Buford Gets a Mandate

by

R.C. Buford gave an incredibly straight forward interview this evening. The video is at Spurs.com. Here are some bullets that I took away:

  • The Spurs are sad to see their veteran’s go, Bruce Bowen especially.
  • Richard Jefferson is the beginning of the offseason. Buford gives a clear indication that the Spurs are willing to pay tax and continue to be aggressive in the draft, during free agency and through summer league. He nearly says, “Damn the torpedoes, we’re going to do what we have to to get better.”
  • Buford did a good job of gently reminding the press corp that the ownership group is not cheap. Far from it, actually.
  • Buford mentions the expectations of player’s from past drafts contributing to the team. Undoubtedly, he is hoping the best for Marcus Williams and Malik Hairston. But he also mentions those “coming back from Europe.” James Gist, anyone? Surely not Tiago Splitter? The Spurs did just create a hole in their frontcourt. But Splitter? Hmm.
  • It’s clear that the Spurs don’t have any concerns about Jefferson troubling the locker room. Jefferson is someone whom Pop “knows well.”
  • Richard Jefferson’s durability was attractive to the team, as was his ability to score. Duh and duh, but it’s worth noting.
  • “[Jefferson's] age helps us transition our team.”
  • “We had created some advantages through the contracts we had in place, and through the free agency of 2010…” That’s just a humble way of saying we’ve done an unbelievably good job of managing our cap.
  • “Manu says he’ll be healthy and ready to play. I like that.” With those words, Buford just gave us his version of “Because he’s Manu Ginobili.” Some things are much less complicated than we make them.
  • “Just as this financial environment has created opportunities in this trade, I think there could be similar opportunities in the draft.” Those are the words of a man who wants to trade up.
  • Okay, was it just me or was there some swagger in that video. Look out league.

I’m excited.

  • dmc465

    Okay, so assuming the Spurs try to trade up in the draft, which team’s pick do we want and who do we target?

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    I’m not sure anything changes in terms of the draft. They still need depth at wing and they have holes up front. Same players we’ve been talking about all along. With the holes up front, Blair has become the official dream pick.

  • Christian

    Owwwwwwwwww! That’s what I’m talking about!

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    Someone is going to ask…

    Robertas Javtokas signed with CSKA. (Edit: Actually, he’s rumored to sign with CSKA. Thanks, Matt).

    http://www.ballineurope.com/euroleague-transfers-table/

  • mattmo28

    yessss….

  • rikiddo

    Oh, I am liking this. With the purse strings loosening, our front office team could be dangerous. Because, you know, they weren’t bloody effective before. The “coming back from Europe” line intrigues me, though I think he just means Gist - bummer. I also wonder if they are thinking about packaging the 3 picks, a future 1st and someone(Bonner?) for a better-quality big.

    RC is a sly one. Making us giddy with anticipation without giving too much away. It’s an art form.

  • http://antwonomous.blogspot.com Antwonomous

    Spurs become instantly quite dangerous again, but as a Lakers fan I feel we still hold the ace: Kobe Bryant is 4-2 all-time in his career against Duncan in the playoffs. What has been the difference? In tight, competitive games between the two teams, Kobe would simply dominate the fourth quarter and there was no one on the Spurs who could match his ability to take over a game and win it. Even with this trade, that remains true. And no, I haven’t forgotten about Manu. If Bynum ever gets clicking and stays clicking (meaning stays healthy), that means these are two relatively even teams…only the Lakers will have the best player on the floor and the ultimate closer. So I still think we have the edge.

    But no doubt, the Spurs just became a problem again.

  • dmc465

    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?

  • BlaseE

    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.

  • Matt Steele

    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.

  • tomasito

    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.

  • Rick

    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. ;)

  • Jesus

    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?

  • Jesus

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

  • lvmainman

    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.

  • zeus

    Are the Spurs willing to bring in Viktor Sanikidze?

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    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?

  • http://antwonomous.blogspot.com Antwonomous

    @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.

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  • cincispur

    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!

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    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.

  • http://antwonomous.blogspot.com Antwonomous

    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.

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