Some proof that the detractors weren't off their rocker

by znimrod on Dec 10, 2008 10:24 AM CST Comment 24 comments

I know that there was a lot of complaining and Front Office ripping after the George Hill draft pick. Especially after his "awesome" summer league performance.

And I also know that pretty much everyone here has now come to the consensus that he was a great pick, and has forgiven the FO for a seemingly miscalculated blunder.

But to those of you who were part of the faction that hated on Cubits, y'all weren't really too far off your rockers, because it seems that even the coaching staff and FO were a little leary of what their draft pick would become. This notebook article has a small section (the second section, after the part about Pop retiring before 2016) about the Spurs' dilemma in dealing with the thought that George might not be what they thought he was cracked up to be. Good for us that he is a tough little cracker, er...um...player.

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That's interesting

It’s a good thing that Hill got off to such a good start or Pop might have destroyed his potential like he did with Beno.

by tandyman on Dec 10, 2008 3:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I always wanted Hill. The first time I saw his arms, I already pictured Hill wrapping them around me, telling me everything was going to be fine.

Not really. Didn’t even know who he was. But hey, love the FO right now.

by LatinD on Dec 11, 2008 6:21 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

georgie is much tougher than beno. he can probably handle getting bitched out by pop a few times. georgie also seems to be a harder worked than beno – particularly on the defensve end…..and you know how pop likes that sort of thing.

i was very surprised at the pick, but not immediately super pissed. maybe i was just trying to be hopeful. hill was the top dog on his college team and the MVP of his league. clearly, he had some skill – but now at least we know he has the heart to match.

by bones on Dec 11, 2008 8:45 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

yeah, i guess i would characterize my feelings on his pick as hopeful. usually on all draft picks i remain hopeful, and i scrutinize more with free agent signings, basically because you have previous NBA experience to evaluate.

by znimrod on Dec 11, 2008 10:03 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

“Hopeful” is the best word for me right now. Pleased and confident, and hopeful. One of my favorite quotes is “Trust….but verify,” and that seems to apply to George Hill at this point. After the rodeo trip, I’ll make another determination.

by SgtinManusArmy on Dec 11, 2008 11:52 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I bet you’ve been hurt in the past. I know how it is: you opened your heart, you trusted without reservations – and you were crushed by a heartless, posterized bastard.

You need to let go, SiMA. There’re good young players out there that won’t disappoint you – you just need to take the leap and let yourself fall irrationally in love with them.

(Was it Nesterovic? Were you a Rasho fan? Yeah… I bet you were.)

by LatinD on Dec 11, 2008 1:15 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

+1

by znimrod on Dec 11, 2008 1:21 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Nailed the 3... from downtown.

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.

by CMoney on Dec 11, 2008 1:25 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

It all started with a guy named Julius Nwosu. Anybody remember him? Think: 90s version of Ian Mahinmi. Back before picking up foreigners was cool and before the modern-day SPURS started the trend, the old-day SPURS carried the torch. He had such promise, such hope. I fell immediately for this promising youngster. And he was such a spectacular failure. Add in the Cherokee, the Blab, the Rasho, the Bateer……. all contributed to my cynicism. It was birthed from a hope in the unknown big man gem. It finally culminated in the James White saga. Finally, this year’s teasing of James Gist brought it home.

For every Manu there has been 30 heart-breaking failures. I reserve all joy until the spring; to do otherwise simply invites rage.

by SgtinManusArmy on Dec 11, 2008 1:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

What about Zarko Paspalj? How can you leave out Zarko?

by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Dec 11, 2008 1:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Don’t even get me started. He’s up there, but I didn’t feel as much promise from Zarko and thus wasn’t as crushed that he flamed out.

by SgtinManusArmy on Dec 11, 2008 2:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

At the old Hemisfair, on the Jumbotron, they used to play these silly animations after a player had done something awesome. Like Big Dave, whenever he would throw down one of his massive Admiral dunks or block a shot or something, the Jumbotron would show a cartoon battleship, which would aim its mighty cannons at the screen and fire. All would explode into a cloud of smoke, then it would say “The Admiral” and the fans would go nuts. Another example was when Alvin Robertson would get a steal, you would see a cartoon chipmunk stealing a ball from a hapless person, who would shout “Alvin!” Good times, except we were losing 61 games that year.

Well, the point of this is that Zarko had the coolest of all the animations. A masked Zorro like figure would swoop into a chateau looking room from a balcony, grab a ball, then carve a Z into the door before making his escape. I only saw it once, though, because Zarko never played.

Also, Zarko once nearly was arrested for disabling a smoke detector to light up in a bathroom on an airplane. Then Larry Brown cut him the day before the playoffs in order to sign a washed up Johnny Moore.

Catch the Spurs Spirit! It's a Fast-breakin' Fiesta!

by tomasito on Dec 11, 2008 2:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

wow... you should be our historian.

I am happy. I am proud. - Manu Ginobili

by bellasa on Dec 12, 2008 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

What do you remember

about the Larry Bird / avocado incident? Supposedly there was a fracas at the Arena… any info?

I am happy. I am proud. - Manu Ginobili

by bellasa on Dec 12, 2008 1:00 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

That was before my time

I used to go to games starting in the early 80s, NBA days. I missed Gervin’s heyday, and showed up just in time for Artis Gilmore and Gene Banks to lose to the Lakers in the playoffs every year. However, my older brothers remember the avocado incident, and used to tell me about it. Basically, the story is as follows:

Larry Brown used to coach the Denver Nuggets in the ABA days. The Spurs and the Nuggets had a pretty good rivalry going, which isn’t surprising considering there were only like 8 teams in the league by the end, so teams played each other over and over again. Anyways, the crowd in the old Hemisfair used to be pretty rowdy, and in one game, Larry Brown got into it with some hecklers.

After the game, Brown said to an interviewer that “the only good thing about San Antonio is the guacamole salad.”

You may have heard of a group of Spurs fans calling themselves the Baseline Bums. Nowadays they’re just corporate types with matching t-shirts who sit in a special section. In the olden days, though, they lived up to their loutish name. I especially remember their leader was this enormously fat hispanic guy who would wave a Texas flag whenever the Spurs went on a run. I’m telling you, it used to be quite a scene, nothing like the AT&T Center of Alamodome.

Anyways, the Bums sat above the tunnel that led from the locker room to the court. On the Nuggets next visit, they dumped guacamole all over Brown and the Nuggets.

Another amusing incident from the Bums involved Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He was an avid record collector, and his prized and very valuable record collection went up in smoke when Kareem’s house burned down. Predictably, the Bums showed up for the next Lakers game brandishing melted and warped records to taunt Kareem, who noticed and took great offense.

Catch the Spurs Spirit! It's a Fast-breakin' Fiesta!

by tomasito on Dec 12, 2008 3:16 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

that is some good stuff! you truly do have a great knowledge of our Spurs.

by znimrod on Dec 12, 2008 4:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Good story, tomasito

From an ABA bio of the SPURS-

“On March 24, 1976 the Spurs went into McNichols Arena and beat Denver 135-122, snapping the Nuggets’ 26-game home winning streak. In fact, it was the second straight year that the Spurs had broken a 26-game home winning streak by Denver. Because the Spurs kept breaking Denver’s home winning streaks, and because of several on-court fights between the teams during the 1974-75 season, a strong rivalry developed between the Nuggets and the Spurs. Nuggets’ coach Larry Brown called the Spurs a "dirty team” and yelled at George Gervin during a 1976 Denver loss at HemisFair Arena. Bob Bass got up from the Spurs bench, told Brown to shut up, and offered to fight him. After the game, the Nuggets’ boss said “I don’t like anything about San Antonio, their coaching staff, their franchise or their city. The only thing I like about San Antonio is guacamole salad.” Naturally, the Spurs’ rowdy group of fans, the “Baseline Bums,” caught wind of Brown’s quote. The next time the Nuggets visited HemisFair Arena, the Baseline Bums were ready. Nuggets’ forward Gus Gerard remembers that: “The next time we came down there the people were throwing avocados out on the floor and dumping guacamole salad on the players. When Larry (Brown) went to the locker room, they had something like dime beer night that night, so they were pouring beer over Larry’s head. That was pretty wild.” "

It’s awesome that we’re still called dirty even today. We need to revive the guac-showers tradition.

by SgtinManusArmy on Dec 12, 2008 4:40 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

that would be spectacular to see – i’m all for it! how about when the bobcats come to town?

by znimrod on Dec 12, 2008 5:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

We should actually throw live bobcats at them instead, start our own new tradition and all.

by SgtinManusArmy on Dec 12, 2008 9:32 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

nice…live bobcats. do you know where we can get a few of those?

which makes we wonder, why did charlotte name themselves the bobcats? are they indigenous to that region or something? cause when i think of north carolina, bobcats don’t come to mind.

by znimrod on Dec 13, 2008 4:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I think it was because their owners name is Bob. Seriously.

by Wayne Vore (ATS) on Dec 13, 2008 4:51 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

if that’s true, all i can say is WOW.

by znimrod on Dec 14, 2008 4:43 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Catch the Spurs Spirit! It's a Fast-breakin' Fiesta!

by tomasito on Dec 15, 2008 12:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

too funny...

I was talking to this guy after Dan Cook’s death and he said I should try to look up the article about Larry Bird and the Avocadoes. He said it was hilarious.

It’s even more funny knowing it’s Larry Brown… especially since he eventually coached the Spurs.

I am happy. I am proud. - Manu Ginobili

by bellasa on Dec 12, 2008 7:13 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs