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NLL Insider - Team by Team: San Antonio Spurs

by vt, updated on Saturday, October 06 2007, 03:57 pm EST

Team by Team: San Antonio Spurs
2006-2007 Finish: 51-31

What went well

The San Antonio Spurs are an NLL staple. The team has had one GM since the league's inception, kept the same nucleus of players and made the playoffs four out of five tries. They even grabbed a championship title back in 2003.

This season began with GM Leeroy shaking things up. Mainstays like Emanuel Ginobili and Erick Dampier were shipped out of town and players that ranged from exciting (Ray Allen) to not-so-exciting (Rasho Nesterovic) were brought in to complement the sturdy crew of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Bruce Bowen. The Spurs signed no free agents, adding players only via trade and draft, such as Reggie Evans and the much-vaunted Adam Morrison, respectively.

Once again the Spurs looked like a powerhouse. The biggest news came four weeks into the season when GM Leeroy decided to part ways with Bowen. He shipped his longtime small forward to Boston for Willie Green, Walter Herrmann and Jumaine Jones.

As expected, the Spurs clinched their division and made the playoffs. They swept the Houston Rockets in the first round and fought off the Grizzlies in the second. For the second year in the row, however, the Spurs were defeated in the Conference Finals. This time the victor was the Dallas Mavericks who went on to win the NLL Finals.

What didn't

The Spurs are good, but not as great as that 2003 team that rocked the New York Knicks for the title. The biggest loss was Allen, who went down with an injury after only 49 games. With Bowen's magic shot now in Boston, the Spurs couldn't match up with Dallas's shooting game. Green and Morrison just were not good enough.

Stars

- Tim Duncan, PF-

This guy is still fantastic. Though his scoring numbers dropped this season (from 22.4 to 12.2), Duncan still is a major force in the NLL. He pulled in more rebounds this season than he ever did before. He can play both center and power forward. Duncan is one of the top ten players in the game.


- Tony Parker, PG-

That marriage to Eva Longoria is doing wonders for Parker. He had a career season with 27.6 points a game on 52% shooting and an average of 6.2 assists. There is a synergy to this club as he and Duncan have played off each for five seasons now. He is one of the most successful Euro players in the game and he will only get better.

Goat

- Reggie Evans, PF –

Evans has been bounced around the league a lot during his five year career. He has played for four different teams during that time and when San Antonio signed him to a big deal, it looked he may soon have some consistency. This was the first season Evans played a complete season with one team and boy did he stink. He came off the bench and averaged 2.7 points on 41% shooting. He averaged 4.9 boards however, not bad for his 6'8" frame. He may see more minutes next season but Duncan already grabs a good number of boards for this team. Maybe he'll get traded again.

Looking to the future

Expect San Antonio to continue with the Parker-Duncan connection. Allen should be healthy and can contribute immediately. We can expect to see some new faces however as Jamaal Magloire, Rasho Nesterovic and Ronald Murray will probably move on to greener pastures.

So what the Spurs really need is a good center if they can't convince Magloire to stay. They have to re-sign Duncan (a no-brainer) and then they will be over the cap. That leaves the MLE. Guys like Chris Mihm are commanding that much, so hooking a good center that way may not work. Perhaps a trade involving headcase Rafer Alston could net someone good.

The Spurs traded away their first rounder this year, so only second rounder Stanko Barac may or may not make the squad. GM Leeroy is going to need to use his MLE wisely and maybe make some smart trades. But the Spurs aren't going anywhere and the Insider expects this squad to be in the playoffs again next summer.

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