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Shaquille
O'Neal: "When you are 60, hang out with 60-year-olds, not 20-year-olds.
That is all I got to say about Jerry Buss."
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HoopsHype.com Articles Feeling
the need for speed
Over the past month, the San Antonio Spurs have gone from a team old and slow to a team that is now young, and build for speed. Immediately after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second-round of the playoffs, the Spurs front office went into action. The Spurs were saddened and stunned with the announcement this summer that David Robinson would be retiring at the end of the 2002-2003 season. Immediately after Robinson’s announcement, a second scorer was needed to compliment 2001 MVP Tim Duncan. Coach Greg Popovich needed to look no further than across the Atlantic Ocean for a remedy. Enter Emanuel Ginobili, who was selected by the Spurs in the 1999 NBA Draft. Ginobili has spent the past three years improving his game in the Italian League. During that time, he has turned into the most dominant and the most heralded player to come out of Europe in a long time. The key is how much transition time will it take him to do to NBA what he did to Europe? Is he the real deal as everyone claims? The Spurs hope to find out when Ginobili arrives later this summer. In the 2002 NBA Draft, the Spurs went for speed. They traded forward Mark Bryant and their 26th and 57th picks (John Salmons and Randy Holcomb, respectively) to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for guard Speedy Claxton. Claxton was originally selected by the Sixers in the 2000 NBA Draft. He missed the 2000-2001 season with a torn left ACL. This past season, Claxton averaged 7.2 points, 3.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 1.42 assists in 22.8 minutes. For their 56th pick, the Spurs selected 6-9 forward Luis Scola from Argentina. Scola has been playing over in Spain for the past three seasons, averaging nearly 13 points per game. This sudden influx of speed has made the Spurs a much faster team, than in previous years. Popovich needs to find a way now to harness that speed, and mold it into a finely tuned machine. The Spurs didn’t have time to rest on their laurels. Their attention quickly centered on signing key free-agent Malik Rose. Rumors swirled weeks prior to the July 1st deadline. The Lakers expressed interest in obtaining Rose, whose stock went up after an outstanding 2001-2002 season. Their hopes however have been quickly dashed and Rose will probably keep on wearing a Spurs uniform for years to come. Same goes with Bruce Bowen. At what price has all this upgrading cost? With too many guards, someone has to go. Terry Porter has undoubtedly played his final game as a Spur. Antonio Daniels, once a successor to Avery Johnson (until the arrival of rookie sensation Tony Parker), has been the subject of trade rumors. After spending all that money on Rose and Bowen, what will be leftover come 2003, when Tim Duncan’s contract expires? Does Duncan want to stay with a team that has been “rebuilding” over the past three years? Who will take Robinson’s place after next season? Rose will likely split time at center with Robinson this season, but was he worth all that money? Will Ginobili be the second scorer, giving the Spurs a “one-two” punch, to counter the Lakers? Will Tony Parker suffer the dreaded “sophomore jinx”? Does “speed kill”? The Spurs have the rest of the summer to ponder some of those questions. Johnnie Clay is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com Tell us what you think about this article. E-mail us at HoopsHype@HoopsHype.com _____________________ |
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