How about instead of debating whether or not Spree is a cancer, we look at what he can do on the court? Here are some facts about Spree: Last season, he averaged CAREER LOWS in the following categories: points per game rebounds per game assists per game steals per game free throw attempts per game minutes per game It's been four years since he's shot 42% or higher from the field His +/- for the Wolves last year was -4.4 Most assume that he would play SG for us. His effective FG% against last season as a SG was .482. Playing SF it was worse, at .487. For comparison's sake, David Wesley's effective FG% against was .461. Derek Anderson's was .451. Next year, Sprewell will be a year older. He's only going to get worse. We're better off with Wesley, and keeping our rotation as it is.
To me this is a complete misuse of statistics. Out of a career worth of work, you pull his worst season and don't actually give us all the numbers, just the aspects of those numbers that you want highlighted. You completely leave the issues that the Timberwolves had as a team last year and isolate one player's negative impact. Do you write for the chronicle? Yes last year was bad for Spree, he played a game against management that he thought he could win (much like a present day T.O.), and he lost miserably. He will be play his ass off next year if for no other reason, to put more food on his families table. You also neglect to mention how spree was the second option in Minnesota last year due to Sam's long injury hiatus. And no, Wally wasn't second because he couldn't create his own shot. Has Sprewell's defense been as good under Saunders as it was under Van Gundy? No Was Steve Francis' or Cuttino Mobley's defense this year as good as they were under Van Gundy? No My point is that Sprewell's tantrum last year only hurt himself and could greatly benefit the Houston Rockets. He turned down 8mill per year to collect the LLE from Houston? Risk V. Reward at the LLE there is almost NOOOO Risk.
As much as I don't like him, I have to agree with you. Spree was playing on a team last year that was soured up. Look at who he had to D up with. The only player on that team worth a flip was Garnett. Everybody else was a sieve defensively. Spree was probably taking the best perimeter player and he got zero help, plus the team is losing, the coach gets fired, his contract doesn't get done. Add it all up and it spells statistical disaster. That's not the case here. I'm confident that he would be a presence defensively and if he wasn't, he would be riding the pine. For the LLE, if Finley is gone, it's a tossup between him, DA, Demarr, or whoever else that is on the market at the SG position.
Oh, I see. So what happened to the T-Wolves last year? KG didn't become mediocre all of a sudden and Flip didn't become dumb. Obviously Spree and/or Cassell had some "on court" issues during most of the year. I heard Flip give a candid interview to someone last year before he was even on the hot seat and clearly Cassell had stopped listening to him while "on the court." I guess Flip didn't have a problem with Spree. Either way, one or both of them clearly helped destroy what could have been a title contender.
Damn guys. I liked reading this forums some time ago, but nowadays there are just dumb visions like this one. Yes apostolic, there are just 3 or 4 variables that determine team's success.
except that he doesn't fit in and wants a bigger role and upsets chemistry, which isn't really worth it for an LLE level player. if the guy could shoot the 3 or wasn't getting older and slower, maybe all his issues wouldn't be as important. but you can't have a decade's worth of baggage (no it wasn't the choking plus one little comment) when you're 35 and on the decline.
Whoa, wait a sec. Why wasn't Spree a "statistical disaster" the year before when the T-Wolves went to the WCFs and would have beaten the Lakers if Sam's back held up? What caused the T-Wolves to crash and burn? Are you saying Spree and his sorry attitude had nothing to do with it? Either he is in (big) decline or has big character issues. Maybe I'm the only one, but I hold Spree's performance last year with the T-Wolves against him more than the choking incident. It is more indicative of what we can expect.
Same ol arguments. Look, you just have a personal issue with Spree...which is fine. I can respect that. But as a player, I have no doubt that he won't have a negative impact on the team. Maybe he won't be "brilliant" but won't won't detract. Yes...yes. We know. He made a mistake and attached his coach but he payed the consequences already. But we do know the coach obviously played a role in provoking Spree as he was fired shortly thereafter. So it was obviously a bad spot for both player and coach. Can we let that go now? JVG clearly isn't worried about it so why are you? So Spree single handedy took down that team?
Run JVG, run! Spree is coming in town just to beat you! Not to play ball, just to hurt you! S**t, he's 35, he doesn't shoot 3s, he's no valuable to us for 40mpg!
any links to support the possible risks of acquiring spree? no, just his past. maybe he'll be good, maybe he won't. but there are certainly risks.
^ Dude, no one is saying Spree's a saint and that he will give us 24ppg. But the anti-Spree crowd is saying he is a cancer no matter where he goes and that he is completely done. The pro-Spree or should I say the Anti-anti-Spree crowd knows Spree has had some issues. But other than a choking 8 years ago and a dumb comment last year, he has never been a cancer to a team. And while he is obviously not the same player he use to be, he can still be a good 3rd scoring option for this team.
based on what. his low fg%? his low 3 pt %? his poor plus/minus? his 12.8 ppg last year compared to wesley's 11.9? if i thought he would help us and was a significant upgrade, i'd be all for it. but he's not. and it's very hard to say he doesn't come with risks. playing spree means barry and his shot gets less time or wesley and his quick D and shooting takes a seat. for what? a guy who can create his shot at an adequate level? mike james can already do that. and if he can guard big 2's, he can't guard the quick 2's like wesley. so since he doesn't add much, i don't really wanna log jam the guard positions even more than we already have. the benefit of someone like DA is he could play SF a little and keep bowen off the court. plus he can shoot the 3 pretty well.
Not a big fan of Spree but respect his still significant basketball skills. What would be fun to watch is Sura and Spree together as tag team tandem enforcers. Talk about scary. No one would be jacking with Yao with those two pit bulls on the court. Whether they would be in the rotation together would be JVG's call, but the prospect of seeing those two putting the fear of god in other team's backcourts is intriguing.
Step away from the keyboard and listen to logic. Whether or not he ends up being a fit for this team, is Sprewell at the LLE a good value? The answer is a resounding yes. If we were to sign Spree, and he proved to be a poor fit, do you really think it would be that hard to trade him away and get value in return? Your so stuck into building the perfect fantasy team in your mind, that you are forgetting the inherent value in a good contract. Face it, the NBA is a business and acquiring palatable contracts is part of it. Whats more is the fact that probably never again, will a team with only the LLE be able to acquire such talent as Sprewell at a parallel stage in careers. And if all else fails and you can't trade him, and he refuses to play team ball, bench him. He's only costing the LLE (around the same amount we are paying Charlie Ward to practice his Heisman pose.) Perspective is reality, and some of you need a dose of perspective.
I'm not saying that Sprewell can't play anymore. I'm just saying that he didn't play any better last year than what we already had. He's getting older. Why should he expect that he'll suddenly have a bounce back year next season, at the age of 35? And he may not be a cancer, but he doesn't exactly have the reputation of a good lockerroom character. Sprewell would be luxury that we don't need. He's old, slow, and has lost most of his athleticism. He's not a consistent shooter, he doesn't rebound particularely well from the guard position, his defense is unimpressive, and he can't slash like he used to. We don't need him. Would it make for interesting conversation on the BBS if we add another player via FA? Sure. But it's not something that we NEED to do, or that we probably even should do. Our rotation looks pretty good as it is. We don't need a 10-man rotation, and JVG wouldn't use one anyway. Why the heck do so many people want this guy? He doesn't bring us anything that we don't already have, other than a former all star with name recognition. He's not a better shooter or defender than Wesley. Sure, he's taller, but he's also slower. His ballhandling and passing aren't any better either. He's not a particularely effective rebounder. He's not exactly the elusive third scorer that we need when he only averaged 0.9ppg more than Wesley last season. His athleticism is hugely diminished. What does he bring? A tough guy attitude, and a recognizeable name. We're not really in need of either of those things.
