The Silver Lining

the southern dandy · Post #1 » by **the southern dandy** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:46 am

Perhaps I'm crazy or a bit too optimistic, but I can honestly see the bright side to our current playoff woes.

Potentially losing in the first round will be much more beneificial in the long run then magically scraping further into the playoffs.
This will force Pop and the rest of the front office to admit that the team has problems. They can't leave the team in a state of decay whilst hiding behind results, if the results aren't there.
I would have loved to have seen the team win a championship this year, but since the Manu injury we all knew that this team had no chance. At least now the front office is receiving a pretty severe reality check.

Black_Jack21 · Post #2 » by **Black_Jack21** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:41 am

Hopefully the FO can actually do something with this team, we don't have a lot of assets to move about.
Maybe Mason, Gooden and Bonner may actract some attention after the good seasons they had.
What would be nice is if Splitter said a big *#@! You to Europe and came over here next season.

Donald Kaufman · Post #3 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 5:04 am

It's a tough pill to swallow, but even with Manu our chances were pretty slim to win the title this yr. The league has past us by. So without Manu obviously we're not going anywhere.

But you're right Southern D, if we were to make another run to the WCF or something that might mislead Pop etc into thinking that we're still legit. That's what's cost us in yrs past.

I'm still pissed that Manu played in the Olympics and basically killed our season - his priorities need to be with the team that is paying him big dollars to perform.

I figure if we're not winning a title, then why not get eliminated early an get some much needed rest for our key players and try again next year.

I for one don't want to see any more repeat performances of Game 3 in the playoffs ever again. I'd rather be in the lottery than watch that garbage.

Blame Rasho · Post #4 » by **Blame Rasho** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:36 pm

Pop needs to know that the status quo just isn't good enough anymore.

co_laper · Post #5 » by **co_laper** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:15 pm

Well personally I think the FO already knows that from last year. That's why this season has always been considered a transition year. And it's not like the status quo is something he prefers. We went after Corey Magz pretty hard. It's just unfortunate that outside of Magz, there wasn't anything else we could do.

Next year thou, most of our guys are expirings. I think those will come in handy if the Spurs choose to use it. I certainly don't want to wait until the end of 2009 but there are plenty of damn good FAs in 2009. I just don't know I want to waste another year of Manu and Duncan's age.

brassviews · Post #6 » by **brassviews** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:06 pm

I expect you guys to trade Giniboli next February since he's an expiring. For who, I don't know.

Donald Kaufman · Post #7 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:51 pm

We need help for the Big 3. They're fine, but we can't get away with relying on them - and only them - to get us thru tough playoff games. Not anymore. We need extra help. Mason has been a bust in the PO's. Pop has a mancrush on Bonner and Fin, and if Fin doesn't retire I'll buy a plane ticket to SA and drag him off the team myself.

I don't mind if we suck for a few yrs to get some fresh blood in here. I like watching guys like Rondo and Roy tear it up in the playoffs, and as much fun as this title run has been, it'd be good to see some young guns in the death black.

co_laper · Post #8 » by **co_laper** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:58 am

I doubt the Spurs will trade any of the big 3 as long as they're together. Maybe once one of them retires, but as long as they're together, no way. It's not like the Spurs feel Manu will bolt once he becomes a FA. If they're dangling an expiring to get someone, we'll have plenty of them. Just about everyone on our team other than Parker are expirings.

Blame Rasho · Post #9 » by **Blame Rasho** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:23 am

I think the fact that Parker has become an all NBA player is what is the best thing to happen this season.

We also managed to stick it to PHX as well

We need a decent big and wing player.

Black_Jack21 · Post #10 » by **Black_Jack21** » Fri May 1, 2009 12:00 am

I guess that another silver lining is that G.Hill just needs some regular minutes and he'll contribute too. why he was shelved mid season in favour of trying to mold Mason into a back-up PG is beyond me.

Blame Rasho · Post #11 » by **Blame Rasho** » Fri May 1, 2009 12:23 am

tony parker 09 wrote:I guess that another silver lining is that G.Hill just needs some regular minutes and he'll contribute too. why he was shelved mid season in favour of trying to mold Mason into a back-up PG is beyond me.

Pop goes thru dementia every now and then.

SMRattler · Post #12 » by **SMRattler** » Fri May 1, 2009 2:24 am

Manu needs to give us one good year next season. I think he has one healthy one left with lots of rest this offseason. Then the FO needs to do something to help our frontline, including SF. We get that, we have a two year window, that's about it. I'll take it. After two years wasted of TD's late years, I'll take any progress.

Black_Jack21 · Post #13 » by **Black_Jack21** » Fri May 1, 2009 3:40 pm

Blame Rasho wrote:
tony parker 09 wrote:I guess that another silver lining is that G.Hill just needs some regular minutes and he'll contribute too. why he was shelved mid season in favour of trying to mold Mason into a back-up PG is beyond me.

Pop goes thru dementia every now and then.

Maybe cos of all the success we've had he's decided he needs to make things harder for us, give us a challenge lol.
I'm now looking forward to this offseason, the Fo now know stuff needs to be done to keep this team at the top. My only concern is that they'll just blame it all on the Manu injury and mostly stand pat.

Post #14 » by **wizardg** » Sat May 2, 2009 1:38 am

Its hard to predict what we will do but its seems as someone mentioned that with all our expiring we need pick up someone who is getting dumped ... Richard Jeff???????????????

Donald Kaufman · Post #15 » by **Donald Kaufman** » Sat May 2, 2009 4:08 am

Is David Lee an option for us? He'd be a good pickup if so.

I think - when healthy - our backcourt is set. I'm pretty happy with it. IMO, Parker stepped up his game to elite status. There were question marks before, but with TD and Manu becoming increasingly gimpy with age, he is clearly our centrepiece. I'm a little bit embarrassed for him that he gave so much in the playoffs and had very little help (outside TD and Bruce).

I honestly think with some athleticism on the wings and a decent big we're right back in the mix. We've overachieved the past two years but now is the time to fix this team for the future.

Post #16 » by **Nolan** » Sat May 2, 2009 4:02 pm

Turnover King wrote:Is David Lee an option for us? He'd be a good pickup if so.

I think - when healthy - our backcourt is set. I'm pretty happy with it. IMO, Parker stepped up his game to elite status. There were question marks before, but with TD and Manu becoming increasingly gimpy with age, he is clearly our centrepiece. I'm a little bit embarrassed for him that he gave so much in the playoffs and had very little help (outside TD and Bruce).

I honestly think with some athleticism on the wings and a decent big we're right back in the mix. We've overachieved the past two years but now is the time to fix this team for the future.

I don't think Lee is an option, the most we could offer him in the MLE(6-7 million) and Lee has said that he's going to be looking for around 10 million and even if he did accept our MLE offer the Knicks would match it no questions asked.

This season has show us that we need some depth around the big three, guys like Bowen, Finely and Thomas are just not going to cut it as our supporting cast if we want to keep pace with the elite teams in the west. Changes need to be made.