The San Antonio Spurs continue to prove people wrong amid tanking allegations. Fans think that key losses to Devin Vassell, Josh Richardson, and Isaiah Roby will push the Spurs to the bottom of the standings but their victories against top-caliber teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves have us all by surprise.
Youth movement in full force
The season that was believed to be just a rebuilding season is unexpectedly turning out to be a competitive and exciting one. The Spurs continue to have superb ball movement and we can see that their young players are doing the work.
In a post-game interview after their win against the Timberwolves, coach Gregg Popovich praised his team for their huge accomplishment.
“They’re young enough and they don’t know any better. They just keep playing hard. They enjoy playing together. [The team] is pretty much obeying the basketball gods, obeying simple things that help win games,” he shared.
One of the young players who is putting in the work is the new sharpshooter 23-year-old Keldon Johnson. A lot of us thought that his outside shot-making was only a phase last year but he’s still shooting the lights out after his 25-point performance that included five 3-pointers.
It looks like he’s shooting with a lot of confidence, attempting at least 8.7 threes per game this season?a number produced by the likes of superstars Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatytum last season.
Another instrumental piece in the Spurs’ fast start is Jakob Poeltl. Standing at 7’1, the Austrian center is the cornerstone of the San Antonio defense. In addition to his exceptional defense, he can also provide passing and interior offense. This guy has a lot of value right now and San Antonio is for sure contemplating if they’ll re-sign or trade him.
Other than the two mentioned above, we also have Tre Jones who has been solid as the starting point guard, also contributing a good number of points with his corner 3s. Zach Collins, rookie Blake Wesley, and Keita Bates-Diop are also off to a good start this season.
Spurs basketball is team basketball
We all remember how the 2014 San Antonio Spurs played. Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Leonard, Tim Duncan, and Patty Mills were passing the ball around, able to find the open guy play after play. This time, after almost a decade since that championship team, Popovich’s basketball system is back. They’re not as talented as the former roster full of Hall-of-Famers but the ball movement of this present squad has been amazing so far.
The team in 2014 had about 70 percent of their 3-pointers coming from assists but this year, we see that everyone on the roster has over 90% of their 3-point attempts assisted. Not only have their buckets come from assists but they are also executing more assists in general.
Last year, Dejounte Murray had about 9.2 assists per game as a high-usage point guard in a heliocentric offense. However, this year, the Spurs are steering away from relying too heavily on one player to generate assists. Everyone is expected to contribute in that department so the offense doesn’t stagnate.
With San Antonio now finding its way back to its basketball roots and slowly figuring out its identity in the post-Leonard era, it’s going to be a delight watching the young boys continue what they’ve been doing in the past eight games. They may experience some struggles in the rotation due to injuries but it’s going to be exciting to see how the rest of this season is going to pan out for this impressive team.
