Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

[Old School 44]

This seems to happen in every sport. Teams imitating the success of the recent champion.
With the overall success of the Spurs, capped by the resounding win over the Heat in 2014 Finals, it seems to be occurring even moreso for the Spurs. So what are the things you noticed most that teams seem to be copying?
In no particular order, here are some of my favorites.



Resting stars
Premium on ball movement..."good to great"
Trying to acquire/develop three point shooters at every position
International player development
Hiring someone from the Spurs coaching staff/front office

[Old School 44]

Resting stars - The Cavs did this last night with LeBron. On top of that, it was a nationally televised game against the Thunder and with an 8 game winning streak!(sound familiar) Good move btw, the Cavs are almost guaranteed a top 4 spot playing in the East. By holding out LeBron, they went into the game with nothing to lose. If they win, great, if they lose, they have a built-in excuse. OKC, with the return of Durant and Westbrook, is playing catchup. I doubt if the Cavs would have won even with James playing.

[Mr. Body]

I wouldn't credit the Spurs with using stretch-4s. If anything, Miami perfected that with Bosh.

[TheGreatYacht]

Stretch 4's? Na I'm sure Orlando was the real team that set the trend. I mean, McDyess was our 4 in the playoffs just 3-4 years ago.

[Mr Bones]

I agree-- after last year's demolition in the finals lots of people have finally come on board with the concept of true team play. It's impossible to argue with the Spurs' success, especially in light of the contributions they received from players that other teams essentially gave up on (Green, Diaw, Mills) and a finals MVP who was obtained in a trade for a back-up PG.

[Cane]

Ginobili's Eurostep and Parker's floaters have been imitated a lot, the latter even by other Spurs like Joseph, and whataBlair.

The rest of the NBA is trying to get more versatile like the Spurs who are able to set the tempo with a variety of lineups: small ball, Tim and Tiago, etc.

[Aztecfan03]

Except teams were imitating this stuff well before this year.

[wildbill2u]

Resting Stars. The Mavs are giving Dirk less court minutes per game and even resting him on btb games. Even my mother, a 94 year old Mav fan has noticed it. She watches all their locally televised games while I have to go to NBA league pass in the other room when both teams play.

I've also noticed more teams using the passing and motion game a lot more in imitation of the Spurs.

[PÒÓCH]

The Brooklyn Nets even went as far as copying our uniforms.

[LoneStarState'sPride]

The Brooklyn Nets even went as far as copying our uniforms.

I despise them for no other reason than this.

Niggas tryna cop our look and I do NOT approve, no sir.

[superbigtime]

Spurs are the standard trend setter for the NBA. And yes bitch move by the cHeat and Nyets for stealing our look.

[Venti Quattro]

:lol the amount of circle-jerking in this thread

[LoneStarState'sPride]

:lol the amount of circle-jerking in this thread

Can you blame us, doe? :lol

[taps]

w/out Spurs 29 other teams wouldn't even know how to play bball

[wildchild]

Resting stars
More and more teams dedice to prioritize health over winning record. Miami resting Wade and even a young team like Indiana rested their startes last season.
The side effect of resting stars? It gives rookies experience in real games.

International player development
The influence of foreign players on the NBA is more intensive since Spurs' success. Many teams are have more international players every year...Brooklyn, Toronto, Phoenix drafted young international talent last season...