Tag: Miami

Do the Spurs really have only the NBA’s 16th most talented roster?

The Spurs streaked to a 61-21 record during the regular season, ranking only a game behind Chicago for the league’s best record before they were upset by Memphis in the first round of the playoffs.

But if we are to believe CBS Sports.com blogger Ben Golliver, Gregg Popovich might have done it with mirrors last season.

Golliver has ranked every NBA team in terms of its roster composition.  Included with each team are its key assets (stars, emerging rookies, players with reasonable contracts), its key anchors (bad contracts, mismatched roster pieces, aging stars owed more money than they are worth) and roster questions (free agency decisions, roster construction questions). 

Golliver makes the supposition that  if a new NBA owner in an undisclosed location was granted the ability to poach an entire roster from a current team — taking with it all of the players and their contracts, but not coaches and management types — which one would be the most attractive? And what would the list look like?

Here’s what he has to say after ranking the Spurs as 16th among the 30 NBA franchises.

“16. San Antonio Spurs

“Assets: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair, Kawhi Leonard

“Anchors: Richard Jefferson

“Questions: Age

“Analysis: Like the Celtics, the Spurs are about to enter a new franchise era. They’ve hedged against losing Duncan to some degree and have a solid crop of younger talent, although there’s not a star in the bunch. Parker was recently locked in to a fairly reasonable extension and will become the face — and motor — of the franchise, with Ginobili doing what he does best for the next few years. The 2011 playoffs felt like a slamming of the championship window, though. The best days are in the rearview mirror.”   

NBA champion Dallas is ranked  as only the league’s eighth best  roster.  And among playoff teams, only Boston (17th), Denver (22nd), New Orleans (24th) and Orlando (29th) ranked lower among playoff teams in Golliver’s roster rankings.

Golliver ranks the Los Angeles Clippers’ roster above the Lakers. And he has Miami ranks as his No. 1 pick.

This obviously underscores the high regard that the basketball acumen of Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford is regarded around the league.

But doesn’t it still devalue what the Spurs were able to accomplish for most of the last season, and also what the team has with young players like Leonard, Gary Neal, Blair and Splitter for the post-Duncan era?        

What about it Spurs Nation?

Is Golliver dissing your team?

Bosh’s expanded back tattoos are … really something

Observant NBA fans have noticed that Chris Bosh’s back tattoo was pretty involved during the playoffs last season.

The Miami forward is taking advantage of the respite provided by the NBA lockout to add a few more elements to the storyboard that is his torso.

Now, Bosh’s tattoo incorporates a tree, an eagle, an animal that appears to be either a tiger or cougar, musical notes, a Zeus-like figure, a woman holding a skull and the Roman Colosseum. The blogs and report it took about 40 hours to finish this amalgamation. 

The work apparently was so involved and time consuming that Bosh brought 10 videos from home to watch while the work was taking place.

And apparently, there will be additional elements added to Bosh’s work over the next few weeks.

We can only imagine what will be next.

Former Spur Walker jailed after allegedly eating his weed after traffic stop

Maybe it was the munchies.

But there’s more to the weekend story about former Spurs player Samaki Walker on drug possession charges that helps explains his arrest.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Walker was arrested by police in Kingman, Ariz., after a routine traffic stop. Arizona authorities allege that as a Department of Public Safety officer approached his 2002 Mercedes-Benz late Thursday in Kingman.

Officials said about 10 grams of marijuana was seized from the vehicle along with some prescription drugs and eight bottles of liquid steroids.

Walker, who played with the Spurs from 1999-2001, cooperated with officers at the Mohave County Jail, police said. He told police that he uses steroids to improve his athletic ability because he still plays professional basketball in Syria.

Walker told police the steroids are legal in Syria, but possession is a misdemeanor in Arizona, police told the Review-Journal.

The Woodland Hills, Calif., resident was drafted ninth in the first round of the 1996 NBA draft by Dallas. His 10-year NBA career ended in 2006 after stints with the Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami, Washington, Indiana and the Spurs.

He was a member of the Lakers’ 2002 championship team, starting 63 games during the regular season.

Bond was set at $2,000 for Walker’s release with a preliminary hearing set for Friday.

His story should be an interesting one for lawmen once his trial begins.