Surprising Spurs

T

Third Coast

10,000+ Posts
Off to a 10-1 start in a year I thought might see the window closed behind them. As a long time fan, I am pleasantly surprised that doesn't seem to be the case.

I guess the thing that surprises me the most is the depth and balance on this year's team, as evidenced by tonight's game against Boston with six players (almost 7) in double figures and 27 assists.
 
Pop is doing a pretty great job of blending the youth with the geriatric set on the roster. I think his coaching acumen and what he brings to the Spurs organization is vastly under appreciated in the NBA, and particularly by the talking heads who cover the league. Of course, he's not known for being a great interview either and he hasn't bounced around from team to team, so maybe that's why you never hear about him like you would a Phil Jackson or Pat Riley.
 
Every year I think they're too old, and Pop proves me wrong
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There's a lot of good teams in the West this season, including Portland that's won 8 in a row with Aldridge leading the team in points, rebounds and steals.

I expect the other two Texas teams to be in the mix as well.
 
Pop has consistently been the best coach in the NBA for some time and i really don't think its close. There have been many coaches who have had great years but cannot sustain it. What he has done with what he has had is amazing, and like a previous poster said, greatly under appreciated.
 
What's even better is Pop and his players do not seem too concerned about the lack of attention. Dedication to team and winning above personal gain--now there is a novel approach.
 
Making it even more impressive is what the Spurs are accomplishing after Pop's top two assistant coaches (Mike Budenholzer and Brett Brown) left for head coaching positions in the NBA.

And to think I was very upset when Pop fired Bob Hill and took over as head coach. lol
 
A few months away from turning 38 and Duncan puts up 23 points on 75% shooting, 21 rebounds, and hits the game-winning jump shot.
 
And their game tonight in Mexico City against the Timberwolves was postponed due to smoke pouring into the arena. If you can't beat 'em, smoke 'em out. lol
 
Auxiliary generator malfunctioned pouring smoke into the arena.

Mexico City, and no one had a set of jumper cables?
 
Doesn't seem fair that the SA-Minn game in Mexico was considered a Minnesota home game anyway.

Last night against the Milwaukee Bucks, Tim Duncan in 24 minutes had the same number of assists, more rebounds, and more points than the entire Bucks starting lineup had in a combined 90 minutes of action.
 
A long way to go, but what a battle it's shaping up to be in the West with SA, OKC and Portland distancing themselves from the pack. I have a feeling seedings in the playoffs could come down to how they do against one another.
 
How many final minute game-losing offensive rebounds will we give up until Pop stops subbing Duncan out on those?
 
I'm a bit worried about the Finals (which as a fan I'm allowed to ponder about even though it's still a long way just to get out of the first round) because the East is so pathetic that Miami shouldn't even have to face a game 6 to get there, meanwhile whoever comes out of the West will have played 3 straight series all against tougher opponents than Miami faced and the amount of rest between the two teams will be huge.

Meanwhile, I went to Dallas for my first Spurs road game last night. Mavs fans are not a very classy bunch - it's like they really want SA-Dallas to be *the* big rivalry while the Spurs it's just one of several - although thankfully the row right ahead of us was a mixed group of Spurs and Mavs fans who were all pretty good sports and we'd all both admit to each other when we thought our team got favored by a bad call.

I'm not sure if I should be glad that the Spurs managed to pull out a road win despite not looking like they have a single top-10 player on the team and having a really sloppy 4th quarter, and being one crazy shot away from a 3-1 lead, or be worried that the Spurs looked so vulnerable against a team that, while tough, is not likely to be as tough as OKC or Portland will be.
 
Playing as a team and the best ball movement in the league is what got the Spurs the best record in the regular season. That has been missing for the most part in the series so far - along with a lot of three point shots.

They might be able to eek by the Mavs the way they are playing now, but unless they can regain the form that got them there, they'll be watching the finals with the rest of us. Hell, OKC swept them during the regular season when they were playing well.
 
Hopefully the Spurs can wrap things up in the first round tonight. They're in another nail biter it appears.

If SA does lose tonight and the Rockets win game six of their series with Portland, that will mean six out of the eight first round match-ups go seven games. I don't have the stats, but I bet that doesn't happen very often.
 
Monta Ellis gave the Spurs a chance by throwing the ball out of bounds with just over a second left. Nebraska fans all thought the clock should have just run out.
 
Thought I would bump this up and say ...Wow!

The Spurs really have things rolling after back to back blowouts against OKC at AT&T Center.

Always a team effort with the Spurs, but it seems like they just don't lose when Danny Green is in the zone. Like the last three games - 15-21 on three pointers.
 
I certainly don't mean to imply that this series is over. Two years ago when the Spurs won the first two in SA before losing four in a row to the Thunder is proof of that.

It's the decisive nature of the two wins that's been such a surprise after the Spurs were swept by OKC in the regular season.
 
a big factor of this "sweep" in the regular season is Pop loves to rest his players, even when the game is very winnable, during the regular season.

The Spurs are just playing unbelievable ball right now. This isn't 2012 either, when the Thunder pulled off 4 straight, when they had Harden AND Ibaka. Kawhi Leonard was also just a rookie at the time and Green was a non-factor. I don't see OKC pulling off 4 straight again, after San Antonio spanked them in games 1/2 that year.
 
This is as imbalanced as the two conferences have ever been - and in the stacked West, the Spurs have won in blowout fashion 7 of their last 8 playoff games.
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I will give you the first game was close for a while as OKC actually took a lead at 76 - 75 in 3Q.

In game 2, Spurs were up 14 at half and never looked back...it was a 5 pt lead with 2:30 to go in 2Q.

I guess it depends on the definition of "close for a while".
 
20 to 0 in FTs in the third quarter. Adams bites at a fake and literally lands on Duncan's back to knock him down without a call. Pretty obvious they didn't want a second straight WCF sweep.
 
Not sure how much the officiating in game 3 had to do with it, but the Spurs were more listless than I've seen them in a while. It certainly wasn't like the Thunder were lighting it up themselves.
 
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