Gregg Popovich, the Spurs, and Tom Thibodeau

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Last night’s game was not all lolly pops and fairy dust for the Spurs. After the game, Popovich tipped his hat to an obvious flaw in the team’s win over the Hornets. Team defense was lousy for most of the night.

“Our defense in the first half was good and in the second half it was really poor,” Popovich said.  “I was very disappointed with our defense in the second half. With the amount of points we gave up and the shots that they made, we really lost our focus defensively. Fortunately, we kept scoring.”

As 48MoH and others have pointed out, the game broke down rather simply. The Spurs bench crushed the Hornets bench, outscoring them 30-0 in the first half. Once the Spurs had a lead, they protected the victory by exchanging baskets with the Hornets. The Spurs won the third quarter by two points and lost the fourth by three.

After one game, there is no need to sound alarms. Plenty of great stuff happened in the game, stuff for Spurs aficionados to get all excited about. But the Spurs’ defense is the most important storyline of the season, just after team health. Last season, the Spurs really stumbled out of the gate, and it took them nearly the entire season to regain some semblance of their typically suffocating play.  They can’t afford a repeat performance.

Popovich knows how crucial great defensive play is to another championship. His postgame quotes testify to this concern, as did his lambasting of Michael Finley during a timeout–Finley, a Popovich favorite and newly named starter, had just whiffed a defensive assignment.

In related news, the Boston Celtics are call-your-neighbors-and-rave  impressive through two games. Boston’s early season defensive intensity is reminiscent of the team’s approach to the 2007-8 season.  Tom Thibodeau, Celtics assistant coach, is a defensive ace and the not-thanked-enough reason the Celtics won a championship two years ago.

The Spurs, whose defensive schemes are praised by GMs league-wide, would do well to model the dominate now and later approach of the Celtics–for all the offense available in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, it was Boston’s stingy defense that overturned the Lakers’ apple cart in ’07-08. The same stingy defense is needed for the Spurs to maneuver past the Lakers this season.

Simply put, the Spurs need to defend at the same levels that won their previous four championships in order to win their fifth.

Jeff McDonald quotes Pop as saying, “We tried to institute some new things the past couple of years, and they didn’t really work out. So we’re going back to the good old days when we tried to lead the league defensively.”

The most important statistic to follow as a Spurs fan is defensive field goal percentage. If the Spurs’ opponents shoot in the low 40s, the Spurs will be fine. That will put them near the top of the league.

I know this. You know this. The Spurs know this.

The Hornets shot 50% from the field last night.  Ugh.  It’s never too early to kick that kind of trend in the head.

  • http://www.goodtimescomic.blogspot.com Jordan

    I noticed that the defense was giving West and Okafor open looks. Doesn’t that have something to do with Blair guarding one of those for 25+ minutes? Both of those guys are above average at putting the ball in the hole.

    On the other hand, I couldn’t tell if our first half defense was because the Hornets were rusty or if we actually prevented it.

    I’m still surprised the Hornets scored 96 points. It felt like they missed 2/3 of their shots. Good to see Pop getting on people in the midst of a blowout. We need to keep a solid mindset.

  • Bryan

    Giving up 50% shooting is the one downer of last night’s victory. I think it’s even worse than the shooting percentage was that good given that stretch in the 1st where the Hornets missed something like 15 shots in a row.

  • dingo

    Looking forward to seeing the rotation tonight and how our defense fairs. I’ll be at the game, nosebleeds on baseline!

  • BlaseE

    That 50% is hard to swallow, but they did only shoot 38% in the first half when the game was even somewhat competitive. One thing I did notice though was that we were down 12-6 before Manu came in. We finished the quarter up 19-13 with Manu having a +/- of +12. No one scored on him.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    Bryan,

    Yeah, I hate to harp on a lone negative amongst so many positives. But it’s important the Spurs get a handle on their D.

    The Hornets actually shot over 60% for the second half. That’s sad.

    I like the Spurs starting Bonner, but maybe Pop needs to find more time for Ratliff. They’ll get it figured out.

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    Dingo,

    Graydon and I will be at the game tonight. If the technology cooperates, we’ll live chat from the game at ESPN.com from our little spot amongst the press corp.

  • Martin

    Looks like SA is back in the old practice of being under the radar…

    The team ran the hornets out of the hardwood yesterday and not a single mention of it in either ESPN or Sports Illustrated, just the AP news….they are talking about Cleveland losing to the Raps, or the Magic beating the Sixers (what’s new about it?)…

    nobody is talking about our potential ROY…or that Manu IS back after all!!!

  • http://www.48minutesofhell.com Timothy Varner

    BlaseE,

    Manu really does a better job on defense than he gets credit.

    I’ll give that a close study tonight.

  • Bryan

    Well, Tim, I think as fans we try to temper our excitement. It was, after all just 1 game. And based on what I saw last night, NOLA just doesn’t look like that good of a team. 60% over the second half definitely needs to be improved upon.

    But overall, there was definitely much to be happy about last night.

    And Ratliff looked a little old and sluggish to me. But I do think they need to see what he has left. It would be nice to be able to have someone who can protect the rim.

  • SAJKinBigD

    I think it’s important to remember that Finley and Bonner are only serviceable (at best) defensive players and Blair, Jefferson and McDyess are new to the system. I understand it’s a point of emphasis, but I also think it’ll resolve itself quickly.
    I’d be interested to see +/- for everyone and to see _WHEN_ they got their minutes. I didn’t get a chance to do more than listen to about 3 minutes of the game.

  • http://www.goodtimescomic.blogspot.com Jordan

    Hey Tim,

    Next time you have a live chat planned, can you post it on the site during the day? I don’t usually check the site during the evening.

  • http://www.goodtimescomic.blogspot.com Jordan

    Shoot, I actually had a real question too.

    There seemed to be a TON of fouls called on us too. I remember most of them happening in the 2nd quarter, though fortunately the Hornets didn’t capitalize. Some of these were due to inexperience (Blair) but I wonder if that had something to do with the lack of defense. Your thoughts?

  • SAJKinBigD

    By the way by WHEN, I meant time and score at the time.

  • mattmo28

    I am really worried about the D. Last night looked like last year’s team in that when we are hitting 3′s we look good. That 50% number scares me.

  • Sauce

    It speaks a lot about an organization when a team gets a real contribution from a 10-man rotation en route to a dominant performance and win and yet there is still critiquing from the head coach to the players and to the fans.

    Man do I love the Spurs!

  • Bryan

    Totally agree, Sauce.

  • SAJKinBigD

    Hey, what’s the deal with 2 back-to-backs in the first 8 days of the season with a four day break in there too? Bizarre scheduling.

  • L-Man

    It’s human nature to let up when you are rolling offensively. No worries. Best offensive unit in duncan Era can let up occasionally when scoring in droves. When game is tighter, that defense will be there.

  • Errin

    I agree L-Man when you are up 20 at the half its hard to come out and expect them to play with playoff intensity on the defensive end that’s the luxury of doing your work early you can coast to the finish line.

  • Rye

    Maybe it’s because as Spurs fans we’re pre-conditioned to think this, but why exactly do the Spurs have to defend at the same level they did during their four championships in order to win their fifth? Why can’t balance win the day?

    I’m not dismissing the importance of defense (at the very least, the Spurs need to be top 4-5 in efficiency), but this offense has the potential to be so explosive and the rebounding so improved that maybe, just maybe, the Spurs don’t have to win by being historically or near historically great defensively anymore. Maybe good-very good is enough? That being said, It would be nice if eventually this defense resembles Spurs defenses of years gone by.