Pop: Spurs Record is Fool’s Gold

[boutons]

"Pop has to take some of the blame."

This ain't HS/college ball with an adored father-figure "Coach blah-blah" running a team of kids susceptible to cheap psche-up tricks.

These spoiled millionaires with part-time jobs playing games are adults and professionals who should be able, each of them, to light their own fires and do their ing jobs, even if it's just hustle, even when they don't feel like it, when their shots aren't falling.

[Extra Stout]

Pop has to take some of the blame.

What if he had said instead, I take the blame for not having them inspired.

MadDoc

Pop isn't trying to be fair with his comments. He's trying to kick them in the ass and get them motivated. They don't lose much, so he has to take maximum advantage of it when they do.

He's doing his job. The current level of play may be fine for racking up a .750+ record in January, but it won't get the job done in the playoffs. I don't expect them to play at their peak level this early, but it's important they not get complacent and think this will be good enough when it counts.

Continuous improvement. It's the mark of a Pop-coached team.

[boutons]

It's pretty clear I enjoy looking at NBA through stats, but, even for me, the stats are a distant second to W's and L's. What's great about stats is help understand and appreciate the both the W's and L's.

The Spurs great "gold" record simply doesn't withstand scrutiny. Only fools looks at the stats only or the record only, and feel secure.

1. The Spurs have lost most of their games by playing badly, well under the Spurs' statistical norms, to lesser teams who were playing at or below their own inferior-to-Spurs statistical norm. Badly played games given away to lesser teams, not well played games that got beaten by a better games. Ugly. not gold

2. The best teams win on the road. The Spurs have 7 of their 8 losses on the road. 11-7 on the road is really great in the NBA, right? It's a road record that is only 5th in the WC.

3. What's the Spurs record against non-top teams:

@ L.A. Lakers W 105 - 96
Golden State W 91 - 71
@ Atlanta W 103 - 88
New York W 99 - 81
@ Philadelphia W 88 - 80
@ Boston W 92 - 84
@ Toronto L 91 - 96
@ Memphis L 90 - 93
@ Denver W 89 - 75
Utah W 109 - 76
@ Dallas W 107 - 89
Philadelphia W 105 - 72
@ Milwaukee W 104 - 83
@ Chicago W 91 - 75
@ Houston L 80 - 81
Orlando W 94 - 91
@ New Orleans W 83 - 67
Golden State W 104 - 85
@ Orlando L 87 - 93
Minnesota W 96 - 82
Boston W 107 - 90
@ Portland W 114 - 80
@ L.A. Clippers W 98 - 79
L.A. Lakers W 100 - 83
Indiana W 111 - 98
Denver W 99 - 90
@ Utah L 96 - 97
Milwaukee W 94 - 79
=========================
23 - 5

Looks "golden", right? Wrong, these are 5 losses to lottery teams, sub-500 teams, at best 7th, 8th seed teams. And if you look at those losses, not one of them is an ambush by a crap team (or single player) playing way over its head, it's the Spurs playing crappy on both ends and giving away the game.

The 23-5 should be 28-0 or at worst 27-1.

( I won't even mention ty wins, eg, last night, where the disastrous Bucks were in the game, @SBC, with 5 minutes left)

For comparison, PHX has yet to give away a single game by playing badly against an inferior team. That's right, PHX is whatever - 0, perfect.

4. What's the Spurs record against top teams:

Sacramento W 101 - 85
@ Seattle L 94 - 113
Miami W 93 - 84
Dallas W 94 - 80
@ Dallas W 107 - 89
Detroit W 80 - 77
Seattle L 96 - 102
Cleveland W 116 - 97
Phoenix W 115 - 94
@ Sacramento L 81 - 86
=======================
7 - 3

.... which is excellent, real gold, "apparently". But two of those were outright give-aways:

The second SEA game was even after 1Q, won by the Spurs decisively in quarters 3,4, but the Spurs totally lost it in Q2, 12 - 29!, digging a hole too deep. "loss of focus" for an entire qtr in December in a statement game @SBC? GMAFB, that ain't golden.

The loss @SAC was total crap by the Spurs vs avg crap from SAC.

So the really GOLD Spurs record, should be 9-1, or,

I'll give you one, make it 8-2 against top teams.

(But I could take it back since Pop was really pissed at the poor Spurs effort (ie, defense) in the first SEA loss (down by 11 after 3Q, Spurs D allows 41 pts! in 4th qtr, lose by 19, a ing blowout, 30 pts above Spurs allowed PPG) )

So, 27 - 1 against crap teams plus 8 -2 against good teams would have the "Truly Golden" Spurs at 34 - 3, instead of 29 -8.

Measure the Spurs against the Spurs, not against the compe ion. Even agasint the compe ion, PHX, the Spurs are second best. Not a bad place to be (ask 28 others teams in the NBA who are lower), but the top rung of the ladder is the hardest.

[T Park]

Still not counting Phoenix's loss to Utah last night on sub 500 teams, or giveaway games??

[boutons]

"Still not counting Phoenix's loss to Utah last night on sub 500 teams, or giveaway games??"

nope, PHX didn't play a Spurs-type horrible, crappy sub-avg give-away game (PHX got 101 pts, 43% FG, 33% 3G, 92% FTs), they played a pretty good PHX game (eg, still no defense, but that's the PHX game), was 2nd game of a B2B and on the road, but the Jazz, looking at their season, played WAY OVER their heads, and won. Sh!t happens, PHX have nothing to be ashamed of or to regret, which is totally different from the Spurs give-away loss to the Jazz.