what happened to last years killer offense?

[LASToog36]

other then green well tonight the spurs looked flat, but im not thinking too much of it, the clippers were waiting and probably had this game circled on their calendar.. pop knows how to rebound im sure well give um payback on the next meeting. "it aint christmas everyday"
is it just me or does the ball rotation and spreading of the floor does not look up to par as last years offense, hopefully this makes them more hungry.

[justinandimcool]

I was at the game, the ball movement just looked sloppy. I just think they need to practice more, tbh. Not a lot of things felt like second nature. Too much hesitation between passes, too much indecision. Things need to move about half a second quicker and they'll be fine.

[gee]

I agree, nothing much to read into from just this game, but I have noticed that over 4 games now the offence has not just clicked like it did so often last season.
I'm sure it'll come back at some point, but tonights game was a big step in the wrong direction.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I don't care about the offense I just want this team to be at their best defensively since 2008.

[freetiago]

whats worried me was parkers inability to finish at the rim
i dont know if hes getting fouled and not getting called or hes just missing now
i do think he shuold be getting more free throws considering how much he penetrates and his shot selection
but even worse was that wasnt even the problem this game
parker couldnt get in the lane
he got in once off a botched play and that was it
credit has to do to deandre jordan and the clippers d but parker literally didnt get in the paint once the entire game
if he doesnt get in the paint and draw help then our offense basically becomes pacer-like
passing the ball doesnt do much when no one will be open since they can just play you man to man

[Clipper Nation]

Tbh, it's because the Clippers pulled their heads out of their asses, communicated on D, and generally played up to the level of defense they're capable of...

[NickiRasgo]

Yeah I agree but it's still early in the season, last year season Spurs started with a 12-9 record and ended up with 50-16. Although, yeah our line-up is so much better compared during the 12-9 record but I think they'll bounce after a blow out loss against Clippers. Pop still experimenting with the line-up.

[sananspursfan21]

ONE GAME.... sure the offense hadn't quite been there like in the past, but relax. watching the game it just looked like the clippers were fired up and the spurs couldn't do anything right. neither team normally plays like that. both ends of the extreme and the spurs still looked like they were gonna come back in the 4th. not worried at all. i honestly bet that that's the last time the clips but em in the regular season.

[DPG21920]

The pace has slowed considerably for the Spurs this year. SA, through the first four games of the season are ranked in the bottom 4 with regards to pace. When you compare that to last year where they finished tied for 7th place, you start to see there is a difference in how they are playing offensively. Early on this year, the Spurs seem to be going through Duncan a lot more (look at his attempts per game vs what he had over the last 2 years). That could partly explain the reason for the pace slowing down. Also, the overall pace of the league has seemingly gone up dramatically. Teams as a whole appear to be playing much faster. There are currently 9 teams that use 97+ possessions per game compared to last year there was one.

I think a bigger contributing factor is the decrease in bench production. A huge reason the Spurs were so legit offensively last year was because our bench scored a ton of points. When you look at Manu being out early, the back up PG struggles along with getting nothing from our bench bigs consistently, you can start to see the differnces so far this year.

[024]

duncan, ginobili, parker, and jackson got older.

[DesignatedT]

Looks like they really were concentrating on defense this off-season. Offense has definitely taken a hit. People have been calling for this for awhile now though. The Clippers shot a very high percentage and put up 100+ I get that, but the effort defensively is definitely turned up a notch and I thought they played fairly well on that side of the ball through the first two quarters or so until they waved the white flag. LAC hit some incredible shots

[Kidd K]

I think Manu's health is the main problem right now, since our backup point position is terrible. Though that doesn't explain why they didn't suck that much when Manu was hurt last year.

Honestly, I just think they aren't as hungry anymore after the loss last season. They seemed really ready to go the last two years, wanting to kick the league's teeth in, but now (and especially last night), they appear to be coasting, waiting to turn on the switch late in the season like the Lakers used to do.

Maybe it'll change as the season goes along. They definitely need to play a lot less sloppy. Let's hope it happens sooner than later. Spurs were kinda lazy during the Pacers game too, so it's not really a one game thing. :\

[timtonymanu]

I don't care about the offense I just want this team to be at their best defensively since 2008.

THIS.

As nice as the Spurs offense is, they really need to improve their defense if they want to be up there with the Heat.

[Proxy]

5th game of the season

[cd021]

The Clips D was actually really good. I was impressed overall. As for our Offense Parker is hitting like 42% of his shots last season ,i believe, he hit roughly 50%. Splitter, Neal, Bonner, & Blair are all below their last season average. Leonard & Jackson have struggled at times spacing the floor. It will take some time but it should be good.

[ace3g]

Not something to worry about just yet because it is early but this tweet got my attention:

Noam Schiller ‏@noamschiller (https://twitter.com/noamschiller) Kawhi Leonard's turnover ratio bears watching. He almost never turned it over last year, which was a huge asset, but it's almost doubled.

He avg .7 TOs last year and already 1.8 this year.

That comes with the territory of becoming more involved in the offense, but some of that could be passiveness with his early shooting struggles.

[therealtruth]

Would much rather have the defense be ahead of schedule than the offense. The offense will come around eventually.

[racm]

The defense has been more of a factor, because the Spurs are trying to limit opponent possessions.

Eh, the offense should come around, there's a reason the Spurs never started 4-0 until this season.

[Poolboy5623]

You guys can pray for better d every night..but they don't have the type of big needed to do it..it's that simple..it's a shame because with a little bit of a presence inside, this team could contend for that 5th title.

[Drz]

Less minutes for Bonner means the floor isn't spaced as well, so Parker et al can't drive to the rim as easily.

[intlspurshk]

If an athletic team played organised defense against the SPURS, the SPURS are done. And the defense starts from stopping Tony Parker. Once it is done, the SPURS offensive system start to collapse.

[Russo21]

amuseddaysleeper i freakin love your gif of durant and westbrook, classic job, keep them coming :)

[Richie]

I feel like shooters have been reluctant to take 3s, with the exception of Green. When Bonner and Kawhi are getting the ball kicked out to them, they are pausing giving time for the defence to recover rather than catch and shoot.

[Poolboy5623]

Less minutes for Bonner means the floor isn't spaced as well, so Parker et al can't drive to the rim as easily.

You're kidding right? Seriously no contending team would play Bonner and Blair together(or at all) and the spurs do it often.

[Poolboy5623]

I feel like shooters have been reluctant to take 3s, with the exception of Green. When Bonner and Kawhi are getting the ball kicked out to them, they are pausing giving time for the defence to recover rather than catch and shoot.

It would help if Leonard would actually make an attempt...I'm a bit concerned about kwahi this season. There's pressure on him to do more and I really don't think he's strong enough, physically to take the next step. He doesn't look like he put any mass on in the off season.

[Malik Hairston]

:lol the Clippers game meant nothing, the Spurs clearly gave minimal effort all night..

Overall, there are a few reasons the Spurs offense hasn't looked as sharp as last year's version..

- Ginobili's injury..his absence and transition back into form has disrupted the roles of Neal and the results of the bigs that rely on him for their looks..

- Leonard's slump..it's early, but based on the preseason and these first few games, it appears that Leonard's game still belongs in the role player category..a more serious concern is that he has seemingly lost his shooting touch from last year, thus making him an offensive liability..

- Splitter has regressed..last year, he was finishing around the basket at a high rate, his pick and roll game added an additional dimension to the offense..this year, his efficiency has plummeted..

[Drz]

You're kidding right? Seriously no contending team would play Bonner and Blair together(or at all) and the spurs do it often.
I just said it to rustle jimmies on this forum, but it is undeniably true that the less minutes Bonner plays, the less points the team scores. This is easily verifiable via the Googles.