Spurs of the Moment

Around this time a year ago the Spurs were swallowing an embarrasing first round exit at the hands of the Memphis Grizzlies. Getting beat in the first round is definitely demoralizing when you factor having the best record in the Western Conference and obvious championship aspirations to go with it. Many were wondering if this was the last run for the Big 3. Would Parker be traded? Was Duncan too old? Was Ginobili too fragile? Would the Spurs as a whole survive a fast-paced 66 game season?

Those questions were quickly answered, especially after the All Star break. Tony Parker was not traded and he masterfully ran the show for the Spurs en route to a league leading offense (2nd in points and among top 5 in offensive effeciency). Tim Duncan took a few sips from the fountain of youth and played solid in the second half of the season. Manu Ginobili, although hurt during the regular season, went into the playoffs rested and got through the first round healthy for the first time since the Spurs’ 2007 playoff run. And the team as whole. with key additions and youth, once again obtained the best record in the West.

The STARTERS

Tim Duncan – 14.3 pts 8.8 rbs 1.7 blks in 30 mins a game

Remember that song by Cher, “If I could turn back time”? It seems Tim Duncan looked in the closet and pulled out the 2005 version of himself. The jumper, the drive and the moves on the block have been pretty consistent. But the defense is what’s been outstanding; holding Al Jefferson (in some ways a younger version of himself) has been impressive. Contesting shots, bodying him up on the block and not biting on fakes has made Tim Duncan a monster on defense.

Kawhi Leonard 7 pts 3.3 rbs 40% from 3 pt range in 20 mins a game

I expected Leonard to get a few starts in the regular season but getting minutes in the playoffs would be hard to come by. I was wrong and Kawhi started the second half of the season on into the playoffs. Offensively, game two was his best outing when he scored 17 points. Defensively he has been matched up against Josh Howard most of the time. How did he fair? He held the one time All Star to under 4 points and 29% shooting from the field for the series.

Boris Diaw 5.5 pts 4.8 rbs 60% fg in 24 mins a game

Diaw was definitely a “forgotten man” as the great Marv Albert would say. Cast away in Charlotte and not getting along with the coach, his contract was bought out. With a little coaxing from his best bud Tony Parker he signed with the Spurs and worked his way into the starting lineup. Diaw although not very tall has the “girth” to defend post players and has Lamar Odom like skills on offense. He layed low in this series by simply playing solid and effecient. He shot well, defended well, and currently for the playoffs is the Spurs 2nd best rebounder after 4 games.

Tony Parker 21.3 pts 6.5 ast 50% fg in 33 mins a game

Parker was by far the driving force in the first two games. After being outplayed by Mike Conley last season, Parker took on a bigger challenge in Devin harris. Harris, although having trouble adjusting to the flex offense in Utah, is still as quick (maybe slightly quicker) than Parker and has at times gotten the best of parker on the court. Parker torched Harris and also held him to 13 pts and under 4 ast a game. Harris also shot a poor 40% from the field. Stopping Parker’s penetration was impossible in the first two games and as for the games in Utah, Parker made jumpshots and key plays when needed.

Danny Green 8.5 pts 4 rbs 1 blk in 25 mins a game

Danny Green was another surprise starter going into the playoffs. Offensively, Green did a decent job of scoring by hitting a few open 3s and making plays off the dribble. Defensively, Green did his best Bowen impression and was a pest to Utah’s 3rd leading scorer Gordon Hayward. He held Hayward to 7 points shooting only 18% from the field. The Bowen effect was definitely in play; Hayward is probably still having nightmares about being defended by Green.

The BENCH

Stephen Jackson 10 pts 3.8 rbs 53% from 3 pt range in 25 mins a game

The Prodigal son returned. Whenever you trade a guy who goes into hiding during crunchtime (Jefferson) for a guy who says “I still make love to pressure” and is familiar with Spurs basketball, your in pretty good shape. During the playoffs Jackson stepped up his game defensively by defending Paul Millsap when the Jazz went with their big frontline, and offensively by going 31% from the 3 pt range in the regular season to 53% in the playoffs.

Tiago Splitter 8 pts 3.7 rbs in 15 mins game

The injury bug bit Tiago Splitter a bit and he had to miss game two because of a bruised hand. However, Splitter came back strong in games 3 & 4 scoring ten points in each game. Splitter’s length gives Coach Popovich a reliable back up to Duncan and the option of running the twin tower lineup that fans have been begging for.

Manu Ginobili 8.5 pts 3.5 rbs 4.5 ast in 25 mins a game

Ginobili for a while couldnt throw a beach ball in the ocean, but it really didn’t matter because games 1 & 2 were blowouts. In game 4 Ginobili got on track by pouring in a series high 17 points and hitting a couple of 3s in the process. But game 3 was really where Ginobili showed his value. His shot still wasn’t falling but Ginobili stayed relevant and active by handing out ten assists with only one turnover off the bench.

Gary Neal / Matt Bonner / Dejuan Blair

All three helped the cause, Neal and Bonner by shooting over 50% from 3 pt range and Blair by filling in for the injured Tiago Splitter in game 2 where he recorded 10 pts & 7 rbs. Bonner really battled defending the physical frontline of  the Jazz while still hitting a solid percent (50%) from 3. Neal being thrust into the backup point guard role has done a decent job of running the team and has contributed offensively like expected (8.3 pts 56% 3 pt fg). Blair is the surprise, after lossing his starting job and place in the rotation Blair came in with a mature, professional attitude and took care of business whenever his number was called. The Spurs bench as a whole dominated the Jazz. Lets hope the that continues on to the next round.

With this lock-out I have had little motivation to talk basketball, but today I managed to dig deep and finish what I started and write for the people. I am excited because it now seems we’ll have a season afterall.

While we have taken a look at the Spurs defense and how it has declined over the years, we’ll now take a look at their offense which is very interesting. But before we take a look forward at some possible changes the Spurs may need to make, let’s take a look back, WAY BACK, to see how the offense has developed to where it is now.

To start this history lesson, we’ll look at the Spurs 1988-89 season – one of the worst seasons the Spurs have ever had (21-61 record). Whats interesting about that season is that two members of the Spurs current team were present and active for the Spurs then as well. Who, you might ask? That would be Gregg Popovich and RC Buford both serving as assistant coaches to Larry Brown back then.

The next season the Spurs made moves, plus got David Robinson, and were successful. However, there was one thing that always hindered the Spurs – their shooting. While Robinson and Sean Elliott both had range, Terry Cummings, Willie Anderson and Rod Strickland had iffy jumpshots. So although Robinson could torch anyone who was guarding him, the opposing team learned to cheat off players by double and triple teaming Robinson with Elliott being the only one that could make them pay on the perimeter.

Popovich saw this for three straight years, so when he finally got another gifted big man in Tim Duncan, he made sure that every season the Spurs had a plethora of shooters to space the floor for Duncan and to a lesser extent Robinson. Since the 2000-01 season, the Spurs have been one of the better 3-point shooting teams in the league.

There is a shocking similiarity to the Spurs 2000-01 season and that of last season. In both those seasons the Spurs led the league in 3-point FG%. Ironically enough, they did this using the same system. In 2000-01 Tim Duncan was unstoppable offensively, and David Robinson still had a solid game. What the Spurs would do is lineup high percentage 3-point shooters in the other three positions (SF – Danny Ferry, SG – Antonio Daniels, PG – Terry Porter).

In the 2001 playoffs the Spurs met up with a Los Angeles Lakers team that suprisingly beat them in four straight games. The Lakers exposed holes the Spurs had on both ends of the floor, especially offensively. With Robinson not having a great series and Duncan now being doubled aggressively,  the Spurs offense came to a screeching halt with Antonio Daniels being the only perimeter player to make plays and using a lot of energy to guard a young Kobe Bryant on the other end.

In the 2011 playoffs the Spurs had a similiar system, except slighty backwards. Instead of throwing it in the post, the Spurs relied on perimeter players to supply their offense. Tony Parker, and to a lesser extent Manu Ginobili, would drive the lanes and either score or kick out to high percentage 3-point shooters. With Tony Parker’s jumpshot being non-existent and Manu Ginobili playing with a bad arm, the Grizzlies halted what seemed to be an offensive juggernaut, and beat the Spurs in six games during the playoffs. Just like Antonio Daniels, Tim Duncan in a reverse situation was the only frontcourt player that was significantly productive on the offensive end and had to guard a prime Zach Randolph and a young Marc Gasol on the other end. Lack of movement on the perimeter was a big reason why the Spurs lost to the Lakers in ’01 and lack of post play was an additional reason the Spurs lost to the Grizzlies last season.

When he was in Utah, Jerry Sloan used a system called the Flex-Offense. Its a motion offense mixed with variables. Players would make certain cuts during the first run of a play, and if that didn’t produce a score they would repeat, but with the same players making different cuts. They had a nice mixture of low post up opportunities, elbow jumpshots, and 3-point shots. Sloan, with the way he ran his offense, was able to get the maximum offensive production out of players who really didnt seem all that capable (Matt Harpring, Ronnie Brewer). Everyone looked at the pick-n-roll between Stockton and Malone or Williams and Boozer. But the cutting, back picking, and pin downs that the Jazz regularly used is what gave the role players quality shots.

For everyone to thrive in the Spurs offense, a balanced offensive structure is needed. The flex-offense is exactly that, an offense which allows you to employ players with different/unique skill sets. In the Spurs system, 3-point shooting is vital to their success. Every high scoring role player outside the Big Three are high percentage three point shooters (Jefferson 44% / Neal 42% / Bonner 46%) except for Dejuan Blair, who may I add lost major minutes when the playoffs came around.

The 2009-10 Utah Jazz (I used the 09-10 Jazz simply because trades and loss of coaches kinda changed their entire scheme in the 10-11 season) were a well oiled machined offensively and only had one player that shot over 40% from behind the arc (Kyle Korver 53.6%).

If Coach Pop can employ the use of a motion offense then the Spurs can be a high scoring team that is difficult to defend all around, as opposed to other teams keying in on their main weapon and iniatator of the offense – Tony Parker. Using this offense will allow them to use a big man that has post skills or is a solid defensive player next to Duncan.

The Season is just around the corner and many questions are still waiting to be answered. Will this be Tim’s last year? Are the Spurs going to make a major trade? Will it involve Tony Parker? Will their defense improve? Stay tuned as this season gives way to a Spurs team that is full of question marks. Whether they win or lose, however, let’s always keep in the mind the four championships that have been brought to the city and go down with the ship if this is it. But no matter what happens – GO SPURS GO – and I’ll talk to y’all again in late December… Maybe sooner if the Spurs make a major move.

CENTER: Probably the most vital position on the floor as it concerns defense. Whether a team is good defensively or horrible, the Center is always important. For good defensive teams that rotate well on the perimeter, a center is needed to clog the middle, secure rebounds and deny second shot opportunities (offensive rebounds). On a bad defensive team that either gambles for steals a lot on the perimeter or simply isn’t interested in staying in front of their man, a Center is essential for not only rebounding and taking up space in the paint, but for blocking or altering any shot attempt that comes his way, thus stopping a guaranteed basket for the opposing team.

Tim Duncan ht 6-11 | Last season 13.4 pts 8.9 rbs 1.9 blk in 28 mins a game PLAYOFFS 12.7 pts 10.5 rbs 2.5 blk in 35 mins a game

The Tim Duncan everyone tries to remember is the Duncan that had a solid back to the basket game, a face up game as well, which included some of the best footwork of that time, and when it was all said and done a jumper with range out to about 16-18 ft. Last season the Spurs went away from Duncan on offense. They also overworked him on defense by having guys who either don’t rebound or play defense next to him at the Power Forward slot. Duncan did well for most of the season, trying to use his older slower body to grab most of the rebounds and attempt to clean up all the defensive mistakes that the other Spurs made. Thats a lot to ask an aging Center in a youth-filled league. In the playoffs it took its toll. Duncan had to guard Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, and try to protect the paint all by himself. It didn’t work!!!!! Duncan has limited mobility, but his I.Q. on defense  and offense are enough to help the Spurs go far, provided he gets legit help at the Power Forward position.

Tiago Splitter ht 6-11 | Last season 4.6 pts 3.4 rbs in 12 mins a game PLAYOFFS 6.7 pts 4.7 rbs in 17 mins a game

Tiago Splitter definitely got the 08-09 George Hill treatment. Yeah sure, they raved about him before he got here and then the guy barely played. Sure he got a few injuries; but come on, seriously??? Splitter, like Hill in his rookie season, showed signs of being able to contribute on a nightly basis. In Hill’s case, Pop wouldn’t let him get past Jacque Vaughn, and for Splitter he couldn’t get past Blair, Bonner, or McDyess. In the 08-09 playoffs the Spurs were eaten alive by the smallest guy on the court (maybe the smallest guy in the building), JJ Barea, and after going down in the series Pop put in Hill who did well. Not to mention what he did to the Mavs the next year in the playoffs. Splitter was put in the same situation. Tim Duncan can’t stop two good big men(much less one) and protect the paint at the same time. Splitter came in and did a better job than all the Spurs bigs except Duncan (obviously), and maybe Dice gets a slight nod. Splitter, despite not having a jumpshot, is mobile on both ends, is an Oberto-like rebounder (thats a good thing), and has some solid post moves.

ANALYSIS: The Spurs have decent size, good rebounding, and available low-post scoring. The Spurs, as mentioned, went away from the low-post game while allowing Parker and Ginobili to run around and do the scoring and distributing. However, if you look at the last six teams to win the Championship, they all have something in common – low-post threats on offense and equally defensive minded big-men*. With Duncan being the only big guy to get consistent touches on offense and at the same time the only legitimate big to protect the paint, the Spurs would have never made it far even if they had somehow managed to beat the Grizzlies. To get back to championship level basketball, the Spurs must once again establish a post game. This does not mean they force feed Duncan, but simply get him more consistent touches on the block, mixed in with Splitter and Jefferson getting post-up opportunities a few times a game as well. You can also never have enough big men. So if the Spurs would like to add an extra guy, free agent Aaron Gray, formerly of the Hornets, may be the answer. He’s not much statistically, but he can bang with the Bynums and Howards of the league. Next week we’ll look at the Guards.

*Lowpost threats and defensive bigmen of the last six championship teams

2011 (Nowitzki/Chandler)

2009 and 2010(Gasol/Bynum)

2008(Garnett/Perkins)

1999,2003,2005,2007 (Duncan/Robinson 99′ an 03′ – Duncan/Mohammed 05′ – Duncan/Oberto 07′)

2004(Rasheed Wallace/Ben Wallace)

2000-2002 (Shaq)

The Spurs went back to their wishy-washy ways this weekend with a mind-boggling loss to the Grizzlies followed by another great win over the Denver Nuggets – a Western Conference contender. It’s a good thing the playoffs are starting soon because this recent trend of losing to bad teams but beating good ones will be much more useful in the coming weeks. Also, there hasn’t been a ton of minutes for Malik Hairston lately, but the good news is there haven’t been many for Keith Bogans either. At any rate, let’s recap the games a little bit and see what other Spurs news I can dig up.

Stupid Blue Bears
The Grizzlies beat San Antonio on Friday night thanks in part to Zach Randolph’s 28-point, 15-rebound performance. The Grizzlies outrebounded the Spurs 48-39 and held a 16-7 edge in offensive boards. It boiled down to the Spurs having seven more free-throw attempts, but the Grizzlies having 13 more field goal attempts – 10 of which they made. They were simply better at getting to the ball and outplayed the Spurs for the whole night except for the first quarter.

The game got out of hand in the second quarter when the Grizzlies scored 22 points in the paint on their way to 46 for the night. Watching Mike Conley run amuck at the end of the first half kinda shows you how important it is for George Hill to return.

Richard Jefferson had one of his off nights with only seven points on 1-of-4 shooting, and he only grabbed two rebounds. Not his A game in other words. Manu Ginobili, for his part, at least led the way for the Spurs with 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. A comforting stat line in light of his recent contract extension. Unfortunately he was off from downtown on 1-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Fortunately, Matt Bonner was able to hit 6-of-10 from deep on his way to 19 points off the bench. We needed every bit of it since McDyess was back to playing like crap (0-of-3 from the field for zero points, four boards and a turnover in 15 minutes), and DeJuan Blair couldn’t stay out of foul trouble (5 points, 3 rebounds, but four fouls in eight minutes). Tim Duncan did his usual double-double thing with 15 points and 10 rebounds, plus he had five assists. Temple was adequate with eight points as the starting point guard again, but Tony Parker played about the same amount of minutes (26) and had 13 points and eight assists. I think he will be starting again before season’s end.

No One’s Scared of the Nuggets
The Spurs showed up in Denver though, as they kept the pressure on the Nuggets all night before turning the game into a blowout in the 4th quarter. The Nuggets got about 50 technicals in the second half, two of which got Carmelo Anthony booted from the game. He finished with 19 points, four rebounds, two steals, one assist, and five turnovers. I kind of understand them losing their minds though. The Spurs shot 45  free throws in the game. That is not a typo. Forty-five free throws – they made 30 of them. The Spurs also outrebounded Denver 48-31 and shot 46% from the field compared to only 39% for the Nuggets. So basically it was everything that could wrong kind of did for the Nugs. Billups was on his game though with 27 points – he just couldn’t get anyone else going as he only had three assists. Yes, that was the team high for both.

For the Spurs, Tim Duncan had 18 points and 10 rebounds. RJ bounced back with 15 points, seven boards, and two assists. Ginobili was slowed down a little bit with only 15 points of his own to go with seven assists, three boards, and a steal. Temple was still the starter at point guard but only played 20 minutes, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds. He might have played more if not for foul trouble. Tony Parker played 31 minutes and had 12 points, six assists, two rebounds, and… you will never guess… five turnovers. Sheesh, man. DeJuan Blair had one of his better games lately with 12 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

Next On the Schedule
There are only two games left. Monday night’s game against the T-Wolves, and the Wednesday night finale against the Dallas Mavericks. They should be able to win against the Wolves easy enough, unless they pull another Nets/Grizzlies game out of their hats, so the real fun will start on Wednesday when the Spurs play the Mavs. Then it’s Playoff Time! But I’ll get into all of that in my next update. Stay tuned…

Ginobili’s Summer
Manu signed a nifty contract for $39 Million over three years, but is still deciding on whether or not he will play in the World Championships this summer. Personally, I would like him to take off because it would suck immensely if he got hurt after the Spurs just gave him all that money. Also, with his wife set to give birth to twins, maybe staying with her is a better way to spend the down time this year. I wouldn’t blame him either way – he’s a professional basketball player so that’s what he does – period. Still, I hope he leans toward an easier summer. He says he will make his decision in the coming days.

It’s about freaking time. On the one hand, I am stoked that the Spurs signed Manu to an extension, but the Devil’s Advocate in me is a little perturbed that they waited so long that they had to shell out $39 million to keep him in San Antonio. Then again, with the way he has been playing over the past few months, they may have still gotten off cheap.

Now, with Manu locked up and RJ playing at a higher level again – and consistently I might add – we just need the rest of the team to get healthy. Tim Duncan has been a rock this season, and the Spurs should have George Hill and Tony Parker both in uniform by the time the playoffs start. Tony hasn’t been starting, but Garrett Temple is doing a decent job in place of both Parker and Hill. Temple got his first startagainst Sacramento and again in Phoenix and has averaged 13 points, 2.5 rebounds, two assists, and .5 steals per game. He also is shooting 9-of-17 from the floor. He has proven to be a savvy pickup by the Spurs, especially in light of their point guard injury woes this season.

Some good has actually come out of George Hill’s injury. First off, as I just noted, Temple is getting some nice minutes and is looking like a solid player that the Spurs could conceivably hang on to – and possibly move the inconsistent Roger Mason. Second, there was already some concern about how Coach Popovich was going to arrange the starting unit once Tony returned. With Hill sidelined, Parker can work his way back into his old spot without Hill simply being “demoted”. No harm no foul. Now that RJ and Manu are playing well together as starters, that really only leaves the center position as a weak link. Antonio McDyess has been ok, Matt Bonner has been able to come off the bench and knock down some big shots and get to the glass more, plus DeJuan Blair adds some energy and great offensive rebounding, so that may not be so weak of a link. I think the Spurs are coming around now and should be considered a legitimate threat in the West, if not the entire league.

The Spurs play Memphis today, and hopefully have a little more swag than they did against Phoenix the other night. If the Grizzlies start Thabeet then I hope DeJuan Blair gets the start just so we can watch Thabeet get abused again. DeJuan Blair may really rip his arm off this time.

The Good News: The Spurs have won four straight games, are 36-24 (12 games over .500), and are in 7th place in the West still – 5.5 games ahead of Houston (9th) and Memphis (10th).
The Bad News: Tony Parker is out for the next six weeks with a broken hand.

That’s the short and sweet version of events, but I feel compelled to elaborate. Let’s start with the wins.

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I’m going to try not to go crazy. I’m going to try to be coherent. I’m going to try to stay optimistic. I am most likely going to fail at one or all of those things. This Spurs season is getting depressing. Read more »

The Spurs handled business last night and defeated the Grizzlies 104-97 without Tony Parker. There’s still no exact time table for Parker to return from his ankle injury, but the general consensus is “several games”. Luckily, Hill and Mason are manning up in his absence. Six Spurs scored in double figures, and none of them were named Keith Bogans (he was 1-for-5, ech). Tim Duncan led the team with 19 points, nine boards, and seven assists.

“Jefferson surprised by kudos from Popovich”, and quite frankly, I am too. I think RJ is probably onto something when he says, “He was just saying that because Carmelo is coming to town.” Then again, Melo has missed three straight games and it isn’t known if he will play tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Spurs have won two games in a row and are threatening to compete with good teams, so hopefully tomorrow goes well against the Nuggets (12:00 PM CT on ABC). It’s a home game against a playoff caliber opponent. Possibly no Tony Parker and/or Carmelo Anthony. Who knows what will happen? Maybe ABC shows another game entirely… that would suck.

I know it’s a little late, but Tim Duncan narrowly beat out Dirk for the starting Power Forward spot on the All-Star team. Also, a couple of other native Texans – Chris Bosh and Deron Williams – are on their way. On a side note, I think David Lee should have been there instead of Al Horford for the East.

Also, the Spurs waived Marcus Haislip a little over a week ago, but he is now playing in the Greek league.

Coach Popovich is suggesting a change with the D-League rules that is essentially robbing Ian Mahinmi of getting any shot at playing time.

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The Spurs lost their last two games to a couple of perennial losers. Not good. The only solace I can take from this ordeal is that both games were on the road. Still, you like to think the Spurs can beat Charlotte and Memphis regardless of where the game is.

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