Best Spurs Article Ever? - Grantland

[mongo366]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/let-them-entertain-you-the-beautiful-late-season-spurs-surge/

Love this article, especially this line:

It went in the books as an alley-oop. During the 2012-13 season the Clippers had 148 alley-oops. The Spurs had one. And it was probably an accident.

Welcome to Pop City.

There is also an excellent video of the spurs running the same "loop" play over and over.

Title of this post is probably a little bit of exaggeration, but it is one of the better I have seen this year.

[Skull-1]

He is a good writer from my perspective. Always interesting.

[rjv]

almost makes me want to change my screen name to "the loop"

[Chinook]

There are some more important takeaways from that article that just praising the Spurs. The one that sticks out to me is that the team has so many below-average corner-three shooters and so many above-average wing-three shooters. My guess there is that the Spurs' shooters make threes consistently from all spots while other players see a huge increase in the corners. It also could mean teams are focusing on taking away corner looks more.

Another interesting note is how poor Splitter is shooting and how Parker isn't shooting as well in the paint as he usually does. Perhaps that's due to the slumping at the beginning of the year.

[rjv]

There are some more important takeaways from that article that just praising the Spurs. The one that sticks out to me is that the team has so many below-average corner-three shooters and so many above-average wing-three shooters. My guess there is that the Spurs' shooters make threes consistently from all spots while other players see a huge increase in the corners. It also could mean teams are focusing on taking away corner looks more.

Another interesting note is how poor Splitter is shooting and how Parker isn't shooting as well in the paint as he usually does. Perhaps that's due to the slumping at the beginning of the year.

i do not have the stats in front of me but if i had to wager a bet i'd say parkers shooting % has been exponentially greater since his nearly 3 weeks off. he has been back to his old self since his return.

[Old School 44]

"The Spurs run the prettiest offense in the world, and once again they’ve run it all the way to the top of the ferocious Western Conference."

Nice article. Thanks for posting.
Consistently winning is a great accomplishment in itself. Doing it year after year in the stacked Western Conference is truly amazing!

[playbonner15]

http://i.imgur.com/AZ88Hvs.jpg

Lol at Tiago's efficiency under the rim :bang

[silverblackfan]

Excellent article and fun video too. I loved the fly in ointment line. Thanks for the find!

[SpursFan86]

http://i.imgur.com/AZ88Hvs.jpg

Lol at Tiago's efficiency under the rim :bang

Light blue = average efficiency for that location...so basically Tiago is an average finisher at the rim. We all knew that. However, two things:

1) He gets to the line a lot (his FT rate, which is FTA per FGA, is by far the highest on the team)

2) He seems to be playing much better recently. I feel like his injuries have prevented him from getting into a rhythm. Remember how good he was playing to start the season before he started getting a bunch of random injuries?

[Spur|n|Austin]

http://i.imgur.com/AZ88Hvs.jpg

Lol at Tiago's efficiency under the rim :bang

You're really nitpicking to complain about Tiago this season wouldn't you say? He's been an obvious rock for us thus far.

[Arcadian]

Greatest 16-year run for a franchise in sports history (not just counting rings, but looking at regular season wins too)

[exstatic]

Greatest 16-year run for a franchise in sports history (not just counting rings, but looking at regular season wins too)

We have the second best win percentage IN NBA HISTORY: 1996-1308 .604, before this season. We've been in the NBA for 37 full years and only missed the playoffs FOUR TIMES, EVER!!!!!!

[Interrohater]

http://www.techhive.com/article/2109585/move-over-morpheus-microsoft-reportedly-developing-xbox-vr-headset.html

Let Them Entertain You: The Beautiful, Late-Season Spurs Surge
On November 9, 2012, the Spurs were in Sacramento to play the Kings (http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400277798). With less than a minute left in the game, they were up nine and had the ball; it was garbage time. Patty Mills raced around a big ol’ Boris Diaw screen and attacked the paint. As he reached the teeth of the Kings defense, he fed a bounce pass back to Diaw, who had trailed him into the lane. Diaw caught the pass and quickly rose up for something that resembled the kind of tear drop an off-balanced old man shoots at the YMCA.
But was it actually a shot attempt?....

[Mel_13]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230491&p=7199407#post7199407

[Dex]

Looked like they were doing Fireball shots before tonight's game against the Kings, tbh.

[Interrohater]

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230491&p=7199407#post7199407
My bad

[rogues]

The prettiest offense is one with the Kang handling the rock..

[spurraider21]

^you seem really ecstatic

[ginobilized]

Great article and I am working on a scientific formula to prove that the more boring the Spurs are, the better they are playing.
I might have to bring in an actual scientist on this one.

This is the most drama free Spurs group ever. RC Buford is the "bad boy" as far as I can tell. This is one of the most satisfying seasons to watch for me. Not many teams could bounce back after the last Finals. I am really pulling for some playoff magic just to reward the amazing character and chemistry of this squad. As appealing as it might have been to land a bigger free agent, make a trade or pilfer the waiver wire, I want to see this team win it all. That might be even more meaningful that winning it all last year.

[Interrohater]

The prettiest offense is one with the Krang handling the rock..
http://www.thetechnodrome.com/images/albums/Old_Images/Krang,_Shredder,_Bebop,_and_Rocksteady_Together/all1.jpg

[Bill_Brasky]

That loop play. Holy shit so many options.

[wildbill2u]

It must suck to play against the Spurs when the offense and defense are working right. Last night Sacramento made a run in the 4th and got it to 9 points with time to go. They must have felt like they had a chance in front of the homefolks, but what happened?

We don't panic. We score a 3 and they are never in the game again. In fact, we convert a one second shot clock with an uncontested layup because of a play Pop drew up in a time out. That had to hurt.

Finally, Pop cleared the bench with minutes to go and they actually upped the lead from 15 to 20 points at the finish. We are just crushing teams in thi stretch since the all= star game.

[Solid D]

It must suck to play against the Spurs when the offense and defense are working right. Last night Sacramento made a run in the 4th and got it to 9 points with time to go. They must have felt like they had a chance in front of the homefolks, but what happened?

We don't panic. We score a 3 and they are never in the game again. In fact, we convert a one second shot clock with an uncontested layup because of a play Pop drew up in a time out. That had to hurt.

Finally, Pop cleared the bench with minutes to go and they actually upped the lead from 15 to 20 points at the finish. We are just crushing teams in thi stretch since the all= star game.

:tu

The Kings had scored 100 or more points in 13 consecutive home games prior to their 79-point output versus the Spurs Friday night.

[boutons_deux]

:tu

The Kings had scored 100 or more points in 13 consecutive home games prior to their 79-point output versus the Spurs Friday night.

Spurs shot a shitty 40% only by finally hitting few in the 4th, didn't break 100 themselves.

[Solid D]

Spurs shot a shitty 40% only by finally hitting few in the 4th, didn't break 100 themselves.

It was indeed an ugly, ugly game but who cares if the Spurs hold the Kings to 22 points under their avg. and the Warriors 14 points under their avg.?

But then again, I like defense.

[PÒÓCH]

Coach pop is a brilliantly opaque curmudgeon !

[LoneStarState'sPride]

That loop play. Holy shit so many options.

That's just not fair what they do to a defense with that play.