Season 48, Game 57
Portland 111, San Antonio 95
34-23, 7th in the West
Pop is in “coddling parent” mode, which, in many ways, is more terrifying than the Standard Pop setting.
Before last night’s game, he was talking about the team’s lack of cohesion and chemistry. (Check out Jeff McDonald’s timeline for a lot of good stuff.) During the game, the ESPN crew recorded him repeatedly imploring the team to talk, to communicate, to play for each other.
Before the game he also dropped one of my favorite Pop-isms of all time: you must participate in your own recovery. There is no magic fix, no stirring speech or strategy change that he can make. The players need to figure this out together, or the season will end with a quiet whimper.
At no point during the game was he irate, heated, or even all that angry. Perhaps it’s a subtle resignation to the state of affairs, knowing that it’s going to happen or it’s not going to happen, but it’s sort of out of his hands now. Or perhaps it’s him knowing his team’s psychology and that it’s time to put away the stick for a while.
And still, the Blazers beat the Spurs, burying them late with a barrage of three-pointers, similar to the game in Golden State on Friday. There probably isn’t a worse venue in the NBA for the Spurs to try and recover their mojo, and so it was Wednesday night.
Once again, Tony Parker led the charge of futility. This has been discussed ad nauseum, and I’m not sure there is too much to add. Parker is struggling worse than he has in at least a decade, possibly even for his entire career. He has no rhythm to his game, he seems to have lost all sense of the offense and spacing and pacing. He’s not even looking at the rim right now, scared to drive in half court sets and on fast breaks, intimidated by big men he has made a career out of routinely blowing by. (When I say he isn’t looking at the rim, I mean that literally. He just backs the ball out without even giving a second thought to attacking.) His confidence is gone, and I’m not sure what sort of participation that recovery requires.
But the woes do not end with Parker. ESPN played a pretty startling graphic last night that really drove home what we’ve intuitively noticed all season: the Spurs are in a season-long team-wide shooting slump. Every 3-point shooter is down in percentage. Marco is down 5% from 43% to 38%, Bonner is down 8%, Mills 7%, Green 3%, Diaw 7%, and Kawhi 5%. Last season the team had 5 players shoot over 40%; this year they have 0. The team led the NBA in 3-point shooting last year. This year they are 6th, which seems crazy. But even that drop alone can account for so many of the offensive struggles. I write time and time again at how important that 3-ball is to opening up the offense.
Even Pop commented before the game that he doesn’t remember a shooting season this poor in all his time with the team. That’s saying something.
Another thing I keep noticing is just how much more dribbling there is this season. Mostly dribbling without purpose or gain. The entire offense is predicated on ball and player movement, and dribbling is primarily used to drive into the defense, leading to the kick out and the ball whirring around. Or, to subtly shift positions to open up the passing lanes. But more and more this season, the ball just sticks with individual ball handlers, as they dribble and wait, killing the shot clock and the offense. Or players drive into the lane with no plan to pass or idea of how to attack.
The team just seems to be playing more selfishly. Or, put another way, players seem to be trying to ‘fix’ things on their own, rather than playing with and for each other. It’s so jarring to see from this team that is built on the idea of chemistry and team basketball.
Finally, Parker’s slump, while easily the most noticeable, is also obscuring other players’ slumps. Kawhi is having a nightmare season in general (with the eye infection and hand injury), but has been shooting extremely poorly of late and seems frustrated on the court. I’ve never seen him so vocal in his protestations to the refs and in seeking out fouls. He also seems to drift mentally in the game more than I’m used to seeing.
Manu is also having a very hot and cold season. Boris seems engaged about every 3rd or 4th game. Patty is still struggling to find his groove coming back from shoulder surgery. Tiago is perpetually in Pop’s doghouse and seems to have lost all confidence in his game. Green is still Icy/Hot, but more icy than hot of late.
All of this, and if Kawhi sinks a wide-open 3 late in the 4th, it’s a 6-point game and we have a game. Instead, Kawhi misses, and Lillard comes down and immediately drills a 3. 12-point game, 6-point swing in a matter of seconds, ball game. It really is a game of inches, moments, and makes and misses.
The Spurs seem to always be on the wrong side of the ledger this season.
