Season 50, Game 08
San Antonio 99, Houston 101
5-3

In his between quarter interview, Pop did a much better (and more succinct) job explaining this loss than I can, so I’ll paraphrase him: poor transition defense and a lack of organization on offense.

That about sums it up. You want more? OK, I suppose I can expound.

The Spurs’ defense has been all over the place this season. Despite what the eyes tell us, they’re actually ranked in the Top 10 in the league defensively. The real issue is consistency. Wednesday’s loss to Houston is a perfect example: they gave up 63 points in the first half (bad), but a mere 38 points (very good) in the second half, including a 16 point 4th quarter. Allowing 101 points to an offensively-gifted Houston Rockets team is not bad at all, but it’s difficult to consistently have to dig out of first quarter and first half deficits.

More lack of consistency: the Rockets scored 25 or so points in transition, meaning a quarter of their total points came in fast break. Taking the optimist’s view, that means they only scored about 75 points in the half court, which is actually very good. But to see a Spurs team get so shredded in transition defense (perhaps one of Pop’s three biggest basketball tenets) is shocking to watch.

Maybe what makes this early season so confounding is the overall lack of consistency. The bones of a great team are there, but we’re not seeing it night-to-night, quarter-to-quarter. We’re so accustomed to the Spurs always playing within 10-15% of their ceiling, that an up-and-down team probably scares us more than it should. There’s a lot to figure out, and still a long time to do it.

Which brings us to Pop’s second point: lack of organization on offense. This is a perfect way to describe what we’re seeing. It’s not that the offense is bad (and Kawhi’s personal offense is incredible), it’s just that it generally lacks for flow and excitement. When we talk about the ‘beautiful game’ from seasons past, what we’re really talking about is every player knowing exactly what to do and where to go at all times. In less flowery terms: organization.

It makes sense that the Spurs would be deficient in offensive organization. They’re integrating seven new players and pretty much everybody is trying to figure out new roles on the team, regardless of tenure. For the first time since peak Duncan, the Spurs have an isolation scorer who should be relied upon. But that makes everybody else’s role new in the system.

The Rockets scored 16 points in the 4th quarter, and only 5 in the last 5 minutes or so. The Spurs had every chance to steal this game. The defense was working at the end; the offense came up short.

Overall, I thought the team played pretty well. They were really good at times, and just fine other times. Now we know what they need to work on: consistency and organization. How boring. How Spurs.

A few more thoughts from Wednesday’s loss:

• Danny Green played his first game back. I know he’s a popular whipping post for Spurs fans, but I love Green and his game. His defense was missed, and he had some really nice defensive sequences in the game. He shot 2-of-8 from 3, which was not nice. His 3-point shooting is the most important thing to monitor as he eases into the season.

• I’m worried about our starting front court, both individually and as a unit. Gasol is having a harder time adjusting than I thought he would, and Aldridge is off to a slow shooting start and seems to have reverted back to the beginning of last season, when he looked lost and seemed to drift a bit. He’s best when he’s aggressive, but maybe he feels he doesn’t have an aggressive role in the team. His level of engagement is something to monitor.

With both players struggling, their play together has been disjointed and largely responsible for the slow starts for the Spurs in many games.

Lee, Dedmon, and Bertrans are all playing well in back-up roles. But none of those players is the answer in the starting line-up. The Spurs are in a tough spot with their bigs. Every player is cast in the role best suited for them; they just need to perform.

• Simmons has been inconsistent (there’s that word again) to start the season, but when he’s playing well, his spark off the bench is refreshing. I think we’ll see more good juice than bad juice this season, and I think his role will grow more important as the season progresses. His athleticism on the wings (on both ends) is refreshing and unique for the Spurs. It’d take the right opponent, but I’d love to see Simmons, Leonard, and Green all on the floor together. That’d be a dynamic defensive trio.

• Mike D’Antoni without a mustache is… weird.

The Spurs face the Pistons at home on Friday, before returning to the comforts of the road and a rematch in Houston on Saturday.

Go Spurs Go.

Season 50, Game 07
San Antonio 92, Los Angeles Clippers 116
5-2

Bad news: I checked with the league, and the Spurs do indeed have to finish out their remaining home schedule, rather than playing all 82 on the road.

After last year’s magical 40-1 home record, it’s odd to see the team stumble twice at the AT&T Center so early in the season. Losing is one thing; getting so thoroughly beaten in back-to-back home games and looking lethargic and out-of-sync is another.

It was not a good showing in any sort of way. The Clippers had their way in whatever manner they pleased. In the first half, the trio of J.J. Redick, Blake Griffin, and Luc Mbah a Moute accounted for 51 points, to just 55 total points for the Spurs.

Griffin is a superstar, and he’ll have nights like that; Reddick is a streaky shooter, and if he gets going, it can be a long night.

But Mbah a Moute? And you’ll notice the two names from the starting line-up we didn’t mention? Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, only the most fearsome pick and roll tandem in the league (for which the Spurs have never really had an answer).

You can see the problem immediately: it’s hard to win a game when you literally take nothing away from the other team. It doesn’t matter what the offense is doing, when the other team puts up 73 points in the first half, you deserve the whupping you’re getting. The Clippers’ offense has always given us fits, but this was another level.

I understand that it was the second night of a back-to-back. It was for the Clippers, too. So that excuse holds little weight. Except in this: perhaps chemistry is the salve for tired legs and minds.

Despite the age of the roster, the Spurs have been exceptionally good on back-to-backs over the past several years. Besides talent, I think you can attribute this to two things: roster continuity and roster depth. Meaning, a roster full of plenty of good players that have all played together for a long time will often win games in less than ideal situations, like back-to-backs, tough travel schedules, etc.

This season – while getting a bit younger and more athletic – the Spurs have added 7 new players to the roster, lost their two-decade franchise cornerstone, are playing mostly without their veteran PG and ingrained starting shooting guard, and have handed the keys over to a 25-year old sensation. While the talent and the ceiling might be higher than in previous seasons, there will be some stumbles to start the season.

In contrast, the Clippers are probably now the team with the greatest roster continuity, particularly in that starting line-up. Griffin, Jordan, Redick, and Paul have been playing together so long that their offense just flows through them naturally. (It should remind us of our Spurs from a few years back.)

So both teams came in to Saturday’s game tired, sore, and not fully prepared to play an NBA game. The Clippers have chemistry, thousands of hours of repetition, and the trust between each other to work through the tired legs and tired minds. The Spurs, currently, do not.

So we might see more games like that in the first part of the season. This Spurs team is still learning how to play together, figuring out tendencies, building chemistry and trust. The ceiling is high, but the floor, game-to-game, is perhaps lower than we’ve come to expect.

As for the Clippers? They were great. But this might be as good as it gets for them. The next meeting between the two teams will be an important one for the Spurs.

This is all a bit new to us. I hate blowout home losses as much as the next fan, but it’d probably be wise to preach patience this season, and enjoy the process more than ever. It’s been exciting watching this mixture of players figure each other out, and we have a great season in front of us.

Nobody likes losing to the Clippers in November, but that’s not the point. The point is to not lose to them again in May.

Houston comes to town Wednesday night.

Go Spurs Go.