Season 49, Game 11
San Antonio 109, Denver 98
9-2, 2nd in the West
The Spurs season is off to a tremendous start.
They are absolutely smothering teams with the league’s top-ranked defense. They are second in assists per game, at 26.4. They have the second best point differential in the league, and the best in the Pop-Duncan era. They’re continuing to figure things out on offense and still throttling teams.
And yet I’m less impressed than in years past, and more critical than I’ve ever been of the team at the start of a season.
Perhaps it’s just the weight of expectations. We have our first big free agency signing and a completely stacked team. And we’re not winning pretty, even as we win convincingly. Perhaps it’s the apparent movement away from the ‘beautiful game’, even though the assists are still high and the bench is still zipping around. Perhaps it’s Aldridge’s slow adjustment period, even though he’s still playing hard, fitting in, and really impressing in areas I was not expecting.
Perhaps I’m just spoiled as a Spurs fan. (That’s definitely true.)
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Aldridge continued to struggle against the Nuggets. He put up 11 points and 12 rebounds, which aren’t terrible numbers. And he did play solid defense. But it took him 14 shots to score those 11 points (Parker also had 14 shots, netting 25 points), and he really seems out of sorts on the offensive end. It was clear from the get-go that there was a mandate to get him involved in the offense. And things started promising, with a couple of pick and pops, resulting in wide open Aldridge jumpers. And they went in.
But after that first stint, he became an afterthought in the offense again. When he did get his shot, he either passed it up, or seemed really tentative shooting it. It almost looks like he’s pulling the string on his shot, not following through. He doesn’t seem to trust himself out there. He also seems to be moving too quickly when he is near the rim, rushing his shots. As a result, lots of those looks are rimming out.
And it’s not just shooting – he completely disappears from the offense. With his size and mobility and vision, he can offer so much to an offensive scheme even when his shot isn’t falling. Instead, he seems almost invisible. (To be fair, his gravity as a long distance shooter does open up the floor).
Yes, we know it’s a process. But the results have been trending the wrong direction over the last week.
(Kin Man Hui/San Antonio Express-News)
On the other hand, Parker seems absolutely rejuvenated out there. He had easily his best game of the season, jumping in the wayback machine to uncork a classic. He was aggressive early, using his speed to get into the lane and both score and get other people easy shots. He was able to keep up the aggression, and really set the tone for the rest of the night. While he can no longer get by on pure bursts of speed, he’s developed quite the crafty game around the rim to fake out guards and bigs alike and get wide open shots.
When Tony went to the bench, Patty Mills kept up the relentless attack from the PG position. Both PGs had their best showings of the young season. They are both aggressive scoring PGs, but achieve it in such different and unique ways. Mills is just pure energy and adrenaline, never relenting, always a threat to shoot it from anywhere. His stroke was pure tonight, so he just dribbled where he wanted and shot it.
When you get 48 minutes of consistently great PG play, it’s tough to lose. It’s also no wonder that the starting unit’s offense looks a lot better when Parker plays better, almost as if there is some direct correlation to the play of the PG and the overall effectiveness of the offense.
Now we just need to discover the correlation between an elite All-Star scoring PF and actual scoring.
A few more thoughts from Wednesday’s game:
• Tim Duncan had 12 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 blocks, and 1 steal. Really, Tim: you could only manage one steal?
• The first half was probably the worst half of defense the team has played all season, particularly the second quarter. The Nuggets were abusing the Spurs on pick and roll action, and also owning the offensive glass. They had 12 offensive rebounds and 34 points in the paint in the first half. It was nice to see the Spurs hold the Nuggets to a mere 40 points in the second half. Defense is the most consistently reliable thing in basketball, as it is based in intention and effort.
• After a rocky start, David West has really played well over the last handful of games. He’s a natural on that second unit, particularly on offense. His passing fits in, and I feel more comfortable with his midrange jumpers than I do Aldridge’s at this point.
• The second unit had two really good stints – one in each half – when they were able to really score a bunch of points and build a little bit of a lead. But near the end of each stint, things got a little sloppy, and Denver was able to get back into the game.
It’s a tough balance for Pop. There is a point of diminishing returns for that unit (particularly without Manu), and he doesn’t want to leave them out there for too long. However, a huge part of their value is the time and rest they provide for the starters. So he has to give them a little bit of leash to allow more rest for the starters.
The second unit might extend the lead from 10 to 18, and then get sloppy and let it slip back down to 12. But the time it takes to lose those 6 points might have more worth than the extra wear and tear on the regulars.
• The key play of the game might have been Danny Green blocking Will Barton on a fast break, that could have cut the lead to single digits late in the 4th quarter. Instead, Kawhi hit a 3 the other way, and the lead was back to 14. Those are game-winning plays, and Green remains one of the best fast break defenders in the league. Plus, he hit a few threes tonight, and his stroke is looking a lot better over the last few games.
The Spurs play the banged up New Orleans Pelicans on the road Friday night, before returning home for Memphis on Saturday night.
Go Spurs Go.
