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100%. Book it.
He wasnt that bad in the Cleveland series.
What are Elson's chances to remain a Spur after this season?
0%?
People are assuming that Splitter will come in and Elson will go out . . .
But 'what if' Mahinmi doesn't show anything while Elson somehow manages to improve in his second season as a Spur?
Is it ridiculous to think that maybe, just maybe, the Spurs keep Elson around as insurance?
Or are his days straight up numbered?
100%. Book it.
He wasnt that bad in the Cleveland series.
I think Elson's days are numbered. He wasn't all too impressive this last season. Of course, if he shows significant improvement everthing could change. But lets consider who the Spurs have under contract past this season:
Tim Duncan
Fabricio Oberto
Matt Bonner
Ian Mahinmi
It is assumed also that Tiago Splitter will sign next season. So add him to the mix.
Traditionally a team carries 5 active bigs and has a 6th on IR (in this case Mahinmi who will be in Austin). So the Spurs could seek a 5th active big to replace Horry. Elson could very well be a cheap option, but personally I think they will probably seek out a veteran shot-blocker.
So, unless Elson improves significantly or Splitter gets seriously injured this season then I think hes gone.
Nice thread.
He'd definitely have to play better than he did last season to warrant a roster spot next season. Splitter is basically a younger Elson with better upside.
That said, Elson has a year under his belt and it's a lock that he has a better year. Pop has been praising him in training camp (then again, Pop was praising him last year at this time, too). If he can take a substantial step forward, especially defensively, he could be worth keeping around.
The good thing is that other teams will know he's a system player and won't overpay him. If the Spurs want him back, I imagine it'd be for a relatively cheap contract.
A related question is do Spurs fans expect Oberto to start the entire season? Should Elson be given a chance to win the starting spot or should Oberto keep it because he's a proven money player?
Good question. I would guess it depends upon how much or how little improvements Elson shows this season - good health notwithstanding.
From everything we hear, it takes most players about a full season to learn the complicated intracacies of the their complex system. That said, there's no question, the Spurs could use the frontcourt depth - and best of all he should come cheaply.
To answer Timvp's question, I think Elson should be given the same chance as last year to win the starting spot. I expect to see him resume as a starter sometime during the season. If nothing more than to give the frontline an athletic jolt against teams like PHX, GS.
It depends on Horry, Mahinmi and Elson.
Spurs needs 5 PF/C on the active roster. Duncan, Bonner and Oberto are under contract. Splitter will sign and I don't see Spurs sending him in Austin given his level in Europe.
So the question is : who will be the 5th PF/C ?
It could be Horry if he decide to play one more year.
It could be Mahinmi if he improves quickly enough but I wouldn't be surprised to see him spending one more year in Austin.
It could be Elson if he is good enough this year and if Mahinmi is still too raw.
Or it could be a vet free agent if Horry retires and Mahinmi and Elson sucks.
I'd say his chances were slim to none, none being if he plays the same ty defensive rotations this year. Even in split minutes, any Spur as athletic as Elson should be blocking 1.5-2 shots per game in a system that funnels penetrators to the baseline.
Oh, and I think Horry is gonzo. He said he might come back, but I think that's a ploy to avoid the "farewell tour" that he says he doesn't want.
Bonner is referenced as a PF/C. However he plays more like a SF. Isn't he widely assumed to be the 3-pt specialist after Horry hangs 'em up? If so, does he truly count as a Big?
I agree that Splitter is better, maybe even significantly better, and personally I'd take a rookie Splitter over Elson any day.
Even if Oberto was injured and Elson started a bulk of the season, he's still unlikely to put up big numbers, any improvement in Elson's play would be the kind of thing that wouldn't make a big impact in the stat sheet. So other teams wouldn't have big numbers to justify offering a sizable contract to a 32 year old center next summer.
So I got to thinking that if Elson was still in the same price range or less (2-3 million) . . . the Spurs could do worse in an end-of-the-bench big man.
if replacing Horry, who only plays at PF, then Bonner counts as a big.
And every time Elson does not play, people will claim it is to keep his value down so the Spurs can re-sign him next summer for cheap.
"Should Elson be given a chance to win the starting spot"
Did Pop say Elson wasn't getting a chance?
"The harder one works, the luckier one gets"
Elson could average 20 and 10 and other teams will still know he's a product of the system.And every time Elson does not play, people will claim it is to keep his value down so the Spurs can re-sign him next summer for cheap.
No. I'm saying should he be given a chance since we know that Oberto is the money player anyways. Does it make sense to play Elson more minutes than Oberto since when it comes down to it, Oberto will be the go-to option in the playoffs?
I look at Elson like I used to look at Rasho. Rasho and Elson both have the ability to be good regular season players. They can produce and help you win regular season games. However, once the lights shine bright and it's playoff time, both Rasho and Elson become much, much less valuable.
My prediction is that Elson will have a better season than last year. Now that he has one year under his belt with the Spurs and Pop, he'll be more comfortable with the system, with his team-mates and with his role.
Remember how lame Oberto seemed in his first season?
Elson is a very nice complement to Oberto in what is ostensibly a platoon situation at center. Oberto is the more skilled player who starts, gets the majority of the minutes, and has the strength and ability to bang with the NBA's more bullish centers. Elson, on the other hand, brings energy off the bench and the quickness to defend and run with the more agile and nimble centers. This duo has a chance to really develop into an above average 1-2 combination this season, and barring a major injury or unexpected lack of development, I would certainly expect to see the Spurs try to retain Elson beyond this season.
Dpends on how well he plays and the money he commands, two unknowns. Likely that Splitter will take the same year to fit intot he Spurs system that others have.
A bigman lineup of Duncan, Oberto, Splitter, Elson, Bonner and Mahinmi would be farely solid looking forward. It provides a variety of frontcourt looks, blends youth with veterans and thereby provides a nurturing environment for Splitter and Ian.
I like it.
6 big men? i dont know if that'll work
Well.. he might still be our best choice at defending Dirk... so he might still have a spot on the team
With 15 man rosters now, 6 PF/C's is the appropriate amount.
this will be last year
no way he even sees the floor next year with Splitter coming
I'd start Oberto but I want to see how he'll play. Oberto was great on thr playoffs but bad in regular season.A related question is do Spurs fans expect Oberto to start the entire season? Should Elson be given a chance to win the starting spot or should Oberto keep it because he's a proven money player?
Here's John Hollinger's take on Elson from ESPN.com Insider...
2006-07 season: It seems one of the first things the Spurs did after they signed Elson was sit him down and explain that he's not a jump shooter. Elson happily fired away from 15 feet as a Nugget, taking 39.1 percent of his shots from outside in his final season in Denver. That dipped to just 16.0 percent last year, as the Spurs had him taking most of his tries in the paint. Elson's overall percentage didn't improve because he shot worse from close-in, but the revised mix makes a lot of sense.
Elson had his best season as a rebounder by far. He's been well below average in that respect his whole career, but last season he was right around the average for centers. He also had a career best in Player Efficiency Rating, and it would have been even better if he stopped throwing the ball to the other team. His high turnover ratio was the result of repeatedly botched high-low passes to Tim Duncan, something that caused his role to diminish rapidly during the course of the postseason.
Scouting report: A slender 7-footer, Elson runs the floor very well for a big man and gets himself some easy transition buckets this way. That also helps on defense, as the Spurs can afford to play their two 7-footers together without getting beat in transition.
Elson moves his feet well on D and can be used against much smaller opponents, and his combo of length and quickness makes him very useful in zones. However, his lack of physicality is a liability against stronger centers.
Offensively, he's fairly useless in the half court but will spring a jump hook on opponents when he catches the ball in the post.
2007-08 outlook: People talk about Elson as if he's an up-and-coming player, but he's actually 31 years old. Nonetheless, there's still a chance he could improve on last season's numbers. All he has to do is cut down on the turnovers, something that hadn't been a problem until last season.
Additionally, Elson is entering the final year of his contract so he has some incentive to dial it up. He'll once again be in a time-share situation with Fabricio Oberto, and Robert Horry and Matt Bonner also will cut into his minutes. Nonetheless, if he can play a role on a championship team one more time, somebody is likely to overpay for him next summer.
Seems to me that Elson and Oberto should compete for the starting role all season, and even oscillate as matchups demand. They have distinctly different games and should be treated as such. As long as they are not 'ego' guys, and it seems that they aren't, it should really matter who starts until Pop settles down on a rotation in March as he always does.
As for whether Elson stays or not, I think it will depend on his defence and rebounding this year. If he can play successfully within the system, why not keep him around for insurance - Mahinmi may not be ready to contribute next year, and it would be risky to have both Mahinmi and Splitter still learning the system/developing without a veteran able to step in if said development proceeds slower than expected.
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