The San Antonio Spurs just absolutely bowled over the L.A Clippers, a week after absolutely bowling over the Utah Jazz. They are on an 18-game winning streak, 24-point deficits be damned, and have been thoroughly untroubled on their way to the Western Conference Finals. Over the last month of the season, they have been the best team in the league, and it’s not been especially close.
Like a fine wine, and completely unlike gum disease, the Spurs only seem to improve with age. They have won four of the last 14 championships, and made the playoffs for 15 straight years, winning no fewer than 50 games in any full length regular season during that time and only failing to get out of the first round three times. Their winning percentage in that time is about 135 percent. And they never, ever seem to fall off.
It is not a coincidence that, 15 years ago, they drafted Tim Duncan, the unquestionable best power forward of all time even if he is a center. It is too simple, however, to credit the Spurs’ two decades of continued success solely to him. Nor is it fair to credit it all to Gregg Popovich, the NBA’s longest tenured coach in his first and only NBA gig. San Antonio’s continued success is multifaceted, contingent not just upon Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Gregg Popovich, R.C. Buford or the role players, but all of it. The pattern. The formula. The Spurs way of doing things. Spurs basketball. Whatever that is.
One alpha dog, two beta dogs, and a few puppies. Few bad eggs, and even the bad eggs they have will play hard. A mixture of age and youth, athleticism and guile, defense and offense, jumpshooting and paint production, transition and halfcourt. Doing so on a smaller budget than most, constantly flirting with (and sometimes paying) the luxury tax, but without ever wanting or wishing to. Finding cheapies, plugging them in, building them up, letting them leave, finding new cheapies.
Moving the ball, shooting the ball, rotating, picking and rolling, carpe dieming, with precisely one All-Star in this superteams era. It doesn’t seem that hard, but seemingly no one else can do it this well.
The Spurs continue to milk this formula, with an alpha dog whose averages are only slightly better than those than Carlos Boozer. And yet Tim Duncan never declines significantly. He plays less now, but he plays just as well. He passes just as well. He reads the defense just as well. He shoots bankers just as well. His driving righty flip-hook-layup-whatever-it-is thing is just as good. He still never, ever goaltends. He produces 90 percent of what he did when he won his first title, 14 years on. And now, rather than relying on Mario Elie, Malik Rose and Jaren Jackson for support. Duncan has a deep, deep supporting cast.
San Antonio seeks out these role players, and get them comparatively cheaply, because there is ultimately nothing special about them. Danny Green can’t do anything that hundreds of other wing players can’t do. He shoots well, but they are mostly catch-and-shoots. He plays good defense, but locks nobody down. He passes well, but merely moves the ball and runs no offense. Gary Neal handles it sufficiently, shoots it well, yet does nothing remarkable. Matt Bonner has two moves — the jumpshot, and the up-fake-to-clumsy-drive countermove. Yet on the Spurs, they have become high caliber role players, guys who do a few things right, no things wrong, and fit perfectly within a simple but clinical offense designed to fit their needs. Because that’s Spurs basketball.
The formula was created by Duncan and Popovich. It was tweaked for Parker, refined for Manu, and adhered to by the rest. They look for only about four different looks on offense, mostly stemming from the incessant pick-and-roll. The bigs can roll or pop, the guards can wriggle into the lane and finish, and the floor is dotted with shooters, with rarely (if ever) less than two quality shooters on the court at any one time. The Spurs play for the corner three, play for the driving lineup, play of the open 18-footer. It is largely mistake-free basketball that prioritizes efficiency, yet also has versatility.
There are similarly few mistakes on roster decisions, and those that are there — say, for example, Richard Jefferson — get cleared for the cost of a first round pick. That pick is then replaced by a quality free agent signing, and a couple of midseason pickups. Rinse and repeat, repeat to fade, et cetera. Everybody makes mistakes, but you don’t notice San Antonio’s, which is as glowing of an endorsement as there can be.
This is not to say that they are beyond reproach. In theory, you can beat Tony Parker off the dribble, pressure him when on the ball, and dare him to shoot. In theory, you can expose a lack of size, the lack of post defenders outside of Duncan, and a lack of post offense, as only Duncan gets it done on the interior and it’s the aspect of his game to have slipped the most. In theory, you can expose the age of a team whose stars have 3,044 games under their belt, before international or pre-NBA commitments are even accounted for. No matter how young their supporting cast.
But that’s all just theory. In practice, the Oklahoma City Thunder, next in the firing line, don’t have the pieces to attack Duncan, and Parker feeds on Russell Westbrook just as much as Westbrook feeds on Parker. Without being invincible, it is hard to know how to beat the Spurs. By keeping their minutes down over the years, Popovich has his big three, now into their second decade of implicit dominance, almost as effective as ever on a team as good as ever. And now they have far more support to pick up the slack.
At some point, a precipitous decline really will happen. But it won’t be any time soon. The Spurs might not win the title this season, but they most certainly could. That, simply, is quite remarkable.
Showing posts with label GREG POPOVICH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GREG POPOVICH. Show all posts
5.22.2012
SPURS - POUNDING THE ROCK
“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich spoke during a pregame press conference about the origins of the stonecutter quote and why he brought it to the team.
Here’s Pop’s quote in full: “That was a long time ago. It was back in the 90s and I was reading something about immigration in New York way back when, that kind of thing, and he was a reformer. He fought for better housing and better conditions, working conditions, that type of thing, for immigrants of all countries.
“He was relentless at it and that quote that we use is obviously his quote, and I thought it embodied anyone’s effort in any endeavor, really. It doesn’t have to be basketball. It can be a musical instrument or it can be learning mathematics or going to law school or figuring out how to turn the water off in your house because you’re an idiot. If you can’t figure that out you just keep looking, keep trying, keep going.
“The way he said it was very eloquent, and I thought that it fit. You get tired of all that other junk. ‘Winners never do this’ or ‘Losers always quit.’ ‘There’s no I in team’ — all the typical, trite silly crap you see in locker rooms at all levels. It’s always turned me off, so I thought that this was maybe a little bit more, I don’t know, intelligent. A different way to get to the guys and make them think about it.
“They’ve had that in their brains for a long time. They’re probably totally tired of it, but it’s worked well for us… They’ve been brainwashed pretty good by now… I’m leaving right after Ghadafi. They’re going to get rid of me… I’ve been here too long.”
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich spoke during a pregame press conference about the origins of the stonecutter quote and why he brought it to the team.
Here’s Pop’s quote in full: “That was a long time ago. It was back in the 90s and I was reading something about immigration in New York way back when, that kind of thing, and he was a reformer. He fought for better housing and better conditions, working conditions, that type of thing, for immigrants of all countries.
“He was relentless at it and that quote that we use is obviously his quote, and I thought it embodied anyone’s effort in any endeavor, really. It doesn’t have to be basketball. It can be a musical instrument or it can be learning mathematics or going to law school or figuring out how to turn the water off in your house because you’re an idiot. If you can’t figure that out you just keep looking, keep trying, keep going.
“The way he said it was very eloquent, and I thought that it fit. You get tired of all that other junk. ‘Winners never do this’ or ‘Losers always quit.’ ‘There’s no I in team’ — all the typical, trite silly crap you see in locker rooms at all levels. It’s always turned me off, so I thought that this was maybe a little bit more, I don’t know, intelligent. A different way to get to the guys and make them think about it.
“They’ve had that in their brains for a long time. They’re probably totally tired of it, but it’s worked well for us… They’ve been brainwashed pretty good by now… I’m leaving right after Ghadafi. They’re going to get rid of me… I’ve been here too long.”
2.03.2011
SPURS - A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Anyone who knows Gregg Popovich knows there are probably 347 other places he’d rather be than walking the red carpet at the All-Star Game next month in Los Angeles as coach of the Western Conference team. He doesn’t do extravagant parties, and the over-the-top showmanship of the NBA’s annual entertainment weekend likely doesn’t appeal to him. More than anything, he’d rather just not have the attention.
Popovich has always preached a we-over-me mantra with the San Antonio Spurs, and that comes from his days at the Air Force Academy, where he was a walk-on for the basketball team.
“I’m just guessing, but everybody that goes there has a 3.8 or 4.0 [grade-point average] – valedictorians – and did all kinds of stuff,” Popovich said. “And you go there and everybody is the same. They strip you bare. You start over again, and during the four years you learn it’s not about you. It’s about the group. It’s about the people that are around you and how people come together and how teams are put together and how you have each other’s back and that sort of thing.
“You learn that one person really doesn’t get anything done. In any business, in any endeavor, the people around you have to be good people and have to be able to work together. That’s where the real joy is – when you’re sharing success with somebody.”
Over the last 13-plus seasons, no major U.S. professional sports franchise has enjoyed more sustained success than the Spurs. They’ve won 70.1 percent of their games during that time, a mark that ranks ahead of the NFL’s New England Patriots (68.3 percent) and the Spurs’ own rival, the Los Angeles Lakers (65.9). They’ve also won four NBA championships and seven division titles and may have produced their biggest surprise yet this season: At a time when many thought the Spurs would slip from the ranks of the league’s elite, they’ve surged to their greatest start ever with a league-best 40-8 record.
“Everybody is surprised by that record,” Manu Ginobili(notes) said. “But now we are here. We earned it and we want to keep the lead as long as possible and finish No. 1.”
The Spurs have benefitted from good health: They’re the only team in the league to use the same starting lineup for each of their games. But they’ve also won because of their remarkable balance. They rank fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 104.1 points per game, but don’t have a single player averaging even 19 points. Ginobili is the team-high with 18.6 while Tim Duncan, content now to steady the Spurs with his rebounding and defense, is averaging just 13.6 points.
In short, these Spurs may be as team-oriented as any roster Popovich has ever had. All of the Spurs’ three stars – Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker(notes) – are also averaging fewer than 33 minutes. With nearly everyone on the roster contributing in some form this season, the Spurs have continued to win in their usual understated style.
“Even if we’re up by 30 we’re not going to keep screaming and yelling,” veteran forward Antonio McDyess said. “That’s why a lot of people call this team boring. Regardless, we get the job done.”
That’s all Popovich has ever asked. Beginning with David Robinson, the Spurs have had a long line of players who have bought into their team-first mentality, including their three current stars. Players who come into the system learn to adapt – or leave.
“We try not to bring people in who we think they are a bit full of themselves and think they invented the dunk or something like that,” Popovich said. “And after that if somebody is in, the players set an example and react appropriately. If one of our young guys was to try to show up the opponent or beat his chest, I might be the fifth guy to him. There will be other players saying, ‘Hey, whoa, you look foolish doing that crap.’
“And if nobody does, I’ll obviously do it.”
Richard Jefferson learned that early last season after he joined the Spurs.
“There were a few times where he got on me early about screaming after a dunk and showing that kind of emotion,” Jefferson said. “You do what your coach asks for.”
Parker went through his own growing pains with Popovich. And for McDyess, playing for the Spurs is quite different than his days with the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons often had a stereo blaring music in their locker room before games. That won’t be found in the Spurs’ locker room. After the Spurs’ win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday, the team enjoyed a dinner together in San Francisco.
“When I got there, the Pistons were playing music, rapping and cursing,” McDyess said. “They said that’s what worked for them. And half of them said that if they don’t go out the night before a game they don’t play well. On this team you don’t get that. Different things work for different teams.”
In part because of their business-as-usual nature, the Spurs haven’t received much attention for their strong start. They reached the halfway point of their schedule on pace to win 70 games and much of the season’s headlines have been devoted to the exploits of the Lakers and Miami Heat or Carmelo Anthony’strade demand. The Spurs could care less.
“Luckily enough I don’t look at the radar so I wouldn’t know what is going on,” Duncan said. “I have better things to do, I guess.”
The Spurs also don’t measure themselves on their success in the regular season. If they keep winning in the playoffs, the acclaim will come.
“We laugh about it and love it,” Popovich said. “The less attention, the more time and focus we have to concentrate on what we’d like to do. Having the success we’ve had with championships, we don’t need anyone to give us credit.”
Popovich has always preached a we-over-me mantra with the San Antonio Spurs, and that comes from his days at the Air Force Academy, where he was a walk-on for the basketball team.
“I’m just guessing, but everybody that goes there has a 3.8 or 4.0 [grade-point average] – valedictorians – and did all kinds of stuff,” Popovich said. “And you go there and everybody is the same. They strip you bare. You start over again, and during the four years you learn it’s not about you. It’s about the group. It’s about the people that are around you and how people come together and how teams are put together and how you have each other’s back and that sort of thing.
“You learn that one person really doesn’t get anything done. In any business, in any endeavor, the people around you have to be good people and have to be able to work together. That’s where the real joy is – when you’re sharing success with somebody.”
Over the last 13-plus seasons, no major U.S. professional sports franchise has enjoyed more sustained success than the Spurs. They’ve won 70.1 percent of their games during that time, a mark that ranks ahead of the NFL’s New England Patriots (68.3 percent) and the Spurs’ own rival, the Los Angeles Lakers (65.9). They’ve also won four NBA championships and seven division titles and may have produced their biggest surprise yet this season: At a time when many thought the Spurs would slip from the ranks of the league’s elite, they’ve surged to their greatest start ever with a league-best 40-8 record.
“Everybody is surprised by that record,” Manu Ginobili(notes) said. “But now we are here. We earned it and we want to keep the lead as long as possible and finish No. 1.”
The Spurs have benefitted from good health: They’re the only team in the league to use the same starting lineup for each of their games. But they’ve also won because of their remarkable balance. They rank fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 104.1 points per game, but don’t have a single player averaging even 19 points. Ginobili is the team-high with 18.6 while Tim Duncan, content now to steady the Spurs with his rebounding and defense, is averaging just 13.6 points.
In short, these Spurs may be as team-oriented as any roster Popovich has ever had. All of the Spurs’ three stars – Duncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker(notes) – are also averaging fewer than 33 minutes. With nearly everyone on the roster contributing in some form this season, the Spurs have continued to win in their usual understated style.
“Even if we’re up by 30 we’re not going to keep screaming and yelling,” veteran forward Antonio McDyess said. “That’s why a lot of people call this team boring. Regardless, we get the job done.”
That’s all Popovich has ever asked. Beginning with David Robinson, the Spurs have had a long line of players who have bought into their team-first mentality, including their three current stars. Players who come into the system learn to adapt – or leave.
“We try not to bring people in who we think they are a bit full of themselves and think they invented the dunk or something like that,” Popovich said. “And after that if somebody is in, the players set an example and react appropriately. If one of our young guys was to try to show up the opponent or beat his chest, I might be the fifth guy to him. There will be other players saying, ‘Hey, whoa, you look foolish doing that crap.’
“And if nobody does, I’ll obviously do it.”
Richard Jefferson learned that early last season after he joined the Spurs.
“There were a few times where he got on me early about screaming after a dunk and showing that kind of emotion,” Jefferson said. “You do what your coach asks for.”
Parker went through his own growing pains with Popovich. And for McDyess, playing for the Spurs is quite different than his days with the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons often had a stereo blaring music in their locker room before games. That won’t be found in the Spurs’ locker room. After the Spurs’ win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday, the team enjoyed a dinner together in San Francisco.
“When I got there, the Pistons were playing music, rapping and cursing,” McDyess said. “They said that’s what worked for them. And half of them said that if they don’t go out the night before a game they don’t play well. On this team you don’t get that. Different things work for different teams.”
In part because of their business-as-usual nature, the Spurs haven’t received much attention for their strong start. They reached the halfway point of their schedule on pace to win 70 games and much of the season’s headlines have been devoted to the exploits of the Lakers and Miami Heat or Carmelo Anthony’strade demand. The Spurs could care less.
“Luckily enough I don’t look at the radar so I wouldn’t know what is going on,” Duncan said. “I have better things to do, I guess.”
The Spurs also don’t measure themselves on their success in the regular season. If they keep winning in the playoffs, the acclaim will come.
“We laugh about it and love it,” Popovich said. “The less attention, the more time and focus we have to concentrate on what we’d like to do. Having the success we’ve had with championships, we don’t need anyone to give us credit.”
11.22.2008
GREG POPOVICH - CHARACTER
Popovich speaking on the momentum the Blazers have going:
They're doing what good organizations that want to be successful are doing. A lot of things begin with character. The Portland Trailblazers have gotten a crew of guys in who have that.
They understand priorities ... and care more about the group than individuals. That has to happen. It doesn't matter how much talent you have. If you don't have character, it's not gonna fit together, because all the pieces have to fit.
They're doing what good organizations that want to be successful are doing. A lot of things begin with character. The Portland Trailblazers have gotten a crew of guys in who have that.
They understand priorities ... and care more about the group than individuals. That has to happen. It doesn't matter how much talent you have. If you don't have character, it's not gonna fit together, because all the pieces have to fit.
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