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He has been amazingly consistent all year . Coming off the bench or starting ,he has done both at a
high level. I don't know if there record would been as good without him considering all the injuries .
It was a signing under the radar but the Spurs made a great move in getting Marco . He is a perfect
fit for this team .

Doesn't mean he's the team's MVP though..

He is a perfect fit for this roster. We are definitely better this year with him. I don't really care about any MVP's though. As long as we win.

I love a lot of things about Marco, but it's hard to say who's our true MVP. Marco has been logging the most minutes on the team I believe, but without Kawhi our team changes a lot more for the negative. On top of that, I would still call Duncan our MVP this season. He carried us in the beginning of the season and has willed several victories in the streak.

I do think Marco may be the best Free Agent acquisition this past off season. He's just into his prime and was made for the Spurs system.

I can't post in Spurstalk because apparently they've stopped registering new accounts, but some of the posters there tried to argue Neal and Marco are even skill wise. Marco is multiple times the player Neal would be in a Space Jam dream where he plays the role of Michael Jordan.

RC Buford for exec of the year!

Well, let's not get carried away here. Was he a good acquisition? Yes. Is he a WAY better all around player than Neal. Yes. Is he a good value (price wise)? Yes.

Tim Duncan is still the most valuable player on the Spurs. Take him off the team and it would go to crap. His total contribution (on both ends) would just be very difficult to replace, even at a higher price tag.

And I wouldn't hand out any cigars to the front office yet. They had the chance to significantly reshape the team last year and did not. They could of had around $21.5 million in salary to reshape the team (Bonner $4M, Splitter $10M, Ginobilli $7.5M) last summer. IMO they could have made the team significantly better now, and in the future. And note that they still could of gotten Belinelli. If they don't win it all this year I think that the management deserves a lot of heat for what they chose not to do last summer.

Why not R. Lopez instead of Splitter? Just as good, if not a better player, at only $6M instead of $10M. That is just one example of what they could have done.

He was a great signing and he's a great fit here but Duncan's the MVP of this team, no questions asked.

marcusaurelius wrote:Why not R. Lopez instead of Splitter? Just as good, if not a better player, at only $6M instead of $10M. That is just one example of what they could have done.

I think this statement was more poignant before the new year. Lopez was playing above his ceiling and Splitter below his. The past handful of games Splitter has looked far better than Lopez.

I too was disappointed this offseason because the front office could have brought in different players. But the FO made decisions because they wanted to keep the group together, and that mentality is paying off now. Manu has been balling this year as well, i don't see better options at this point looking back.

marcusaurelius wrote:And I wouldn't hand out any cigars to the front office yet. They had the chance to significantly reshape the team last year and did not. They could of had around $21.5 million in salary to reshape the team (Bonner $4M, Splitter $10M, Ginobilli $7.5M) last summer. IMO they could have made the team significantly better now, and in the future. And note that they still could of gotten Belinelli. If they don't win it all this year I think that the management deserves a lot of heat for what they chose not to do last summer.

Why not R. Lopez instead of Splitter? Just as good, if not a better player, at only $6M instead of $10M. That is just one example of what they could have done.

I think they might have tried to do something to reshape last summer if the big three wasn't coming back. When Ginobilli decided to come back they pretty much had no choice but to resign him. Teams that come that close to a championship dont just blow themselves up. I'm not sure why you think the management deserves any heat at this point. We have the best record in the league after spending almost half of the season decimated by injuries.

I was also surprised they signed Splitter to that contract. I thought there were a few other cheaper or equal value players that could have helped us out. We still aren't very athletic and a healthy OKC is going to be a problem. Bringing in Belinelli was a much bigger deal than I thought it was at the time.

Let's look at what happened in the finals last year. How did Gino, Splitter, and Bonner perform? Let's just say somewhere between not well and really bad. And now the team is spending $21M just to "reward" those guys.

Just like the Lakers bid against themselves for Kobe, the Spurs gave Gino way too much. Why not let him take offers and then match? Could of saved several million there.

Why not look at all the options they had for $14M (what they paid Splitter and Bonner) at center/PF? Couldn't they have maybe wheeled and dealed for Cousins? Can you imagine Cousins on this team next to Duncan? Almost a guaranteed championship. Maybe Faried? Others? Come on, with $14M they couldn't of done better than Bonner and Splitter?

Basically it looks like the FO "doubled down" by extending three guys that they could have replaced. Three guys that did NOT show up when needed last year. If they win it all, it is forgotten. But don't think that is for certain. To me the Spurs are the favorites, but I would choose the field over them if I was betting.

And the Spurs better start thinking about the post Duncan team. If they aren't careful, this team could fall off a cliff when he leaves. I think they should of gotten young players to play with Duncan for two years, learn from him, and then have a respectable team when he is gone. SA is just not a "destination" once Duncan is gone. The west has a lot of good young teams, it is not a given that SA can even make the playoffs without Duncan in two years.

marcusaurelius wrote:Well, let's not get carried away here. Was he a good acquisition? Yes. Is he a WAY better all around player than Neal. Yes. Is he a good value (price wise)? Yes.

Tim Duncan is still the most valuable player on the Spurs. Take him off the team and it would go to crap. His total contribution (on both ends) would just be very difficult to replace, even at a higher price tag.

And I wouldn't hand out any cigars to the front office yet. They had the chance to significantly reshape the team last year and did not. They could of had around $21.5 million in salary to reshape the team (Bonner $4M, Splitter $10M, Ginobilli $7.5M) last summer. IMO they could have made the team significantly better now, and in the future. And note that they still could of gotten Belinelli. If they don't win it all this year I think that the management deserves a lot of heat for what they chose not to do last summer.

Why not R. Lopez instead of Splitter? Just as good, if not a better player, at only $6M instead of $10M. That is just one example of what they could have done.

That's a pretty big could of. There was no way we were letting go of Manu and renouncing Splitter would of been an absolutely terrible move.

You also have to remember there were a ton of question marks around Robin before this season. He had a long history of injury problems and his play had been pretty incosistent. So at the time keeping Tiago was our best option at center.

marcusaurelius wrote:And the Spurs better start thinking about the post Duncan team. If they aren't careful, this team could fall off a cliff when he leaves. I think they should of gotten young players to play with Duncan for two years, learn from him, and then have a respectable team when he is gone. SA is just not a "destination" once Duncan is gone. The west has a lot of good young teams, it is not a given that SA can even make the playoffs without Duncan in two years.

I think they are actually setup pretty well for when Duncan is gone. Both he and Ginobilli come off the books after next year. Parker is already locked up so all they need to do is take care of Leonard. A Parker/Leonard nucleus is still a good starting point and they will have a TON of money to chase FA's if they choose to go that route. (I still say throw the bank at Durant in 2 years) The league will be a much different place after next season is over and we will have a bunch of flexibility. We will be less of a destination because Pop may be gone but I think this franchise has built a nice reputation in the last 15 years.

http://www.poundingtherock.com/2014/3/28/5549218/r-c-buford-decision-re-sign-tiago-splitter-cap-space

It's an article about Splitter. I agree the Bonner amnesty out not being taken was strange at the time. It's hard to argue with chemistry. I think Indy is struggling because they made a purely basketball motivated move shipping Granger. Having guys like Tiago and Bonner is another set of eyes that know the system beyond the skills they bring.

Say Baynes is out of position, there are a number of guys that can be on the floor to correct mistakes. I don't think Lopez is really comparable to Splitter. What happens if Splitter goes to Portland and gets more minutes with always starting? Our current record, depth, and chemistry prove our front office has positioned us to get back to the Finals.

As for bad performances in the Finals, both players (Manu and Splitter) have looked far better this year and have the perspective on why they struggled. If teams could've signed Danny Green based on the Finals they would've severely over paid relative to the up and down season he's had.

personally i'd go with manu this year. But marco has been an excellent addition to this team no doubt.

SPURt wrote:I love a lot of things about Marco, but it's hard to say who's our true MVP. Marco has been logging the most minutes on the team I believe, but without Kawhi our team changes a lot more for the negative.

He's 4th in minutes, behind Parker, Duncan, and Kawhi.

MVP is Duncan for me.

Marco has a better chance at being the Bench MVP. But even then, I'm giving that award to either Boris Diaw or Manu Ginobili.

The most surprising guy for me is Diaw. I mean, when Diaw is aggresive looking for his shot, he's just amazing. He posts up, slash, and despite a low rebounding number, he looks like a solid rebounder. Meaning that he's able to hold his ground and his man won't get the rebound over him. This year's version of Diaw, we can go through him by posting him up and let him create. That's just amazing. Currently, our best low post offensive player is Diaw. Not Duncan IMO.

Thibs really elevated Marco's game last season, which helped him jump into a winning atmosphere like san antonio seamlessly. Best of luck this playoffs, hope you guys win it all.

I was stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in 03', so San Antonio will always hold a special place in my basketball heart.