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  1. #1
    Mr. Dean Man Mountain's Avatar
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    Watch out for the San Antonio Spurs
    If you haven't noticed, Tim Duncan and Co. are winning again

    By John Hollinger
    ESPN.com

    Shhhhh…

    Don't tell anybody, but the San Antonio Spurs are 18-9 and in second place in the Western Conference.

    Shhhhh…

    San Antonio isn't playing on national TV tonight, and it's possible it won't have a single All-Star chosen when the reserves are announced during the telecast. Yet it's playing about as well as any team in the league right now, riding a six-game win streak in which five of the victims are .500 or better.

    Shhhhh…

    I realize it's uncouth to mention the Spurs before May except perhaps as a tangent to a story about the L.A. teams ("The Lakers now trail San Antonio in the standings by …") but San Antonio is No. 2 in the current daily power rankings and projects to be the second seed in the West based on today's edition of my playoff odds. Through 27 games, the Spurs have essentially the same scoring margin as Oklahoma City, and they just thumped the Thunder for good measure.

    Shhhhh…

    Keep this on the down-low, but San Antonio is doing this without its best player. Manu Ginobili has played only five of the Spurs' 27 games and is on target to return Saturday. When he does, he'll be replacing the minutes of Gary Neal and James Anderson, who have struggled to keep their PER in double digits so far this season.

    Shhhhh…

    And feel free to keep referring to them as the boring, plain-as-vanilla Spurs, even as San Antonio's drive-kick-space attack produces one of the league's most dynamic and exciting offenses, ranking third in the NBA in assists and 3-pointers … again, with the team's best creator watching in street clothes.

    OK, OK, we get it Hollinger -- the Spurs are flying under the radar again. No team has mastered the art of hiding in plain sight quite like this one. Every year, it seems, we basically ignore San Antonio until sometime around mid-May when, largely thanks to the fact most of the teams on the push list have been eliminated and the Spurs are one of the few remaining, we are left with no choice but to contemplate their existence, at least briefly.

    But the more you examine their success, this season the more amazing it becomes. When Chad Ford and I did our Future Power Rankings this week, we ranked San Antonio's management a close second behind Oklahoma City's. Taking a closer look at what the Spurs have accomplished thus far, I'm not sure we made the right call.

    The overwhelming accomplishment the Spurs have pulled off is this: They have one of the league's best benches despite having had virtually no resources with which to procure players for the 15 years since drafting Tim Duncan. The Spurs have not had one draft choice in the first 20 picks in that time. Not a one.

    Yet only two teams have seven players with a PER greater than 14 and at least 500 minutes played. One of them is Philadelphia, which San Antonio beat Wednesday night, and the other is the Spurs. That number of players should go up to eight when Ginobili ac ulates enough minutes (in fairness to the Sixers, theirs might jump to nine once Spencer Hawes and Nikola Vucevic pass the same threshold).

    The way San Antonio built its team makes sober reading for operators of other franchises, who have lamented their lack of money, cap space, draft picks or all three in their quest to build a winner. While winning the Duncan lottery obviously helped, San Antonio also has forgone any other high-profile talent acquisitions because it won so much when Duncan arrived.

    Yet, a decade and a half later, the Spurs are still pushing for the top spot in the West, and they're doing it mostly on the strength of a second unit that often gets more than 100 minutes of playing time in a single game. Last night against Philly for instance, those guys played 96, and the final tally was 40 points, 19 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 turnover. It effectively won the game for the Spurs on a night when two starters didn't make a basket.

    To review, since drafting Duncan, the Spurs have made the following acquisitions, all of which were done with late draft picks or limited financial assets:

    • Drafted Ginobili with the No. 57 pick in 1999. They brought him over a few years later and have kept re-signing him ever since, and, by carefully managing his workload, have kept him hugely productive into his mid-30s.

    • Drafted Tony Parker with the 28th pick in 2001. He is a Finals MVP and a three-time All-Star who might add a fourth selection to his résumé this evening.

    • Signed Matt Bonner from Toronto in 2006 and re-upped him for three years and $10 million two years ago. He is shooting 42.5 percent on 3s and has a true shooting percentage in the 60s for the third time in four seasons.

    • Drafted Tiago Splitter 28th in 2007. He has become the league's best backup center, averaging 18 points and 10 boards per 40 minutes while shooting 62.3 percent from the floor, including 15 points in 17 minutes in Philly on Wednesday night.

    • Picked up Danny Green off the scrap heap after he was cut twice -- including by the Spurs a year earlier. He has become a reliable weapon off the bench, making open 3s and defending while rebounding shockingly well (more than six per 40 minutes) for a 6-6 wing player.

    • Signed Neal for peanuts out of the Las Vegas Summer League last season. He has tailed off a bit this season, but he still is a 40 percent 3-point shooter for his NBA career and provided a crucial 18-6-5 line to help beat the Sixers on Wednesday night.

    • Drafted DeJuan Blair in the second round in 2009 with the 37th pick after several other teams red-flagged him because of knee problems. Blair's knees might get him eventually, but he already has dramatically outproduced the typical near-zero return on a second-rounder. He's shooting better than 50 percent for a third straight season, and his PER has never been below the league average.

    • Acquired Kawhi Leonard in a draft-day trade for George Hill, a player they originally nabbed with the 26th pick in 2008. In his rookie season, Leonard has an absurd rebound rate for a small forward (better than one every five minutes) and adds solid defense.

    • Traded for Richard Jefferson. Hey, nobody's perfect. But even Jefferson has paid some dividends -- San Antonio traded a pile of flotsam to get him and hasn't been under the cap since, so he hasn't cost anything and has shot 44 percent on 3s each of the past two seasons. Additionally, the Spurs are still in position to exercise their amnesty rights on him after the season and open up a raft of cap space (oh, have I not mentioned they can keep all these players and still be roughly $10 million under the cap this summer?) This is, quite simply, brilliance. And it doesn't include three other players -- Ian Mahinmi, Beno Udrih and Luis Scola -- San Antonio grabbed with late picks in that time who have become productive players for other teams.

    Yet I would argue that the acquisitions are only a small part of the equation.

    Had the likes of Parker, Blair, Hill, Green and Ginobili been drafted by other teams, would they be having this much success? I'm not so sure. Because the other key to San Antonio's success is that it develops and improves the players it has.

    Go back and look at the histories of these Spurs players. With the exception of Neal, none went gangbusters immediately upon arrival. Ginobili came off the bench his first season despite having starred in Europe, and Splitter had a similar history overseas but hardly played at all in his first season. Green had been cut by San Antonio once; Hill saw limited duty as a rookie; and Jefferson's first season in San Antonio was a major disappointment.

    What they all have in common is steady improvement, not just in their stats but in figuring out their roles and how they fit into the larger picture. This franchise doesn't just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks; there's a plan here, and the success in player development is the most outstanding example of it.

    Fortunately for the Spurs, only 11 people will read this story, so they can go on quietly ac ulating victories as they prefer while everyone exclaims over the glamour teams on each coast. But when May comes around and they're one of the last teams standing, don't say you weren't warned.

    http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story...tandings-again

  2. #2
    TheDrewShow is salty lefty's Avatar
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    Classic Hollinger


  3. #3
    Realistic Spurs Fan Amuseddaysleeper's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting!

  4. #4
    Get Refuel! FromWayDowntown's Avatar
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    Hollinger's a hack. Doesn't he know that Popovich is an overrated moron who survives only by virtue of having ingratiated himself to Tim Duncan?

  5. #5
    Veteran
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    "Ginobili came off the bench his first season despite having starred in Europe"

    ... but he was closing games in the 03 Championship series.

  6. #6
    Five. DesignatedT's Avatar
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    but the spurs front office sucks and pop is old, senile and the worst coach in the league. don't you know this hollinger?????

  7. #7
    NBAChamp..to be Continued SpurNation's Avatar
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    Fortunately for the Spurs, only 11 people will read this story...

  8. #8
    NBA = RIGGED thispego's Avatar
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    Hollinger's a hack. Doesn't he know that Popovich is an overrated moron who survives only by virtue of having ingratiated himself to Tim Duncan?

  9. #9
    The Good Doctor Rummpd's Avatar
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    Nice article but "wnning again" is somewhat of misnomer. Take away a miserable playoff series against a hot team better than their seed; and the Spurs have had probably the best record in basketball other than the Bulls the last year and first 1/3 of the season (after upseting the Mavs the year before as a 7th seed). Now if we do not get Manu injured and Pop begins to put more faith in Splitter Spurs can be very good + with the right trade they could contend for a le IMO again.

  10. #10
    Believe. tuncaboylu's Avatar
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    Nice article.

  11. #11
    Veteran spurs1990's Avatar
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    Man it sucks being a Spurs fan.

  12. #12
    Ridding the world of Alien Scum...Relentlessly. Man In Black's Avatar
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    Spurs should be working on a 10peat!!! just kidding..

    Okay well....if not for some bad breaks literally who knows. But them doing the win at a 50 win mark, either by wins or by win percentage, for seasons like this one.. it's as automatic as gravity.

  13. #13
    Soak In Your Own Blood BanditHiro's Avatar
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    The Art of Winning in Unfair Game

  14. #14
    Believe.
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    Dang, Ian Mahinmi is somewhat productive this year. Who knew?

  15. #15
    The OL' Perfessor wildbill2u's Avatar
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    Alonzo Gee has stuck in the league after leaving SA. He's played all games for Cleveland this year and had a really good night for Cleveland last nite.

    He's #10 in steals avg. this year.

  16. #16
    Veteran Russo21's Avatar
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    you Hollinger.

    Thanks for blowing our cover.

    We were planning on going 'stealth' this year.

    But yes, who knew we'd be third in the west on losses, second on %, without Manu no less.

    STFU and let us go undercover. Unlike last year when we got out of the gate blazing and had everyones attention from the get go...

  17. #17
    Got Woke? DMC's Avatar
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    If any team in the league is ignoring the Spurs, they are morons plain and simple. No coach, not a single one is ignoring San Antonio. How could they? I never understood how a writer could think a team is "flying under the radar". Of whom? Fans, perhaps, but not other teams.

    "Flying under the radar" is a euphemism for "we give the Spurs ty media coverage".

  18. #18
    🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 ElNono's Avatar
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    Hollinger's a hack. Doesn't he know that Popovich is an overrated moron who survives only by virtue of having ingratiated himself to Tim Duncan?
    Hollinger is kind of a hack, but not for the reason you mention

    Basically, Hollinger is there to defend his formulas...

    I found his comment on RJ somewhat humorous also... "Richard Jefferson is, well, a guy they can amnesty..."

  19. #19
    Vegas Strong Darkwaters's Avatar
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    If any team in the league is ignoring the Spurs, they are morons plain and simple. No coach, not a single one is ignoring San Antonio. How could they? I never understood how a writer could think a team is "flying under the radar". Of whom? Fans, perhaps, but not other teams.

    "Flying under the radar" is a euphemism for "we give the Spurs ty media coverage".
    This is largely aimed at casual fans and the four letter morons owned by Disney.

  20. #20
    Boring = 4 Rings SA210's Avatar
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    If any team in the league is ignoring the Spurs, they are morons plain and simple. No coach, not a single one is ignoring San Antonio. How could they? I never understood how a writer could think a team is "flying under the radar". Of whom? Fans, perhaps, but not other teams.

    "Flying under the radar" is a euphemism for "we give the Spurs ty media coverage".

  21. #21
    Believe.
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    If any team in the league is ignoring the Spurs, they are morons plain and simple. No coach, not a single one is ignoring San Antonio. How could they? I never understood how a writer could think a team is "flying under the radar". Of whom? Fans, perhaps, but not other teams.

    "Flying under the radar" is a euphemism for "we give the Spurs ty media coverage".
    Agree with this. But we know the spurs don't care about media coverage. They just win.

  22. #22
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    and Jefferson's first season in San Antonio was a major disappointment.
    First season?

    Seriously, Hollinger has a way to tweak reality.
    Just drop a couple of names to backup your opinion and forgot facts.

    Parker was good when he comes (12 ppg / 4 apg after 7 games). Inconsistent as most 19 yo players, but talented.

    Jefferson or Blair hardly improved since they are Spurs.

    And why don't he mention Duncan or Robinson in his brilliant demonstration?
    Last edited by mathbzh; 02-10-2012 at 07:59 AM.

  23. #23
    Veteran Wild Cobra Kai's Avatar
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    you Hollinger.

    Thanks for blowing our cover.

    We were planning on going 'stealth' this year.

    But yes, who knew we'd be third in the west on losses, second on %, without Manu no less.

    STFU and let us go undercover. Unlike last year when we got out of the gate blazing and had everyones attention from the get go...
    The Spurs have everyone in the NBA's attention at all times. The only people they could possibly sneak up on are the ignorant media, and the fans that only get their info from them.

  24. #24
    NBAChamp..to be Continued SpurNation's Avatar
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    The Spurs have everyone in the NBA's attention at all times. The only people they could possibly sneak up on are the ignorant media, and the fans that only get their info from them.
    true that. But it's more that the Spurs are not featured in national media as much as the "glamorous" teams in the league and a constant feeding to the general public of such teams by the media. I would say the national media are more "ambulance chasers" than ignorant.

    Actually...it's relatively smart for them to do so and beneficial to the Spurs it happens that way.

  25. #25
    Rubber Dinghy Rapids Bro Muser's Avatar
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    Traded for Richard Jefferson. Hey, nobody's perfect

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