Corporate Knowledge: Thinking about the Twists and Turns

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Hello, friends. Jim Nan… er, Matthew Tynan here to deliver your weekly dose (that we’ve only given you, like, twice) of Corporate Knowledge. Things are anything but dull around the Spurs right now, so let’s take a look around.

Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News, after the Detroit debacle: “How to describe a game in which the Spurs squandered a big lead to a Detroit team that began the day 13 games under .500, then lost on Jennings’ coast-to-coast runner with 0.1 seconds to go, a shot made possible only by their own inability to successfully get the ball inbounds?

Disaster. Calamity. Catastrophe. Cataclysm. Collapse. Debacle.

Take your pick.”

 

More from McDonald, on San Antonio’s struggling late-game offense: “Against the backdrop of the rest of the Spurs’ season, the meltdown against the Pistons is made more disturbing, with a common thread of late-game struggles on display.

Not only are the Spurs statistically one of the league’s most turnover-prone teams in crunch time, according to NBA.com data they also are shooting 64.4 percent from the foul line in the final five minutes of games.

Against Detroit, the Spurs were worse than that, missing six of 10 free throws in the final 3:14.”

 

Sticking with the SAEN theme, Buck Harvey took a look inside Pop’s noggin: “So is he “a quirky guy?” A mad scientist?

Or is he a coach with the luxury to search for a way to win the way he wants?

If they could ever get inside of Popovich’s head, they would find a fascinating mix of intellect and emotion and humor. A guess: There are demons in there, but they are off to the side of the skull holding glasses of wine.

His coaching brain is different than most of his peers, however, because it’s free. He’s been his own boss, and his success has taken that further.

While Popovich didn’t mind scrambling rotations early in San Antonio, he was more conventional. As the titles piled up, he has gained the freedom to do anything on a given night.”

 

Over at PtR, Travis Hale was as thoughtful as he always is — this time, about Manu: “It’s that spirit, that imbibed sense of machismo and a gallant, bullfighting temperament that guarantee Manu Ginobili’s mantle as San Antonio’s most beloved, ad infinitum.

Because for all her refinements and growth, San Antonio is still a place where it’s ok to throw avocados at Larry Brown and award a horse to the MVP of the ABA All-Star Game. San Antonio is still ‘dime beer night,” and as George Karl said of those glorious times in HemisFair and of the city, ‘It was a town, a big town, and the Arena got to be like a party. It was the thing to do. It was a celebration of San Antonio nightlife at a basketball game.'”

 

Aaron McGuire dove into Danny Green’s development over at Gothic Ginobili: “Picture this. An NBA player enters the league having had a decent-but-not-exceptional run in the NCAA and having fallen in the draft more than expected. His first few years are a bit disappointing, for reasons that don’t necessarily have to do with him, but he figures out his place in the league and blossoms in the last few years of his deal. In that time, a lot of things happen — his fingers brush against a Finals MVP trophy, he becomes one of the league’s best defensive stoppers at the wing, and his temporarily-broken three point shot becomes a legitimate weapon in his arsenal. All the while, the player in question is stuck on a massively below-market deal that would’ve made him the cheapest Finals MVP of all time. As he mulls over max-to-near-max contract offers after a long season as his team’s rock, the question of whether he’d remain a San Antonio Spur is suddenly far more in flux than anyone expected.”

  • DorieStreet

    I guess waxing poetic about one player’s close-to-the-end career, and wondering if another player will remain with the team in the future, are needed narratives to give pause for this struggling season.

  • Tyler

    I understand the premise, but I can’t see a team offering Danny Green a max deal. He’s a very good defender and an elite spot up shooter. But in many ways, the gravity he creates is reliant on having other good shooters on the floor at the same time. If Green is on a bad team and he’s the only plus shooter on the court, he doesn’t have as much gravity. If the defense can stay at home on everyone but Green, how many clean looks can he really generate? If he’s on the Hornets, Lakers, T-Wolves, etc. does he really have the same amount of gravity as he does with SA? I don’t think so.

    IMO, he’s much more of a “system” player right now. Maybe a contender makes a play for him, but I think his value is much greater to SA than it is to most teams. If I had to guess, I’d say a per year figure of $9-11.5 sounds fair. It will interesting though.

  • Graham

    He’d be worth that I think. What does Korver make? He’s worth at least as much I’d say. What he loses out to Korver on consistency of his stroke he makes up for in being a top shelf Defensive guy.

  • Tyler

    Korver makes a little over $6M, but given how well he’s playing, on the open market he’d probably net eight figures this offseason (he might be an All-Star this year). Although Green in younger and a better defender, Korver has a bigger impact on the offensive end, just look at that shot chart - holy cow! I’d say they’d net around the same amount, probably just depends on team.

    https://espngrantland.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/kyle-kover-shot-chart.jpg?w=694

    Again though, he’s utilized perfectly in ATL. If you’re another team, can you utilize him to the same extent and extract the same impact? That’s what opposing teams have to ask themselves when considering a Green and Korver. And for most teams, the answer is probably no, which in turn may slightly drive down their price tag.

  • Graham

    I certainly agree, but it only takes one team with the cash saying ‘yeah, we know how we can use that’ to spike the price. I really wonder how much of our savings in contracts if manu and Tim come off the books will end up going Danny and kawhi’s way.