Before Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs stole a win at the Los Angeles Clippers last night, Gregg Popovich addressed his team’s long-term goals for this season with typical pragmatism. Can the Spurs ever play as well as they did in the last three games of June’s NBA Finals? Maybe, but the reigning Coach of the Year insists San Antonio won’t ever be better than that.
Something else interesting from Pop: "We'll never play better than we did the last three games of the Finals."
— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) November 11, 2014
Pop basically admits there's no room for improvement on end of last season. Best case is just to get close to that level. Brutal honesty.
— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) November 11, 2014
Pop: "If we could duplicate that (how Spurs played in Finals), I would take it. And it's either good enough or it isn't."
— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) November 11, 2014
This is something we touched on in response to the Spurs’ mesmerizing play against Miami – namely, wondering if any team could ever duplicate that specific group’s success.
Everything came together at the right time for San Antonio in Games 3, 4, and 5. Veterans played like youngsters, journeyman played like starters, and Leonard played like a superstar. The result was a more beautiful brand of basketball than we’ve ever seen.
Here are a couple tweets we sent while watching the first half of Game 3:
I can't breathe. This is crazy.
— Jack Winter (@ArmstrongWinter) June 11, 2014
That was so incredible that it didn't even feel like basketball. What did I just watch?
— Jack Winter (@ArmstrongWinter) June 11, 2014
In that decisive trio of games, the Spurs’ offensive efficiency was a blistering 124.2. Their defensive efficiency was a solid 98.8 despite LeBron James’ singular brilliance. Their rebound rate was 54.6 percent. They assisted on 61.7 percent of made baskets. They shot 54.2 percent from the field and 44.8 from beyond the arc.
It was as close to pristine as a game where missing half your shots and forcing the opposition into difficult looks is about the best you can do. Basketball is imperfect, and San Antonio made it easy to believe otherwise.
Everything came together, basically, and there’s no telling that it will again. There’s too much noise associated with health, age, emotions, competition, and luck to count on similar play going forward, and far too much to think the Spurs – or any other team, for that matter – could be any better.
What if the “disease of more” afflicts Leonard? What if Tony Parker sprains his ankle again? What if Patty Mills struggles to return from offseason shoulder surgery? What if the ball starts sticking?
Those are the kinds of questions that plague any team, and San Antonio answered them with aplomb last June. It might not going forward. But if there’s a squad that can do it again, you can bet it’s the Spurs. As Popovich says, though, just don’t expect them to be any better.
What do you think?
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