THE SPURS OFFENSE, AND ITS PERMUTATIONS
The Spurs offense, though not as celebrated as its other rivals, like the Triangle Offense and the Princeton Offense, among others, is certainly among the most effective that basketball has ever seen. The systematic decimation of the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals is an apt illustration of how efficient and effective the Spurs offense is.
Yet, there are no books published or manuals that discuss or feature the Spurs offense. We, longtime fans of the Spurs, would eagerly like to peek at the playbook of Coach Gregg Popovich, who is now acknowledged as one of the greatest coaches basketball has ever produced.
I make this thread in the expectation that fellow posters here (and there are a lot of brilliant and erudite spurstalk discussants) might contribute their insights into what makes the Spurs offense unique and effective. What are its nuances? What are its strengths and weaknesses?
In particular, this upcoming season will highlight how adaptable the Spurs offense is, considering the combination of talented newcomers blending with the old core group. How will Coach Pop makes adjustments? How will he improvise against small ball? How will he cope against athletic line-ups? How shall he adjust against elite shooting teams (Golden State) and against powerful frontlines (Houston)?
Bearing in mind the current roster of the Spurs:
Tim Duncan
LaMarcus Aldridge
Kawhi Leonard
Danny Green
Tony Parker
Boris Diaw
David West
Kyle Anderson
Manu Ginobili
Patty Mills
Boban Marjanovic
Matt Bonner
Jon Simmons
Ray McCallum
Any comments, insights, technical analyses, contributions, and brilliant ideas shall be appreciated.
(To Spurstalk Admins and Mods: thank you for allowing this thread. More power to spurstalk!)
Thank you everyone!
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Nice Try Steve Kerr...
Constant motion off the ball. Passing. Passing. Passing. High Percentage shot selection.
Two things to watch out for this year:
1) Will the Spurs run massive lineups? If everyone is going small-ball, how would a lineup containing Duncan, Aldridge, and West/Diaw look? Are there teams that would demolish, or not?
2) How will Pop bend and adjust his system to accommodate the mid-range? David West and LMA are both big-time mid-range shooters, which is not something our motion offense is built for out of the post.
Check out this link for an overview of the Spurs' playbook: http://team.fastmodelsports.com/2015...-on-nba-xs-os/
The Spurs should be able to play big, or small, without missing a step..
The offense should improve from last year. The Duncan/Splitter combo hurt the spacing, and Aldridge is elite at spacing the floor from the PF position. I predict a slight defensive dropoff, but Aldridge is an above average defender and will play way more minutes than Splitter did last season.
That is exactly why the Spurs offense is not as celebrated as the triangle. The triangle is easy to talk about because it is simple and it is what it is. Years ago the Spurs were described as chameleons that can adapt to the opponent and that doesn't lend itself to simple media sound bites.
Simmons will be in that Anderson spot imo.
If Simmons plays the way he has in SL he will be in Pop's doghouse. I really like that he is aggressive and fearless but I have to reserve judgment until I see how effective he can be when he doesn't have a green light. Some guys can't make the adjustment.
Aldridge for Splitter is theoretically better for our offensive spacing/sets. So, the question is does West adversely affect the second unit's spacing? Well, he might make things tighter; but the ball movement probably can't overall get worse with the over-dribbler, Joseph gone. And Pop can always use Diaw/Bonner instead of West if spacing is needed.
My bigger worries are on the defensive side, but I won't detail them here to stay on topic.
Thanks for your insights guys
Highly appreciated....
Sure, you may offer your insights on the defensive end, its ok......
Curious to see if Diaw will be requested to be in better shape to better handle sf minutes. Out of the good teams I could potentially see Pop trying it vs Clippers and Warriors.
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thanks man, that was a very informative article
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agree
Boris Diaw is such an intelligent player, so versatile
i would imagine that LaMarcus and Dwest shall enjoy playing with him
My big thing is can Aldridge anchor a defense (many say he's an average defender at best). Yea, he'll probably be okay in line-ups with Duncan because two trees often can make up for one another's deficiencies. But what happens when Aldridge is left to his own devices? When the Spurs made their big run in Game 5 of the 2014 Finals, it was Splitter, Diaw, Leonard, Ginobili and Mills on the court. It was Splitter coming over and making that block on Wade. Is Aldridge the kind of defender that can have that kind of impact in a Duncan-less line-up? I have serious doubts. Playing small with Aldridge as the big is likely to come with draw-backs.
Perhaps Aldridge shall improve his defensive skills in his Spurs tenure
considering he is already an offensive demon....he might be challenged (and inspired) to improve defensively
and by the way, why is it so hard to improve defensively??
i mean, for pro players in general
Op put down the thesaurus dude. It's ok if you're ESL, half the posters here are ESL
did i use any deep terms?
English is my first language man, im a writer in English,
anyway........
Hey I believe you.
People are exaggerating LA's defensive a en. He is definitely not elite or even really good, but he is average at worst.
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