Are we overlooking the San Antonio Spurs?

[Dash]

The Spurs burst through the gates to possibly the best start in the Western Conference for their first two games by blowing out the Clippers and Grizzlies, two of the top four or so teams in the West. They are showing flashes of last season where they owned the best record in the West, and were looking like legitimate championship contenders. For their first two games, they looked even better than last season because of the additions of Tiago Splitter and Kawhi Leonard. Yes, Splitter played last season but we all know that Popovich doesn't like playing his rookies much and he's earned some significantly more playing time. The Spurs might have lost George Hill in the draft night deal but I can definitely see why they did it, Leonard plays some stifling defense (could be their new Bruce Bowen) and he's excellent on the glass for a small forward. Had he not been a rookie, I could see Pop giving Leonard a shot at the starting job because Jefferson has been so awful.

 

That said, here is what worries me most about the Spurs in this condensed schedule. On today's back-to-back game, they looked awful and got blown out by the Houston Rockets and were held to 85 points (would be less if not for garbage time). This team is young (believe it or not, they actually are) but its their core 2-3 players that are going to struggle to stay healthy and play consistent minutes on these back to backs (Duncan limited to 4 points, 1 rebound in 18 minutes).

 

Thoughts?

[Newman]

The defense is better with the addition of Kawhi and the improvement of Splitter. But I don't see Blair continuing to be a factor on offense. At the end of the day, they will have to rely on Duncan, Manu and Parker to score for them and I still don't think that is sufficient.

[htownborn]

I agree that the Spurs aren't as old as many people try to make them out to be. Over the last 4 years they have been putting together some nice young players too add to their corre in the draft such as Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair, James Anderson, Kawhi Leonard, and Cory Joseph. Getting Gary Neal helps too and they signed T.J Ford who I think's a good pick up and nice back up for Parker. I still think their one of the better teams in the West but if they are to do something they should trade either trade Jefferson or Bonner both played very horrible tonight. They could also try to add so more big men to the team their kind of thin in the front court with just Duncan, Splitter, Bonner and a 6'7" Blair.

Edited December 30, 2011 by htownborn

[Finch23]

I know it's a extremely small sample, but I really think Blair has improved his all around game. He has much better control of his body on both ends of the floor. He is learning to use his weight to his advantage. Last year on offense Blair didn't have many go to moves, he would try to back down his opponent do some out of control spin move and get his ish Swatted. He is showing a lot more patience down low and using his weight to get in a good position. His defense has also improved, he is relying much more on his footwork rather than reaching in with his hands. I do believe he can be a solid contributor this season as long as he keeps the extra weight off. People also forget he was having a solid season last year up until the very game he was benched for Mcdyess. After that the Spurs played barely above .500 ball.

 

I'm beginning to realize why the Spurs FO made the trade for Kawai. He is a legit NBA defender already, can rebound extremely well for a SF and has pretty solid athleticism. His shot needs work, but working with Chip England should solve that problem eventually. Very excited about this kid.

 

Spurs will be a strong regular season team this year, but if they want to make another run they need a semi decent low post threat. Timmy's role has been reduced to defender, Splitter although showing signs of improvement isn't a low post threat, and Blair is 6'7. Bonner.... Well he is worthless. Cousins would be awesome if Pop could keep him in check, but we don't have the assets to get him. Same goes for Al Jefferson.