Spurs Pre-Draft Summit

[APerna]

I apologize for the fact that the Spurs are no longer playing, but there is one bright side to the "unofficial" start of the offseason. It's time for the annual Pre-Draft Summit, led by myself (Andrew Perna). The pieces will be turned into articles, and will be part of a three-pronged attack of draft coverage on RealGM.

Thanks in advance for the answers, and please remember to try keeping the answers as tight and concise as possible.


1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?

2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?

3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?

7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?


Thanks for taking the time, and contributing answers. We appreciate that you all help make RealGM what it is today!

[pad300]

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?
I'm gonna skip this because that is not a question who's answers are going to be tight and concise. I might get to it in a later post.
2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
PG - Tony was huge, George Hill was good when Tony was out.
PF - Geez, TD was good, what a shock
3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
Leaving aside the usual suspects (Tim, Tony, Manu)
Bonner. He was surprisingly effective during regular season (it was a surprise to me at least). In the playoffs, he was much less so.
KT - He had more left than I thought
Mason - Up until Pop tried to make him back-up PG, he was a nice surprise
Bowen - Prematurely buried by Pop, but still the best perimeter defender on the squad, and top 5 in the league...
4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
Leaving aside the usual suspects (Finley, who shouldn't have been resigned for 5 Million/2yrs, Vaughn)
Oberto - Disappeared from the rotation early, injured late
Manu - I had hopes his injuries last season were one-off...
Ime Udoka - I thought the lightswitch had clicked against the Hornets last year...
5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
Not exceedingly, but I put little faith in any NBA FO. I am also unsure that there is anyone out there who could do better, including myself. It is very easy to criticize from the sidelines.
6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
Out of the draft, I would say pure talent at any position. However, from free agency and the offseason in general, there needs to be an SF to take the starting role (or groomed to take over, with Bowen getting the start for one more season). As well, the Front line, aside from TD needs reinforcing desperately.
7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?
That really depends who falls late, as I said above, we are looking for BPA at that point. On pure talent and current mock draft projections, Claver or Casspi look possible. Also possibles are Sam Young, Danny Green, Tyler Smith, Milan Macvan, Jonas Jerebko & Dajuan Summers. Later picks (51, 53) might include Vladimir Dasic, Nando Colo, Josh Heytvelt, Dionte Christmas, Henk Norel. I would also be interested in purchasing a late 1st if available, eg. the NOH pick...

[pad300]

Now, here's where we get non-concise
1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?
Starting from what point? Working backwards...
Start of the Playoffs - More Bowen at the expense of Finley. More Hill at the expense of Finley, Vaughn and of Mason's PG Minutes. Mason getting the minutes back, again at the expense of Finley. Fiinley is quite bad defensively, and is a lousy match-up with Dallas to boot. He simply can't cover any of their starters 1 on 1 (Terry's too fast, Howard too strong and too fast...); if his shot is not falling hot at that point, he's just not worth it on the court. Bowen can cover anyone on their team except Dampier and Bass. Hill can match-up with any of their PG's or SG's. Mason can at least match with Terry and not die completely.
More Gooden less Bonner. Bonner was okay defensively, but we needed to make Dirk work much more. Working 2 bigs low would force Dirk to play in the paint defensively and hopefully get punished a bit. Bonner on the perimeter does not. Also, I am not sure if Dirk's ineffectiveness this series was Bonner (who only played 20 MPG to Dirk's 40 or so) or Popovich's help schemes...
During the Season - Popovich did something very unusual for him this season. He threw shorter term objectives ahead of longer term objectives. Yes, we got the 2nd seed. However, he was not willing to eat the standing pain of tolerating Hill's learning curve as a PG. He was also not willing to eat the pain of developing a SF to take Finley's spot; which as you can tell from above, I thought was terribly neccessary come playoff time. This could have been Hairston or Udoka or even Bowen (who should have taken it on the play this regular season). Hairston should have been kept on the roster, even at the expense of cutting Vaughn to make room for Marcus Williams (who was called up so no other team could...).
During the Offseason - The FO made some significant errors this offseason. We didn't make enough of a youth transition and we kept, IMO the wrong old guys. What I would have done: Keep Barry as backup PG in place of Vaughn, for LLE (this cost us more). Note that Barry had been acting as lubricant for the Spurs offense for years...His ability to see and make the extra pass while still being a huge shooting threat was a great asset. Let Vaughn go, let Finley go. This would have left us with one more roster spot. My preference for filling this roster spot was trading for Renaldo Balkman from NY. He was traded for a trade exception, of which we had one of appropriate size (from the Beno trade, it has since expired). I would have happily (if neccesary) thrown in the worst of our three second round picks in this draft...He's shown that as a 4th or 5th option on the floor, he is an acceptable starting SF - the only other player on the roster, who fit my definition of that was Bowen. His size would have given us considerably more line-up versatility, being the best small ball 4 that I think we have had in the last 4 years (Duncan, Balkman, one of Ginobili/Bowen/Barry, Mason, Parker) , as well as allowing us to play big ball (KT/Oberto, Duncan, Balkman, one of Ginobili/Bowen/Barry, one of Parker/Hill). Also, this would have saved some money net: Renaldo + Barry (LLE) < Finley ($2.5M) + Vaughn (Vet Min)

[co_laper]

I'm sorry but that post was too long. I stopped reading after the first 5 lines.

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?

- I'd like to have Bowen plays more minutes. Mason, Bonner and Finley should all play less minutes. And we need to utilize Tim Duncan's offense better. His post ups generate open shots and more ball movement than having Parker kill himself trying to get to the basket and create for others every single time we have the ball.


2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?

- Parker was the only bright spot this season. The playoffs exposed plenty of our weaknesses.


3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?

- George Hill surprised me. Roger Mason surprised me with his ability to shoot the ball, but we're using him to do too much. He's a Steve Kerr type 3 point specialist. I don't want him handling the ball as a PG.

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?

Bowen. I don't think anyone really knows why he's benched. Even last year, Bowen is a more effective player than Finley. If this was a move to go younger, Finley should be the one that's benched.

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?

Not confident at all. We've failed to attract big names in FA for a few years. In fact, I'm not sure if we ever got any big names in the last 10 years. Guys like Udoka, Roger Mason, Brent Barry headlines our biggest additions via FA. We have plenty of weaknesses right now. It's not likely to be solved by the addition of one player with the MLE and no draft picks.

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?

Don't really care about adding another youngster in such a weak draft. It's not like Pop's gonna trust him anyways in the playoff. But if anything, I hope we take an energy big man type of guy. Like What Malik Rose used to be for us. Just some young kid oozing with energy. We need that.

7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?

Who cares really? Anyone else think the Spurs will either select European player or draft an American to play him in NBDL? I sure think so.

[SD2042]

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?
Made more key upgrades to the roster. Perhaps the Spurs would've gone further into the playoffs. The Spurs stubborn attitude towards upgrading the roster for the better reminds me of a quote. "Too much pride can kill a man" A team can only hold on to the same set a players for so long before the time slips by and it becomes too late to make the neccessary changes to keep the team above water.

2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
Veteran experiences of TD, TP, newcomers Hill and Mase, Manu(when he was able)

3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
Mase stepped up big when it counted, ala the winning shot against PHX on the road. Hill stepped up when TP got hurt. TP himself and TD was TD as usual. Bonner was decent at the center position.

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
Manu due to injuries. Bowen was bench for reasons only Pop knows. Oberto was outside of the rotation. Udoka was a letdown.

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
The Spurs stubborn pride has been a concern of mine in the past three seasons. My confidence in their FO is on shaky ground right now.

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft? youth, depth, especially at C and SF

7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?
Danny Green

[ss1986v2]

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?

since you cant do anything about health, i dont know if anything we could have done that would have mattered. as far as what could have been done to simply give us a better chance, i would start with the rotations. mason was doing just fine at sg, until pop decided to give him a run at point. mason has some ball handling abilities, but really should not have ever been the primary ball handler. that little experiment ended wrecking his play, as well as relegating hill to the bench.

the unwillingness to reduce finleys role along with the subsequent reduction of bowens minutes also didnt help things. finley once again showed the same deficiencies that have been glaringly obvious for almost 3 years now: if hes not knocking down his shots, he brings nothing else to the table. and while bowen has certainly lost a step (still very capable, but some spurs fans have a hard time accepting this), he at least he brings something else to the table if his shot isnt falling.

2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?

biggest strength going into the home stretch of the season would have had to been our backcourt. the combination of parker/manu/mason/hill was a very nice mix of skills (different combination of experience, youth, defense, shooting, and ability to get/finish at the rim). unfortunately that didnt hold up, and might continue to be an issue down the line.

timmy was gimpy most of the second half, but he was still timmy enough to get the job done. im still really worried about his health going forward (over 1000 games played, two wonky knees, on the wrong side of 30). but for the immediate future, its still a strength.

3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?

mason, hill, bonner all had better than expected showings IMO. mason stepped up right out of the gate, but fizzled late. im willing to shift a good bit of the blame to pop for the funky rotations, but it would have been nice to see a stronger showing down the stretch and against dallas.

hill showed some really good things early, but ended up riding the pine late. when he was aggressive going to the hole, good things happened. when he played a more passive role, he suffered. he still lacks the ability to finish at the rim, but showed the ability to put the ball on the floor and get there (along with the best foul draw rate outside of the big 3). he also showed good things defensively (was over-aggressive at times, and fouled a bit too much, but he has the potential).

bonner, while inherently flawed, showed some good things. going into the season, i had no faith. i still dont like him starting next to timmy, but i think he showed he could fill a reserve role here.

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?

well, id say finley, but i dont think anyone was really surprised by that. id probably vote for udoka and bowen. bowens ineffectiveness was only partly his own fault, being that he ended up glued to the bench. odoka, on the other hand, didnt step up in the absence created by bowens reduction in minutes (he had a couple of nice showings late, but he did the same thing last year too). although i never thought of udoka as much more than a stop gap player, im not sure he even ended up being that.

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?

same as last season: cautiously pessimistic. while we do have a some assets to play around with (over 30 mil in expiring contracts, as well as a couple of partially guaranteed deals and draft picks), we dont have the room below the tax line to do too much. id love for something drastic to happen, but i think its more likely we see a very similar product on the floor next season (give or take a couple of spots).

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?

i doubt we will be addressing needs via the draft. we need youth on the front line, as well as at small forward. and im not sure we will be getting that at #37 and beyond. if we move up into the late 1st, maybe we could find some depth at sf (someone like budinger, sam young, or maybe casspi).

at #37 id still like a sf, and would be happy if one of green, jerebko, or casspi was still on the board, but really its probably bpa at that point in the draft. as for the later picks, i dont think we have the roster spots for anybody at this point, so id rather move them for future picks, or possibly some more draft'n'stash.

[bishopospurs]

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?

Had more to give offensively and rebounding. We lacked a second scorer on the wing who could create his own shot outside of Parker, and another big to play D, rebound, and add post up buckets. Gooden has some offense be we really lacked defense and rebounding.

2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?

PG is the only strength right now, Parker and Hill are going to be a great PG rotation for a lot of years. Tim Duncan was Timmy, but after that it goes to poop.

3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?

George Hill played well, I disagree with Pop not playing him more in the playoffs to begin with and letting Mason try to be a point guard. Roger Mason was nice until the post season, which kind negates his regular season for me.

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?

Everybody outside of Hill, Parker, Duncan, and regular season Mason. We showed age all around, Bonner couldn't play D or grab a rebound to save his life, Ginobli was a non factor due to injury.

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?

I have very little, we haven't had to rebuild since we had a team with Johnny Dawkins, Alvin Robertson, Johnny Moore, and Artis Gilmore. After drafting David, we got Sean Elliot and Willie Anderson, then traded Alvin for Terry Cummings and were in it to win till David went down and we got TIm back. We never have attracted great Free Agents or spent on them, we just got to of the best over all picks in the history of the lottery. We tend to drat for patience, and lately we haven't had much luck with that i.e. Scola and Splitter

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?

SF who can create offensively
PF/C who can run, hustle, rebound, play D, and has a post up game enough to draw a double team every now and again

7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?

I have seen some mocks having Tyler Hansborough dropping out of the first round. I would love to see him play next to Tim. He is sort of un-athletic, but he plays outside of his body type, he wants to win and has the mental intangibles to contribute to the spurs right away. He hustles, plays D, and shoots well enough to be better than what we have, and he is 8 years or so younger than most our bigs not named bonner. Bonner shouldn't be relied on to start and play D, I am sorry, just not good.

[Nolan]

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?
- We could of made a few moves at the deadline to upgrade the supporting cast.

2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
- Experience and our guard play where our biggest strengths.

3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
-Matt Bonner, he really stepped up and provided us with a lot of quality minutes when we needed him. George Hill was also a nice surprise as well, he really stepped up when Tony was out and showed us that he's going to be a good player in our system.

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
Finely was quite disappointing but that really wasn't a surprise to anyone who follows the team. Bowen was less than stellar this year but I kinda expected that given his age.

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd say i'm at about an 8.5. I know they're going to improve the team but I don't think they'll spend the money that we need to become contenders again.

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
- Depth at SG/SF and at C.

7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?
- I know we were really interested in Lester Hudson last year so maybe we'll take him, although we really don't need another PG. Jeff Pendergraph and Danny Green are other guys that interest me as well.

[Blame Rasho]

1. What could the team have done different to advance further in the postseason?

We could have made a trade at the deadline and we could have used players like Hill and Gooden in the rotation, but Pop choose to stick with the old guys.

2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?

The big three. We have a solid nucleus of players who know their role. We have great chemistry and you never hear anything bad coming from players not getting enough shots or mins.

3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?

I thought that Matt Bonner played pretty well in spurts and became a fixture on the starting lineup.

4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?

Roger Mason. He started off well but then faded badly. I thought we could depend on him for a while when Manu was out but Pop's questionable rotation that made him a point guard really hampered his play.

5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?

Well I know they will not blow up the team and they have a plan so, I feel confident that the team will not implode but in the same sense I don't think they can get a difference maker on the team to help the big three.

6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?

We need to get younger and more athletic. I mean we were dead last in dunks.

7. Who would you like your team to select with the 37th pick?

I would like a SF... someone like Damon James.