The tried-and-true formula for San Antonio Spurs offseason acquisitions was predictable. You surround the three-headed silver and black monster of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker with shooters and defenders.
For the longest time, it made sense and worked. Duncan would draw double-teams on the low block and pass the ball out to wide open shooters. Parker and Manu beat their defenders off the dribble and get into the lane. If they couldn’t find a shot for themselves, chances are there was a Spur around them somewhere who was open in shooting position. Then everybody did their damnedest to defend the right way on the other end of the floor.
Fair or not, San Antonio Spurs fans have been awaiting the arrival of Tiago Splitter since the team first drafted Luis Scola. Since 2002 (the year Scola was drafted) each FIBA tournament has served as a tease of sorts for Spurs faithful. And with each passing tournament the concept of foreign big man savior grew in its myth.
Brazil’s narrow 68-70 loss to Team USA offered a bit of nostalgia for Spurs fans tuning in to see their prized big man. There again were the beautiful offensive sets of Brazilian head coach Ruben Magnano (formerly of Argentina) running roughshod at times through the USA defense.
Splitter, however, is not Luis Scola. For one, he is already under contract with the Spurs. And with the will-he-or-won’t-he-come speculation long since over, today’s game finally removed some of the mystery surrounding the Brazilian big man. Keep reading →
Hairston’s 2009-10 season with the Spurs ended prematurely because of an ankle injury. He was also absent from the Spurs summer league team, and it was believed that it was in part because of the same ankle injury. Who knows if the Spurs had some knowledge of this back injury.
If Hairston’s Italian career is short-lived, it’s difficult to say what interest he or the Spurs would have in a reunion.
Chanel recently launched an ad campaign with plus-sized model Crystal Renn. The promise of the fashion house, or so it would seem, was to capture the outer charm of Christina Hendricks in a tasteful still frame or two. But when the campaign launched, there wasn’t much of anything plus-sized about it. Renn was captured from the shoulders up, and any suggestion of plus-sizes was left in the public relations office.
This is how I felt about the San Antonio Spurs’ last season. During training camp 2009, Gregg Popovich vowed a return to defensive form, wanting his team to get back to the top of the NBA’s defensive rankings. But the Spurs never got there. The Spurs weren’t plus-sized; they weren’t even fat-faced. The promise of a defensive return to form fell flat from Day 1.
Now, of course, Gregg Popovich is not Karl Lagerfeld. There is no doubt that Popovich preached defense as ardently and sincerely as ever before–his intentions were true. The Spurs’ defensive failures were not bound up in a disingenuous promise. The Spurs failed because they didn’t have the right personnel to meet Popovich’s defensive demands. And this was true across the roster–it wasn’t simply a problem of Richard Jefferson’s inability to recreate Bruce Bowen.
The Spurs’ signing of Tiago Splitter will help their front court. Splitter’s ability to defend the pick and roll is well-documented. But what else have the Spurs done to upgrade their defensive personnel?
This is me pleading ignorance, not protesting the team’s offseason. Neither James Anderson nor Gary Neal nor Matt Bonner nor Richard Jefferson nor Alonzo Gee are defensive specialists, at least they’re not billed that way. Tim Duncan is a year older. DeJuan Blair is still short. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili give great effort, but are, generally put, offensive players. Garrett Temple was a good defender in limited minutes last season, and he is the one “new” face on the perimeter whose defensive abilities put a little pollyanna in this blogger.
In addition to the absence of capable defensive personnel, the Spurs lacked quality perimeter shooters last season. The front office seems to have addressed the issue of shooting this offseason, but left their die hard faithful with questions about their the team’s overall defensive ability. So, in short, the big question facing the Spurs this season is whether Popovich can make good on his ambition to return the Spurs to the top of the league’s defensive rankings, a year later than he had originally planned. And if so, who will emerge as San Antonio’s go-to defensive specialist(s)?
On Wednesday, Kelly Dwyer of the Yahoo! Ball Don’t Lie blog posted his list of the Top 30 power forwards in the NBA. The pride and joy of St. Croix, Tim Duncan, finished second on the list.
Who was number one? If you couldn’t tell by the photo and headline (I hope you readers are more perceptive than that), it’s Pau Gasol.
At first glance, the claim in scandalous. Pau Gasol, that skinny Spaniard who couldn’t win a playoff game in Memphis? He’s a better power forward right now than the greatest power forward of all-time?
Ferry, who resigned as general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers ahead of LeBron James’ free agency defection in July, officially will be announced as a member of the Spurs’ front office by week’s end.
A source familiar with the team’s discussions with Ferry confirmed a YahooSports report that Ferry soon will re-unite with the team.
A member of the Spurs’ 2003 NBA title team, Ferry will replace Dell Demps, the club’s director of pro player personnel.
Chances are, if you’re a regular reader of this blog you have a pretty good idea of what the San Antonio Spurs like to do, and avoid, on the defensive end of the floor.
But from time-to-time, I find it helpful to review things to keep them fresh in my head. And seeing as it’s mid-August and the NBA is on vacation, I thought we’d take a look at a couple of the bedrock principles of the Spurs’ defense.
There’s not a lot going on regarding the NBA right now. That’s not fun. But luckily for us, this is one of those summers where international basketball is in the spotlight. The FIBA World Championships kick-off on Saturday morning in Turkey and a couple of players property of the San Antonio Spurs will take stage.
Basketball, at the heart and soul of its appeal, is a fluid game. Not unlike Jazz. To attempt to label and classify every aspect of it is to deny the improvisational qualities which make it so endearing.
There are rules and guidelines by which each is identified, but whether on the court or in a set, the improvisational character of each always gives rise to moments that challenge our preconceived notions.
I’ve long opposed the concept of roles defined by positional fundamentalism, which might be defined as a dogmatic reliance on traditional position labels such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Positional fundamentalism, with it’s outdated and glib outlook, robs basketball of its fluidity, of its jazz-like beauty. Recently, Drew Cannon of Basketball Prospectus and Rob Mahoney of the Two Man Game have taken up the task of accounting for the jazz. In other words, they’re rethinking how we define positions. (Something Mahoney admits is an ever evolving process.)
There is no end to this process. Even if we successfully shed the five traditional positions in favor of some other system, players and their roles will continue to evolve. It’s critical that we’re constantly challenging the limits of positionality to match with the on-court product. Note that those limits aren’t being tested without reason. It’s important that positional rhetoric remains descriptivist in nature. We’re no saying this is the way that position X should play,” but rather “this is the way that position X does play.”
There is certainly some intrigue to the system. But as Mahoney states, it needs to be further developed and refined. Keep reading →
It’s no surprise that Richard Jefferson faces a lot of pressure in his second season on the San Antonio Spurs. In his first, Jefferson came with the weight of a $15 million salary. And while averages of 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game were decent, they did not fulfill the expectations many fans and team personnel had. Even though he’ll be playing at a reduced price in 2010-11, the belief that he should play at a level worthy of a $15 million contract will still be there.
Former San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for the second time on Friday, this time as a part of the 1992 US Men’s National Basketball team. You may know them by their nickname, The Dream Team. The 1960 Men’s National team was also inducted.
And now Christian Laettner is in the Hall of Fame, which is weird.
Empires fall. The history books are littered with them. The Greeks. The Romans. Spain. Britain. Maybe someday even America. The same holds true for nearly every major power that’s ever risen to the top, be it nation, corporation, or basketball team.
Especially basketball teams. After all, unlike nations or corporations, basketball teams rely solely on physical assets (players) whose value depreciates relatively quickly. But does it have to be this way? If given the proper warning signs can a team stave off decline?
A year ago author Jim Collins of How the Mighty Fall talked to Business Week explaining the five stages of decline. It’s an interesting read and one that is not only applicable to business. In it, he poses an interesting question:
“When you are at the top of the world, the most powerful nation on Earth, the most successful company in your industry, the best player in your game, your very power and success might cover up the fact that you’re already on the path of decline.” That question—how would you know? Keep reading →
The San Antonio Spurs 2010-2011 regular season schedule was released on Tuesday. In what could be the last year (or is that next year?) that the Spurs compete for an NBA title, we take a look at the schedule and see what lies ahead for the silver and black from late October to mid-April.
