Brutal. Just brutal.
A franchise best, 67-win season, wasted in five games against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The last few games were difficult to watch. No, take that back. They weren’t difficult: they were brutal.
I feel stupid. I really do. I looked at this team throughout the course of the season and I started to think that, even though the Warriors are a better team, the Spurs could beat them in a seven-game series. Maybe that’s what these Spurs thought, too.
A few minutes before Game 1 tipped off, I texted Dan, our Editor-in-Chief here at SpursDynasty.com, and told him that I was equally confident and terrified of this Spurs-Thunder series. He confirmed that his feelings mirrored mine. We were both ecstatic when game 1 looked like a Varsity vs Junior Varsity preseason match-up. We felt great after Game 1 and I was pretty confident the series would only go 5 games, maybe even 4. Boy, was I wrong.
There is something about this match-up that I just absolutely hate. When the Spurs play the Thunder, it’s personal. Each team represents everything the other opposes. The fans don’t like each other. And in reality, neither team matches up well against the other. Rarely do Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook take over an entire series against the Spurs. While they were both great in the series, KD and Russ were not the ones who beat the Spurs.
It was the other guys.
Steven Adams was a beast in this series. He annihilated everyone in the paint. He was stronger, smarter and faster getting to the ball. He has no game to speak of outside of 10 feet, but that didn’t matter. He finished plays, both offensively and defensively, and out hustled everyone in a black uniform.
Serge Ibaka and Enis Kanter also looked like rock stars in this series. Those two guys got their hands on everything. Everything. They were always in the right spot. They were always causing chaos and they were always in the play.
Dion Waiters looked like a Super Sub. Along with Randy Foye, they proved to be the combo guards the Thunder had needed all season. It took one game for Billy Donovan to realize that Cameron Payne and Kyle Singler didn’t belong in this series. So ole’ Bill shortened the bench, kept either Russ or KD on the court at all times (mostly) and they wiped the floor with the skeleton of the San Antonio Spurs.
The MVP of that series may have been Andre Roberson. He did it all, over the length of the series. He didn’t shut Kawhi Leonard down, per say, but he definitely made him work much harder than he needed to. Then he had the game of his life in Game 6. He was all over the place in that series.
In fact, every player on the court for the Thunder was all over the place. The Thunder simply wanted it more. Every loose ball seemed like it went to the Thunder. Every bad bounce appeared to fall in their lap. Even when Dion Waiters tossed up an air ball, Kanter was right there to catch it and drop it in the bucket, just before the shot clock expired. Little deflections, long rebounds, jump balls, you name it. The Spurs just couldn’t get a break. Brutal.
I won’t even mention the late game officiating in this series…
Actually, yes I will.
I am completely on board with finding a punishment for the officials, especially in a playoff series. In game 2, we saw the most bizarre final 13 seconds I’ve ever seen that didn’t have a single violation called.
The first offender? Manu Ginobili. He reached across the line with his foot. Automatic Delay of Game, Technical Foul shot, Thunder basketball. Even as a Spurs fan, that’s the right call. (Editor’s note: In the clip below, retired referee Steve Javie makes a convincing case that no call was the correct call.)
What happened after all that is irrelevant, except that nothing else was called either. It’s doesn’t mater that Waiters traveled and then pushed off and then Kawhi fouled Westbrook, and Ibaka fouled Aldridge and a fan grabbed Adams. But dude… you have to call something. That is your job. It’s your only job. You have to call something! How do you not call anything? If you are paid to officiate and you don’t officiate, then there should be repercussions, right? I mean, if I don’t do my job, there are repercussions. Players get benched, suspended, fined, etc. Why not the officials?
And in Game 5, I don’t even know how to describe what happened.
I don’t understand how you know the defending team is going to foul, you see them foul, you don’t call it and then, you call a secondary “no call” that is called and leads to an And-1. That was… brutal.
I thought the officiating was actually fine during most of the games. But those calls at the end of the close games were just unacceptable. Have you ever seen a team get more no-calls, on the road, in a playoff series, than the Thunder? Just brutal.
Moving on…
Speaking of other guys, why didn’t we have any?
I think I have become pretty familiar with Boris Diaw, Patty Mills, Manu Ginobili and David West. I’ve never seen any of those guys look so scared to shoot before. And before you defend them, that’s exactly what is was: fear. When you are scared to shoot, getting a rhythm is practically impossible. So when they did shoot, it was brick city, baby.
Our other guys were non-existent. The bench that helped this team win 67 games in the regular season was nowhere to be found against the Thunder. Kyle Anderson looked lost, Patty looked like a rookie, and West looked like he was just learning how to shoot 17 footers. Danny Green was the only role player who shot well and the Spurs squandered his efforts.
Case in point: Pop put his bench in with about 4 minutes left in the 1st Quarter of Game 6. Spurs were up 16-10. Ginobili, West and Mills came in, followed by Anderson and Martin a few minutes later. By the end of the 1st, the Thunder had taken a 25-19 lead and the Spurs momentum was completely gone. The game was essentially over at that point. A great start to the game… wasted.
Brutal.
Poor Tim. He may be officially done. Or not. Who knows? But this was not a series for him. I personally believe he will come back for another year. Something about getting to a nice round number of 20 and not wanting to end his career on that kind of a note. I won’t be surprised if he comes back.
But he looked awful. He couldn’t hang with the Thunder big men. He certainly has the heart, but the body just doesn’t match it. The series was not good. Game 6 was either a sign that he can still keep going, or a chance to just leave it all out there and be done. Here’s hoping it’s not the latter. Although, can you blame him?
Tony Parker looked like a slower version of Russell Westbrook. One of the best things a defender can hope for against Russ is that he makes a really tough shot. The way Russ is wired, he believes he can make those shots every time. Russ can literally “Russ” his team out of games. That’s exactly what Tony Parker did in this series.
He made a few tough shots and forgot his role on this team. His role is even more vital when the team is trailing – controlling tempo, running the offensive, moving the ball. So he started jacking up wild shots, none of which were within the offense, and so the ball would stop moving. By the second half, it was basically the Tim Duncan farewell tour for those of you who believe he retires or a “play the guys who earned” it if you don’t. (I believe Manu is done for sure, but again, I believe Tim will be back- so what do I know?)
I am personally ready to move on from Parker, but in the most respectful way possible. Look, Parker has lost interest in playing basketball in the NBA. He’s a Frenchmen and he’s already said he wants to play in France for a bit while he still has life left in his legs. He just turned 34 and has two years left on his contract. Perhaps the Spurs should begin the transition phase. Move him to the Manu role and let him groom the next breed.
Lastly, we have to discuss Pop. Many Spurs fans were screaming the entire series for more Boban and more Johnny Simmons, who didn’t even make the playoff roster. That’s ludicrous. Look, Boban isn’t very good. He is 7’3” and 290, which helps. And he has some fairly efficient stats, which are enhanced because of garbage time. But Boban is slower than Duncan, soft with the ball, and nowhere near being playoff ready.
I don’t think Pop should have put Boban in the game any more than he did, but I definitely would have shortened the lineup prior to game 6. The small ball lineup with Kawhi at the 4 was actually quite interesting. It was desperate, but it also spread the floor for a little bit. On the other hand, it kills you defensively and when you’re down 18, you can’t afford at.
Pop didn’t seem to monitor match-ups as well as he has in the past. When he did find a match-up he liked, he went to the well too often. Aldridge was a beast for the first couple games, but then the Thunder kind of figured it out. Sure, you got to feed the beast, but I was surprised to not see a counter. I kept waiting for it. I honestly thought Boris Diaw was made for this series and I would have taken advantage of his size, vision and ball handling.
If we can toss out a Parker-Manu-Green-Kawhi-Aldridge small ball lineup, why can’t we toss out a Kawhi-Green-Boris-Duncan-Aldridge lineup, too? Remember, Boris is the secret weapon against Lebron James. LEBRON JAMES. Let Green guard Westbrook, Boris cover KD and Kawhi roam free off Roberson. And are you telling me that KD is going handle BoBo or Duncan down in the block? No. He’s not.
I expected more chess play from Pop. But he seemed so stubborn. It was really frustrating. The Thunder are also a really good team that was written off this year because of the Warriors and Spurs. They probably won’t beat the Warriors, but they could.
So what does the future hold? Here are my thoughts on the other ‘other guys.’
It’s a crap shoot as always, but if you’re pinning your hopes on Kevin Durant joining the Spurs, you’re living in a dream. Unless the Thunder just get totally demolished and lose to the Warriors, I don’t see KD going anywhere. If he is smart, he’ll sign a one year deal with OKC and then wait to see what Russ does when his contract is up.
Durant would demand the max anyways and if he does come to San Antonio, which he won’t, there is no scenario in the world that would allow him to be the current player he is today. The ball moves in San Antonio (at least it is supposed to) and Kawhi is the current rising star. Aldridge fits nicely because he is a big man and gets what he gets within the offense. KD needs the ball too much and he doesn’t play defense. I’m sorry, guys, I just don’t see it.
What I do see are two more likely candidates: Pau Gasol and Mike Conley. Both would be perfect in San Antonio. Pau is 35, but Conley is only 28. With the salary cap expected to be around $92 million next year, both are affordable. Durant would command the max at just north of $25 million, which he deserves, but would take a huge amount of reshuffling.
However, Mike Conley currently makes just under $10 million a year and Pau makes about $7.7 million. If you could get Conley for around $13 million and Pau for $5 million, you would have enough room to make it work, assuming David West, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili don’t re-sign. If all three pick up their player options, that’s about $10 million total, which ironically is about the same as Patty Mills and Boris Diaw’s salaries combined. It would also mean goodbye Bonner, goodbye Boban, goodbye Andre Miller and goodbye Kevin Martin.
Al Horford is also on the table, but would probably want the max. Andre Drummond is a restricted free agent, but would also want the max and probably not be a great Spur. Plus, you have to expect Detroit would match. One or both of Hassan Whiteside and Demar Derozan will probably end up in Lakerland, depending on what they do with their #2 overall pick. Bradley Beal will also be matched and Popovich wouldn’t even consider Dwight Howard.
Another interesting candidate is Harrison Barnes. Not a max player, but young and athletic. And unfortunately, he will be the odd man out in GS, once Steph Curry is due to sign his big contract. I don’t think Barnes will be a Warrior next year, and since he only earned $3.8 million this year, the Spurs might be able to snag him for a cool $9-$10 million.
Parker and Diaw could seriously throw us all a bone and go recruit Nicolas Batum and help continue our quest to have the entire French National Team on the Spurs roster. Batum made $11 million last year, but I think he would be open to a pay cut if he could play with the Spurs.
A couple other players the Spurs might consider, with last year’s salaries:
- Ryan Anderson (U) – $8.5m – He could stretch the floor and at 6’10” help Aldridge bang a bit.
- Luol Deng (U) – $10.1m – Long and gangly. Great veteran sub for Kawhi.
- Jordan Clarkson (R) – $845K- Love this idea. Take the torch from Parker.
- Joakim Noah (U) – $13m – He’d be a great Spur. You hate him if he is against you, but he would own the glass and he plays great D. Pop would love his work ethic.
- Jamal Crawford (U) – $5.6m – Super Sub. 6th man of the year. The Anti-Manu.
- Kent Bazemore (U) – $2m – Added length to that Hawks second unit.
- Dwight Powel (R) – $845K – Solid athlete who can jump out of the gym. If Duncan were back as a mentor and he and Aldridge sunk their teeth into Powel, this could be great.
- David Lee (U) $17.1m – Won’t get anywhere near his salary last year. He could be a starter or bench guy. Think younger David West.
- Roy Hibbert (U) – $15.5m – If anyone could revive his career, it’s Pop. No one will want him and he will be dirt cheap. He and Duncan have played together for years in the summer. Why not?
The future is pretty much all we can focus on right now, since you know, the Spurs are eliminated and all. So try not to eat too much ice cream as you cry watching these conference finals series. Try not to be bitter about the Thunder being in our rightful spot. And try not to daydream too much about what it would be like to see KD in a Spurs uniform. It was a fun season and a sad ending.
Now, it’s time to look toward the other guys.
