duncan228
01-22-2011, 04:14 PM
The Spurs and the new balance of attack (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/22/the-spurs-and-the-new-balance-of-attack/)
Matt Moore
San Antonio has lost six times out of 43 games. That to me, puts it in the best perspective. They’ve had success 86% of the time. They’ve failed less than 15% of the time. That’s insane. This from a team with a trio of aging stars and late first round and early second round picks plus Richard Jefferson, for God’s sake.
More surprising? The way they’re getting it done.
The Spurs are seventh in defensive efficiency (http://hoopdata.com/teamdefstats.aspx) this season. Before we get too far into this, the Spurs are not bad at defense. That’s a top ten rating in defense. The Los Angeles Lakers were fourth, the Boston Celtics fifth in defensive efficiency last season, and that worked out pretty well for them. It’s mostly important when we put in context that the Spurs are first in offensive efficiency.
The Spurs are averaging 109.6 points per 100 possessions. That’s .6 more than the Lakers, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is in relation to the fact that it’s nearly as great as the gap between the Lakers and the sixth best team, the Knicks. In short, the offense is spectacular. And what’s more, it’s beyond just one player making them great. Consider this quote from a scout in ESPN’s Weekend Dime with Marc Stein:
“I can’t see Pop [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] spending two minutes worrying about 70 wins, but they’ve never been more fun to watch. They’ve just got five guys playing basketball. They’re the best passing team in basketball. They’re shooting lights out. They’re so much more high octane than they used to be.
“Everybody shares the ball and Tim [Duncan] just gets his stuff out of flow instead of [the Spurs] just calling ’4 Down’ and ’4 Up’ every time down and pounding the ball into him. The Spurs win championships when Manu’s healthy and they make 3s and that’s what they’ve been doing all year. I think Boston, in a series, beats everybody in the East. But I really like San Antonio.”
via Weekend Dime: What NBA scouts are saying – ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-110121-23/nba-scouts-saying).
That’s a pretty stirring assessment from a league insider perspective. The Spurs are winning with a team concept, not with stars taking over. They have stars. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan when he has nights like last night. But for the most part it’s guys committed to winning within the system, sharing the ball and winning games. And they’re doing it with offense.
But let’s be clear. They have to do what everyone assumes and kick that defense into another level come April. Many teams have looked invincible on offense and pretty good on defense and then fell in the playoffs… often teams like the Spurs used to yield. We should appreciate what the Spurs are doing in the regular season while also trying to understand how they’re going to improve come the playoffs.
But I for one am done trying to find a nitpick. They have simply been awesome, and it’s time to recognize what they’ve accomplished.
(They will inevitably now lose to New Orleans. Sorry about that, Spurs fans.)
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/22/the-spurs-and-the-new-balance-of-attack/
Matt Moore
San Antonio has lost six times out of 43 games. That to me, puts it in the best perspective. They’ve had success 86% of the time. They’ve failed less than 15% of the time. That’s insane. This from a team with a trio of aging stars and late first round and early second round picks plus Richard Jefferson, for God’s sake.
More surprising? The way they’re getting it done.
The Spurs are seventh in defensive efficiency (http://hoopdata.com/teamdefstats.aspx) this season. Before we get too far into this, the Spurs are not bad at defense. That’s a top ten rating in defense. The Los Angeles Lakers were fourth, the Boston Celtics fifth in defensive efficiency last season, and that worked out pretty well for them. It’s mostly important when we put in context that the Spurs are first in offensive efficiency.
The Spurs are averaging 109.6 points per 100 possessions. That’s .6 more than the Lakers, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is in relation to the fact that it’s nearly as great as the gap between the Lakers and the sixth best team, the Knicks. In short, the offense is spectacular. And what’s more, it’s beyond just one player making them great. Consider this quote from a scout in ESPN’s Weekend Dime with Marc Stein:
“I can’t see Pop [Spurs coach Gregg Popovich] spending two minutes worrying about 70 wins, but they’ve never been more fun to watch. They’ve just got five guys playing basketball. They’re the best passing team in basketball. They’re shooting lights out. They’re so much more high octane than they used to be.
“Everybody shares the ball and Tim [Duncan] just gets his stuff out of flow instead of [the Spurs] just calling ’4 Down’ and ’4 Up’ every time down and pounding the ball into him. The Spurs win championships when Manu’s healthy and they make 3s and that’s what they’ve been doing all year. I think Boston, in a series, beats everybody in the East. But I really like San Antonio.”
via Weekend Dime: What NBA scouts are saying – ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-110121-23/nba-scouts-saying).
That’s a pretty stirring assessment from a league insider perspective. The Spurs are winning with a team concept, not with stars taking over. They have stars. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan when he has nights like last night. But for the most part it’s guys committed to winning within the system, sharing the ball and winning games. And they’re doing it with offense.
But let’s be clear. They have to do what everyone assumes and kick that defense into another level come April. Many teams have looked invincible on offense and pretty good on defense and then fell in the playoffs… often teams like the Spurs used to yield. We should appreciate what the Spurs are doing in the regular season while also trying to understand how they’re going to improve come the playoffs.
But I for one am done trying to find a nitpick. They have simply been awesome, and it’s time to recognize what they’ve accomplished.
(They will inevitably now lose to New Orleans. Sorry about that, Spurs fans.)
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/22/the-spurs-and-the-new-balance-of-attack/