duncan228
01-18-2011, 11:21 PM
Hit the link for his individual awards.
Midseason Awards: Spurs best so far, perhaps ultimately (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/14568152/midseason-awards-spurs-best-so-far-perhaps-ultimately)
By Ken Berger
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
While we've all been busy jumping on, off, and back on the Miami Heat bandwagon with one eye on the Carmelo Anthony saga, something strange and different -- yet not very new at all -- has defined the first half of the 2010-11 NBA season.
It's a team with a core and philosophy that's been plugging along for more than a decade now, just winning games, and more than occasionally, championships. They're not interesting or controversial, and hardly ever lead the Hoopshype rumors page. They're just good.
Better than everybody else, in fact. They're the San Antonio Spurs.
At the midpoint of the 2010-11 NBA season, the Spurs (35-6) stand alone with the best record in the league. Does that mean they're the best team? I take the Gregg Popovich approach and plead ignorance, because it doesn't matter. Who's the best team at the end of June is what matters, but it's impossible to ignore that the Spurs may very well end up being that team.
"Somebody's got to have the best record, so we happen to have it now," Popovich said. "It's early in the year, and things will probably come back to center. We're not going to keep up this pace, that's for sure. It's not going to happen. For now, we've been a healthy team. A lot of teams have been dinged up. We've just played well. Richard Jefferson's a different player from last year. The young kids are doing well. That's all I know."
That's all anybody needs to know. The small-market Spurs didn't win the championship of July; they didn't have to, because they won the lottery and got Tim Duncan 13 years ago and have made all -- or mostly all -- the right moves ever since.
"I'm not Plato, you know?" Popovich said. "We got Tim Duncan. And then [Tony] Parker came and [Manu] Ginobili came. And as I've said a thousand times, we didn't screw it up. We thought of nothing new, we did nothing amazing. We didn't create the light bulb. We didn't do anything."
Just win. Are the Spurs the best team in the NBA? It doesn't matter until June, and nobody knows that better than the Spurs. But here's what you need to know about how they've evolved into a team that has managed to re-open the window of opportunity that was supposed to have been closing.
First, Popovich and his coaching staff made the wise decision to adjust the offensive point of emphasis ever so slightly away from Duncan. Instead of the inside-out approach that helped them win four championships in the Duncan era, the Spurs are more perimeter-oriented. Longtime sixth man Ginobili is starting and carrying more of a workload than ever. And the Spurs are taking advantage of a much improved Richard Jefferson and more athleticism than they've had in years. They pick their spots in the transition game, break down defenses off the dribble, and use the 3-point shot as a weapon instead of a response to double-teams against Duncan. The Spurs (.399) are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league at the halfway point.
As they've always done, they found a hidden gem, Gary Neal, to go with last year's hidden gem, George Hill. Neal went undrafted out of Towson State, which is almost as obscure a basketball school as Hill's IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis). When the Spurs brought him in for a free-agent workout last summer, Popovich said he'd never even heard of him. The whole league has heard of him now; Neal has emerged as a dark horse in the race for sixth man of the year. He's averaging 8.7 points, shooting .396 from beyond the 3-point arc, and gives the Spurs a perimeter reserve who has to be guarded.
"You have to find players that are willing to fulfill roles and you have to know what roles you need to have filled to go around your star players," Popovich said. "That's the key, wherever they might come from -- the draft, free agency, or out in the park -- you've got to find people who can fill those spots."
As much as the Spurs have evolved offensively, their championship hopes still rest on the defensive end -- as always. After a rough patch recently, Popovich gave his team a stern talking-to about what has been their calling card for years.
"If we wanted to have a chance to play with the big boys and be the last team standing, we really had to make a better effort defensively," Popovich said. "And the five games after that, they did. They decided to do that. We'll see if it continues or if it's just a blip on the screen."
The Spurs are anything but a blip. They're still standing, and one way or another, the 2011 NBA championship will have to go through San Antonio.
Now, after handing the Spurs a midseason honor they care very little about, here's a look at my individual awards at the halfway point:
Keep Reading... (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/14568152/midseason-awards-spurs-best-so-far-perhaps-ultimately)
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/14568152/midseason-awards-spurs-best-so-far-perhaps-ultimately
Midseason Awards: Spurs best so far, perhaps ultimately (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/14568152/midseason-awards-spurs-best-so-far-perhaps-ultimately)
By Ken Berger
CBSSports.com Senior Writer
While we've all been busy jumping on, off, and back on the Miami Heat bandwagon with one eye on the Carmelo Anthony saga, something strange and different -- yet not very new at all -- has defined the first half of the 2010-11 NBA season.
It's a team with a core and philosophy that's been plugging along for more than a decade now, just winning games, and more than occasionally, championships. They're not interesting or controversial, and hardly ever lead the Hoopshype rumors page. They're just good.
Better than everybody else, in fact. They're the San Antonio Spurs.
At the midpoint of the 2010-11 NBA season, the Spurs (35-6) stand alone with the best record in the league. Does that mean they're the best team? I take the Gregg Popovich approach and plead ignorance, because it doesn't matter. Who's the best team at the end of June is what matters, but it's impossible to ignore that the Spurs may very well end up being that team.
"Somebody's got to have the best record, so we happen to have it now," Popovich said. "It's early in the year, and things will probably come back to center. We're not going to keep up this pace, that's for sure. It's not going to happen. For now, we've been a healthy team. A lot of teams have been dinged up. We've just played well. Richard Jefferson's a different player from last year. The young kids are doing well. That's all I know."
That's all anybody needs to know. The small-market Spurs didn't win the championship of July; they didn't have to, because they won the lottery and got Tim Duncan 13 years ago and have made all -- or mostly all -- the right moves ever since.
"I'm not Plato, you know?" Popovich said. "We got Tim Duncan. And then [Tony] Parker came and [Manu] Ginobili came. And as I've said a thousand times, we didn't screw it up. We thought of nothing new, we did nothing amazing. We didn't create the light bulb. We didn't do anything."
Just win. Are the Spurs the best team in the NBA? It doesn't matter until June, and nobody knows that better than the Spurs. But here's what you need to know about how they've evolved into a team that has managed to re-open the window of opportunity that was supposed to have been closing.
First, Popovich and his coaching staff made the wise decision to adjust the offensive point of emphasis ever so slightly away from Duncan. Instead of the inside-out approach that helped them win four championships in the Duncan era, the Spurs are more perimeter-oriented. Longtime sixth man Ginobili is starting and carrying more of a workload than ever. And the Spurs are taking advantage of a much improved Richard Jefferson and more athleticism than they've had in years. They pick their spots in the transition game, break down defenses off the dribble, and use the 3-point shot as a weapon instead of a response to double-teams against Duncan. The Spurs (.399) are the second-best 3-point shooting team in the league at the halfway point.
As they've always done, they found a hidden gem, Gary Neal, to go with last year's hidden gem, George Hill. Neal went undrafted out of Towson State, which is almost as obscure a basketball school as Hill's IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis). When the Spurs brought him in for a free-agent workout last summer, Popovich said he'd never even heard of him. The whole league has heard of him now; Neal has emerged as a dark horse in the race for sixth man of the year. He's averaging 8.7 points, shooting .396 from beyond the 3-point arc, and gives the Spurs a perimeter reserve who has to be guarded.
"You have to find players that are willing to fulfill roles and you have to know what roles you need to have filled to go around your star players," Popovich said. "That's the key, wherever they might come from -- the draft, free agency, or out in the park -- you've got to find people who can fill those spots."
As much as the Spurs have evolved offensively, their championship hopes still rest on the defensive end -- as always. After a rough patch recently, Popovich gave his team a stern talking-to about what has been their calling card for years.
"If we wanted to have a chance to play with the big boys and be the last team standing, we really had to make a better effort defensively," Popovich said. "And the five games after that, they did. They decided to do that. We'll see if it continues or if it's just a blip on the screen."
The Spurs are anything but a blip. They're still standing, and one way or another, the 2011 NBA championship will have to go through San Antonio.
Now, after handing the Spurs a midseason honor they care very little about, here's a look at my individual awards at the halfway point:
Keep Reading... (http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/14568152/midseason-awards-spurs-best-so-far-perhaps-ultimately)
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/14568152/midseason-awards-spurs-best-so-far-perhaps-ultimately