By Craig Kwasniewski
The Brent Barry situation
Forget all this talk of Brent Barry being wooed by the Shaq and the Suns. Forget this talk about Barry adding veteran depth to the Celtics. And forget all this talk about Barry finding his way to the red hot Houston Rockets.
It ain't happening!
Brent Barry is heading back to the Spurs! And it's exactly how the Spurs are handling this situation that makes them easily the brightest and most efficient front office in the NBA.
Take the Mavs and their Jason Kidd deal, no-deal, almost blunder and then FINALLY deal... which cost them extra cash in the long run (besides salvaging their future for an over-the-hill point guard). With Stackhouse's flippant remarks about a buyout the Kidd deal was almost over before another Devean George 0-11 night. By simply not informing Stack about the ramifications of his mouth, the Mavs were forced to re-work the Kidd deal, costing them several millions in the end.
And all that for a simple, "I get 30 days to rest then I'll be right back. I ain't going nowhere."
Well, the Spurs aren't making the same mistake and they've done a fine job preventing a Stack situation. Notice all the talk from Brent Barry? Yeah, me neither. Instead, I wouldn't put it past the Spurs to leak some rumors about Brent Barry's numerous offers, just to keep it honest. But in 30 days he's heading straight back to the Spurs. He lives in San Antonio, he won a title with them last year, he's familiar with the system, he's comfortable with the coaching staff and he knows his role: hit three's off the bench and wear a ring. It's very simple deal and it's not hard to figure out.
And much like the Kurt Thomas deal and the Damon Stoudemire signing, the Spurs keep it simple, get their needs and keep on winning.
DAMN!
best evah! that was the greatest article of your career, craig. an award winner, if you ask me. it's good that you are finally starting to realize that the spurs are awesome. from the front office to the last guy on the ir, they are nearly flawless. they even have the best mascot in the nba, the coyote, who was the only entertaining part of last night's game vs the hawks.
alright, i admit it, the spurs are boring. wait a minute . . . let me explain. when they are playing a crappy team or a good team that's playing crappy, the spurs play down to that level and aren't motivated. until, whatever ass chewing they get at halftime or just remembering that they are better than the other team, pushes them to squeeze out a victory, or not.
however, when properly motivated (like the majority of their games vs the suns), i still believe, they are the best team to watch. merciless, efficient, impenetrable. the lakers and the suns made trades motivated by high probability of having to play san antonio in the playoffs and the spurs just added a couple of complimentary veterans without shaking up the team.
thanks for the great pic of brent winning the '96 dunk contest with the oft overlooked "free throw line with warm-up jacket on tomahawk slam". witness!
Posted by: dave | February 26, 2008 at 01:23 PM
The Spurs are still my favorite in the Western Conference.
http://www.pregame.com/forums/blogs/jw-stringer/archive/2008/02/27/san-antonio-spurs-set-flex-screen-play-for-manu-ginobili.aspx
Posted by: JW Stringer | February 27, 2008 at 03:21 PM