news4sa.com: Spurs' Danny Green blames chemistry for two-year NBA Finals absence

[south side spur]

http://news4sanantonio.com/sports/spurs-zone/spurs-danny-green-blames-chemistry-for-teams-two-year-nba-finals-absence

BY JEFF GARCIA, SPURS ZONEMONDAY, JUNE 20TH 2016
After coming off an NBA title in 2014, the San Antonio Spurs were looking to win their first back-to-back titles in 2015. The team ended up getting eliminated by the Clippers in 7-games in the opening round.

In the 2015-16 season, the Spurs set a franchise record 67-wins last season, only lost once at home, had an MVP candidate on the roster (Kawhi Leonard), and were expected to face the Warriors in the 2016 Western Conference Finals.


Instead, they faced the Thunder in the West semifinals and saw their historic season come to a crashing end, losing to OKC 2-4 .


So what has been wrong for San Antonio in the playoffs? Why haven't they been back on the biggest stage in the NBA?
According to guard Danny Green the issue has been team chemistry.
"I think the chemistry. We had some different faces since we won (2014 NBA title). A couple of guys left and even after last year we have a different team now. Newer guys, newer system. It's a different system, different flow. We were changing how we were doing things. With that being said, it takes a while for chemistry to build. Takes a while for guys to get used to that type of style of play for guys that have been there. Once we have that foundation, we have at least one year under our belt I think it will be even better."


As for getting eliminated by the Thunder, Green points to a lack of production from everyone on the roster but credits OKC for their outstanding play.

"It was frustrating that we didn't get there. We thought we were good enough. We played well all year. We can't take nothing away from OKC. They were playing very good basketball they played very well. Not just their superstars but their others, they showed up. I think we went back into a style of play that was not our natural Spurs basketball. They were playing very well and we had games like most games just like our season where we needed everyone to play very well and we couldn't get that.

Just came to a point where a team (OKC) had more guys on their team playing well than our guys on our team."

Once again the Spurs are left to ponder next season. Will it be another great regular season only to see it end too soon in the playoffs? Can they get back to the promised land in the rough Western Conference? What adjustments are needed to the roster?
Green is right. This team has changed since 2014. No longer is the team's core (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker) the focal point. That is now LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard.

However, more changes are coming to San Antonio this offseason. Whether it be retirement for Duncan or Ginobili or both, players being traded, free agent pick ups, or the team getting younger, team chemistry will be front and center once again heading into next season. Will "team chemistry" be the excuse again should the team fail to reach the Finals?

As for Green's play last season, he is quick to point out is was disappointing but is optimistic he will be back on track for the 2016-17 season.

"I thought it was not a good one. Obviously, percentage wise I didn't shoot it or play as well as I have normally have done in the past. I also think it was an adjustment. Something to work on. Getting used to the system. It's a different system in the last couple of years. This year was very different. Just move forward, don't look back. Use it as a learning experience.

I want to have a better season than I had last year."

[Chinook]

So Tiago was the the real MVP?

[hater]

Ferrari :cry

[Chris]

I thought it was common knowledge that we were blaming David West for this season's debacle.

[TrainOfThought5]

Baynes��������
Cojo ��������������������

[TrainOfThought5]

What the hell i thought we could use emojis now?!

[TheGoldStandard]

Tim Duncans other knee

[spursistan]

HarlemHeat37 :lol

[Gervin44Silas13]

was the line "Oh I also was MIA during the Playoffs too" omitted

dumbass

[TheGreatYacht]

Spurs had the same roster in 2015 and went fishing in the first round.

It was time for a roster change then, and it still is now.

[coachmac87]

Not buying this at all..

[Chinook]

was the line "Oh I also was MIA during the Playoffs too" omitted

dumbass

Yeah, because he totally didn't play well in the post-season.

[Chinook]

Spurs had the same roster in 2015 and went fishing in the first round.

It was time for a roster change then, and it still is now.

Yes, this is true. And it's just the reality that you can't stay the same forever. Teams need change, and changes bring growing pains. What makes it worse is if you resist change until you HAVE to do it, because then it comes suddenly.

[dabom]

Yes, this is true. And it's just the reality that you can't stay the same forever. Teams need change, and changes bring growing pains. What makes it worse is if you resist change until you HAVE to do it, because then it comes suddenly.

I'll let you know Kyle Anderson can facilitate once our old turds retire.

[SupremeGuy]

Let's be honest, we don't beat the Thunder in 2014 without parker getting hurt... Cojo :cry

[Obstructed_View]

That title team played together very well. It's not really breaking news that this year's team didn't step up the way that one did.

[tmtcsc]

I like Patty Mills but he hasn't been the same since he got his big contract and had surgery on his shoulder. He hasn't looked like the same player and is not the answer at PG. Losing Baynes, CoJo and Ferrari hurt bench production this year, as did Boris' no show. I thought Ginobili was pretty good given his new role but no one else stepped up.

Boban was nice and fun to watch at times but lets be real, he's not a difference maker once the playoffs start. He's the guy you put in against the scrubs to finish out games. He's too slow, can't rebound and lacks the athleticism to be an effective defensive player. He's also very soft on offense. He doesn't like contact, gets the ball stripped way too much and often falls down during games.

The Spurs need a Center or PF tp cover up LaMarcus' poor defense and rebounding. Someone they can count on to do the non-glamorous workman stuff. Lamarcus is a scorer and that is it.

[LongtimeSpursFan]

I like Patty Mills but he hasn't been the same since he got his big contract and had surgery on his shoulder. He hasn't looked like the same player and is not the answer at PG. Losing Baynes, CoJo and Ferrari hurt bench production this year, as did Boris' no show. I thought Ginobili was pretty good given his new role but no one else stepped up.

Boban was nice and fun to watch at times but lets be real, he's not a difference maker once the playoffs start. He's the guy you put in against the scrubs to finish out games. He's too slow, can't rebound and lacks the athleticism to be an effective defensive player. He's also very soft on offense. He doesn't like contact, gets the ball stripped way too much and often falls down during games.

The Spurs need a Center or PF tp cover up LaMarcus' poor defense and rebounding. Someone they can count on to do the non-glamorous workman stuff. Lamarcus is a scorer and that is it.


You didn't mention Splitter. We really missed his PNR abilities. That alone would get the defense moving around so the Sours could start moving the ball around.

[timtonymanu]

I like Patty Mills but he hasn't been the same since he got his big contract and had surgery on his shoulder. He hasn't looked like the same player and is not the answer at PG. Losing Baynes, CoJo and Ferrari hurt bench production this year, as did Boris' no show. I thought Ginobili was pretty good given his new role but no one else stepped up.

Boban was nice and fun to watch at times but lets be real, he's not a difference maker once the playoffs start. He's the guy you put in against the scrubs to finish out games. He's too slow, can't rebound and lacks the athleticism to be an effective defensive player. He's also very soft on offense. He doesn't like contact, gets the ball stripped way too much and often falls down during games.

The Spurs need a Center or PF tp cover up LaMarcus' poor defense and rebounding. Someone they can count on to do the non-glamorous workman stuff. Lamarcus is a scorer and that is it.

:tu Well said. Spurs have lots of things to fix up. Also getting a slasher type (I'm not a fan of Simmons, tbh).

[dabom]

Didn't know Patty was bad in 2015. :lmao

[dabom]

Getting paid 2MIL a year to bail out his counterpart. :lol

[tmtcsc]

You didn't mention Splitter. We really missed his PNR abilities. That alone would get the defense moving around so the Sours could start moving the ball around.

I agree, we did miss the Tiago Splitter that helped us win a Championship. Unfortunately, I think he's finished as a player. I put the guy out of my mind after he was inconsistent and undependable two years ago. He's just not durable enough for the NBA. It's too much for his body. I'm glad we had for the Championship though. It was his last hurrah.

[dabom]

Let's be honest, we don't beat the Thunder in 2014 without parker getting hurt... Cojo :cry

[tmtcsc]

Didn't know Patty was bad in 2015. :lmao

What are you laughing about? After the Spurs won the Championship in 2013, Mills was bad in 2014 and 2015. Last year, with a full training camp under his belt, he was supposed to have a bounce back year. Are you debating that he wasn't good?

[tmtcsc]

I think we beat OKC in the WCF in 2013/2014 Championship season but it might have taken 7 games. F'ing Parker. It was so friggin typical of him to be hurt.

[Mikeanaro]

Yeah it was the chemistry not the fact that he sucked then, he sucks now and he will suck forever.

[dabom]

What are you laughing about? After the Spurs won the Championship in 2013, Mills was bad in 2014 and 2015. Last year, with a full training camp under his belt, he was supposed to have a bounce back year. Are you debating that he wasn't good?

I think you got your years wrong old man. :lol

[boutons_deux]

The LMA, KL ISOs were, are not Spurs Basketball, are not good basketball.

[TheGreatYacht]

The KawhISOS are not Spurs Basketball, are not good basketball.

[tmtcsc]

I think you got your years wrong old man. :lol

Old man? GTFOH

You got them wrong. The Spurs won their last Championship in Calendar year 2014 but it was Season 2013.

2013 Championship
2014 Bounced by Clips in 1st round
2015 Bounced by Okc in 2nd round

2016 Season BEGINS October 2016.

C'mon young fella, its all about the details.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Hopefully Verde's shooting over 50% in the playoffs salvaged his trade value after shitting the bed for the regular season. Trading him makes the most sense of we are going to bring in Durant as his starting job would be usurped.

That extra $10m plus cap room exception or whatever else they can maximize would allow us to make some significant moves.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

The LMA, KL ISOs were, are not Spurs Basketball, are not good basketball.

Good thing they used him in pnr more than isolations then. His playmaking needs to improve as he looks for his shot to a fault but last year was his first in that role. He's gotten better every year. I see no reason why that wouldn't continue to get better too.

[GSH]

Glad I read more than the thread title. When I read that Danny blamed chemistry, my first thought was that Tim and Tony were on Ketamine during the OKC series. :lol

[tholdren]

danny is a loser. not much more to say.

[dabom]

Old man? GTFOH

You got them wrong. The Spurs won their last Championship in Calendar year 2014 but it was Season 2013.

2013 Championship
2014 Bounced by Clips in 1st round
2015 Bounced by Okc in 2nd round

2016 Season BEGINS October 2016.

C'mon young fella, its all about the details.

The rings say otherwise faggot. :lmao

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/102914_SpursRings2.jpg

[ElNono]

I expect the Spurs to shop Boris before Danny... but he's got a contract that could be good trade bait... the big elephant in the room is not really Boris though, but det other contract we're not going to move... c'est la vie...

[dabom]

I'm in bizzaro world today. :lmao

[HarlemHeat37]

Assuming Green is back in form after what we saw in the playoffs, trading him would be foolish for anything other than a Durant-like name, tbh..his contract is way too team-friendly, especially with the cap rise..

[TheGoldStandard]

Glad I read more than the thread title. When I read that Danny blamed chemistry, my first thought was that Tim and Tony were on Ketamine during the OKC series. :lol

Tony was on Chocolate Souffle..

[therealtruth]

They lost a lot of proven playoff performers.

[SAGirl]

Wow. Danny blaming chemistry gives us an insight into his way of thinking. This season for sure I thought there were issues of identity in the team. He calls it chemistry, but to me, a more accurate description is identity. The team not sure yet about how they want to play, specially the old big 3. It's not so much the new faces as it is the change in the style of play being so dramatic. There were absolutely no new faces last season (2015) except Anderson who was in the dleague and not bothering anyone and Reggie Williams who was a garbage time man strictly. It wasn't the new guys then either. It was the changes in role for others. Tony with not knowing when to defer or not and learning to play off a wing rather than Tim. Kawhi learning how to play himself as a main guy, not knowing when to pass and when to not pass, timing, using fakes etc. He was still learning how to impose his will while not freezing out teammates.

This season it was even a bit more odd as LMA is also a dominant post player and neither of them are great passers.

The bench was fine last season, but this season they also experienced changes. The exit of both Tiago and Baynes left them without a solid PnR big. D west was always a very awkward fit. And they clearly wanted to put more responsibility on Mills, who had the green light to shoot this season and was tasked with more playmaking than he previously had before, and who Pop tried to have running PnR with D west (:oops) They also had some guys who were scheduled to have very small roles and ended up playing a lot more due to so much garbage time and the latter part of the season being meaningless record wise.

The bench is also changing. POP was not ready to embrace a different style just yet (Boban? Using Anderson more as a playmaker instead of Mills?). That was too much too soon for Pop. Simmons? Next season I would expect changes in the bench style as well, very likely bc the personnel will change.

It wasn't so much chemistry as a lack of a defined identity in what they wanted to do and the leaders in the respective SL or bench taking control as well as move the ball to get others involved.

[SAGirl]

By the way thanks for sharing!!! :tu
:flag:

[SAGirl]

So Tiago was the the real MVP?
:lol. Good question

[SAGirl]

I thought it was common knowledge that we were blaming David West for this season's debacle.
Well if we compare D west to Tiago... If Tiago was healthy, I am taking Tiago.

[Keepin' it real]

I thought it was common knowledge that we were blaming David West for this season's debacle

You should blame Pop for playing a past-his-prime rebound-challenged unathletic PF at center.

[HarlemHeat37]

Green, Parker and Ginobili are the only people in the Spurs organization that give us anything to discuss, in regards to internal thoughts/feelings of the team, don't take it for granted:lol

[YGWHI]

Wow. Danny blaming chemistry gives us an insight into his way of thinking. This season for sure I thought there were issues of identity in the team. He calls it chemistry, but to me, a more accurate description is identity.

Agree with you about the identity problem. But if a 30 years old guy with 6 years on the team talks about chemistry, I'd pay attention to his words.

In the whole season we saw just a few times Kawhi-LMA two-man game, Pop didn't call plays to develop the chemistry between the two main scorers of the team, they didn't work like a tandem, like Westbrook-Durant, Curry-Thompson, LeBron-Irving...Also, the chemistry between LMA/Kawhi and the shooters on the court wasn't great.

Pop didn't expect to win it all in 2016, it seemed like he took the season as a transition year, expecting to complete the team with a FA big name like Durant in the offseason...Hopefully they can sign that guy because the Spurs plan B is looking bad.

[ElNono]

Green, Parker and Ginobili are the only people in the Spurs organization that give us anything to discuss, in regards to internal thoughts/feelings of the team, don't take it for granted:lol

Yeah, actually Gino mentioned chemistry being phenomenal with this group, one of the reasons it's still probable he might come back for one more season... kinda puzzling compared to what Danny said, but Danny I think was talking more about change of playing style and personnel rather than chemistry and camaraderie itself...

[HarlemHeat37]

^^probably strictly on the court..

They seem to have great chemistry off the court, based on all the posts, photos, etc..

[SAGirl]

^^ The bench had a lot of chemistry on the court, they just didn't have a single guy who could finish in the paint against the OKC frontline. They had their own issues of fit as guys were played out of position or outside their ideal roles.

The starters did have issues with roles and fit as well, but if only Timmy had been a year younger it wouldn't have mattered.

Glad at least Danny wasn't happy with his own regular season performance. If anything he might have been talking about himself and his own chemistry problems with the system changes. :lol

[spursistan]

Yeah, actually Gino mentioned chemistry being phenomenal with this group, one of the reasons it's still probable he might come back for one more season... kinda puzzling compared to what Danny said, but Danny I think was talking more about change of playing style and personnel rather than chemistry and camaraderie itself...

744723818602708996

a tweet of someone who might be signing a 3 year extension, tbh.:lmao

[tmtcsc]

The rings say otherwise faggot. :lmao

http://sports.cbsimg.net/images/visual/whatshot/102914_SpursRings2.jpg

Don't get all high and mighty you little sperm guzzling bitch, I told you the Championships were won in the following Calendar year. I don't give a fuck if they put that year on the Ring. The Season was 2013 - 2014.

[Keepin' it real]

Glad at least Danny wasn't happy with his own regular season performance. If anything he might have been talking about himself and his own chemistry problems with the system changes. :lol

I think that is what he was referring to. Blame-shifting if you ask me.

[Dex]

Don't get all high and mighty you little sperm guzzling bitch, I told you the Championships were won in the following Calendar year. I don't give a fuck if they put that year on the Ring. The Season was 2013 - 2014.

TBH I have always seen the team referenced by the year in which they won the championship, not when they started the season.

The 2013 Spurs lost to the Heat.

The 2014 Spurs won the title.

Just like the 2016 Cavs won the title.

[dabom]

TBH I have always seen the team referenced by the year in which they won the championship, not when they started the season.

The 2013 Spurs lost to the Heat.

The 2014 Spurs won the title.

Just like the 2016 Cavs won the title.

Teams have always been talked about the year they won the 'ship. This is by 99.999999999999999999999999% of people. The other tmtcsc :lol

[T Park]

Assuming Green is back in form after what we saw in the playoffs, trading him would be foolish for anything other than a Durant-like name, tbh..his contract is way too team-friendly, especially with the cap rise..

TBH from about February on he was pretty darn good.

Again, hes like Bruce Bowen. You pay him for the defense, the offense is gravy.

[T Park]

Well if we compare D west to Tiago... If Tiago was healthy, I am taking Tiago.

Tiago healthy is a top five center in this league. No question you'd rather have him

[Horse]

After the inital disappointment of a 2nd round loss(refs) after a 67 win season, I realized it was just year one LMA will be much better next season and Pop will use him and the others better I hope.

[Joseph Kony]

Tiago healthy is a top five center in this league. No question you'd rather have him

WTF?? :lmao

Cousins
Drummond
Towns
Jordan
Valanciunas
Gobert
Adams


That's just off the top of my head and all are Cs I would take over Splitter, you're insane if you really think he he is top 5, and I like Splitter

[T Park]

WTF?? :lmao

Cousins
Drummond
Towns
Jordan
Valanciunas
Gobert
Adams


That's just off the top of my head and all are Cs I would take over Splitter, you're insane if you really think he he is top 5, and I like Splitter



Ill take splitter over Gobert, and Jordan.

Towns is a pf

[Joseph Kony]

no he isn't, especially not in today's NBA.

Porzingis is another anyone would take over Splitter