In our riveting part 1 of this series, we found some ties to Atlanta's GM Danny Ferry and his coaching mentor Coach K and his Father Bob Ferry. However, that's only half of the story; it would be like telling the story of Steve Jobs and stopping at his stint with Atari. However, there were more to understanding Ferry and the Elitism than just Duke and Dad. There was also the place where he got the opportunity to dabble in successful player development. There was the San Antonio Spurs' Way.

The Spurs, is the NBA’s version of Moneyball. As a far as player selection goes, they don’t chase highlight-reel moments. Their talent isn’t loaded with athletic springs, but they find players to fill appropriate needs. San Antonio continues to actually coach and develop its players after arrival in addition to placing them in ideal situations. When you consider the Spurs roster and see it in Action, one of the things that you can't help but say is "who knew?". Greg Poppovich and Buford has found a way to take players that the league has gave up on or never saw and turn them into great "system guys".

Yes, I said "System guys", it's interesting because it is a word also used to describe many of coach K's players too. These system guys have allowed the Spurs to continue their dynasty because of their ability to define specific roles using distinct talents. Think about these names: Mario Ellie, Avery Johnson, Vernon Maxwell, Dennis Rodman, Bruce Bowen, Tony Parker, Robert Horry, Beno Udrih, Leandro Barbosa, George Hill, Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw, and Gary Neal. These are all talented players but in actuallity, they were pinpointed for their ability to be system guys. They filled a specific need on a team that is built a specific way.

When you consider the San Antonio system guys, they are a like Electrons that oribit a nucleus. The nucleus that they orbit is one that was drafted out of Wake Forest back in 1997. That nucleus is Tim Duncan. It's very interesting because many people regard the nucleus as including Manu and Parker, however, Many was a 57th pick and Parker a 28th. What it shows is that you don't have to have a big three, you can make a big three if you have a big one.

Even with having this nuclues, these electrons to form this atom, there are some things that the players have to accept in order for this whole system to work: your are one of fifteen, play unselfish offense and play exceptional defense. You would think that every player who has played any team sport would know these things. However, knowing and doing are two different entities. At San Antonio, Ferry saw first hand how playing as one and being unselfish can win.

So far, reading this, you may wonder where the elitism lies. Well, we've haven't discussed the factors of finding these selfless players. There are really two things that stand out:

1. A strict reliance on foreign players.

2. Advanced Metrics.

The way the Spurs see it, foreign players are the way to go. Something has happened to basketball in the US. It has been driven by money, fame and a generation of players who've learned from watching others succeed by being selfish. We have gone from Magic and Larry to Michael to Ai to Kobe to Carmelo. Yes, along the way you've had some unselfish guys like Hill, Lebron, and Duncan but for the most part, in US basketball, we've seen that in order to be the top pick, you have to dominate. There were more people talking about how Carmelo Anthony single handily lead his team to a NCAA championship instead of talking about how unselfishly Brian Cook help lead the Illini in the same year. Interestingly, Anthony was rewarded while Cook was punished for their roles.

The reliance on foreign players is highlighted by the corrupt AAU system in the U.S vs. the FIBA club system of Europe. In AAU, anyone who pays a $16 fee and finishes a background check and an online clinic can coach. In the FIBA club system in Europe, although requirements vary from country to country, coaches must earn various licenses, which often require them to complete intensive training, covering everything from X's and O's to nutrition. Therefore, AAU coaches have become middlemen trying to gain their fortune by being hangeroners to young would be superstar talents. No longer do you see real coaching taking place in the AAU system, instead you see players who are taught a little more than what can be learned on any playground. No fundamentals, no team first, only a bunch of kids who are playing iso ball and working on what they want to work on. Is it no wonder that a 6'9" Josh Smith came to the league with no idea of how to play in the post and because he had always been treated like the best smelling rose in the room, he refused to learn to do dirty work? The elitist in Ferry would want no parts of a player who can't play as part of the team. That's why when Josh's contract ran out, you saw no attempt to resign him and he was quickly replaced with a guy who is so team first that he has made a career doing what the team needed.

The second part of that equation is Advanced Metrics. It's the new buzz word in the NBA. It's interesting, even Dallas Owner Mark Cuban is buying into these metrics. He's just hired an assistant whose main function is to improved advanced biometrics. In this area, the Spurs has been depicted as a team ahead of the curve. The Spurs use metrics to understand their players, to lead their team attack, and to define what the other team is planning to do. It's like counting cards in Vegas. Once you learn to do it, the game becomes much easier.

So armed with this type of background, enter Ferry. He has the knowledge of everything he has learned at Duke and everything he has learned in the San Antonio way. While many were predicting tank for the Hawks, tank is nowhere in the vocabulary of Ferry. He refers to the M1 Abram as that "iron thing with a big gun on the front and tractor wheels". If you consider how San Antonio has found talent late in the draft and converted that talent into good system guys or even good nucleus guys, you would forget what tank means too. In fact, the current lottery system does not help struggling teams nearly as much as one might think. It’s a collection of life preservers thrown a struggling group of franchises, but only one in four actually float. So the elitist do what elitist does. He gets his supercomputer, he gets his team of "watchers", he turns on the metric cameras and they watch everything. Then he decides what's best for the team. Hawks fans hope that the Steve Jobs of basketball actually becomes the Steve Jobs of basketball and take this small market team to a championship. Until then, we have our foreign draft picks, our unselfish system guys, and our efficient players by metric. We are the Spurs South.