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Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting article.
By Matt Moore
The real secret to the San Antonio Spurs' era of dominance that stretches 16 years and counting isn't (just) Tim Duncan's brilliance or their phenomenal draft scouting staff or the franchise's fortune of health, or even Gregg Popovich's tactical masterminding.
It's their adaptability.
When the league went all-offense, up and down in the mid-00's with Seven Seconds or Less and the Mavericks, the Spurs became a grind-it-out defensive squad and won two les in 2005 and 2007. Those were mostly plodding, deliberate offenses centered around terrific, gritty defenses.
A few years later, when the league went to hyper-isolation play and blitzing defenses with the Heat's rise in 2011, they adapted again as their roster got younger and went to a wide-open spread, 3-point-heavy spread attack. That's how the San Antonio challenged in 2012, made the Finals in 2013, and won in 2014. The team placed a premium on shooting, to the point that their 2014 Finals performance remains one of the most incredible shooting performances in NBA history.
In fact, 2014 was the highest effective field-goal percentage of any team in NBA Finals history.
After last year's first-round exit at the hands of the Clippers, the Spurs pivoted once again. Where they've landed is fascinating.
Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-...ors-smallball?
Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting article.
But fortune of health? Many o playoff run have been cut short due to injury to key pieces...Splitter and Tony just last year...
Good Find.
One step ahead of the bread line
Matt Moore with the goods
NBA teams trying to copy the 2013-2014 Spurs, while the real Spurs keep evolving. Always one step ahead of the league tbh
You run with the Dubs and you die tbh. Memphis set the blueprint in last year's playoffs and the Spurs are basically a suped up version of that Memphis team with a little bit more shooting.
Don't know if it's enough to knock off Golden State but it's their best chance at doing so tbh.
isn't that writer the clown/moron that said the Grizzlies had a better off-season than the Spurs, and that they were better?
Crazy that some of these people get paid to write about basketball, tbh
I don't think this "grind-it-out" style is by design, tbh. It's just has to do with the team adapting to LMA and Kawhi's bigger role.
I'll take an 88-83 victory over a 125-118 victory any day...
I think what makes the spurs special, is that they have the ability to combine the pass happy motion offense with the grind it out defense and the dump it into the post/iso game. By March, we may very well see the spurs 99-05 defense AND the 2012-2014 offense in one night mare mutant abomination of a team!!!!
I think what makes the spurs special, is that they have the ability to combine the pass happy motion offense with the grind it out defense and the dump it into the post/iso game. By March, we may very well see the spurs 99-05 defense AND the 2012-2014 offense in one night mare mutant abomination of a team!!!!
I don't think you go all out to get LMA in the first lace if you don't contemplate his style. Our team was constructed before it started playing.
Thanks for posting!
Agree. The Spurs are considered a slow team by pace factor but who can expect other thing with aging key players and post-up players...It would be a bad idea to force a pace that doesn't fit with the personnel.
This is what I'm hoping happens. There is definitely a possibility of this exact scenario happening & I'm absolutely sure many other Spurs fans are hoping for it. This team has all the pieces to put this together the way u just said. As good as '14 championship team was, this year's version has a higher ceiling
This every Spurs fans dream and the Dubs and leagues nightmare!
The Spurs didn't need to counter the Warriors.
Spurs need to worry about them selves before trying to counter anybody
Spurs have been playing the grind-it-out style, but it hasn't really been working.
Most of the blowouts have been due to the 2nd unit that doesn't play a grind-it-out style.
Spurs need to figure out more efficient plays for LMA. Last game against Hawks, he had the lowest field goal percentage! What do you do with a guy who takes midrange shots at a low percentage rate??? GSW will dare him to shoot, and Spurs will lose in the process.
Im guessing you are new to the watching basketball thing?
Daring LMA to shoot is not the wisest thing a team can do. It does not yield good results, for the most part.
It's too soon to say Spurs are back to 2005, they have new guys to integrate to the system... Once everybody feels comfortable then we can start this kind of discussion about slowing pace to counter warriors. I don't think they are thinking much to other teams, they are focusing on their play. February most likely March time will come to see what they have
Let's see what it looks like at the Rodeo Road Trip.
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