Tag: In the News

Spurs were interested in Casspi until the lockout shut off transactions

The Spurs apparently were active right up until the cutoff point before the lockout as they attempted to swing a late trade.

ESPN.com’s Marc Stein tweets that , who eventually ended up in Cleveland in the J.J. Hickson trade.

Casspi remained with the Cavaliers and the Spurs couldn’t get the deal done before last Thursday’s shutoff point.  

Does that mean they may still try to trade for Casspi as an answer to their jumbled rotation at small forward?

We’ll have to wait until after the lockout to see about that. 

Until then, here are a few missives from my blog brothers and other conventional media sources as we head into the  NBA’s uncertain immediate future because of the cursed lockout.

  • Ken Rodriguez of Spurs.com has the story of from working for the Seattle SuperSonics in college to an assistant coaching position with the Spurs.
  • Kevin Callahan of the Cherry Hill, N.J., Courier-Post pens that.
  • Dave Mackall of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports thatduring games at the Greentree Sportsplex in Pittsburgh.
  • Brad Everett of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relates how Blair at Pittsburgh Basketball Club Pro-Am League.
  • Trevor Zickgraf of Project Spurs.com has anfor Latvia  in Fiba’s current U-19 tournament.
  • Erick Dampier might not have been partying with the Dallas Mavericks after the NBA Finals, according to Ira Winderman of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel that was .
  • Tony Parker and George Hill apparently are headed to France , according to ouestfrance.fr.
  • The Big Lead.com hasduring the lockout.
  • The Austin American-Statesman’s always astute Kirk Bohls is the Spurs picked former University of Texas point guard Cory Joseph in the first round of the NBA Draft.  
  • B Diddy of Air Alamo.com has from both sides as they work to a settlement in the lockout.
  • Matt Bonner tells the Manchester Union-Leader at Rundlett Middle School back home in Concord, N.H.
  • Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell.com writes about and how it might affect the Spurs’ deal with Jefferson.  McNeill also wonders if if they haven’t signed professional contracts during the lockout and expects because of the lockout.  
  • Hill tells Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star that the lockout will give him with his new teammates on the Indiana Pacers.  
  • Josh Guyer of Pounding the Rock.com has started a.
  •  and are among the Spurs-related choices on the Bleacher Report’s Colin Ward-Henninger’s list of the 101 most despised athletes in sports history.   

Yao, Shaq leave a big void

By DOUGLAS PILS
dpils@express-news.net

When the NBA finally comes back, it will be missing two global icons.

Without Shaquille O’Neal — rapper, shoe mogul and the best center of his generation — and now Yao Ming — the man who brought the world to the NBA — the league is much smaller.

Both had the game, personality and swagger that sold tickets, merchandise and worldwide appeal. Neither played much in 2010-11, but now that they’re truly gone the league has big holes in the big-man department.

When healthy, Yao changed games and, for a big man, his 83.3 free throw percentage was tops. O’Neal could move mountains under the basket, and he leaves us with lifetime of one-liners.

Who comes close to what they gave the NBA on and off the court?

It’s a different league from when Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson dominated. Now, we have 7-footers who win NBA titles with 3-pointers, flashy moves and 20-foot awkward looking fadeaway jumpers.

Dallas used to long for someone to compete with Olajuwon and Robinson. Now, all it needs inside to win a title is Tyson Chandler — a nice player and a difference maker this year, but he’s not going down as one of the all-time greats.

And he’s not selling products the way O’Neal and Yao could and can.

So, who are the most dynamic big men left?

Dwight Howard, Magic
The only center left who averages at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and the only one with star power for commercials — McDonalds, T-Mobile, adidas. And he mimics Shaq’s terrible free throws.

Brook Lopez, Nets
He upped his scoring to 20.4 per game this past season, but his rebounds dropped two per game to 6.0. The only commercial I’ve seen is on Disney with the Sprouse twins.

Nenê, Nuggets
Missed most of 2005-06 with a knee injury and 2007-08 with cancer, but he’s been dependable the past three seasons. I’m sure he’s popular in Brazil.

Andrew Bogut, Bucks
The 7-foot Aussie is the only other center besides Howard who averaged a double-double in 2010-11 at 12.8 points and 11.1 rebounds, and he led the NBA at 2.6 blocks a game. He does Time Warner spots in Milwaukee, but I couldn’t find any speaking roles.

Andrew Bynum, Lakers
He plays in Los Angeles, so you’d think he could rise into a leading man’s role. But it seems like we’re always waiting for him grow into his potential. After his last play of 2011 — knocking J.J. Barea to the floor — we’re still waiting.

IMPACT OF YAO

When the Rockets took China’s Yao Ming at No. 1 overall in 2002, he was the first foreigner to be No. 1.

The year before, Spain’s Pau Gasol became the highest at No. 4. In the 10 years before Yao’s selection, 20 foreign-born players who hadn’t played college ball in America were drafted.

In the next 10 drafts, including Yao’s, there have been 52, including six last month led by No. 3 overall pick Enes Kanter.

Toronto took Italy’s Andrea Bargnani at No. 1 in 2006, and Australia’s Andrew Bogut was No. 1 in 2005 after playing college for Utah.

Yao didn’t start the NBA’s international infusion, but he broadened the league’s reach into China and his play further dispelled the notion that basketball is solely an American game.

Here are seven of the best players drafted from overseas since Yao:

Bargnani, PF: Has career averages of 15.1 points — 21.4 in 2010-11 — and 4.9 rebounds for Toronto.

Nicolas Batum, SF, Trail Blazers: No. 25 in 2008, the Frenchman had his best season in his third year, averaging 12.4 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

Nenê, C, Nuggets: No. 7 in 2002, the Brazilian averages 12.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg — 14.3 and 7.6 the past three seasons.

Danilo Gallinari, SF, Nuggets: No. 6 by the Knicks in 2008, the Italian averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 2010-11.

Marc Gasol, C, Grizzlies: No. 48 overall in 2007, he’s blossomed in three seasons (12.6 ppg and 7.8 rpg).

Serge Ibaka, PF, Thunder: No. 24 in 2008 out of the Republic of Congo, he ended his second year atop the NBA with 198 blocks, with 9.9 ppg and 7.6 rpg.

Luis Scola, PF, Rockets: Spurs took him at No. 55 in 2002, traded him to Houston, and he’s averaged 14.3 ppg and 8 rpg in four years.

Spurs Way apparently rubbed off on Tolliver

Anthony Tolliver’s career with the Spurs lasted 19 games at the start of the 2008-09 season. Since then, he’s logged 111 games with three other teams, the most recent 65 of them coming with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Reading between the lines on this story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, however, it seems apparent Tolliver learned something during his short stint in silver and black.

“Sometimes it’s good to have a coach (who) likes to be a jerk,” Tolliver said.

Speaking to the newspaper in the wake of Kurt Rambis’ firing earlier this week, Tolliver describes the characteristics he thinks would be ideal in a new coach in the Great White North. Though Tolliver explicitly cites Chicago’s Tom Thibodeau as a model, it’s not hard to listen to his comments and think Gregg Popovich.

Again from the Star-Tribune piece:

Asked what kind of coach the team needs to hire next, Tolliver said, “Someone who’s going to be a disciplinarian. Kurt’s a really nice guy. Sometimes that got in the way. I’m not saying he’s too nice, but sometimes it’s good to have a coach no likes to be a jerk.

“I know several players on the Bulls and nobody really liked Tom Thibodeau, but that’s O.K. You don’t have to like the coach. You just have to be able to play for him.”

Sound familiar?

Speaking more specifically about the Xs and Os of the Timberwolves’ yet-to-be-tabbed new coach, Tolliver says the new guy should be more focused on defense. Or, though Tolliver didn’t phrase it this way, more like Popovich.

“I never really thought the offense was a problem, the defensive side was,” Tolliver said. “We scored enough points to win games. We struggled with the ability to get easy buckets in crunch time, but our main problem was the defensive end. Whoever they bring in next, it’s really important that they be a defensive coach.”

Who that guy is remains to be seen. Although, if Minnesota really wants a defensive-minded coach, it probably won’t be Don Nelson.