This is a few years overdue, but I need to make a promise to myself. Right here, right now, I have to swear that I won’t ever again doubt the San Antonio Spurs, at least not until I have legitimate reason to.
Why am I making this pact? Because, when I make my annual preseason predictions for the Western Conference, I pick several teams over the Spurs, year in and year out. And, especially over the past few seasons, the Spurs have consistently outperformed my expectations.
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Two years ago, prior to the 2011-12 season, I predicted the Spurs would finish a mere fourth in the West, despite winning a conference-best 61 games a year earlier. What happened? They finished with the best record in the West for the second consecutive season before falling just two wins shy of an appearance in the NBA Finals.
One year later, I again had the Spurs finishing fourth in the West, this time behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. What happened? Not only did the Spurs win the Western Conference, but they also had one of the more dominant playoff runs I have ever seen. In the three playoff rounds that preceded the NBA Finals, San Antonio went a combined 12-2 against the Lakers, Warriors and Grizzlies. And, in the NBA Finals, you know what happened: the Spurs were 29 seconds away from the title, shooting free throws with a four-point lead in Game 6 before all hell broke loose.
Sure, the Spurs fell short of their ultimate championship goal in each of the past two seasons, but one truth prevailed: I had underestimated them. Twice. So, I surely had learned my lesson. Right?
Wrong.
After Dwight Howard signed with the Rockets and Andre Iguodala went to the Warriors during this past summer, I thought the balance of power in the West had finally shifted away from the Spurs. For the third year in a row, I guessed San Antonio would finish fourth in the conference, behind Houston, Golden State and Oklahoma City.
Now, granted, we’re only about a month into the regular season, but it already looks like I’m going to be wrong — again. The Spurs are 15-3, good for first in the West, and have the second-best scoring differential (plus-9.8) in the NBA behind Indiana.
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It doesn’t matter that the Rockets signed Dwight Howard, it doesn’t matter that the Warriors are everyone’s favorite team to watch, and it doesn’t matter that Doc Rivers is at the helm with the Clippers. San Antonio is still the team in the West racking up wins at the fastest pace. And to anyone who thought the Spurs might suffer from a Finals hangover (me) after they brutally choked away a championship in June, you clearly underestimated the leadership in their locker room.
The truth is that, for each of the past three offseasons, I have kept telling myself the same exact thing: This has to be the year the Spurs fall off. Tim Duncan is too old. Manu Ginobili is too old. Tony Parker is getting old. The rest of the Western Conference is just getting better.
It’s not that I was wrong about the Spurs getting old — they are aging. Tim Duncan is 37. Ginobili is 36. Parker will be 32 next spring. I did, however, overlook one factor: the impact that Gregg Popovich can have on a team.
Keep reading to hear about some crazy efficient scoring numbers from San Antonio…
If you ever watch a Spurs game, one thing will become immediately obvious: they define what it means to play as a team. Even as the core of the Spurs gets older, more and more guys — role players, if you will — seem to just step up simultaneously. That’s nothing more than a result of Popovich’s system.
Somehow, someway, even with Duncan and Ginobili having career-worst seasons, Pop still has his team at the top of the standings. He’s getting contributions from literally everybody on the roster. Kawhi Leonard is averaging over 11 points and six rebounds; Boris Diaw is averaging double-digit points in just over 22 minutes of action per night; Danny Green is averaging eight points per game and shooting over 44 percent from three; Marco Belinelli is even better than Green from beyond the arc (57 percent); and Tiago Splitter is making nearly 60 percent of his field goals. Five different Spurs are averaging double-digit points, and four others are scoring at least seven points per night.
Popovich plays 14 guys and nobody averages more than 28 minutes per game (excluding Parker), yet it works almost perfectly. It’s a team tailor-made for Gregg Popovich to coach. He has one superstar (Parker) that has the ability to lead a team to the Finals, and the rest of the roster is full of selfless, team-first players that are willing to sacrifice playing time and individual statistics for wins.
So, why didn’t I see this before the season? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m bored of the Spurs and secretly wanted a new team to take control in the West, or maybe it’s because I just couldn’t get over the Game 6 collapse. But, whatever the reason was, here’s what I can confirm: I wasn’t alone. Was anyone talking about the Spurs before the season? Heck, is anyone even talking about them right now?
I’m sure most weren’t as low on the Spurs as I was entering the new season, but throughout the offseason and even up until now, there has hardly been any talk about them. It’s still all about the Clippers, or the new-look Rockets, or the Thunder, and I can’t figure out why the Spurs continue to get no love.
Now, this isn’t to suggest a 15-3 record in early-December guarantees the Spurs are the favorites to win the championship. Of course it doesn’t. But, as I’ve mentioned a few times, these are the same Spurs that came oh-so-close to the Larry O’Brien Trophy last June, and now, this season, just keep winning and winning. Let’s give them the respect they deserve because in the Western Conference, there’s no reason the discussion shouldn’t start and end with San Antonio.
Is San Antonio the best team in the West right now?
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