just discount the Spurs and keep it up.
Spurs don't mind getting discounted.
duncan has played center since dave retired
I have a trade that might work: We trade Williams, Bonner, and Ginobelli for Rasho Nesterovich.
Getting rid of two players who couldn't get minutes in the playoffs = mind games?
And any attempt at credibility gets shot to when you try to convince the reader that it's a bad move because ISIAH THOMAS, PROBABLY THE WORST GM IN THE LEAGUE, says it's a bad move.
Not only that, but no mention of Javtokas, which I think might have been the biggest snub of any of the centers that the Spurs pursued, and if you really want to make the Spurs look bad that was the way to go. No one seems to know the details but you can spin it as either a) the Spurs tried to low ball a guy even when they had their backs to the wall and he walked away from the table or b) they made a reasonable offer and they are in such a bad situation that even a Euro center that they have such a long relationship with doesn't want to play for them.
well that was completely on point. would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.
I must have missed Duncan being vocal about not wanting to play center. Maybe this is the case but I haven't heard it.
If just about any other team had drafted Duncan out of college, he would be playing center today. David Robinson made the move to power forward inevetiable.
Seecondly, I don't think Collins was the next choice after Pryzbella. Would they not have made an offer to him if he were. His agreeing to terms with the Jazz came after our offer to Elson and Butler.
the premise of the article is correct though in that we may be finding ourselves up a creek with nary a paddle in sight.
I don't agree with much I read on hoopsworld. I take everything there with a 5lb bag of salt.
The other guy the Spurs are trying to lure to Texas' River City is Denver free agent Francisco Elson. This powerhouse of the paint gave the Nuggets basically five and five last season before drastically falling off in the playoffs. Not that you can fall off drastically from a five and five season.
Interesting....if I just change a couple of words I get the following......
The other guy the Spurs cut loose from Texas' River City is Rasho Nesterovic. This powerhouse of the paint gave the Spurs basically five and five last season before drastically falling off in the playoffs. Not that you can fall off drastically from a five and five season.
These sorts of criticisms tend to make me laugh more than anything else.
To read the column, one would think that the center spot was the driving force behind a 63 win season that very nearly saw the Spurs overcome a 1-3 deficit in the 2nd round and that the Spurs will never recover from losing two talents like Nazr and Rasho. It's a preposterous, Chicken Little-like argument.
Do the Spurs need a center? Sure. Is it imperative that the Spurs have 2 MLE-type players to man that spot? I don't think so. Can the Spurs find players who can provide numbers and do little things as well or better than the two who've left? I'm guessing that they can.
It took about 3 weeks of negotiating and signing time for Rasho and Nazr to go from useless stiffs to the lionized departed. It's ridiculous.
hoopsworld. we should stop reading right there.
I think you'd know it's a bad move if Isiah is applauding it. That paragraph made meAt the bottom of the barrel is Jackie Butler, the New York Knicks' third-string center. Don't let his 6'11" 260lb. frame fool you - he's slow and clumsy. Even Isiah Thomas is scratching his head over this one, saying recently that he finds it difficult to justify matching a $7 million price tag for a guy who wouldn't play. You know it's bad when even Isiah Thomas ridicules your move.
The Problem here is Tim Duncan
He say he´s not a center, but every center of the league think yes
If you are Center and you sign with the Spurs, you know then you are going to be the center backup behind Duncan
You Can be Starter, but you are the Second center
Did the Spurs actually go after Collins or was he just linked to them by attrition. And from all the scouting reports Butler is supposed to have great footwork and usually played over the more highly paid centers on the team. Anyways people love to kick great teams and players when they sense that they aren't doing what they believe they should be doing. I feel like if any mind games are being played by Pop, its letting people believe that the Spurs just can't do right this summer and discount them. And thats the place the Spurs usually like playing.
This Spurs team is built around three players. The Duncan-Robinson era is no more. Therefore, we don't really need a center. How about trading or searching for a forward who can block a shot and rebound a goddam ball every now and again?
As for the original question- yes, Pop plays mind games. I thought everyone knew that.
I totally agree with this article...
BTW The Spurs ain't winning next season...
They'll win more games and go farther in the playoffs (possibly the le) than the Rockets, that's for sure.
Just pray that TMac and Yao are injured again..
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
