| A Quiet Offseason In San Antonio Authored by Elliot Cole - August 30, 2006 - 6:13 pm
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The hangover from game 7 of the 2005 Western Conference Semis is still hovering over San Antonio like a storm cloud threatening to ruin your trip to the zoo. For Spurs fans, Dwayne Wade helped ease the suffering somewhat, but the Finals MVP could do little more than put a band-aid on the grenade blast that was the final moments of game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks. All the memories are still painful. The rush of Manu Ginobili’s 3-pointer that gave the Spurs the lead with less than a minute left. Then the crash of the Ginobili foul at the basket, sending Dirk Nowitzki to the line and sending the game into overtime. The bad taste won’t be forgotten anytime soon, not by the players, not by the fans, and not by the coaches and front office.
The question is what would Peter Holt and R.C. Buford do about it this offseason?
After such a crushing emotional defeat, it seemed like a given that the Spurs front office would respond by bringing in a player that could turn the tables. In the last two years, the Spurs had made a habit of fine tuning their roster around the Duncan-Ginobili-Parker nucleus, bringing in the likes of Brent Barry, Nazr Mohammed, and Michael Finley. So the question in San Antonio lingers: Where is the big 2006 offseason addition to a team that was so close? Where is the annual acquisition that every NBA writer would call a typical Spurs steal?
That “putting us over the top” mentality seems to be absent in the 2006 offseason. Instead of a big name free agent or international star, the front office has brought in such unheralded names as Francisco Elson, Jacque Vaughn, Rich Meltzer, Jackie Butler, and Matt Bonner. While some of these players fill a certain role and others have definite potential, there is no game-changing type of performer in the bunch. Elson has been a 4th stringer all his life, Vaughn wouldn’t take a shot if his life depended on it, and Bonner is a hardworking but unathletic big in a league that is getting faster by the day.
So why has the front office been so quiet? Dumping the salary of much maligned center Rasho Nesterovic for Matt Bonner and Eric Williams seemed like a positive move at the start of free agency, and there were rumors of adding an athletic international big to help Tim Duncan. The age of the European stiff is fading in the NBA, and the Spurs own the rights to two enticing bigs: Luis Scola (drafted 56th in 2002) and Robertas Javtokas (drafted 56th in 2001).
Most Spurs fans already know about Scola. Next to Manu Ginobili, Scola was the most pivotal figure in Argentina’s 2004 gold medal in Greece. He is, in a word, a bull; a fiery and competitive power forward with a championship pedigree. The Spurs had been unable to bring him over last summer (leading to the signing of fellow Argentinian Fabricio Oberto) because of a 3 million buyout on his contract with TAU Ceramica in Spain.
Spurs fans and Scola expected that this summer would be different. It wasn’t. Scola publicly spoke of being shunned by the Spurs, who made little effort to bring him over this year. Javtokas, also rumored to be brought over this summer, instead signed with Greek team Panathinaikos after contract negotiations tailed off with the Spurs (reportedly, Javtokas and his agent didn’t think the Spurs offered him a “fair market” deal…this from a guy who has never played an NBA minute).
The failure to bring over Luis Scola and Robertas Javtokas could, if the Spurs fail to produce a championship, be a painful thorn in the side. The front office seems to be adhering to a “stay the course” philosophy, understandable with how close the Spurs came to knocking out the Mavs last year. Understandable, but not easily accepted.
If the Spurs win the 2007 Championship, the offseason can be seen as a monetarily efficient and patient endeavor. The core of the team is intact and they are favorites going into the new season with a fresh, healthy Tim Duncan. But if they don’t lift the trophy in June, there might be yet another painful hangover in San Antonio next summer.
Elliot Cole can be reached at elliot.cole@yahoo.com |
