August Preview: The San Antonio Spurs
Out of all the teams going to Orlando, the Spurs have to be the one I am the least excited about. The way they play their basketball, the players on their roster, everything just adds up to a boring game to watch. With every other team there’s something to look forward to. Whether it’s the young guns on the Pelicans and Grizzlies, the superstars of the Bucks or Laker, or even just watching Jimmy Butler be a psycho on the court, I can think of at least one thing I am excited about for every other team. Then there’s the Spurs. The only thing I can think of is seeing Gregg Popovich in this kind of environment without fans.
Outside of Pop, I don’t really know what I want to see from the Spurs. I know DeMar DeRozan was having a pretty good season before it got suspended, but he’s not the same guy he was in Toronto. They have a pretty well-rounded offense with him, Aldridge, Gay, Mills, Forbes, Murray, and White all putting up 10 or more points on average. That’s seven guys. I suppose it’s fun to watch such an array of different players score, but the issue is that none of them are exactly exciting. I like Murray and Forbes the most, if I had to choose any of them, but still.
Anyways, I suppose I’m not here to complain about how boring the Spurs are. The real question is how well will they perform come August. Having Popovich alone gives them a huge advantage because of how experienced he is in late season situations. I just don’t think that the team, at least the way it’s currently built, can get through to the 8 seed. If you think about the teams competing with them, Kings, Suns, Pelicans, Blazers, Grizzlies, 4/5 of those teams play at a much faster pace than the Spurs. Now I’m not saying slow paced teams can’t be good in the NBA, the Nuggets and Heat play at some of the slowest paces in the league, but it’s when you look at that combined with their other issues when the problems start to stack up.
The Spurs take less 3-pointers than almost every other team and they’re one of the worst defensive teams in the league. In a day and age where the “3 and D player” is one of the most sought after player types, it’s not a good look to be bad at taking threes and playing defense. Those, in my personal opinion, are the two most important things in this age of basketball. Just look at the best teams in the league. The Bucks are far and away the best defensive team and also full of shooters (Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, etc.). The Raptors aren’t too far behind the Raptors defensively, and make some of the most three pointers per game in the entire league. I feel like the Spurs are playing the same style of basketball which won them championships in the mid-2000s. Unfortunately, as much as I can see that they’re trying to adapt to the new playstyle in the league, it’s just not there for them.
I see their starting lineup being something like Dejounte Murray, Bryn Forbes, DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, and LaMarcus Aldrige. Trey Lyles has been getting the start for them over Gay, but I feel like with the playoff-like atmosphere that’s going to exist in April, Pop will want the better guy on the court to start out games. If I’m being honest, the roster looks great on paper with it’s overall talent. They sort of remind me of a less talented Pacers team - a well-rounded, middle of the pack team, that should be consistently in the playoffs. The only issue is… their not. They just don’t have quite the all around talent of the Pacers.
With all this in mind, I don’t think the Spurs will be able to climb all the way up to the 8 seed. If it weren’t for Pop’s leadership, I would say every other team competing with them had a better chance to make the playoffs. However, they do have one of the greatest coaches of all time. It’s because of that fact that they even have a chance at all. Hopefully, for his sake, they can do something to surprise me and keep their playoff streak alive.
