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Russell Westbrook isn’t a very good shooter tbh.
The following quote reads like the type you'd typically see the day after the season ends: "It’s very disappointing, because we wanted to pick up where we left off last year after 61 wins, going to the conference finals," Popovich said. "We had high hopes to start out. And even without Tony (Parker) and Kawhi (Leonard) to start, we did very well. And then we kind of hit a wall."
They can attempt to fool themselves and others with the notion that injuries, Leonard's chief among them, were entirely responsible for this disastrous season or they can be realistic, introspective and admit that while that was obviously the main reason for their demise, there were 2 others that have been festering beneath the surface in recent seasons and finally caught up to them this season . . .
1) Archaic style of play. In a league where the 3 becomes more prevalent by the season, they continue to feast on a steady diet of post ups and mid rangers. Right now, from 3 they're 25th in makes, 27th in attempts and 22nd in %. I believe they're also around 20th in wide open %, which is defined when a defender is more than 3 feet away, so their inep ude can't even be blamed on not having Parker early or Leonard mostly throughout.
Of the 10 rotation players when healthy, only 3, Leonard, Green and Mills, shoot them with both volume and at an above average %. 40% is the demarcation of elite. Leonard has hit in 1 time in his career (2 seasons ago), Green hasn't hit it in 3 seasons and Mills has hit in 1 time in 4 seasons.
When coupled with their pace (29th) and free throw attempts (23rd), it means there's very little variance and margin for error for this team and puts immense pressure on virtually every other area of their game being air tight.
2) Starting point guard. You can't be half pregnant when it comes to contending for championships. The mere presence of a top 5 player ensures that they should be in that business, but the problem is Murray doesn't time well with the majority of this core, namely Aldridge. He needs to not only become an offensive star, but do so before the latter is no longer one.
Shooting at this position has become so crucial that I'd go so far as to say you can't win a championship with a poor shooting one. Unfortunately, I can't think of a big point guard, that can't shoot and became a good one. Free throw % is usually a greater indication of long term shooting success than 3pt%. Murray shot 66.3% in college and is so far at 72% in the NBA.
I'm not saying Murray definitively can't beat the odds, I'm saying they shouldn't pin their hopes on trying to find out. They can't be consumed with ego and pride and trying to live up to their reputation of being able to draft and develop homegrown stars. They should by all in on pursuit of Walker.
Russell Westbrook isn’t a very good shooter tbh.
Honestly, there's nothing to take away from this season that's good. We have a bad roster. We need a complete overhaul and try to get rid of these horrible contracts and get young blood on our team.
Kawhi should be reigning b2b MVP.
I almost included Westbrook and Wall in my post, but figured it was long enough. They're both even more athletic, far more powerful and the latter has significantly better vision. As good as they are, even if they had the requisite surrounding pieces, I don't think either could win a championship.
3-point shooting, specifically of the pull up variety, is what warps defenses and is primarily responsible for Curry, Harden, Irving, Lowry, Lillard, Walker, etc., being so valuable offensively. Even the last 2, who most would probably say are in Aldridge's tier, if you look at OBPM or ORPM, they blow him away.
I don't think a complete overhaul of the roster is needed. Making the Walker trade takes care of 2 and helps some with 1. Beyond that, they need to do what Raptors did and demand less ISO ball and that virtually all of their players start shooting more 3s. If the likes of Aldridge, Anderson and Parker, knew there was repercussions for failing to space to 3 when off ball, they wouldn't do it.
White is more NBA ready than Pop allows him to be.
LMA is back as one of the top 5 bigs in the NBA
Murray will be a starting calibre pg and could be allstar material.
Mills still has a place in the team but not at that price
I think Parker will be better next year with a training camp and a designated role.
Spurs desperately need a shot blocking big with decent hands.
Danny Greens inability to be a consistent legitimate threat to drive the ball and SCORE is not working in today's NBA. The faster pace of today's game means you need to be able to attack the defense quickly and decisively. You can't break down the D if you're not even a threat to score at the rim. Everyone knows he will probably turn it over or pick up his dribble mid-way, so they just home in their man. He creates nothing.
Sure he's improved, but considering how low that bar was, his improvement is still nowhere near good enough.
Kyle Anderson is the most average player of all time and is living walking proof advanced stats were bull made by virgins trying to be a part of the game.
Agreed.
Considering their need for a shot blocking big it's questionable the way they have gone. Perhaps they can draft one guy like that. Jordan bell was available and they weren't interested. This season has looked hopeless and often they have been set up to fail even as understaffed as they are bc they lack on rim protection specially in the bench.
1. Archaic style of play is not the issue. Spurs cant make a big play consistently and dont have an iden y.
2. Pg. Yep. Murray is the dumbest player i have seen in a spurs uni. Makes me miss vinny or even avery. ill take corpse of strickland over this bum
For what reason?
Spurs definitely cant hit the three consistently. Players that can hit the dagger three, let alone the open three. Spurs have none available or have regressed. Green & kawhi mia. Davis, Forbes & Paul are fails. Anderson & Murray avoid shooting it. Pattt getting overplayed. Glaring weakness for guys with prominent roles.
PG play. Any wonder why spurs cant close out games even against crappy team with a handy lead. Well atleast spurs got DJ who will break all records for rebounding when its all said & done.
You Can have number one defense and run the archaic style. But yes, piss poor guards and shortages of bigs limit the team. Our players aren't bad. No team has more stars that gsw so at worst with both our stars we'll be top 5. I like the chances of Murray to improve, but we have what we have. Being small market limits the options
12.01 Mills % Green to lead a mini tank to end the season ....pick in the 14--20 range
kawhi returns in time for the playoffs
2nd round and out
It’s easy to forget how much a healthy Kawhi changes this team. LMA has been very good and this team suffers without him. With all that this team is still 9 games above .500. The schedule will soon get a lot tougher and this team has a good chance of missing the playoffs. Offseason goal is sign Kawhi to super max and try to sign LeBron. Assuming the LeBron signing fails continue to infuse youth.
ONLY ONE OF: TONY, PATTY, FORBES SHOULD BE ON THE COURT AT A TIME.
that being said, tony and forbes shouldn’t be playing at all.
neither are new takeaways.
My takeaways so far are the following:
1.) We need a second or third center Joffrey and Paul are just not getting it done. Need to stop screwing up with our foreign Center and bring him over.
2.) Our SG need a massive upgrade for us to even think of a tle. Our SG are to small and not great at creating or beating there man off the dribble and they are to Short. I am hoping White can help next year and still would not mind Manu for one last year.
4. Were old and not athletic
While having an antiquated post-up offense, with only LMA and the washed up Spanish ostrich to run it, is definitely a problem, this team probably has one of the worst guard rotations in the entire league.
Redundant midgets, raw prospects, old men, and one-trick ponies - it's a mess. Something has to be done here obviously although I fully expect PATFO to stand pat.
The biggest glaring thing I see about this team is they’re unmotivated and tired. Plain and simple. I think at first, the team thought they could show what they were capable of with Kawhi on the bench. And they overachieved (personally I actually feel their achievement was on par) because they were motivated to prove they could maintain until Kawhi got back. Now they’re tired and just ready for the offseason. Could be wrong but I only see it in the old dogs of all players. Usually we see the opposite in the NBA. Complacent old dudes and young guys ready to tear it up. It seems like any young guy not named Dejounte Murray just don’t really care that much. Manu, Tony, occasionally Pau want one last shot but everybody else is just kinda along for the ride
Disagree with them not trying. There were some back 2 back they played with almost no bigs but Joff that were like climbing Mount Everest tI then get Pop with some awful timing on some subs ution or strategy. It’s not just Kawhi missing. Lamarcus has gotten injured Joff sucks. Yes he’s played with better energy and he’s finishing plays that he wasn’t b4 but he offers no rim protection whatsoever and the bench already played way too many defensively challenged guy. They are small, old, undersized some are slow. They compete but they are outtalented often. Some guys in the team need to retire too. Some nights they look their age or worse. They still play and get their touches and shots. One cannot doubt their desire but they are done.
Said before the season we probably won't make playoffs.
Could see this a mile off...why couldn't patfo?
When selfish cvnt Aldridge asked for a trade, Pop should have swallowed his ego and shipped his ass off.
Ego and stupidity has killed this team.
Lol. We just won 61 games and had a legit shot at beating the most stacked team in the history of the NBA last year. Spurs organization is the most well respected in almost all of sports (not from a popularity or numbers stand point but from a professional standpoint). I will say what you rejected. Injuries derailed our season. Their is no reason to think we wouldn't be contending again if we were healthy.
The problem is essentially that Pau doesn't threaten the opposing team on offense consistently enough to take heat off Aldridge. He's terrible posting up most of the time, settles for shots off the dribble and passes up open looks left and right. The "style" would work just fine with Prime Diaw or 12-14 Duncan, who could take advantage of not being the main focus while also keeping Aldridge involved. I don't even think it would be bad with an Al Jefferson-type, excluding the defensive end. Posting up is better than PPP may suggest it is, but it can be countered if it relies on only one big surrounded with declining shooters.
Obviously, the guard rotation is a big problem. That whole end relies on Parker, Manu or Green finding some magic from the le run. One of them can do it like 70 percent of the time, but two or more rarely do, and I don't remember the last time all three did. Pop definitely needed to get new blood on the perimeter but chose Pau instead. That's where most of these problems started. Had the team secured a combo-guard in 2016 and lived without a high-paid big next to Aldridge for a year, then could have gone into the 2017 off-season with legit cash to attack the position. Or they could have waited until this upcoming off-season. Damned shame that Tim couldn't hold it together a final year, for a lot of reasons.
Murray starting is causing all types of problems that the stats may not capture. The team is 13-16 in his starts, against 23-11 when he doesn't. Him being in the first unit has forced Green and Pau out of the starting roles for worse players who can provide the spacing Murray can't. And unlike DeJounte, those other players don't add enough on either end to be positives. It would be more of the same with Kawhi instead of Anderson. Murray should be coming off the bench between Manu and Patty. Tony, Green and Pau should be starting. Joff should only be playing if he beat out legit compe ion for his spot. None of this was hard, but Pop has been flailing so much this year that he's pretty much broken everything and doesn't seem to be able to fix it.
I will say though that the timeline thing doesn't hold water for me. You don't have sustained success by focusing everything on peaking in one year. Duncan was able to remain effective for so long because Tony was younger and able to take the load. When Aldridge legit starts to slow down, he'd be able to let Murray take over more of a role. That's the way it "should" work. However, Murray isn't even ready to be a third banana now, let alone a Robin to LMA's Batman. I don't disagree that if they can get Walker, they probably should, though just getting for a year with Kawhi likely still gimpy and with LMA liable to have a drop-off isn't my idea of a "must-make" trade. I'm not even sure the team isn't closer to moving Kawhi than building around him at this point. If that's the case, being a lower-tier playoff team while letting Murray and some others grow doesn't seem horrible.
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