Clingan vs Wemby and vs Holmgren?...or Segun has a better chance for this team?

The spurs had a rare group of people that were loyal to both the org and Pop, TD, Manu, TP all stayed and took pay cuts to make it work. I have a feeling Wemby will end up asking out just like Kawhi did and he could be out of our division by the time he reaches his prime. From a marketing perspective the Spurs do not let someone become a mega star, they go with a more balanced approach. The only appeal was their winning culture, and I think a lot of that is going to be gone once Pop retires which could be any day now as he is 75 years old. Hoping he at least decides to leave the division and doesn't go to Dallas.

 

You do realize that the Spurs have a tree of alumni and that our own Udoka is a loyal student of Pop...

I don't think Spurs culture is going anywhere but I do think the leading figure will retire.

They have a strong basis of coaching talent.

Nothing would be the same but a new beginning with much needed fresh faces and approaches.

You underestimate that the Spurs are not just Pop, they cultivated Sam Presti and I think they are capable of doing it again with top management talents.

The NBA has its roots in the mantra of losing big before you start winning.

 

--. .-. . -. - .--. --- ... -

 

Sengun is 100% a better option than either Clingan or Edey if we're looking at it from a "stop Wemby" perspective. However, Sengun is also 100% worse than Mobley or Chet, so there's levels to it. Now, we're actually being disingenuous even looking it at from a Sengun perspective when it should really be Bari who has the actual skill-set we'd need to guard a Wemby (with support from another player, we're going to have to double him in his prime a lot of the time like most teams.) You won't stop Wemby with big bodies or height, he's longer, faster and will humiliate them with agility because their advantage of height doesn't work if they can't get near him. The ideal is literally Mobley/Chet, smaller (relatively to him obviously) super switchable agile defenders who can meet him at the arc. Bari's the same height as Sengun and but has the defensive skill set, why would we even use Sengun as Wemby's primary defender? Sengun will do more damage to Wemby by just attacking him and putting him in foul trouble whilst lighting him up. Believe that.

 

I'll say it, Wemby can suck a big fat bag of veiny sweaty cocks.

 

Times are different though, many coaches have worked with other successful coaches, it doesn't mean they will all achieve identical success, the era of the winning spurs had solid retention due to being successful early with TD and the fact that stars mostly stuck to their franchises back then. Kawhi was the beginning of a new era for them. In the modern NBA players are not as loyal, Presti has done something we have not see the modern era spurs do yet, which is navigate the current era of diva superstars who you have to cater to and have to deal with trading away and rebuilding. The Spurs saw that diva attitude from Kawhi and he didn't like how they responded to it, so he forced his way out. That culture you speak of that is being inherited may not be a good thing, unless it is adjusted to cater to modern stars. Maybe the Spurs adjust and cater to Wemby, I think that will be necessary. Wemby is not TD, he has already gotten a lucrative Nike deal and may be the first center in decades to actually have a shoe that sells, I personally do not see him staying a Spur forever. The alternative is that the Spurs evolve as a franchise, which is also possible once Pop is gone.

Maybe I am just hopeful this happens, and have bias due to that. I just am not really impressed with what the Spurs have done in the past 5-6 years of no playoff appearances. The only thing they have going for them seems to be a rigged lotto where they landed Wemby. Based on what Shaq has been saying about how the league works and how he got to choose Orlando, i think the same was done here w Wemby.

 

Of course there will be a gap but that is normal with most franchises missing a key figure but life goes on.

The Celtics IMHO called the Spurs of the East have regrouped under Brad Stevens and moved on from Danny Ainge.

I mean the Spurs would not be the same Spurs but a new exciting franchise (admittedly still a small market franchise).

I do see that the Rockets have the better team and but if you compare Front Offices, I would still bet on the Spurs to come out with better managerial talents in the long run.

They have built such great relationships within the NBA and cultivated strong bonds.....that it is virtually impossible to see them sucking like the Wizards or Detroit. Over a decade.

I give you that the future is uncertain even for them.

 

Rather have Zach Edey = Edey will score 75 points and defend the rim vs Chet/Wemby

or

Draft Kel'el Ware to have a Dereck Lively type archetype to go along with Jabari Smith

and/or

Go after Jalen Smith (Pacers) in free agency. Shot 42% from 3 on about 2.4 attempts
per game in only 17 minutes

 

Sengun is better than Mobley dummy

 

For the thousandth time. Sengun will never be the primary defender on Wemby. Wemby is not a post player. As well as Wemby played his rookie year, he still has a ways to go to be a generational type player. If he doesn’t develop a good/great outside shot he will never reach his offensive potential, because he does not have the body to be a post player.

He also is not the defensive juggernaut that some people claim. Blocks are great, but they do not define who is a great defensive player. As demonstrated by Sengun’s dominance, even thought Wemby had 5 blocks that game. He is going to have all kinds of trouble guarding strong guys one on one in the post unless he gets significantly stronger. If he does get stronger and puts on too much weight then his longevity will come into question.

I think there is a world where Clingan and Wemby could co-exist nicely. With Clingan in the post and Wemby on the perimeter offensively. I did not pay enough attention to Wemby’s perimeter defense. Was it good?

All that being said, I think Wemby has the most potential to be great than anyone in the last 5 drafts at least, but I’m not at all scared of the Spurs for several more years. They still have a couple more years of re-building to be a threat to make the playoffs unless they go all in right now by trading their plethora of picks for several win now vets. I don’t see that as a Spurs way of doing things. If they get really lucky in the draft (or the NBA pulls some shenanigans) they could build a contending team by Wemby’s 4th year by drafting well and then adding some vets.

 

Not as a defender he isn't, why even bother wasting my time if you're not going to read the post you're replying to, dumbass?

 

Watching this Boston team, it's hard not to see them winning a few titles with this group, despite not having a Top-5 player.

But outside of OKC, I think we might be the team best equipped (in the near future) to follow a similar model of not having many exploitable defenders, and having a more an egalitarian (and less heliocentric) system that can exploit mismatches on O. This is especially the case with our 2022/2023 picks - Jabari, Amen, Tari and Cam. They all have their shortcomings but they're also very young.

I still want to keep Sengun (tbd on Green) but the advantage of having 5 switchable defenders becomes so damn important late in the playoffs. Even though the Wolves had the best defense throughout the year (centered around Gobert/the bigs), they were easier for the Mavs to exploit than the Celtics, because they had a more traditional roster-build with a small PG and an old-school C.

It's hard because we desperately need shooting like Sheppard's, and rim-protection like Clingan brings, but I can't help but think they would become more exploitable late in the playoffs. Maybe that's looking too far ahead, but hey. That said, I'm not sure who the better options are, with Risacher likely being gone and Castle's shaky J clashing with Amen's.

 

Clingan is a big guy, Kessler is only 7’0 and 245 pounds….Clingan is 7’3 and 283 pounds. He would be a lob threat and mismatch nightmare for team on offense. Also, he will dominate on defense. Sengun NEEDS to get a outside shot it is very important for his basketball career. Sengun is limited vertically, not seven feet and not a big center concerning his width. It’s important that Sengun get a outside shot! When Sengun get his outside shot and play with Clingan…he would be dominant. However, Reed from Kentucky is a very good shooter. After watching the Kentucky and Tennessee game, Reed gave me “Stephen Curry Vibes”