Patriots, Spurs, Red Sox.
We prevented a Boston sweep.
I love how he calls Ginobili one of the best draft picks in NBA history.
http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/me...-3154158.shtml
Why three pro teams stand ahead of the rest
By: Robert Husseman
In their respective sports they stand alone. Three professional franchises have ushered in a new era marked by efficiency and innovation that have personnel departments across the country scrambling to keep up. Success has eluded them in the past, but the wins and les keep coming in ... and they show no signs of slowing.
The New England Patriots have led the charge, becoming the NFL's poster child for successful operations. In case you haven't heard (and, if you haven't, ESPN would like to know how they missed you), the Patriots haven't done much ... just winning every game they've played in the past year except one (the AFC Championship Game against the Super Bowl XLI champion Colts). They've joined the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams with a perfect regular season record, and they're a mere two wins away from their fourth Super Bowl championship.
On and off the field, the Patriots are the proverbial well-oiled machine. Team owner Robert Kraft and Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli have had exemplary success in the NFL draft and the free agency market. Over the last five NFL drafts, 22 of the Patriots' 44 picks remain on the roster, including nine starters - an impressive number for an NFL team. Star quarterback Tom Brady was drafted not first, not second, but 199th overall in the 2000 draft. A fourth-round pick this past April, used on Cincinnati cornerback John Bowie, was traded to Oakland for some wide receiver from Marshall University. (His name escapes me.)
The Patriots' draft days usually garner most of the off-the-field attention, as Pioli and coach Bill Belichick notoriously defy conventional (read: armchair) wisdom when making draft selections. Still, they achieve balance with savvy free agent hires: Adalius Thomas, Mike Vrabel, and Rodney Harrison now anchor one of the NFL's toughest defenses. Role players such as Kyle Brady, Sammy Morris and Donte' Stallworth have stepped up when needed on offense. Belichick and Co. have been single-minded, driven, and, yes, disciplined, leaving the other 31 teams in the dust as the Patriots seek their fourth Super Bowl victory in seven years.
The San Antonio Spurs, meanwhile, look to exert dominance in the form of four NBA championships in eight years. While the Phoenix Suns dazzle NBA fans with their breakneck-paced play and the Boston Celtics' collection of stars dominates the East, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have the Spurs sitting pretty at 25-11, good for third in the Western Conference and first in the Southwest Division. They're on pace to make the playoffs for the 28th time in their 32 years in the NBA, with a 19-3 home record and a 6-3 divisional record.
The Spurs are perhaps most notorious (outside of last year's Western Conference finals) for setting the bar high in the NBA draft. In 1999, San Antonio had the 57th overall pick, unlikely to acquire anyone or anything of value. They settled for some Argentinian kid named Ginobili - arguably one of the best draft picks in NBA history.
A scouting department headed by general manager R.C. Buford (with Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard and Seattle general manager Sam Presti as former members) that's considered the class of the NBA has found players like Parker, Leandro Barbosa and Luis Scola. You may not recognize their names (Ian Mahinmi? Tiago Splitter?), but the Spurs complement their star players with enough talent through drafts and free agent signings (Francisco Elson, Michael Finley, Argentina's Fabricio Oberto) to remain on top in a tough conference and league.
Last, but not least, I present to you the Boston Red Sox. Eighty-six years of curses were lifted in one dynamic playoff performance in 2004, and the Sox have never looked back. Wunderkind general manager Theo Epstein, who has fought valiantly in spending wars with the New York Yankees, has added a new wrinkle to the Red Sox organization - prospect development. Developing a farm system is obviously not a new concept, but Epstein has used Red Sox owner John Henry's deep pockets to build a system that creates more than trade fodder for superstars. Former Oregon State Beaver Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, and Jonathan Papelbon are three early success stories of Boston's farm system, which has given them a leg up on the Yankees - and a talent pool envied by baseball executives across the country.
When it comes down to it, the most efficient organizations have built themselves up with the tools most readily available. Scouting departments and general managers everywhere are feeling the strain as these teams set themselves apart. Unless drastic events occur, expect the Patriots, Spurs, and Red Sox to be named the preeminent organizations in their leagues for a few years to come.
The Spurs drafting has always been amazing, we never have high picks (with the exception of Duncan - thank God) and yet we seem to always pick up solid, if not amazing, players. Grooming their own talent just seems like such a Spurs thing to do, unlike Boston trading for 2/3 of their big three, etc.
It makes me so proud to be a fan of the Great San Antonio Spurs.
The spurs have not been good with trades or with free agents. So many good players have changed teams but they don't land with the spurs.
Two excellent draft picks in Parker and Manu but little else from the draft is helping the team. Its basically a team that rides on the greatness of Duncan.
Elson, Oberto and Finley are average players at best and Scola and Barbosa are not on the spurs so those draft picks did not amount to much.
I have seen little from the front office in player acquisistions to convince me that the spurs can remain a playoff team when Duncan retires.
Last edited by rascal; 01-16-2008 at 12:45 PM.
Patriots: Talent
Spurs: Teamwork
Sox: Money
Last edited by BonnerDynasty; 01-16-2008 at 12:48 PM.
don't underestimate the Spurs talent - they have highest winning percentage of any pro team ever over a ten year period and that takes underappreciated talent.
They may not have the pure athletes some misguided fans think wins, but they have inane basketball talent by the droves.
Free agent acquisition of star players seldom works. The Miami pickup of Shaq being an exception, but it may have doomed them for the future because of the cost. Another exception MIGHT be the Celtics but let's see if they win it all before we award them a gold star.
[Quote] Elson, Oberto and Finley are average players at best[quote/] We can't afford any more superstars than 3 on the payroll. These 'average players' acquitisitons helped us to a Championship. This is bad?
[Quote]
Two excellent draft picks in Parker and Manu but little else from the draft is helping the team. Its basically a team that rides on the greatness of Duncan.[quote/]
You won't find much superstar talent in the draft at the Championship levels the Spurs are in every year. It's amazing they do as well as they have. There is no way we won't have a let down when Duncan leaves. You can't lose the best in the business and immediately go forward at this team's high level.
Expect a year or two as a lottery team and then we'll see what the FO is made of. { Pop is no fool and will retire with Duncan.)
It is what it is. The author of the article is a sop re at University of Oregon, writing for his school paper. Not that there is anything wrong with that...
http://www.dailyemerald.com/user/ind...thorid=2664056
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Robert Husseman - Sports Copy Editor
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Sports copy editor Robert Husseman is a sop re at the University of Oregon. He plans on majoring in business administration (concentration in sports business) and journalism and minoring in mathematics. Outside of loads of schoolwork and his coveted ODE job, he loves anything and everything sports as an active participant in the University of Oregon Pit Crew and the Warsaw Sports Business Club.
Robert worked as an intern for the Keizertimes, in Keizer, Ore., for two summers of professional journalistic experience. He was assigned to the beat for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (class-A short-season affiliate of the San Francisco Giants). It was a great learning experience and the guys on the team were great subjects for articles.
A graduate of McNary High School in Keizer, Robert used to compete in spelling bees, which contributed to his love and enjoyment of writing and copy editing. Robert also enjoys drawing house plans, useless trivia, 12+ hours of quality sleep, and screaming at the opposing team in Mac Court until his voice is hoarse.
Robert Husseman's Articles
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Why three pro teams stand ahead of the rest
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Make Dirty Ducks an NCAA team to save wrestling
ummmmm....I like your stuff normally, but...
I think you mean innate...
in·ane
–adjective
1. lacking sense, significance, or ideas; silly: inane questions.
2. empty; void.
–noun
3. something that is empty or void, esp. the void of infinite space.
—Synonyms 1. pointless. See foolish.
Or at least I think you mean innate...
I agree with Rascal completely.
No one can argue with the unheralded success of the FO and they deserve all the praise fo their approach. Duncan's brilliance (on and off the court) certainly makes the Spurs scouting and drafting strategy palatable. Even still, the FO has largely ignored the domestic talent pool. That's the reason that Duncan is THE only "home-grown" player on the roster that was originally drafted by the Spurs.
I'll say this again. As brillant and adept as the Spurs have become in scouting and drafting international talent, I'd like to see them spend a similar amount of effort tapping into the domestic market. Contrary to popular belief, there can be value found in the later rounds of these drafts.
nice article...
Ginobili was drafted 9 years ago and Parker 7 years ago. Since then the success of the FO and drafting has not been so stellar.
Yeah drafting a starting center that will average close to a double double at the 28th pick, is signs a FO is horrible.
The signing of Michael Finley was huge, due to him being a HUGE name, they beat out Miami, Chicago, and many others FOR him.
Ime Udoka after he performs in the playoffs, will make you haters straighten out and think "man thats a good signing"
Of course you won't admit it, cause Ploto and Rascal are never wrong.
The fo sucks, the championships they've won are flukes blah blah blah.
Of course Rascal is the same dumb who wanted to trade Ginobili for Vince ing Carter.
Spurs FO gets unilateral kudos for drafting Parker, Ginobili and Duncan, as well as the surrounding talent around them. Well deserved. However, let's not go overboard.
Starting this offseason and the next couple of seasons thereafter will determine if the FO can continue to field the type of talent around the Big Three to remain a championship contender.
Looking forward to seeing the future development and contributions of Ian and Tiago.
Last edited by SenorSpur; 01-16-2008 at 02:18 PM.
I agree that Duncan makes them look alot better than they really are. They have done a great job of finding cheap role players on the free agent market or via trade that helped them win championships, such as:
FA: Mario Elie, Danny Ferry, Robert Horry, Fabricio Oberto, Kevin Willis, Jerome Kersey, Malik Rose
Trades: Speedy Claxton, Antonio Daniels, Steve Kerr, Nazr, Will Perdue
And on scouting talent their FO found and signed all the players below to 10 day contracts:
Raja Bell, Stephen Jackson, Ira Newble, Devin Brown, Matt Carroll, Jamie Feick, Jason Hart, Jaren Jackson
Drafted in the second round Gordon Giricek, Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola.
They passed and didnt overpay for Derek Andersonand Nazr Mohammad . The teams those two players did sign with greatly regretted it.
They do at times make mistakes but again are quite skilled at the ability to get rid of those mistakes they have made, such as trading Rasho to Toronto and Malik Rose to NY
Our FO drafted but did not select Leandro Barbosa or John Salmons. Those players were selected by Phoenix and Philly and shiped out via trade right afterwards
It's always amusing to see people about not having 15 stars on this team.
Once a team has three guys who put them over the cap and consistently drafts around #30, there aren't going to be many star acquisitions.
spurfans are spoiled.
Salmons is having quite a breakout year.
i was under the impression that the spurs drafted leandro barbossa in behalf of the suns.
In 1999, San Antonio had the 57th overall pick, unlikely to acquire anyone or anything of value. They settled for some Argentinian kid named Ginobili - arguably one of the best draft picks in NBA history.
T Park (and Civilfatman) are on the money. Add to his egs - Malik and his overpaid contract for Mohammed to help us win in 2005, Kevin Willis, Steve Kerr, Horry, etc etc. The Spurs don't make FLASHY signings, they make smart ones and that has been a big part of 4 rings.
Yeah drafting a starting center that will average close to a double double at the 28th pick, is signs a FO is horrible.
The signing of Michael Finley was huge, due to him being a HUGE name, they beat out Miami, Chicago, and many others FOR him.
Ime Udoka after he performs in the playoffs, will make you haters straighten out and think "man thats a good signing"
Of course you won't admit it, cause Ploto and Rascal are never wrong.
The fo sucks, the championships they've won are flukes blah blah blah.
The draft has been a little less successful recently, but drafting in the late first round is never a lock, and we've also traded a bunch of picks over the last decade. Beno, for example, was a great draftee who just didn't work out here. And Splitter will be good, not to mention Mahinmi and all the guys we've got stashed overseas, some of whom will make it over.
I think you're dead wrong on this one, rascal.
A big part of 4 rings is Duncan. Without Duncan there are no championships in San Antonio. As soon as Duncan stepped on the floor in his first game the spurs became instant contenders. He is that good.
That lucky lottery ball that got the spurs Duncan defined the spurs success not any front office signings or trades that they made. Because the moves that they have made or haven't made have produced very little talent as compared to what other teams have done.
Since there has not really been any dominate teams inj the league like the Bulls of the 90's or Lakers of the 80's or Celtics when they had Parrish /Bird/ McHale or even the lakers teams with Kobe and Shaq the spurs have been able to win with a great player like Duncan and two great late draft picks and a bunch of role players. Its all about timing in life and the spurs were fortunate to have Duncan during an era where there are not any really dominate teams.
All the front office had to do is surround Duncan with average players (which they did)and they were good enough to win. Yes Horry Kerr and S Jackson hit some big key clutch shots during the playoffs to help win games but exchange those guys with similar talented players and the results come out the same. There are many nba players that could have played with Duncan and won.
Why didn't the spurs land R Wallace when he was given away for next to nothing or V Carter? Or the future star C Butler when he was availabe at a discount price.
The spurs made two great draft picks to get manu and Parker where they did in the draft and got the lucky bounce of a couple ping pong balls to get Duncan and Robinson and that is where lies their success it isn't because there is anything special about their front office moves because generally their front office moves have not been overall very good. They have won despite them not because of them because Duncan is that good.
Someone listed Perdue as a good move. I remember he wsn't even good enough to play in a championship series game his last year in SA. Steve Smith was a bad move. Hedo Turk did not work out. A Daniels was supose to be a star that never happened. Nesterovic (who was not even worth playing in the playoffs his last year) ended up a bust and was the big free agent signing they waited two years for because they targeted Kidd and could not get him. Muhammed and Claxton had short stays. Kerr had one or two good playoff games and he is listed as one of the better moves the team has made.
Overall the spurs success at getting players through trades or free agency has not been good.
The fo sucks, the championships they've won are flukes blah blah blah.
I couldn't agree with this more. Tim Duncan's greatness is what carries the franchise more than anything else.
Agreed - it's pretty difficult to get a star player when drafting that low for so many years. And the reason for that low draft position is obvious.
Though I would have liked to have gotten our hands on Josh Howard when he was available but you can't win them all.
Does the Spurs front office deserve credit for the Barbosa deal?
I thought we just picked him for Phoenix and sent him there way.
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