Pushing the pace..

[HarlemHeat37]

We heard plenty of reports all off-season about how the Spurs were planning on pushing the pace and play a more free-flowing offense, getting transition points and not being as methodical and slow as years prior..

While I did believe it, I did not expect it to be anywhere near what we have seen so far this season..

While it's extremely early in the season, the Spurs are currently 6th in the NBA in pace, which is usually unthinkable when you're talking about the Spurs..

2010-2011(through 4 games): 6th
2009-2010: 20th
2008-2009: 26th
2007-2008: 28th
2006-2007: 27th
2005-2006: 23rd
2004-2005: 23rd
2003-2004: 19th
2002-2003: 20th
2001-2002: 19th
2000-2001: 23rd
1999-2000: 24th
1998-1999: 19th
1997-1998: 23rd

The Spurs are currently 8th in fast break points, compared to last year, where they finished 23rd..this is despite starting a Blair-Duncan frontcourt, which you would expect to focus more on rebounding and slowing down the break..

This isn't an analysis, because the sample size is too small..it's just an observation with some questions:

Do you guys think the Spurs will end up with a top 10 pace for the first time since 1995-1996?..Do you think they can succeed playing this style of play?..Do you think they can still find their defensive identity, even with a fast paced system?(plenty of teams have done this, I'm just asking if this specific team with the current personnel can do it)..

[ChuckD]

I think Pop watched the OKC/LAL series last year. The Lakers can be run on.

[Ginobili2Duncan]

With a younger and more athletic supporing cast, the Spurs could benefit from a faster paced offense. Since the Spurs will most likely resting Duncan more often this year, they probably will make a conscious effort to push the pace.

[Chomag]

I sure wish the Spurs defence was up-tempo...

[L.I.T]

Parker/Hill/Jefferson/Manu are effective open-court players who will benefit from pushing the ball. I would not be surprised if this is part of the overall Spurs transition to shift the onus of scoring off of TD in an effort to preserve him for the playoffs.

With the Spurs youth and open court guys it does make sense in certain spots for them to get out and run. I remember a few years ago they were ranked a few years in a row as one of the top fast-breaking teams. Not necessarily in scoring, but in effectiveness.

I personally doubt that they will be in the top 10 in pace, though I wouldn't be surprised to see them settled in the 12-15 range.

[Chieflion]

The pushing of pace also led to Jefferson playing extremely well. Whether this is a coincidence or not, the Spurs have benefited from the increase of pace offensively. The defense would have to pick up though. Picking up the pace doesn't mean they can get away with poor defense.

[HarlemHeat37]

The defense is the part I'm worried about, particularly the lack of focus..

While they're high in fast break points right now, the Spurs are also currently in the top 5 worst teams at defending in transition..I hope they don't lose defensive focus with this new style of play..

[TD 21]

I don't think the Spurs will end up with a top ten pace for the season. Around 15th is probably more likely.

I think they can succeed playing this style to a point, but playing fast isn't a license to play unorganized and sloppy. Right now, there are far too many turnovers and I attribute that in large part to this being new to the team. Once they become more comfortable playing at a faster pace, turnovers should drop significantly. I also think a lot of the players feel liberated with the shackles, not off, but loosened. Once the novelty of that wears off some, that should also lead to less turnovers.

I think they'll have trouble finding their defensive identity while playing fast and I think ultimately they'll somewhat reign it in and not revert to being almost solely a half court team, but become more of a hybrid.

[Cessation]

Splitter can also run, when he joins the starting line up. I recall the bulls running opportunistically during their championship years threw outlets, after defensive stops.

[Gutter92]

Pop should try starting

Parker
Hill
Ginobili
Jefferson
Duncan

[AFBlue]

They'll probably finish outside the top 10 in pace, but they seem to have the athleticism, passing ability and finishing ability to be effective at it. The issue really is defending transition because anytime you run, you run the risk of getting run on. You also increase the risk of turnovers.

But if they're going to work those things out, the earlier the better. I'd say getting good at running is the most important thing. Whether you concentrate on employing it night in and night out and finish in the top 10 is another. The flexibility to play either style is what's really going to pay off in the end.

So to sum up; no not top 10, yes successful, yes they'll still find defense...eventually.

[mingus]

I think it stays. The Spurs best offensive players at this point do better in the open court and playing at a more frenetic pace. Back when Duncan was unstoppable, you could throw it into him every time. Ginobili, Parker, RJ need to run the ball and play fast.

That said, Duncan is still an all-star and one of the best post players in the game still. So playing in the halfcourt isn't all that bad.

So I see this team as somewhat of a hybrid. That was the talk around the '03 team, that they can play any style.

Defensively this team will only be good but not great and that will be their downfall ultimately.

[JustinJDW]

I believe as long as you play good focused defense, and get stops when you need to get stops, then you can run any kind of offensive or pace you want. But you need defense to win Championships.

[DeadlyDynasty]

Pop should try starting

Parker
Hill
Ginobili
Jefferson
Duncan

is that a joke?

[mingus]

Gutter is a troll.

[Dex]

I think the hurried pace is largely contributing to the turnover woes for this team. Spurs are 25th in the league in turnovers, and although they've been causing as many as they've given up, they are still only 18th in Turnover Differential at 0.00.

I'm all for some more offense and easy buckets, but not if the players can't execute it efficiently. Giving up that many turnovers just fuels the opposing teams offense as much as it does our own.

[Libri]

The pushing of pace also led to Jefferson playing extremely well. Whether this is a coincidence or not, the Spurs have benefited from the increase of pace offensively. The defense would have to pick up though. Picking up the pace doesn't mean they can get away with poor defense.

Exactly. It would interesting to see how many points Jefferson has scored on fast breaks in this early part of the season or on how many of them did he participate. I think he has been involved on many of those plays.

[rascal]

The improved play of Jefferson is directly the result of a faster paced game. The spurs need to play to their player strenghts and now have enough athletes and finishers to push the tempo.

[wontstartdumbthreads]

The improved play of Jefferson is directly the result of a faster paced game. The spurs need to play to their player strenghts and now have enough athletes and finishers to push the tempo.

I'd love to see the Spurs pick up the pace but I wonder if they would then have trouble (espically with the new players) in the playoffs trying to adjust to a slower half court style. All of a sudden you might lose any effectiveness that RJ, Neal, or Anderson showed in the regular season. The rookies in particular may be hard pressed to quickly adapt their game as the playoff situation demanded.

[Manufan909]

How many of RJ's 3s in the 2nd half fastbreak shots? I know at least one or two were.

[Tp9gospursgo]

Pop should try starting

Parker
Hill
Ginobili
Jefferson
Duncan

:nope

[JR21]

Well first of all it makes for some entertaining games. I like what i see. I think we can be successful with this roster with a fast pace full court game with guys like parker ginobili jefferson hill blair and all the other youth this season. It definitly eliminates that "boring style" they have stamped on our logo for so long. But i say keep it up it is fun to watch.

[ElNono]

As far as defense, something else the Spurs are doing well: they're ranked 5th in opponent turnovers per game. This from a team that ranked really low on that the last few seasons. The problem right now is that the team is turning it over just as much.

As Harlem said, it's still early and there's little sample size. But some of those early trends are encouraging.

[ChuckD]

Increasing the pace leads to an inflation of stats due to a higher number of possessions for both teams, both positive and negative stats, like turnovers and turnovers caused. It's also the reason that a player like Shawn Marion, who can really only spot up or finish on the break, scored over 20 ppg for a number of years. Nothing to get all in a twist about.

[Cessation]

How many of RJ's 3s in the 2nd half fastbreak shots? I know at least one or two were.

Only the third of the four three's rj took was of fastbreak.

[buttsR4rebounding]

The fast break is also a way to rest Duncan without taking him out of the game. Duncan is rarely involved in the break, so on those possessions that end in a fast break it is likely that Duncan never passes half court.

[elbamba]

I sure wish the Spurs defence was up-tempo...

Splitter is going to come in handy on the defense end. I noticed in the Suns game that when Tim and Splitter where in the game together, the Suns were not as confident in taking the ball to the hole. With time, the Spurs will probably bring a degree of fear to players brining it in the lane. Its always frustrating to beat a seven footer only to find another right behind.

[xellos88330]

I actually think the quicker pace was the only way to go once Jefferson was signed last season. With that much talent, you gotta speed up the pace to create more opportunities for the talent at your disposal on the offensive end.

The defense could be a lot better. Then again, as long as the Spurs can get the stops when they need them at the end of close games, or to go on a comeback/closing run, I wouldn't mind so much.

[analyzed]

Running does not necessary mean playing poor defense neither does slowing down the pace mean your a good defensive team. Obviously by slowing down the pace your chances of limiting the score of the opposing team is greater, ( less possesions equals less points) however this does not necessary mean your playing good defense, I remember Mike frotalo's cleveland team really shortened the game by limiting possesions. and was always tops in defensive statstistics but to say his team was a better defensive team done the Jordan's bulls inpite of the better defensive stats is false. My point in all of this is by the Spurs pushing the pace will naturally result in our defensive stats going down, this however does not necessary mean our defense is worse. And I think we can still be a great defensive team just like the MJ bulls with a fast pace offense.

[DrSteffo]

Hmmm. No?

[wildbill2u]

The fact is that we can't really play the slow down defensive game any more because we don't have the personnel.

The Spurs used to be able to play lock-down defense whenever they wanted to and could win most games where they only scored aroun 90-95 points. Other teams and sports writers hated it, but it was effective.

But with the loss of their premier defender, Bowen, and the slowing down of Duncan and McDyess and maybe Manu and Jefferson to age and Bonner to terminal white-boyism, there simply isn't a way for us to play that good defense any more.

This team has changed and it is to Pop's credit as a coach that he has recognized it and adapted his style to his personnel. That doesn't mean they still won't try to play good defense and emphasize it a lot--but they are going to have to do a bit more on the offensive end in the balance.

[The Truth #6]

I agree. Pop's willingness to adapt this year has been great to see. Also, letting loose on the reins a bit might make the adjustment to the newcomers a little easier. Hard to say if that's the reason, but the results so far have been good.

[ajh18]

I think another thing that helps us with the running game is that Tim is a very good outlet passer. Im not sure Blair is yet, but he and Splitter are also very good passers in general. I think having guys who can rebound and start a break going the other way is key to ultimately mixing defense and a running game.

[LeCrab]

the turnovers come from forcing the ball to duncan......

[spurspokesman]

We heard plenty of reports all off-season about how the Spurs were planning on pushing the pace and play a more free-flowing offense, getting transition points and not being as methodical and slow as years prior..

While I did believe it, I did not expect it to be anywhere near what we have seen so far this season..

While it's extremely early in the season, the Spurs are currently 6th in the NBA in pace, which is usually unthinkable when you're talking about the Spurs..

2010-2011(through 4 games): 6th
2009-2010: 20th
2008-2009: 26th
2007-2008: 28th
2006-2007: 27th
2005-2006: 23rd
2004-2005: 23rd
2003-2004: 19th
2002-2003: 20th
2001-2002: 19th
2000-2001: 23rd
1999-2000: 24th
1998-1999: 19th
1997-1998: 23rd

The Spurs are currently 8th in fast break points, compared to last year, where they finished 23rd..this is despite starting a Blair-Duncan frontcourt, which you would expect to focus more on rebounding and slowing down the break..

This isn't an analysis, because the sample size is too small..it's just an observation with some questions:

Do you guys think the Spurs will end up with a top 10 pace for the first time since 1995-1996?..Do you think they can succeed playing this style of play?..Do you think they can still find their defensive identity, even with a fast paced system?(plenty of teams have done this, I'm just asking if this specific team with the current personnel can do it)..

I haven't been up here in A while heat but good info and epic kobe pic. lol for real.

[Danny.Zhu]

Since the Spurs will most likely resting Duncan more often this year

Not true. At least in the first 5 games, Duncan averaged 31 minutes without these OT minutes.

[JR3]

I worry about our defense. And the pace does not help us on that end I don't think. I like the pace, its just going to take longer to get back to SPURS defense. If we can get a good team defense to go along with this offense.. we can compete...wait...BEAT anyone.

[HarlemHeat37]

Spurs are maintaining the same pace they did to start the season..they are now #3 in the NBA in fast break points..the defense has even gotten better, they're now #6 defensively, despite the pace..

It looks like it might work, although it's obviously still really early..

[mystargtr34]

2nd in Offensive Efficiency
6th in Defensive Efficiency
3rd in Rebounding Rate

The numbers are starting to back up and justify the Spurs W/L record. The offense is nice and all.... but the defense and rebounding are both real positives... theoretically they should be more sustainable than the offense especially once playoff time comes around and opposition defenses can key in on the offense a lot more. Also the easy schedule argument can no longer be made since the Spurs have a SOS of .500 which is 13th in the league. Obviously they havent had a rough start in terms of opposition by any stretch ... but the statistics have held up against some quality opposition (Utah Thunder Orlando Chicago Phoenix).

Im interested to see if the defense can continue to get better. Its kind of surprising to see it at 6th best in the league without Splitter being fully integrated yet... he should easily be the Spurs second best overall defender by the time he is in the rotation and i expect the Spurs defense to be among the better defenses in the league when that happens... it wont be elite.. but it definately wont be a weakness like it was last season.

The rebounding was always going to be around the best in the league with Tim, Blair and Dyess as the three main rotation guys (since Bonner and Tiago havent played much yet)... hopefully that can stay elite once Blair is replaced in the starting line up by Tiago and Bonner continues to see his regular 20-25 minutes a night.. that shit aint changing lets face it.

Anyway... still really early as Harlem pointed out... but the statistics are really backing up the W/L record... which can often be fools gold. Things look good.

[duncan228]

Hit the link for the whole piece.


Points coming in 100s for fast-breaking Spurs (http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2010/11/23/points-coming-in-100s-for-fast-breaking-spurs/)
Jeff McDonald

...“Pop has been pushing the pace since preseason,” said small forward Richard Jefferson, who has benefited most from the Spurs’ transformation into a scoring juggernaut. “It opens things up for everybody.”

This season, Popovich wants everything done on fast forward.

Outlet passes need to go further up the court. Wings and guards need to fill lanes quickly. If there’s an opportunity to run, take it.


...And when that initial fastbreak doesn’t work? Popovich wants to get into halfcourt sets sooner, too.

“All those things help initiate pace,” said Popovich, whose team is also shooting an NBA-best 44.4 percent on 3-pointers. “Our guys have been pretty disciplined about it most of the time.”

Popovich would prefer the newfangled focus on offense not replace the dedication to the defensive principles that have served the franchise well in the championship era. Here, he really does not want to follow the Phoenix model.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean your defense is going to go downhill,” Popovich said. “I don’t look at it like if you do one, we’re going to lose at the other end.”

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2010/11/23/points-coming-in-100s-for-fast-breaking-spurs/

[DieHardSpursFan1537]

Just look at the Suns pace on offense......no wonder they lose all their games by 20.

[Spurs Brazil]

Popovich would prefer the newfangled focus on offense not replace the dedication to the defensive principles that have served the franchise well in the championship era. Here, he really does not want to follow the Phoenix model.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean your defense is going to go downhill,” Popovich said. “I don’t look at it like if you do one, we’re going to lose at the other end.”

:tu

[Chomag]

I admit I was worried watching the new fast paced look of the Spurs the first few games of this season, but they seem to be doing much better at mixing defence with offence now. Defence is still no where near as good as it needs to be, but you can definitely see it's improving.