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It's November.
It's a tough adjustment to see these guys not obliterate their opponents anymore. But they keep winning somehow. Any NFL fans here might agree with me that they look a lot like the Kansas City Chiefs. They don't whoop anybody, don't have a lot of impressive wins, but they find a way each game. Now, of course there's tons of new faces and it's likely these guys get on a warpath and start demolishing but I'm ok if these guys consistently win regardless of the opponent deficit. Now granted, I've only been able to scoreboard watch most of these games. I've only watched 3 games so far (constantly at work during most games). Who knows how it will translate in the playoffs but I'll take what they're doing for now.
Thoughts? Am I way off here? Are these fools gold wins? Are they just playing uninspired? It seems like they're still winning a lot, just differently
It's November.
We were dominant last regular season alright. Point differential and all.
This part of the season is largely irrelevant, tbh, especially with so many new faces..
Last year's team was predictably a RS wonder that beat up on weak compe ion..this season's team probably isn't a top-tier contender(can't win a le with Parker as the only PG on the team and Ginobili as the bench anchor), but they still have a while to figure things out..
I like it. I think they're going to have a lot of close game experience come playoffs. That's part of what we were lacking last year.
One thing that will help come playoff time: #1 in FT% (84%, with next best team coming in 2% below that, and the league average around 77%).
Also, while only taking 22 threes a game, they're tops in the league percentagewise with Danny missing significant time and Bertans just cracking the rotation. Pau and even LMA being willing to take threes changes the geometry of the floor a lot. Even Dedmon and Lee can hit from beyond 10 feet, which extends defenses ever so slightly to help compensate for aging Parker and Manu.
ORtg is basically at the same level as Cleveland, Toronto and Houston, with the Warriors and Clippers leading the way. While not pretty at times, the offense isn't the problem. What jumps out to me is rebounding has been middle of the pack. Less extra possessions on the offensive glass and more given up on the defensive end.
One new player in the starting five.
Three new players on the bench. Bertans, Dedmon, Lee.
3 more rookies.
Simmons and Anderson.
Yeah... chalk it up to growing pains. .813 winning percentage with 7 new guys on the team.
I see it differently.
The way i see it the team is winning and they have not even started clicking.
Once the team starts clicking youŽll see some blowouts.
You could argue that blowing teams out last year was a disadvantage tbh
I'd trade wins for experience.
Thinking that has to do with Dedmon being out. The team was winning the board battles when the top-four bigs were healthy and Anderson was playing. If Green and Kawhi can stay in their recent modes of boarding, the team should become dominant once again.
For sure, a healthy Dedmon will improve both the defense and defensive rebounding (they were 6-8 and 1 with him and have slipped considerably in both since) but this no longer appears to be an elite defensive team. Couple that with an offense that still isn't and for the first time in a long time, they're not elite on either side of the ball.
Of the two, I'm still more concerned with the offense though, for reasons that have been discussed ad nauseam.
Not concerned with the offense at all. Kawhi has taken another step, Patty is shooting much better, Bertans is an added weapon, LA is LA, and Gasol is a threat on offense unlike Duncan.
This teams problem will be defensively. We don't have a top notch rim protector and can't guard elite PGs.
The offense still lacks a go to creator and volume three-point shooting, though they've gotten to the line at a surprising rate and converted at a league best clip to somewhat off set that.
Kawhi isn't a go-to creator? And we basically only have 2-3 rotation players that can't shoot the 3. That's pretty good. This team doesn't need "volume 3 point shooting." Relying on that to be successful isn't a good thing, although it's good to have. This team just needs to find the right shot through ball
movement and take it. If that shot happens to be a 3, then so be it.
Not at all, especially not for a team with championship aspirations. Being an elite perimeter player does not automatically make one that.
It's '16, being explosive offensively is essential and volume three-point shooting is one of two ways to attain it. The other is essentially the Durant/Westbrook Thunder model: Breakneck pace, get to and convert from line at elite rate and bludgeon offensive glass. For all the obvious reasons, the Spurs can't duplicate that.
But there's more to offense than just expected PPG. There's failure points as well. Right now, the Spurs have to hope for too much to go right. All four of the team's top players have to be productive offensively before guys like Bertans and Patty can swing a series. That just hasn't shown itself to be reliable yet.
What About the headcase Brandon Jennings for next year? If he accepts less than 12 milion for two year with the secon year as a team option...id sign his ass next year if that was the case.
If you ask this to TD21...You might not know him yet. Most of his posts start with 'I don't blame Kawhi BUT....' 'He played well BUT...'
Anyway, defense is a BIG concern. Defensive rotations are painful to watch, they look lost most times.
I think Kawhi is enough of a scoring threat combining with his other assets. Does that mean they can beat GSW? I dont know but thats only one team. If LMA can be more effective in, well, all ways, we definitely have a chance because in the playoffs size matters much more. Right now Mills looks better than last year, DG too. Lee is an upgrade over West and maybe Bertans is finding himself.
Dedmond and Gasol have protected the rim just fine and will only get better.
yeah, which is why i have zero problem with pop going mad scientist mode, randomly benching stars, and letting the scrubs get some starts/minutes under their belts, while people like robz whining about pop "costing us games"
Exactly.
Also, this team is unbalanced. Both PGs are better offensively than defensively.
And teams know and exploit it.
In the next minute, the same play, this time was Rozier getting AND 1 on Parker.
Parker and Manu won't be 'consistently' good against elite guards. Pop's loyalty will cost the Spurs a lot this season.
I don't have a calendar anymore. Thank you!
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