Season 50, Game 03
San Antonio 98, New Orleans 79
3-0

Anthony Davis is a tremendous player, possibly the 3rd or 4th best player in the Association.

And it might not matter, because the New Orleans franchise is a case study in mismanagement, competing agendas, and poor leadership. Their inability to field a competent and healthy team around Davis could steal the star’s prime from him. It’s bad in New Orleans, and it’s hard to see it getting better any time soon.

I don’t say this necessarily to denigrate the Pelicans. I just offer it up as a reminder, a cautionary tale to Spurs fans about how transcendent talent is easily wasted in the NBA. Many forces led Kawhi Leonard to San Antonio. It’s the perfect marriage of player and organization. It’s a credit to Kawhi that he is as good as he is right now.

But it’s also a credit to the Spurs organization that they saw the talent, developed the talent, created the culture in which talent could thrive, and planned exceedingly well for the extended life of the franchise, not just one player.

We might be the luckiest fans in all of sports, let alone the NBA.

A few quick thoughts about the game:

• A win for the Spurs was always the most likely outcome. New Orleans was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, and San Antonio was playing it’s home opener. A Golden State-San Antonio back-to-back seems very unfair, but that’s what the Pelicans drew at the start of the season.

• Still, the game had to be played, and the Spurs looked great. Aldridge’s offensive numbers weren’t spectacular, but his defensive effort was commendable. Pop basically left him alone on an island guarding Davis, and LaMarcus competed his ass off. After Davis’ opening two games, 18 pts and 5 rebs seems pedestrian.

• We have a “Tony Parker Problem” brewing, and it might be the biggest obstacle facing the Spurs this season (other than that team out West). Mills got the start while Parker sat for rest, and the starting unit looked much better than it had in the first two games. Mills’ form looks closer to the 2014 season than it ever did last year. In many ways, with the ascendence of Kawhi, coupled with the Gasol/Aldridge front-line, Patty is the perfect complementary PG. He is quick, he can shoot, but he doesn’t need to be handling the ball to be effective.

Last night was my favorite Patty Mills, and I hope we see him a lot more.

• Making the “Tony Parker Problem” even worse was the play of Nico Laprovittola. Not surprisingly, his last name is a mouthful to say and a handful to type. Much more surprisingly, he is also quite the handful on the court. He definitely comes from the Manu Ginobili/Argentinian School of basketball. He plays with flair and courage, unafraid of the moment or the opposing player.

He’s also a really good PG. I was really impressed with his handling of the second unit. He has the intelligence and creativity to be a player on that bench unit.

• So where does that leave Tony? He might not be the best fit for the starters, and his game might not be the best fit for the second unit. (I’m not saying that Nico is better than him, just that his game might fit that second unit better.) This is the problem that Pop must solve over the regular season. It’s also on Parker to figure out where he fits on this team and be honest about what kind of player he is at this stage in his career.

• Kawhi scored 16 points in the 3rd quarter; the Pelicans scored 15. This is your nightly “Kawhi is awesome and will destroy your team’s will” update.

• With the looming back-to-back, Pop played the entire bench. It was fun to see the young guys and the end of bench guys and the new guys. Bertrans, Forbes, and Murray all got significant playing time.

I have a lot of thoughts on all of the new faces on the team, but for now I’ll just say this: I love the roster the front office built in the off-season. I’m excited about every one of these players, and I just love the way the team is playing and gelling. It’s exciting to get some fresh faces and new blood on the team, and I’m enjoying watching this early season a lot more than I thought I would.

The Spurs have what is probably their worst back-to-back, traveling to Miami for a 6pm EST start, after finishing a game at 930 CST (1030 EST!) in Texas! That is crazy. I’m sure Pop is pissed, and we’ll see how he and the team respond.

In other words, this could easily be the first loss of the season, what the kids like to call a ‘schedule loss’. But I wouldn’t put it past this squad to still go out and grind out the win.

Go Spurs Go.

Photo credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports