spurs1990
04-10-2020, 02:44 PM
Lowe has the Spurs as his first bullet on his weekly column so nice to see your favorite team is still relevant nationally. He doesn't point any fingers to the reason the roster is as it was, or the coach's rotations. The core-four young swingmen get some credibility.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29015842/five-nba-things-like-including-milwaukee-bucks-mystery
1. The state of the Spurs
I found it -- the precise moment the Spurs' defensive backslide hit its nadir:
The Gregg Popovich we know and love -- the version coaching a team with a chance to do anything of consequence -- calls an angry timeout and reams DeMar DeRozan. This Popovich, resigned to San Antonio's uninteresting mediocrity, slumps his shoulders, points toward Joe Harris, and halfheartedly reminds DeRozan: Yeah, he's a really good shooter. I didn't think we needed to review that. Try to avoid leaving him wide open.
.....
They showed very little chemistry on defense. It's tempting to chalk that up to the Spurs being a mishmash of young and old, but that was the case a year ago -- when they won 48 games and ranked closer to league average on defense.
.....
Rudy Gay fell off a cliff. DeRozan had perhaps his worst defensive season since he was a rookie. He might as well have been holding a red cape.
None of this is to bury the Spurs over the next half-decade. Dejounte Murray is a dementor, and has a chance to be a two-way force. Derrick White had a frustrating two-steps-forward, two-steps-back season, but he's going to be good. Lonnie Walker IV earned some of Popovich's trust, and adds needed open-court dynamism. Keldon Johnson looks the part of rangy, multipositional wing.
.....
Poeltl can grow into a starting center on a good team. He will have several suitors in free agency, but the Spurs can match any offer. I still trust San Antonio to draft well despite the well-documented front-office brain drain.
That group of young guys lacks a tentpole star. We all know who that was supposed to be before things went haywire.
How the Spurs transition out of this holding pattern looms as one of the league's most fascinating and important storylines for the next few seasons.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29015842/five-nba-things-like-including-milwaukee-bucks-mystery
1. The state of the Spurs
I found it -- the precise moment the Spurs' defensive backslide hit its nadir:
The Gregg Popovich we know and love -- the version coaching a team with a chance to do anything of consequence -- calls an angry timeout and reams DeMar DeRozan. This Popovich, resigned to San Antonio's uninteresting mediocrity, slumps his shoulders, points toward Joe Harris, and halfheartedly reminds DeRozan: Yeah, he's a really good shooter. I didn't think we needed to review that. Try to avoid leaving him wide open.
.....
They showed very little chemistry on defense. It's tempting to chalk that up to the Spurs being a mishmash of young and old, but that was the case a year ago -- when they won 48 games and ranked closer to league average on defense.
.....
Rudy Gay fell off a cliff. DeRozan had perhaps his worst defensive season since he was a rookie. He might as well have been holding a red cape.
None of this is to bury the Spurs over the next half-decade. Dejounte Murray is a dementor, and has a chance to be a two-way force. Derrick White had a frustrating two-steps-forward, two-steps-back season, but he's going to be good. Lonnie Walker IV earned some of Popovich's trust, and adds needed open-court dynamism. Keldon Johnson looks the part of rangy, multipositional wing.
.....
Poeltl can grow into a starting center on a good team. He will have several suitors in free agency, but the Spurs can match any offer. I still trust San Antonio to draft well despite the well-documented front-office brain drain.
That group of young guys lacks a tentpole star. We all know who that was supposed to be before things went haywire.
How the Spurs transition out of this holding pattern looms as one of the league's most fascinating and important storylines for the next few seasons.