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05-30-2013, 12:58 PM
Spurs Quietly Become a Two-Way Threat
By JIM CAVAN
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/05/30/sports/30spurs-offthedribble/30spurs-offthedribble-blog480.jpgKevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs guarding Jerryd Bayless of the Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals in Memphis.
Throughout the San Antonio Spurs’ impressive postseason march, the N.B.A. cognoscenti have homed in on one laudatory refrain more than any other: The Spurs take away what you do best.
From clamping down the hot-shooting Stephen Curry with the versatile Kawhi Leonard to packing the paint against the imposing Memphis frontcourt, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich has turned these playoffs into a cross between a torture chamber and a mad doctor’s operating room – removing the opponent’s biggest weapon at just the right time, and with just the right tools.
But after brushing aside the Memphis Grizzlies to reach the N.B.A. finals – the franchise’s fifth appearance in 15 seasons – perhaps it is high time to consider augmenting the above superlative ever so slightly: Not only do the Spurs take away what you do best, they do what you do, only better.
First, some context: San Antonio has been tremendous on both sides of the ball all season, finishing seventh in offensive efficiency (105.9) and third in defensive efficiency (99.2). Over the past month, the Spurs have steadily taken both to the next level, arriving to the finals with a chance to redefine statistical greatness in the playoffs.
In the first round, the Spurs used the short-handed Lakers as a glorified practice squad, registering a ridiculous 20-plus point differential between their offensive (113.3) and defensive (93.1) ratings on the way to a painless four-game sweep.
If the Lakers were a once-proud team in the midst of a death rattle, the Warriors – San Antonio’s second-round opponent – were the dangerous upstarts. Having finished the regular season ranked 10th in offensive efficiency (104.2), Golden State, with its first-round blitz of the Denver Nuggets, proved Curry & Co. were not a crew to be trifled with. It took six helter-skelter games, but the Spurs upended the Warriors by giving them a dose of their own offensive medicine and besting them in the efficiency game (106.9 to 102.5).
Ahead of San Antonio’s showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals, many people predicted the Spurs had finally met their match. The reason: Memphis’s stellar defense, which the Grizzlies parlayed from a second-place regular-season ranking (97.4) into a pair of impressive wins over the Clippers and the Thunder.
continue: http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/spurs-quietly-become-a-two-way-threat/?smid=tw-nytsports&seid=auto
By JIM CAVAN
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/05/30/sports/30spurs-offthedribble/30spurs-offthedribble-blog480.jpgKevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs guarding Jerryd Bayless of the Grizzlies in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals in Memphis.
Throughout the San Antonio Spurs’ impressive postseason march, the N.B.A. cognoscenti have homed in on one laudatory refrain more than any other: The Spurs take away what you do best.
From clamping down the hot-shooting Stephen Curry with the versatile Kawhi Leonard to packing the paint against the imposing Memphis frontcourt, Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich has turned these playoffs into a cross between a torture chamber and a mad doctor’s operating room – removing the opponent’s biggest weapon at just the right time, and with just the right tools.
But after brushing aside the Memphis Grizzlies to reach the N.B.A. finals – the franchise’s fifth appearance in 15 seasons – perhaps it is high time to consider augmenting the above superlative ever so slightly: Not only do the Spurs take away what you do best, they do what you do, only better.
First, some context: San Antonio has been tremendous on both sides of the ball all season, finishing seventh in offensive efficiency (105.9) and third in defensive efficiency (99.2). Over the past month, the Spurs have steadily taken both to the next level, arriving to the finals with a chance to redefine statistical greatness in the playoffs.
In the first round, the Spurs used the short-handed Lakers as a glorified practice squad, registering a ridiculous 20-plus point differential between their offensive (113.3) and defensive (93.1) ratings on the way to a painless four-game sweep.
If the Lakers were a once-proud team in the midst of a death rattle, the Warriors – San Antonio’s second-round opponent – were the dangerous upstarts. Having finished the regular season ranked 10th in offensive efficiency (104.2), Golden State, with its first-round blitz of the Denver Nuggets, proved Curry & Co. were not a crew to be trifled with. It took six helter-skelter games, but the Spurs upended the Warriors by giving them a dose of their own offensive medicine and besting them in the efficiency game (106.9 to 102.5).
Ahead of San Antonio’s showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals, many people predicted the Spurs had finally met their match. The reason: Memphis’s stellar defense, which the Grizzlies parlayed from a second-place regular-season ranking (97.4) into a pair of impressive wins over the Clippers and the Thunder.
continue: http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/spurs-quietly-become-a-two-way-threat/?smid=tw-nytsports&seid=auto