Channeling the Popovich Critic: the Search for Answers
I’ve never been able to bring myself to question Gregg Popovich when it comes to basketball-related decisions. Perhaps I’m being a wimp. Or perhaps it’s because he knows more about the sport and the inner workings of his team than I ever will, without question, and I’m not one to point out small mistakes along the way because everybody makes them. Hell, I had no issues when he put Tim Duncan on the bench just before the Ray Allen 3-pointer — he’d done it successfully all year in late-game situations up to that point, and I never even noticed his Timmy’s absence until all the post-game screaming — so why would I have any now?
Maybe that’s a weakness of mine in the coverage of this team. I don’t know. But I do feel comfortable in saying this: Last night was weird. By the time the game was over, my only rational thought was, the Spurs just freaking blew that game, and I have no idea how. After that, all I had were questions.
If Tony Parker was ready to play, why just 13 minutes and not a single second after halftime? Minutes-restrictions, caution with a big lead — OK, I get that. But then why play him at all? Duncan didn’t have the best game, and he was really struggling against the Pistons’ size, but you took him out with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter only to slip him back in at the last second on a crucial inbound play. Why? And what the hell was that play? How was there a miscommunication out of a timeout? And why did you foul when you were up by three? You NEVER do that? Did all those late-game shots opponents hit in December change your mind after all these years? WHY THE HELL IS YOUR TEAM SHOOTING 65 PERCENT FROM THE FREE-THROW LINE IN CLUTCH SITUATIONS THIS SEASON, PER NBA DOT COM? YES THAT’S CORRECT, I’M YELLING THAT LAST PART.
The thing about last night: You don’t see THAT game from the Spurs. Kawhi Leonard or no, you don’t see THAT team take a 54-36 lead with 3:55 remaining in the second quarter and proceed to TOTALLY BLOW IT over the next 10 minutes and three seconds.
Here are the numbers — and this is fun: San Antonio pushed its lead to 18 points with 3:55 left before halftime. Over the next 15 minutes, the Pistons outscored the defending champs 46-18. FORTY-SIX TO EIGHTEEN. The Spurs had as many turnovers (7) as they did field goals during that stretch, shot 28 percent from the floor and committed eight fouls.
Again, I want to reiterate: San Antonio took a 54-36 lead, then was outscored by nearly 30 points over the next 15 minutes. And you saw how it all ended. It turns out that Pelicans game was just a blip on the late-game-bad-luck radar for the Spurs.
When things go horribly wrong in such a quick, inexplicable fashion, I think the natural tendency is to nitpick — to try and point to specific things that went awry. A few paragraphs ago, I tried to channel the Popovich critic, because, in the moment all this happened, that’s kind of where my mind went. I don’t usually process these things in that way, but my brain didn’t have a logical place to reside at that point.
What happened last night wasn’t Popovich’s fault. After all, whatever game plan they arrived at the AT&T Center ready to execute seemed to work pretty well. But something happened along the way. It wasn’t any one person’s fault, something just happened. Manu Ginobili’s quote after the game basically said it all.
“I don’t have a word,” he told reporters. “I’d like to see exactly what happened. I don’t know if it was turnovers, bad shots, just things that happened.”
There certainly were turnovers — the Spurs committed seven of them during that span — but during that 46-18 run, San Antonio was absolutely murdered inside. The Pistons outrebounded the Spurs 21-10 and outscored them 28-8 in the paint. It was a massacre, and it happened in the blink of an eye.
I’m not sure where else to go beyond that. The funny thing is, this kind of thing happens all the time in the NBA; it just never happens to the Spurs. We’re not accustomed to seeing collapses like that, and while those of you who follow me and/or read my stuff regularly know that I regularly preach patience over panic considering all the circumstances, there is room for concern. The Spurs are not playing well. They’ve had games here and there over the course of the season where they looked like themselves, but it’s been incredibly inconsistent.
Forgive me for continuing to bring this up, but still stand by this: Don’t rush to judgment until Leonard is back on the court and healthy. For a team that still depends so much on Duncan, Ginobili, and Tony Parker, it remains a strange realization that Kawhi is this team’s best player. True, but strange. There are extra bells and whistles and better depth on this roster, but the Spurs without Leonard are just a better version of the team that was ousted by the Grizzlies in the first round of the 2011 Playoffs.
I tweeted last night: The Spurs are a one-and-done playoff team without Kawhi Leonard. With him, they are arguably title favorites.
There was a lot of flack directed toward me on that, from both sides of the argument, of course, because the Internet. There was also agreement, because the Internet. Right now, the Western Conference is a monster. It might be the best it’s ever been. Because of this, you have the right to be concerned by losses like these because of the effect they could have on the standings. San Antonio — fans, players, media — isn’t used to this position, so the feeling of discomfort is understandable.
But the line between elite and really good is razor thin, and the difference between the two classifications, especially in the West, is the difference between a title contender and a wannabe.
Just think about it. Look up and down the conference standings and tell me, with confidence, which teams you would pick the Spurs to beat in a series without Leonard in the lineup. Then, do the same with Leonard in the lineup. Which list is longer?
I realize I sound like a broken record, but I’m going to continue to preach patience as long as the Finals MVP is out of the lineup. Yes, the Spurs have offered legitimate reason for concern, but it’s all relative. You’re concerned because you’re uncomfortable. You’re uncomfortable because you’re not used to feeling basketball-related stress until the postseason. You’re feeling stress in December and early January because you’re spoiled.
Every year, 25 fan-bases around the league have to go through this discomfort, and every single one of their teams would be scrambling for footholds — if not outright free-falling — if their best player was injured and out of the lineup for long stretches. This doesn’t look like the team that won a title, the one you know so well, because it ISN’T the team that beat the Heat in June. It’s missing a pretty crucial piece.
The ups and downs and inconsistencies are maddening right now, and there’s no guarantee that will improve in the coming weeks or even when Leonard returns. But, if there’s anything that comes from this, it’s an appreciation for how slim the margins are in the NBA.
And, in some cases, how one player can make all the difference in the world.
