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Chilling Reminder

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

Fancy New Arena, Same Old Kings (Mostly)

Season 50, Game 02
San Antonio 102, Sacramento 94
2-0

Tuesday’s win against the Warriors was awesome, but it felt more like a spectacle than an NBA game. With last night’s win over Sacramento, the Spurs’ NBA regular season has officially begun.

The Kings under Dave Joerger look a lot better, which is to say, they look like a competent NBA team. Their energy and overall team defense impressed me, especially in the first half. They fought much harder than the Spurs, flying around and making sound rotations, closing off the paint. On offense, they were aggressive and attacking, drawing fouls seemingly at will.

At the end of the first half, it looked like the Kings could easily win this game and that the Spurs might never play passable defense again. Thankfully, the Spurs tightened things up in the second half, holding the Kings to a mere 37 points. Given enough time (say, 42 minute or so), the Kings are still the Kings, and the Spurs pulled away.

The star – once again – was Kawhi Leonard. (Something tells me we’ll be saying that a lot this season.) After putting up 35 points in the opener, he scored 30 in the encore. The difference in his offensive game this season is noticeable. He is playing with more confidence, more freedom, and more creativity. Last year, it looked like he was imitating an offensive star; this year, it looks like he is an offensive star. The biggest difference in his efficiency is his ability to draw fouls and get to the free throw line (where he hasn’t missed one yet). He is also seeing the court better and playing with more patience. Much like LeBron in Cleveland, he is the de facto point guard.

About midway through the 2nd quarter I started to wonder if Kawhi’s increased offensive load coupled with the Spurs’ dip in defensive efficiency would have a large negative effect on his defense. He promptly shut me up with four steals (three leading to breakaway dunks, layups, or fouls) in the second half. Never change, Kawhi.

Beyond Kawhi, the biggest surprise of the game were the bench bigs. Both David Lee and Dewayne Dedmon were spectacular in relief of Aldridge and Gasol. Lee was active on offense, and his natural instincts will mesh nicely with the second unit. If he can play even decent defense (his reputation would say otherwise), I daresay he might be a significant upgrade from both Diaw and West.

Dedmon was just flat out awesome. He is easily the most mobile big on the team with the most defensive presence and upside. He had a few outstanding blocks. He got key rebounds on both ends of the floor. He played Cousins better than any other big. He was active. While being known for having bad hands, he showed great touch around the rim and in the pick and roll. Pop put him in to close the game: he earned it.

Dedmon had 12 points and 7 rebounds; Lee had 12 points and 5 rebounds with 2 assists. Gasol and Aldridge? They didn’t have the best games. Aldridge came on late, getting some big buckets in the 4th quarter to help keep the Kings out of reach. But through three quarters, the starting front court was really bad.

They couldn’t defend Cousins without fouling. They couldn’t stop penetration without fouling. They missed rotations. They missed easy shots at the rim. They had no offensive flow.

Which leads to a bigger concern: the starting unit (minus Kawhi) is, simply put, bad right now. I’m officially worried about Parker. Kyle hasn’t shown any growth yet. Gasol is searching for his spot in the system. Aldridge is still looking for his shot.

Plus/minus numbers can be deceiving for a single game, but tonight’s do tell a story.

The four non-Kawhi starters were -10, -9, -13, and -12.

The five bench players were +18, +20, +21, +19, and +2. That’s… significant.

Everything just moves better with the second unit. And it’s not like they have continuity: the bench is integrating several new pieces as well.

Danny Green coming back will help with that. He works better with the starting unit (and is a natural wing partner with Kawhi), and Anderson works better with the second unit. I think Gasol will just take some time to find his spot. We knew his defense wouldn’t be like Duncan’s, but his offense should be loads better than Timmy’s over the last few seasons. I’m not worried about Aldridge.

But Parker? We need to keep an eye on Tony.

Let’s not jump to any hasty conclusions, though. Parker’s role is greatly diminished, and the team doesn’t need all that much from him. I think he’s earned our patience.

The Pelicans are in town tomorrow night for the team’s home opener. New Orleans always gives them a tough game, so let’s hope the squad gives the fans a memorable opening night.

Go Spurs Go.

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