Vaughn comfortable as mentor
Mike Monroe
Express-News Staff Writer
The first week of Spurs training camp has been an opportunity for untested point guards Anthony Lever-Pedroza and Darius Washington to showcase their skills.
With Tony Parker being held out of most of the scrimmages to give a sore ankle time to heal and an overworked body time to rest, and with Beno Udrih wearing a cast on his broken right hand, the two youngsters have received plenty of repe ions as they try to learn the complicated offense.
They have had a good on-court mentor in Jacque Vaughn, a player whom coach Gregg Popovich believes will go straight to a coaching career after his playing days are over. After one season with the Spurs, Vaughn feels he has learned the system well enough to explain it to any player at any position, including impressionable point guards.
"I'm very comfortable with the system," Vaughn said after the Spurs' final practice of their first week of camp, "to a level where I can almost sit down with each individual on the team and explain what we're trying to do offensively and defensively at each position, whether it's knowing what Timmy (Duncan) is supposed to do on this play, or what Manu (Ginobili) is supposed to do on that play. I've always prided myself on that, and I think I'm getting to that point here."
The Spurs signed Vaughn to a free-agent contract on July 12, 2006, and he went into last season as something of a safety valve at the point. But during the second half of the season he supplanted Udrih as Parker's primary backup. During the 20-game playoff run that produced the Spurs' fourth le, he averaged 10.6 minutes playing behind NBA Finals MVP Parker.
Vaughn re-signed for two years and $5 million in early July. Even if Udrih had not suffered an injury, Vaughn figured to enter the regular season in the same role.
Entering his 11th season, the quiet man from the University of Kansas is using the additional playing time during camp as something of a graduate course in the Spurs' system.
"The great thing is we're very fortunate Beno and Tony will be back soon," Vaughn said. "They're short-term injuries, nothing serious. But it gives me an opportunity to get more reps with more guys and puts me in a more comfortable situation than I was in last year. Just having the year underneath me and being in this system I'm much more comfortable and confident in everything we do, and that's a good feeling."
Vaughn was in the same 1997 draft class that brought Duncan to the Spurs, and they feel a kinship as rookie classmates. They are proud to be members of a class that includes Finals MVPs Duncan and Chauncey Billups, as well as perennial All-Star Tracy McGrady.
"It was a pretty good class," Duncan said.
"I do keep track (of the class), and I know Jacque was part of it. It's fun to be able to say to him, 'Wow, we're going into our 11th seasons,' knowing we were in the same class. There's a bunch of us left."
Of the 28 players taken in the first round, 14 remain in the league. Vaughn, the 27th pick, Boston's Scot Pollard (19th) and New Orleans' Bobby Jackson (23rd), are the only remaining players among the final 10 first-rounders. Three 1997 second-rounders remain on NBA rosters.
Duncan said he was not surprised Vaughn became as valuable to the Spurs as he did late last season and into the playoffs.
"Seeing him pick up the offense as fast as he did was no surprise," Duncan said. "He's that kind of player. He's got a good head on his shoulders and understands the game. He showed how valuable he could be to us down the stretch. He gave us energy on the floor, made some big hustle plays for us and ran the show and controlled the offense the way it should have been."
Vaughn's humility prevents easy acceptance of such praise, but he promises he will match Duncan in one area.
"My body feels great," Vaughn said, "my mind feels great, so as long as Tim wants to keep playing, I think I can play that long, too."
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...n.2f7144e.html
I sincerely hope this is just an error by Monroe. The original report stated Vaughn signed for the vet minimum over two years.Vaughn re-signed for two years and $5 million in early July.
Luckily it's Mike "I don't fact check my writing at all" Monroe so it's probably wrong.
Nice read.
Wrong.Of the 28 players taken in the first round, 14 remain in the league.
I count at least 15 with guaranteed contracts. A handful of other players are also in training camps.
Wrong. Pollard (19th), Anthony Parker (21st), Jackson (23rd), Vaughn (27th).Vaughn, the 27th pick, Boston's Scot Pollard (19th) and New Orleans' Bobby Jackson (23rd), are the only remaining players among the final 10 first-rounders.
Monroe has turned into a disgrace of a basketball "writer".
Is that the same Parker that went to Israel and now plays in Toronto?
If it is... it may be too 'tricky' for Monroe.
Hopefully looking up how much Vaughn actually signed for was too 'tricky' as well. Paying Vaughn money that could have brought in Scola would really make it ugly . . .
just maybe scola's camp told spurs they would not sign with spurs no matter what
or spurs did not want scola and it did not have to do with money
Either way, $2.5M a year for Vaughn would be rather excessive.
Luckily, Monroe pulls stuff out of his azz so it's probably wrong.
Monroe probably looked at this :
and thought that meant $2.5M a year, when it actually means $2.5M total. Vet minimum for a player with 10+ years experience is $1,219,590 this season and $1,262,275 next.The Spurs have reached agreement with Jacque Vaughn on a two-year contract that will pay him about $2.5 million, an NBA source said Monday.
That's where Monroe went wrong . . .
Ok, so Monroe just thought that was $2.5 million PER YEAR, and not the actual $2.5 million total it actually was. It is still a bonehead mistake, but at least not completely inexcusable. If he had to rush the article at all (not saying he did, or even guessing, but just hypothetically here), that at least makes sense. There are so many other things writers must concern themselves that often times something like that, even as glaringly obvious as it is, will still slip through the cracks. And even the cracks of his fact-checkers. Remember, writers have those as well. Don't give the all the blame to the name.The Spurs have reached agreement with Jacque Vaughn on a two-year contract that will pay him about $2.5 million, an NBA source said Monday.
I'm sure he'll remember to check those things next time, though. I imagine seeing that mistake in print will be fairly embarrassing.
.... Ok, now back on topic with the actual article, do y'all think that Vaughn spending time with the training camp PGs means one of them might make the actual team? I mean, let's look at this from the other way around: what's the point in teaching someone your system, when they will obviously never actually use it and just go to another team in a few weeks? It makes no economic sense (from a basketball standpoint) to spend time and effort teaching if there will be no return. Does this mean Beno, or someone else, is on their way out? Might the Spurs buyout a contract to make room for one of Vaughn's trainees?
Interesting thought. Because at $2.5 million a season, the Spurs must have liked something they say in Mr. Vaughn as a teacher.
So how do these dudes get their jobs?
1. If you mean by other teams these guys just taking that to another NBA team, then I would think that these guys aren't going to be going to other NBA teams, if they had a shot at making an NBA roster they wouldn't be in Spurs camp.
2. No harm in having Vaughn working with them so things can run a little more smoothly for the other players during training camp without Parker and Beno
3. Vaughn's future is supposed to be in coaching. I would think that the role of teaching and working with the younger players, even ones who won't make the team, is good practice now for when he moves on to work as an assistant either in college or the NBA
I would have been nice to Monroe about the error, except he makes errors on literally everything he writes. Literally.
His last article had a pretty blatant error.
However, that doesn't compare to the most error-ridden article ever written in a supposed major newspaper:
http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73253
He's wrong about the second round in 1997 too - there are four or five players still in the league, not three: Marc Jackson, Anthony Johnson, Stephen Jackson, Alvin Williams (?), Mark Blount.
Man, any of us could do a better job than this hack!
Doesn't Mike know how to Google?
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