The Mavs are classy?!?!?! Well anyways I was hoping he'd bolt for Orlando. The less competitions there is in the MW the better it is for us. ------------------
The Spurs are still at their peak. They were one injury away from winning the whole damn thing once again. Duncan is too close to another title to go to a middle of the pack team in Orlando. San Antonio makes plenty of sense. Plus there are no real Centers in our division. In Orlando he would be forced to contend with Ewing and Mourning. ------------------ humble, but hungry.
I never thought I'd see the day when someone would call "loyalty" ... crap. ------------------ "One who conquers others is strong; One who conquers himself is mighty" - Lao Tzu [This message has been edited by temujinphl (edited July 10, 2000).]
tema;lskdjf, Loyalty to your friends is to be expected, loyalty in a corporate setting is naive. Oh... where's Chucky Brown? ------------------ The ClutchCity 500.
I am NOT a Duncan fan nor a Spurs fans. I also found the fan knowledge level in SA seriously lacking in the Alamodome late last season when NO ONE for 10 seats in any direction had a clue who Steve Francis was. But I will give a mild applause to Duncan for staying. Mild because part of the decision is rooted in the fact he just does not like CHANGE (4 yrs @Wake). I stand with those who do not think his staying is stupid. Robinson will be a FA after this season and you can bet he has already told Duncan he will make concessions so the Spurs can retool. ------------------ GATER
Boy Achebe... If you are a real Rocketfan and you see that Dream in his prime was thinking about leaving, I guarantee that your flute would be playing a different tune. ------------------ I Want To Thank God For Making Me A Rocketfan
Tim Duncan - this Bud's for you! Thanks for restoring some semblance of integrity in a sport that's gone money mad. ------------------ "Who Wants To Be A Rocket?" - and probably a millionaire as well. The off-season will be interesting!
I can't help but wonder if Grant Hill is having second thoughts now. Props to Duncan for doing the "right" thing. Keeping the NBA competitive should help keep fans interested all across the country, not just in Orlando and LA. ------------------ "When your dead, anything's funny."-John Lennon
Almu, (the appeal to the level of fanness didn't go unnoted ) What is the criteria for loyalty? People pick and choose when they want to throw such a term around as if it means anything. We all applaud trades such as those that acquire Steve Francis, casting greats such as Antoine Carr and Brent Price out on their arses but dread those departures that are beyond our favorite teams' needs, or out of their control. I think it's fairly ridiculous. Fans essentially yell "do whatever I want you to"! It all seems silly. I used to work at Kennecott Utah Copper here in Salt Lake City. I quit for a higher paying job. The s@#$ hit the fan of course. Interestingly enough, KUC layed off 500 people two months after I left... including people that were angry with my departure, people that had appealed to my loyalty. What a f@cking joke. ------------------ The ClutchCity 500. [This message has been edited by Achebe (edited July 10, 2000).]
I'd bolt for Orlando if I were him. Being loyal is one thing but doing whats best for himself is the most important thing. ------------------ You ain't gotta like me, you just mad cause I tell it how it is, and you tell it how it might be.
Frwak, I agree they may win the mid-west. But then they get beat in the second round by the Blazers or Lakers. Everything seemed to be in place to have a contendor in the east. Maybe Orlando still becomes the favorite with Hill & McGrady, but there was a relatively easy route to the Finals (as compared to the West and having to go through LA & Portland). Also if McGrady & Hill go to Orlando, Duncan stays in SA, maybe Eddie Jones to Chicago (?), then I begin to think someone will have some $$$ left for Mobley (Chicago or maybe Toronto). Also I heard SA would like to get Derek ANderson & may be working with the Clippers on a sign & trade, since SA only has 2.2 mil exception available. ------------------
And how did the Spurs cheated on Duncan? Loyalty doesn't always give you the greatest return, but neither does honesty nor selflessness, does that mean we should be unscrupulous and greedy people? Don't knock the man for doing something good. You don't have to praise him, but you shouldn't call him stupid either. ...and i hope you were'nt calling me a moron , because you dont even know me, you dont know what grades i get, you dont know my stature... brahma rocket, yet you call Duncan stupid??? What a "Me Me Me!!!" world that we live in.
FOUR FACTS Shaq still has not proved that he can beat the Twin Towers. The Fakers did not win until Duncan got hurt. San Antonio can pay him more money. The city of San Antonio has catered to his every need (ex. building a new stadium). When older free agents like Robinson retire, the Spurs will have plenty of capspace to go after people. This summer alone shows that others want to play with Duncan. SOME OPINIONS The Spurs will not suck next year. They will still have a dominating frontcourt, a savvy point guard, and nice role players. If they get D.Anderson from the Clippers and Elliott stays (he can still play great D against SF's and SG's), they would be my favorites to win it all. It takes chemistry to win a title. You just can't throw talent together and expect them to win. Remember Dream, Barkley and Drexler? Did they win? Dosen't that line-up sound better than Duncan, Hill and McGrady? Remember the 90's Houston Oilers? Has any football team ever had more talent than those teams possessed? The Spurs already know how to play together. Unless you have M.J. on your team, you need a dominant big man to win a title. To beat Shaq and L.A., you need a few. Duncan in Orlando has no big man by his side to check the big whatever. What's the point of dominating a confrence if you can't win in the Finals. Overall, I like Duncan in S.A. If the Rockets can't win a title, at least another Texas team will have a shot. ------------------
This keeps the West from possibly being dominated by the Lakers for at least one more year. I think had Duncan been healthy, LA would have had no answer for them. SA matches up particularly well with the likes of the Lakers. I would have loved to have seen Duncan and Hill on the court together, but oh well! ------------------ HOOP-T ------------------
One little fact: Tim's GPA through 4 years of college was 3.95 on a 4.0 scale. (source:SLAM magazine) Betcha' didn't know that Brahma. ------------------ Casa ole! Fresh today!every DAY!OLE!!!
Hmmm....some interesting takes. Yes, the Spurs are looking at 'retooling right now'. Here's a way to think about it...the Spurs make the push to win a title before Duncan becomes a free agent instead of tearing up the team and rebuilding around Duncan. SA hasn't yet had it's chance to retool. That is where this and more importantly next summer come in. They'd love to get a good perimeter FA in a sign and trade or sign for one year at the exception and get the payday next summer. They want Derek Anderson and Derek Anderson apparently wants the Spurs (and Tracy McGrady wants everybody). They have been talking to Eddie Jones and he is interested in SA, though obviously it would have to take a significant S&T deal to get him the money he commands. The Spurs are moving to get younger this summer. They already have young role players such as Daniels, Walker, and Rose. They will look to add more this summer and the next. Were they old last season? Yes. But that is changing. The Spurs aren't going to stay 'old' forever, that is the one thing that always cracks me up. Of course, when your best player is also your youngest player, things aren't so bad. I think that short term the decision made sense for Duncan. He is a NBA 4, not a 5. He is much more effective as a 4. As for long term, Orlando looked good becuase they had made their rebuilding efforts. SA was busy trying to compete for a second title. Long term, we shall see. It all hinges,I feel, on SA's ability to find that second superstar to complement Duncan once DRob retires in 3 to 5 seasons. The thing is, the Spurs will make the changes to improve the roster and with a new arena which will provide a nice bump up in revenues, the new labor agreement, and cap space next summer and perhaps the year after that, they will be in good shape. Honeslty, this decision was temepered by loyalty, but it wasn't as terrrible of a bball decision as a lot of people have made it out to be. But loyalty is nice. ------------------ It's a cool site, this clutchcity.net
Achebe, You're right... team unity means nothing. Going to where the money is, and rebuilding team chemistry from scratch is more important. NBA fans nowadays consider building championship teams like buying "parts" to build the perfect machine. The mentality is, this team is past its prime. I need to go one and do what's best for ME. Who cares about the fans I played for? I can always find new ones. Besides, the money is great, and they got good players, even though I've never played with any of them before. But the money is great! Right? It's always about the money. Let's hide behind terms like "respect" and "winning chances". Loyalty is crap in the corporate setting. Why is something missing? If you can't find out what, well... you're missing a lot. ------------------ "One who conquers others is strong; One who conquers himself is mighty" - Lao Tzu
