Reply With Quote
Isn't it about time to bring Mahinmi over? I am excited already to see what he can bring to this team.
Even if he'll be on the bench but as long as he's here to learn the Spurs system, much better for the team's future.
how old is Ian now, btw?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ext/index.html
No signs of stopping
Spurs are set up to make another le run next season
Gregg Popovich is going to laugh about this one: His San Antonio Spurs will enter next season as favorites to win their fifth le in 10 years.
It's funny because this time last season the standard assumption was that his Spurs were too old, having lost their second-round series to the younger Dallas Mavericks. With several contributors on the wrong side of 30 and the spry Phoenix Suns also in contention, Popovich heard time and again that his team's window had closed.
This is what Popovich was telling me in January: "I look back at last year and people say, 'You know, you didn't get by Dallas.' Well, if not for one ill-advised foul [by Manu Ginobili at the end of Game 7, we do get beyond Dallas. And if we do, then people wouldn't speak about us being old. They would say, 'Dallas still couldn't get over the hump against that experienced, executing bunch of Spurs.' But since that foul in the seventh game, you're old.
"So I try not to put us in a category. I think that we've got to grind it out like we usually do, play the way we play. I think being healthy at the end of the year, we'll be able to play with anybody.''
What are their chances of doing it again? This time next year Tim Duncan will be 32, Ginobili will be 30 and Finals MVP Tony Parker will be 26. Parker will be approaching his peak, and Ginobili looked as good as ever this season. As for Duncan, his four years in college may help extend his career. Though he has extended nine of his 10 NBA years by a postseason month or two, Duncan has played a total of 883 games. That's still 91 fewer than Kevin Garnett -- who is the same age -- has built up during his 12-year career.
Duncan also saves mileage thanks to his style: He's an SUV with a hybrid engine.
"He hasn't been blessed with great quickness, but he does have agility and mobility, he runs really well and he runs really efficiently,'' Popovich said. "And more importantly, he plays with an economy or an efficiency of movement. He knows when to exert energy and when not to, when to move and when not to move. Over a game and a month and a season and a decade, it adds up when you know when you need to put it on and take it off -- and he's really smart about that.''
No coach is better at pacing his players over the regular season and peaking them for the playoffs than Popovich. So long as Duncan, Ginobili and Parker are healthy, they should remain at the top of the contenders list next season.
A more delicate issue will concern the futures of premier defender Bruce Bowen, who is 36, starting guard Michael Finley (33) and reserves Robert Horry (37) and Brent Barry (35). The Spurs have long talked about getting younger: Two years ago they almost dealt Barry for young guard J.R. Smith, and there were rumors of more trades approaching the February deadline this season. The team coalesced and improved after it became clear that Popovich wasn't going to make any trades this year.
But next season, the Spurs may have to undertake a long-term strategy to eventually replace their older players. The most important of them is Bowen. Arguably the MVP of the playoffs for his defensive work against Steve Nash and LeBron James, Bowen will be entering the final year of his contract at a salary of $4.1 million. Will the Spurs consider a two-year extension that will keep him on the books until he's 39? If that investment makes Bowen feel appreciated and helps the Spurs win another championship, it will be well worth it.
It's not inconceivable that Duncan would also seek a two-year extension, though that could mean paying him close to $25 million when he's 36 in 2011-12. He can opt out next summer as well as the summer thereafter, though that seems unlikely.
Horry, who has won an astounding seven championships with three teams, wants to fulfill the final year of his contract at $3.6 million. Barry could be moved with one year remaining at $5.5 million, and Finley could opt out of his final year at $3.1 million, though at the moment that appears unlikely based on his emotional reaction to winning his first championship. Center Fabricio Oberto, 32, can opt out of his remaining year worth $2.5 million.
The Spurs will try to re-sign forward Matt Bonner, 27, and work him into the frontcourt to eventually take over for Horry. There also will be the annual speculation about another forward, 2002 second-round pick Luis Scola of Argentina, coming over from his club in Spain. Center Jackie Butler remains a long-term project, as does 2005 first-round pick Ian Mahinmi, who had a promising year in France. Because Mahinmi's club, Pau-Orthez, will not qualify for the Euroleague next season, the Spurs may bring the 20-year-old forward to the NBA next season and potentially install him in the D-League franchise in Austin. The Spurs are considering whether to buy into that franchise to create a true minor-league relationship. In any case, Mahinmi is years away from contributing at a championship level.
Whether or not the Spurs try to blend more youth into their complementary positions, it's hard to see who might supplant them next year. All of the challengers must address a weakness. The Mavericks need to pair Dirk Nowitzki with a second star, either through the continuing development of Josh Howard or by trade. The Suns must find a way to keep Shawn Marion and Amaré Stoudemire while getting a lot more from Stoudemire defensively. The Jazz need a shooting guard and the Rockets are facing a major transition in style. In the East, the Cavaliers, Pistons and other Finals contenders all seem years away from rivaling San Antonio.
The real question for the Spurs will be whether they can find the energy to make the effort that saw them through the second half of this season and the two months of the playoffs. But their opponents would be making a big mistake by anticipating a letdown in San Antonio.
Isn't it about time to bring Mahinmi over? I am excited already to see what he can bring to this team.
Even if he'll be on the bench but as long as he's here to learn the Spurs system, much better for the team's future.
how old is Ian now, btw?
I think the Spurs have many more years at the top.
Unfortunately I have a copy of the SI after the 2005 championship that had as a le "Dynasty?" and the same sentiments.
Nothing is certain in the NBA and we were VERY VERY lucky to avoid the injury bug this year. Here's hoping we can do it again, tho!
The article suprisingly fails to mention James White....
There's a similar article, I think, from 2003.Unfortunately I have a copy of the SI after the 2005 championship that had as a le "Dynasty?" and the same sentiments.
Nothing is certain in the NBA and we were VERY VERY lucky to avoid the injury bug this year. Here's hoping we can do it again, tho!
Every time the Spurs win a le, someone contends that they'll be unbeatable in the following season because of some combination of great skill, mental toughness, and relative youth. Every time someone writes an article like that, something sickening seems to happen to the Spurs in the following playoffs to derail any sort of repeat possibility.
Thanks a lot, SI.
Theres no reason not to bring Ian over.....let him learn in Austin....im so sick of this team stashing away players overseas.
I would rather have Scola than Mahinmi. Scola seems to bring more to the table, including toughness under the basket. Bring in Andres Nocioni, with them two paired with Manu and Oberto that would make us dang near unstoppable.
scola is overrated
i guess free agency and the draft dont exist to the article writer
imo they should be the toros and make it a reserved spurs team for scrubs
i want n scola/javtokas to come over
ian to be stash in d-league
i think if hat maggette trade had gone through we wouldnt have to be worrying about the bowen replacement......and we wouldve still won the ring since barry and beno didnt do much in the playoffs...
"toughness under the basket"
hmm, I read that he doesn't rebound, block shots, or defend. In which aspect of the game does he apply this toughness?
Of course, if he really wants to play for the Spurs, he can burn a year learning to use his size to rebound, block out, play defense, rotate, be in position, learn the Spurs system, and see if can earn some minutes like every other Spurs by playing defense.
Isn't scola quite expensive ?
Scola's worth would come as a scoring face-up perimeter big, a 4/3 hybrid, off the bench who can run the floor. He could be a valuable addition to this Spurs team, a 4th scoring option that teams will pay for ignoring, be it outside or inside.
Ian is no good and won't be for a while. He's still too young. Don't you remember the box scores from the summer ? Real bad. He's got the tools but will need to develop them further. He was very prone to getting in foul trouble and is still too weak. More time in the weight room would be good...or the kitchen.
Let Ian stay over another year and what is the situation with scola??
I know his buyout decreases by year, but is there any chance he could be a spur in the distant future?
If there was ever a time, it would be right about now.
I'm trying to remember, but I think that Scola's buyout is 1M this year (which the team can contribute 500k to) and will be nothing next season.
Actually, there is reason - roster spots.
We'll see who is moved, who leaves, and who is drafted.
But if we only lose Ely, Vaughn, Udrih, Barry, and Bonner from the current roster - then draft a college player (or 2), sign a free agent (or 2), and trade for a player, those 15 roster spots are going to be at a premium.
If the club feels that he is nowhere near ready for the league, it's best to just leave him over there. We'll see what Pop and RC think about his current game + how he performs in the summer league, but it's better to consider the possibility that we might have made a mistake with that first round pick as opposed to putting him on a win-now roster well before he is even ready for the SJax plan.
Hmmm, how does the D-League work when it comes to that? I thought the Toros already were the "minors" of the Spurs (and three or four other franchises). Does buying into the franchise create some extra possibilities with player personnel or is this more of an option to bring coaches and staff in to work with Toros players whose rights belong to the Spurs?...the Spurs may bring the 20-year-old forward to the NBA next season and potentially install him in the D-League franchise in Austin. The Spurs are considering whether to buy into that franchise to create a true minor-league relationship.
Probably. I know that the Lakers own their team outright and have more control over them. It might be prudent to ask a Lakers fan about that sort of thing.
The SI.com article overstates the Spurs' dominance. Dallas and Phoenix remain very much in the mix.
While I agree about the Mavs not being a lottery team, they NEED inside scoring, mental and physical toughness, and a true leader. They arent going to increase their chances of winning a le until they address all of those issues. They cant avoid those issues anymore and expect to win . The Mavs weaknesses have been exposed to the league not only against Golden State but also against the not as athletic Miami Heat.
Pretending that we don't have anything to improve on is ignorant. The bottom line remains that the Mavs were built to beat the Spurs, and we didn't have to deal with that problem this year due to the Warriors.
We still need someone like Buckets who can check Dirk on the perimeter and make his nuts shrivel. We don't have anyone one like that on our roster right now. Posey, Biedrins, whoever, we need to solve that problem.
Also need more youth on the perimeter and more depth at PG (time to get rid of Beno).
I'm on the Posey bandwagon.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
