Crumbling Spurs

In an NBA regular season and Playoffs that have been more exciting than any in recent memory, there have been many new stories that developed, ranging from ascendant players and teams to surprising struggles. Somehow the San Antonio Spurs, a team that has been the model of consistency the past decade, has managed to be both a surprising success and a startling failure within the same season.

Before the season started, the Spurs were expected to win around 50-55 games like every other season, before exiting around the first or second round. After a seventh place finish out West last year and a second round sweeping at the hands of the Suns, no one really expected the Spurs to be anything close to a championship contender. Father Time seemed to be catching up to them as well, with Tim Duncan looking visibly older and Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker becoming increasingly injury prone.

Once this season started, something improbable happened: the Spurs changed their style of play and became the best team in the NBA through February. Greg Popovich eschewed the slow paced, defense first mentality of San Antonio and turned them into a smaller, faster team that preferred the three ball to the low-post Tim Duncan based offense of their past. The thinking behind this was that Pop was brilliant and was using this strategy to preserve Duncan’s legs for the postseason. There was also the added bonus of getting the younger, less experienced players the reps and shots now in order to prepare for the Playoffs and beyond.

While the Spurs ended up with 61 wins, there were still doubts about them heading into the Playoffs. For starters, Ginobili suffered an elbow injury at the end of the regular season. This has undoubtedly made him less effective in the Playoffs thus far. The other question pertained to their defense. Everyone figured that San Antonio’s defensive intensity was going to go up several notches once the postseason got underway. The only problem was that at no point this season, did it really even seem like they were even capable of ratcheting up the pressure. Oddly enough, it turns out that Ginobil and defense are the least of the Spurs’ worries.

Contrary to all belief, Tim Duncan is pretty much done as the top dog on a team. He just doesn’t have what it takes physically to compete against guys like Marc Gasol and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) Zach Randolph. He’s too old and his knees are too brittle to battle down low against those two, much less the Lakers’ tandem of Bynum/Gasol/Odom. This fact is exacerbated by the fact that I’m pretty sure Duncan is the only player on that team taller than 6’8. The Grizzlies have been able to have their way around the hoop because Duncan is the only guy there who can block a shot or clog the lane, and he can only play so many minutes. As for the smaller guys, none of them can be considered defensive stoppers. The Spurs need someone like Bruce Bowen or Tony Allen that can slow down players in the backcourt and make up for the lack of frontcourt depth.

The Spurs could still be a solid team going forth if they make some changes. The aforementioned defensive stopper and some size up front would help. Duncan can still contribute decent numbers and minutes; it isn’t like he’s Shaq. At this point in his career, he should just simply be a power forward playing about 26-31 minutes a night. A real big man taller than DeJuan Blair and younger than Antonio McDyess could add three years to Duncan’s career. Someone like Dallas’ Tyson Chandler or Portland’s Greg Oden, both free agents, could fill that role. That defensive stopper role could be filled by Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko or Memphis’ Shane Battier. Either way, there are changes necessary deep in the heart of Texas.