The Spurs Organization has many philosophies that it lives by, the most notable being “pounding the rock.” One of my favorites happens to be our philosophy on filling out the roster with our role players: find professionals who will fall in line behind the superstars and would run through a wall to win a game.
The championship years are littered with these types of players. Think Bruce Bowen. Think Robert Horry. Think Malik Rose. Hell, even think Stephen Jackson, Brent Barry, and Michael Finley. These are all players who did their job, knew the system, rarely made mistakes, and could be counted upon in tense end-game situations. Championships are won on the talents of superstars, but they’re also won on the backs of superlative role players. 10 minutes of Robert Horry swung the 2005 Finals in our favor.
People decry the aging Big 3, wondering if they still have the talent and the juice to lead the Spurs to another championship. But the dirty little secret of these Spurs is not the decline of the Big 3–it’s the lack of role players willing to run through a wall to get that ring.
The Big 3 all played very good (though not great) Sunday night. Manu and Tim were a little too careless with the ball. Ginobili, especially, needs to tighten up his passing. Kidd has very obviously studied his tendencies and knows when to expect that across the body pass, which he picked off several times.
The Big 3 weren’t the problem, though. It was everybody else (I’m going to exempt Antonio McDyess, who I thought played a great role player game, and his heart and hustle were commendable). We got nothing from anybody else. Jefferson got two early fouls and more or less vanished; Bonner, while playing hard, missed shots he usually makes and that we need him to make; Keith Bogans is NOT Bruce Bowen; Roger Mason, Jr. is a gunner who can no longer gun; DeJuan Blair had very little impact either way.
George Hill was easily the most disappointing player of all. I’m willing to cut him some slack if he’s still injured, though he claims he is not. He got the start, and did almost nothing in the first half. Pop gave him just over 2 minutes in the second half, and then yanked him for the rest of the game. And I can’t blame him. He was clearly not right. Whether it was the lingering injury, fear of the moment, or something else entirely, he was giving us nothing.
If we’re to have any success in this series and moving on further in the playoffs, we need to get something from players 4-9. The Big 3 can not carry us through this series, let alone to a championship. And the truth is, they never have. Every great championship team has role players that propel the team forward at critical moments. Right now, we have none. Sadly, the other bench seems to be littered with them.
It’s common to proclaim the death of a team and the end of a series after one game. If San Antonio wins Game 2, the entire complexion of the series changes. And there’s plenty of good to take away from this game. Despite subpar play from almost our entire roster AND Nowitzki having one of the most amazingly efficient playoff games ever, we only lost by 6. There’s plenty of hope, and plenty of reason to think we still have a great chance.
But somebody not named Duncan, Ginobili, or Parker is going to have to force their way into the narrative of the series and impose their will on a stretch of game that just might swing the whole series.
