Comments on: Buford Gets a Mandate

By: Antwonomous

Antwonomous — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:21:30 +0000

I know I’m late on this but I just saw cincyspur’s comment. I follow you, cincyspur, the numbers have shown (at least in ‘08 they did) that Manu was better than anyone with the pressure cooking. But I have yet to see, in head-to-head matchups between the Spurs and Lakers, Manu match Kobe’s ability to take over a tight game in the fourth quarter. From my perspective, Kobe has dominated these scenarios and the Spurs have had no answer for him (in the Manu era, Games 4 and 6 of the 2004 series and 1 and 5 of the 2008 series stand out). I know Manu’s ankle slowed him significantly in ‘08 and he wasn’t the Manu we know now in ‘04, but still.

By: Timothy Varner

Timothy Varner — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:15:14 +0000

CinciSpur,

The Spurs are still being the Lakers, Magic and Cavs. I’d say they’re 1.5 good players away. What does that mean? They’ll need to sign a big with their MLE and get solid production from a player like George Hill or Ian Mahinmi. But they’re not far away.

By: cincispur

cincispur — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:21:28 +0000

antwonomous,

While it is commonly held opinion among fans that Kobe vs. Manu is not much of a matchup, it is also widely recognized by those closer to the game, such as players, coaches, and analysts, that Manu, when healthy, can play the forth quarter, and close out a game as well as anyone in the game. I, while obviously bias, believe that the draft, combined with the jefferson aquisition has placed the spurs in front of the lakers. with potential backups of hill, manu, bowen/finley/udoka, blair, oberto/mahinmi, i think there is going to be a whole lot of ability coming off the bench. Good luck to your lakers and i hope we see you in the finals before what would be a great rematch for me against the Cavs. I hate Lebrick!

By: 48 Minutes of Hell » Blog Archive » Nine Draft Day Thoughts

48 Minutes of Hell » Blog Archive » Nine Draft Day Thoughts — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:21:05 +0000

[...] best chance to minimize the gap between them and elite status is getting it right with their MLE. Buford says he’s going to be aggressive this offseason. And that’s because he has no choice. It’s time to go all [...]

By: Antwonomous

Antwonomous — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:02:34 +0000

@tomasito: The Spurs have not won fewer than 54 games in a full season in Tim’s career. They’ve always been very, very good. The Lakers had some down seasons, like you said, in 2005, 2006, and 2007 (34, 45, and 42 wins, respectively). In those three seasons the Spurs and Lakers were not evenly matched teams. Right about now, with the Jefferson trade, as I said in my previous comment these are two relatively evenly matched teams.

Oh, and Matt Steele posted a link to some clutch numbers that would seem to prove me wrong. All I have to say is that in theory, the Spurs have people who can trade shots with Kobe…in head-to-head practice, however… … … I could on and on with the dots, folks. And I’m not just trying to antagonize your fine franchise and intelligent fanbase.

By: Timothy Varner

Timothy Varner — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:12:31 +0000

He’s frail looking and played in a poor league this season, although he played extremely well. Rather than a spot on the Spurs, maybe San Antonio could pull some strings and get him on a better team, in a more competitive league. Angelica Biella?

By: zeus

zeus — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:21:18 +0000

Are the Spurs willing to bring in Viktor Sanikidze?

By: lvmainman

lvmainman — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:59:34 +0000

I hope the Spurs have targeted a big man to help Duncan out for this year. I still wouldn’t be opposed to Rasho Nesterovic being signed at a reasonable salary (3 to 4 mil), or Zaza Pachulia, Marcin Gortat, or Chris Mihm (nba minimum only). Rasheed Wallace for 2 years would be great, but apparently he’s going to the Cavs for big money.

Having seen Mahimni play in the summer league last year, I don’t have high hopes for him being able to offer anything.

By: Jesus

Jesus — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:49:11 +0000

What about Viktor Sanikidze? He played in the 2007 NBA summer league and did really well. WHy don’t the Spurs bring him?

By: Jesus

Jesus — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:20:39 +0000

Timothy Varner, I would want to know more info on an international player the Spurs drafted years ago, and he actually played in the NBA Summer League in 2007: Viktor Sanikidze. He actually looked really skilled out there against NBA neophytes, driving and dunking on several occasions. So, why haven’t the Spurs brought him to play for the team?

By: Rick

Rick — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:26:19 +0000

Antwonomous,

Actually the difference was Derek Fisher. He was the one who hit the 0.4 shot and he was the one who managed to smother Brent Barry without drawing a foul.

By: tomasito

tomasito — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:16:46 +0000

The main reason Kobe’s 4-2 against Duncan is just the luck of the draw. The Lakers weren’t good enough to play the Spurs in 2005, 2006, and 2007. On the flip side, the Lakers have met the Spurs almost every time they advanced to the Finals (except 2000).

If Duncan and Kobe had met every year from 1999-2009, then the Spurs either did win or would have won in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The Lakers would have gotten the nod in 2001 (Duncan was out with an injury in 2000), 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2009.

Their head to head record would be 5-5, with 2000 undecided due to Duncan’s injury.

By: Matt Steele

Matt Steele — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:36:10 +0000

Actually, if you go through some of these stats

http://www.82games.com/clutchplay3.htm

you’ll see that Manu Ginobli is one of the best clutch players in basketball and in fact has rated as the best in a couple years.

Oh and just last year, Duncan Bowen Thomas Mason and Parker all had better clutch FG% than Bryant. Obviously I’m not saying that they’re all better than Kobe in the clutch, I’m just saying that its ridiculous to think that the Spurs don’t have anyone to match Kobe in the 4th quarter.

By: BlaseE

BlaseE — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:33:15 +0000

This is hardly news but over on PTR someone posted this word of mouth story (http://www.poundingtherock.com/2009/6/11/906837/the-inside-scoop) about Tim Duncan taking “our 2009 ‘European’ starting center” to Grant’s Pizza. Obviously that wasn’t Ian or Bourousis, so could it have been Splitter or Javtokas??? Possibly Pachulia, Gortat or some other FA Duncan was woo-ing?

I like Brandon Bass. Dallas is just loaded with young athletic bigs.

By: dmc465

dmc465 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:39 +0000

Potential veteran FAs — to fill the gaps:

-Brian Skinner (big body to get boards and clog the lane)
-Anthony Carter (strong, defense-minded 2nd/3rd string PG?)
-Brandon Bass (just to make Dallas mad)

Each could probably be signed for under 1 mil…

What do you guys think?