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Nice take Solid D.
I would add that it seems to me that there is one other small thing that has changed - when Pop goes small, every position is a treat to score this year. You can't put a defensive stopper with no offensive game out there in a small ball lineup - it just doesn't work with the inherent advantage of small ball - the ability to scramble defenses.
Of course, if a shooter like Bonner goes cold in the postseason, we'll see how quickly Pop adjusts. But if defenses are forced to honor all 5 players in the Spurs lineup, look out.
I used this quote from Charlie Wilson's War in another thread but it fits my perspective on the season perfectly:
Yes, I'm excited about how the team is playing. Yes, I love watching some of the national pundits choke back their disdain and bitterness at having to talk about this team, and then showing their asses by getting so much wrong when they do speak... But can what amounts to mostly quality of play improvements like Solid D described, plus player health put this team over the hump without major structural improvements?Gust Avrakotos: There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse... and everybody in the village says, "how wonderful. The boy got a horse" And the Zen master says, "we'll see." Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, "How terrible." And the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the boy can't cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, "How wonderful."
Charlie Wilson: Now the Zen master says, "We'll see."
We'll see.
