Time for Beno to show what he is made of.

Doesn't seem to be hurting them too much, of course they could probably be without their entire starting lineup and still beat poor New Orleans.

Here's a question to ponder...why do the Spurs seem to have so much success with foreigners drafted later in the draft (Parker, Ginobili, looks like Udrih will at least be a solid contributor) whereas most other foreigners taken by teams late in the draft end up never being heard from again? It seems as if almost all the foreigners who do have success in the NBA are consensus high draft picks like Dirk (#9), Yao (1), Peja (14), Ilgauskas (20), Kirilenko (24), Gasol (3) (and there are plenty of lottery foreigners who have gone on to distinguished careers of sucking). Some of those guys aren't lottery picks, but they're still first rounders. Meanwhile, you have this illustrious list of foreigners taken #25 or later since 1995 (I use #25 or later because that's when the Spurs' guys went):

1995
Dragan Tarlac, Chicago
Dejan Bodiroga, Sacramento
Eurelijus Zukauskas, Seattle
1997
Marko Milic, Philadelphia
Predrag Drobnjak, Washington
Alain Digbeau, Atlanta
Ben Pepper, Boston
Roberto Cuenas, Chicago
1998
Vladimir Stepania, Seattle
Bruno Sundov, Dallas
1999
Gordan Giricek, Dallas
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
2000
Jake Tsakalidis, Phoenix
Primoz Brezec, Indiana
Marco Jaric, LA Clippers
Soumalia Samake, New Jersey
Olumide Oyedeji, Seattle
Josip Sesar, Seattle
Igor Rakocevic, Minnesota
2001
Tony Parker, San Antonio
Mehmet Okur, Detroit
Antonis Fotsis, Memphis
Robertas Javtokas, San Antonio
2002
Milos Vujanic, New York
David Andersen, Atlanta
Juan Carlos Navarro, Washington
Peter Fehse, Seattle
Federico Kammerichs, Portland
Mladen Sekularac, Dallas
Luis Scola, San Antonio
2003
Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix
Maciej Lampe, New York
Sofoklis Schortsanitis, LA Clippers
Szymon Szewsczyk, Milwaukee
Slavko Vranes, New York
Zaur Pachulia, Orlando
Malick Badiane, Houston
Sani Becirovic, Denver
Paccelis Morlende, Philadelphia
Remon van de Hare, Toronto
Nedzad Sinanovic, Portland
Xue Yuyang, Dallas
Andreas Glyniadakis, Detroit
2004
Sasha Vujacic, LA Lakers
Beno Udrih, San Antonio
Anderson Varejao, Orlando
Peter Ramos, Washington
Albert Miralles, Toronto
Viktor Sanikidze, Atlanta
Ha Seung-Jin, Portland
Sergey Lishchuk, Memphis
Vassilis Spanoulis, Dallas
Sergei Karaulov, San Antonio

Now, it's probably a little to early to pass judgment on the post-2002 picks, but there are VERY few people on that list who weren't total failures, and 3 of them are Spurs. Ginobili and Parker are easily the 2 best on that list. So what is it? Superior scouting? Good coaching? Situation conducive to success? A lot of people may say it's superior scounting, but I find it hard to believe that Spurs scouts are seeing something that everyone else isn't. I think it's more the situation than anything else. They are allowed to progress at their own pace, they aren't expected to be the star, and they have clearly defined roles (not to mention plenty of foreign players so they feel more comfortable).

Note: By foreign, I mean that they didn't go to college in the U.S. so that scouts don't have a chance to see them in a conventional setting, so guys like Olajuwon and Ewing don't count.

[This message has been edited by Santos L. Halper (edited 3/14/2005 9:04p).]

'cause they have a coach named Popovich!

btw Spurs up 88 -52 with 2:55 left in the 3rd

Spurs will likely bring Luis Scola this summer too. If he was drafted now, he would be a top 10 pick, easily. Robertas Javtokas (sp?) was a huge stud in Europe until he was in a motorcycle accident. He is playing again, but will likely never make it to the NBA. Both of those guys would have been steals.

Pop said that he just got lucky with Ginobili. He liked his athleticism and explosiveness, but didnt know how he would develop. Pop also always had his eye on Rasho the Weak, and was hoping to draft him originally to be tutored under Robinson. I guess it worked out. He fits the role, but I've never really liked him.

Jaric and Prezac have both come into their own, but they arent at Manu/Parker level either. Okur is solid too.

The short answer: Pop still has CIA connections in Europe.

I think some of it is Pop doesnt rush them over. We could have had a few more years outta Manu or Scola, but we let them develop over there at their own pace then brought them over. Manu (like Robinson and Duncan) had a late start on basketball. Parker was more or less ready - was in Europe (son of an American pro baller) and could be brought over when he was a kid.

A lot of scouts were high on Udrih, but his stock dropped because he was considered injury-prone. High talent and injury prone is worth 700k a year and Pop took the gamble and it obviously has paid off. I cant name one player drafted after him that I would rather have, and I can name a bunch drafted before him that I wouldnt rather have.

Like you said, there is one star in SA. Manu and Tony arent forced into that role, they can just work on what they do best. Pop can develop his gameplan on all the strengths of his players, and also develop it so it minimizes the weaknesses of the players too.

I think it is a combination of patience, great coaching and great scouting and CIA connections.

Udrih's final line tonight (first start in the NBA, I think)

32 minutes
9-13 FG
3-3 three
4-5 FT
4 rebounds
4 assists
1 steal
25 points

Duncan only played 24 minutes and had 18 and 13.
Barry finally played nice with 17 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
Spurs were just dead on. 70% from behind the arc.

Don't forget the Spurs drafted Gordon Giricek as well the same year as Manu. They had to choose between them though for signing purposes because they only had the cash to sign one (being 2nd rounders, the last 2 picks of the 2nd round mind you).

The Spurs are simply the best talent evaluators in the league when it comes to foreign players, no one else is close.

Scola is going to be a stud as well. He and Manu are running buddies from Argentina and he has been tearing up Europe the last couple years. He's going to be a solid backup PF type.

Gireck was mid-second round and was considered a better prospect than Manu because of his suprior shooting. Manu was considered more of a slasher and possibly a good defender (but its hard to gauge the defense of a Euro), but thats about it.

We got Dallas' pick of Gireck when we traded them Leon Smith, the HS basketball player we drafted for them with the last pick of the first round. Smith then went crazy and tried to kill himself by running across the highway or something like that and never played ball again and we got a second round pick from Orlando (or Memphis?) for Gireck.

As much as some of his in-game coaching skills disgust me, you'll never hear me complain about Popavich regarding his ability to scout and bring in athletes that will fit into his system. These guys and the system succeed despite some of the bonehead coaching errors Pop makes.

Don't forget about RC Buford. He and Pop have done an amazing job at finding late-round draft picks.

It's a lot better than the likes of Dwyane Schintzus.

[This message has been edited by dave99ag (edited 3/15/2005 9:48a).]

quote:

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It's a lot better than the likes of Dwyane Schintzus.

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Incidentally, wasn't Tony Massenberg taken by the Spurs in the same draft as Schintzus? The only thing San Antonio got out of that Schintzus deal was a bad Pizza Hut commercial with Sean Elliot. At least Massenberg eventually panned out. I have been impressed with the way he has learned the system, and he is an enforcer down low and on the boards. He has been a very pleasant surprise.