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After spending the last two recaps gushing about one of the Big 3, might as well make it a clean sweep and praise Duncan. But what can you say about Duncan that hasn’t already been discussed thousands of times amongst the Spurs faithful. He is the rare breed of brilliant player whose contributions show up in the box score and yet exceed what any metric could ever measure. He is…
Watching the game, I started writing a draft of the story in my head. On the heels of last game and the Manu love fest, it was going to be an article in appreciation of Tony Parker, how his game has matured, how he continues to grow and improve as a player, how he runs the most efficient offense in the NBA with a maestro’s touch, always knowing when to…
For the last 3 seasons, the Spurs have been a regular season machine, rolling to victory after victory despite down stretches from their best players, significant injuries, odd and horrible scheduling, and anything else that could be thrown at them. This is due in large part to the culture and consistency built up by a decade and a half of Pop and Duncan, and a decade with Parker and Ginobili….
Yowzers. Before both teams started running out of gas in the 4th quarter, I was having trouble catching my breath the action was moving so quickly. It was like the Phoenix Suns’ of D’Antoni-Nash, only quicker and more frenetic. The first half was nearly impossible to get a read on, but the Spurs made a few adjustments in the second half to very subtly take control of the game. The…
There is a distinct type of defense that tends to give the Spurs offense the most trouble. It’s the defense that relies more on individual athleticism, length, speed, and, truth be told, a little bit of luck. It’s the disruptive kind of defense, rather than the solid “team defense” that is more likely to rate better over a large sample size. The Spurs can pick that defense apart with crisp…
So, yeah. Do you really need analysis of this game? The Spurs re-set the franchise record for 3s made (breaking a 2-week old record), shooting a ridiculous 20 for 30. On top of that, the passing and cutting was perfection, and the offense was humming. On the other end, the Spurs set a season-high with 17 steals (though credited with 5, I’m pretty sure Leonard was responsible for about 12…
And like that, we have two small forwards again. Despite the Hornets making the game close in the end (they have a horrible record, but they always play hard), it never felt like the Spurs might lose. Again, the schedule was a factor, only this time in our favor. Kicking off perhaps our first real home stand of the year, with two days off before, the team was full of…
The vagaries of an NBA game are so interesting. In the 2nd and 3rd quarter of tonight’s game, Denver just completely overwhelmed the Spurs with quickness. The road-weary Spurs were fighting fatigue with every screen, every short shot. Missed shots–to say nothing of bad turnovers–were all being converted into fast break points, as San Antonio failed to get back for transition defense. Rather than work for great shots, the team…
Oklahoma City represents the Spurs biggest potential failings in the playoffs, and not just because they were that last year. The Spurs offense is predicated on using intelligence, design, and ball movement to free up as much possible room to create the best opportunities to succeed. At the professional level, every sport is a game of inches, and San Antonio gets the most inches. But Oklahoma City has the athleticism,…
I’ve said this before, and it bears repeating, especially given the Spurs amazingly difficult early season schedule: games are not played in a vacuum. Yes, these NBA teams travel in luxury most of us can not even dream about, and have not a professional care in the world outside of playing a game for a few hours every couple of days. But I would challenge anybody to traverse 4 time…
