I chose the 2001-02 season because 1) I'd never seen plus/minus stats from that season before 2) I thought it'd be useful for judging Kawhi Leonard's current numbers. IMO, numbers from a rookie Parker and a first-year Bowen would help us figure out if Leonard is on track or we should be worried about all of his "red".
Here are the results:
Point Differential Per 100 Possessions
Points Scored Per 100 Possessions
Points Scored Per 100 Possessions
Observations:
-Rookie Tony Parker had a lot of red, as expected. That's makes it easier to look at all of Leonard's red and not panic since Parker turned out just fine. There were some highlights in Parker's numbers, particularly how well he played next to Bowen. We saw a lot of that in the next seven seasons or so.
-Even a defensive great like Bowen (who was an All-Defensive player before he got here) didn't flawlessly fit into the Spurs unique system. That too should make Leonard fans rest easier. I wouldn't have guessed offense was a strength for Bowen in his first season. And even though his defensive numbers don't especially stand out as a whole, it's pretty amazing how he made Steve Smith a capable defender. When Bowen wasn't with SSmith, the defense imploded.
-Tim Duncan has really good numbers. Honestly though, I would have expected a little bit better just because his numbers in the upcoming years were so dominant. Perhaps this is an indication that he hadn't reached his peak yet.
-Even David Robinson's second to last season, he was a heckuva player. Other than Porter and CSmith, everyone else on the team did better with Robinson on the floor rather than Duncan
-Malik Rose's numbers being that good despite playing behind Duncan and Robinson partially explains why he landed his big contract.
-Antonio Daniels' numbers look good ... although it probably didn't help his standing with the team that the team struggled when he was next to Bowen and Parker -- two of the future pillars of the team and two players he would have had to play next to a lot going forward.
-Ah, Terry Porter. The original Matt Bonner. For those who don't remember, Porter was a great regular season player. But once the playoffs began, other teams would put their best perimeter defender on him and he was toast.
-Steve Smith sucked. No surprises here.
-Danny Ferry was another sufferer of Bonner-itis. Useful in the regular season. Got bent over (cue the Shaq pic) in the playoffs.
-The Spurs gave a lot of minutes to Charles Smith that year. Being so bad next to the best players on the team sealed his fate.
-Stephen Jackson had an ugly first season. Although he did well when paired with Robinson and his defensive numbers are better than I would have expected.
-Cherokee Parks and Mark Bryant were horrible. Although it's worth noting how Robinson turned Parks into a serviceable player. In the history of the NBA, was there ever a player who made scrubs look good more often than David Robinson? Tbh, I don't think so. That was his specialty.
-Man, I wish Pop would follow some of his own ways from back in 2002. Duncan and Robinson weren't the perfect fit next to each other offensively (as the numbers show) but that didn't stop Pop from playing them next to each other as much as possible. Statistically, going with Parker wasn't the right move if the goal was to win as many regular season games as possible -- but that wasn't the goal and living through those growing pains paid huge dividends down the line. In the same vein, Pop could have squeezed out a lot more wins by playing Porter and Ferry more but he knew (from the 2001 playoffs) that those two would only give you fool's gold wins -- so Pop limited their minutes.
As for the 2002 squad, too bad Robinson got hurt and basically missed the playoffs. They probably still lose to the Lakers but this team was deceptively pretty damn good, especially if the end of the bench was out of the rotation.
And since I was curious, I figured out the plus/minus for this team in the playoffs.
2002 Spurs Playoffs Plus/Minus
Tim Duncan: +58
Tony Parker: +53
Malik Rose: +51
Steve Smith: +36
Antonio Daniels: +17
Danny Ferry: +13
David Robinson: -9
Cherokee Parks: -11
Bruce Bowen: -12
Charles Smith: -12
Terry Porter: -16
Mark Bryant: -18
So Pop's persistence with Parker during that regular season paid off with a great playoff run. Rookie Parker going +53 against Gary Payton and the champion Lakers is pretty ridiculous. Looking back on it, the Spurs went about as far as they could go with Robinson only able to play 81 playoff minutes. There just wasn't enough talent to survive that loss.
And I want Splitter and Leonard to start even more now . . .
Thanks for the informational piece, Timvp.
"now" being the operative word here.
how the times have changedbut that wasn't the goal and living through those growing pains paid huge dividends down the line. In the same vein, Pop could have squeezed out a lot more wins by playing Porter and Ferry more but he knew (from the 2001 playoffs) that those two would only give you fool's gold wins -- so Pop limited their minutes.
This reminds me of an old friend who went to Kenya in the Peace Corps to teach geometry, among other things.
He was lecturing about right triangles and isosceles trinagles when finally a kid timidly raised his hand.
"What's a triangle?" the youngster asked.
So, in this case, to put it bluntly (and humbly), what does red (as opposed to green) mean?
I am assuming green means "above the average" and red "below the average". And the white box "the average". I could be wrong on that, however.
Sorry, I should have explained it in this thread.
A green cell means that the player in the column improved the number for the player in the row. A red cell means the opposite. So basically, the more green in a player's column the better.
Edit:
Improves it according to what, that player's average taken throughout the season?Sorry, I should have explained it in this thread.
A green cell means that the player in the column improved the number for the player in the row. A red cell means the opposite. So basically, the more green in a player's column the better.
Edit:
nm saw your edit, timvp
Yes. The gray cell is that player's number for the season. For example, Duncan had a +8.92 point differential per 100 possessions during the 2002 season. And while Duncan was on the court, the Spurs scored 107.38 points per 100 possessions and allowed 98.46 points per 100 possessions.
I can't imagine how bad Daniels' numbers would have been had he not been replaced in the starting lineup. Didn't he end up playing mostly the 2 after the demotion? How indicative are the regular season stats of the team's level of play with Parker in March and later? Beginning of the season the guy could not hit a shot inside to save his life and looked like a ballboy. Fast forward to March and beyond and he looks like a legit NBA point guard.
If Bonner ever has a playoff game half as good as Ferry's game 2 against Phoenix (a must-win with DRob out and Willis suspsended), I'd be a happy mother er.
Good times; watching Tony trash the Sonics in game 3 was amazing, as well as that first half against LA in game 3. Even though the Spurs dropped that series in 5, it felt like the 98 loss to Utah where you knew they were on the cusp of being truly elite.
Did you really just break down this season because it was the season we met?
I remember the Sonics series fondly.
Yeah, the point guard position ended up being TP2 and TP. That team was dead in the water if Daniels remains the starting PG.
True. My apologies to Ferry for that oversight. That was a legendary game and Ferry earned every ounce of his ring in that outing.
That offseason was exciting. Not only did Spurs fans have Parker blossoming to look forward to, we also couldn't wait for the "white Kobe" to arrive.
The first Spurs game we went to together. Good times, tbh.Did you really just break down this season because it was the season we met?
I remember the Sonics series fondly.
On top of that, Jack was tearing up the summer league the way Tony was the year before.
Awesome. Thanks for the summary.
Nice, I like to relive the glory days every now and then myself.
And this was the year everyone realized we needed a guy (or two) like Brent Barry. Some shooters to go around Duncan. Good thing we went out and got Kerr, SJax improved, and Claxton came in to save Parker's azz the next year.
I don't give them no respect! None!Did you really just break down this season because it was the season we met?
I remember the Sonics series fondly.
Tim with 21 10 reb 11 assists5 blks
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