Sunday, November 1, 2009

Beer or Wine: The Spurs through three games

Three games into the season and the Spurs have already shown glimpses of their newfound strengths while leaving just enough reminders of familiar weaknesses.

Over the past few years the Spurs have been a team to be watched simply for a great appreciation and understanding of basketball. Not boring, as the casual observer would claim, but not the thrill a minute roller coaster other marquee teams offer. I suppose—borrowing from Gregg Popovich’s hobbies—one could compare it to wine tasting vs. a keg party.

You appreciate wine. Savor it. Intellectually break down its tastes and smells amongst other aficionados. Wine tasting parties are scripted and on schedule. Keg parties you enjoy the hell out of. At the end of the night there might not be a single coherent thought and often you don’t know who you’re with but damn it if it wasn’t fun. Both can be enjoyable. Only one is exciting.

The loss to the Bulls aside, if nothing else the first three games have at least interjected some of that frat party excitement back into Spurs fans lives. It’s a completely different feeling to watch one of our wings (Jefferson) fill the lanes of a fast break with an edge-of-your-seat anticipation (as opposed to appreciating how each teammate runs to a designated spot on the three-point line).

It’s one of many new skill sets the Spurs now boast that shows—through a small sample size of three games—the Spurs may have the best offensive team of the Tim Duncan era. Popovich was absolutely right in his decree that the Spurs would not longer suffer through 4-on-5 offensive sets. The team has finally moved away from surrounding their stars with limited spot up shooters in favor of role players with very diverse offensive skill sets.

In their two wins George Hills has proven to be a vastly improved shooter with enough slashing ability to keep a defense off balance. Blair, for all his faults, creates plays, opportunities and shots outside of the Spurs game plan like only Manu Ginobili or Robert Horry could. His steal last night against a Kings outlet past was absolutely Horry like. Even Mason, a jump shooter, has enough ball handling ability to create better jump shots.

Think about it. In two of their first three games the Spurs racked up 113 points, reaching the 100-point mark early in the fourth in both games before taking their foot off the accelerator.

Ah, but that one loss to the Bulls. At best it appears the Spurs could still have trouble with energetic teams on the second end of back to backs. At worst, the offense is still completely dependent on the three-pointer. Because the Spurs do not generate a lot of fast break points or free throws the Spurs need space for Duncan or Tony Parker to operate. While the new additions make it harder for teams to sell out running the Spurs off the three-point line, because we have so few elite athletes, ultimately it still comes down to hitting shots.

In the first two games we’ve also shown a still watered down defense. It could be a lack of corporate knowledge with so many new faces or a lack of Bruce Bowens. But what it’s lacked in field goal defense it’s replace with actual defensive plays. Turnovers, steals, blocks. Fast break points.

Now the defense can and will improve as everyone gets use to each other but the steals or defensive chaos. Those are new dimensions to the Spurs created by the likes of Hill, Blair and Ratliff. Popovich may have reduced the playbook to speed up the learning curve of our new players, but it’s the ability of our new players to create plays outside of the script that make this possible.

Through three games they’ve still been the Spurs, only it’s as if someone snuck in a case and blue jeans to our party.

(Editor's Note: I apoligize for not getting game by game recaps but this blog doesn't pay any bills--or generate a lot of feedback--as of yet. If you have any talent stringing together sentences and want to contribute, feel free to leave contact information)

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