Setting sights on the Spurs

I know efficiency can seem boring. But success never is, and the San Antonio Spurs are sneaking their way deep into the playoffs once again. The reason they’re under the radar is probably because they’ve been dismissed as old and injured for the past several seasons, yet they still manage to win, no matter who other contenders are. There doesn’t seem to be anything new to say about the Spurs, except that they may win another NBA title against the odds. This season, with the Utah Jazz and potentially the LA Clippers and LA Lakers or Oklahoma City Thunder blocking their path in the West, people aren’t talking about the Spurs, again. But that’s a mistake people have often made before. 

What makes people underestimate the Spurs, and what makes them so stealthily deadly?

Gradual transition. The 2006-2007 was the last time Tim Duncan averaged 20 points per game. His scoring saw its biggest slide of 4.5 points per game two seasons ago, from 17.9 to 13.4. This year, his numbers are still a respectable 15.4 points for the regular season. Tony Parker’s production, meanwhile, has steadily increased the last three seasons from 16 to 18.3 ppg. Like David Robinson before him, Duncan has gone from focal point to safety valve of the Spurs, and they still manage to find ways to win. Leadership has now gone to the French point guard who, at 29, is the youngest member of their veteran core.

Balance. You won’t find eye-popping numbers for the Spurs, except perhaps for the occasional huge winning margin, as the Jazz experienced the other day. San Antonio has five players at or near double figures, another three contributing roughly eight points a game, and another four norming about five markers per outing for the regular season. In the playoffs, Duncan, despite his supposed decline, is averaging 12 rebounds a game, sharing second place in the playoffs with Indiana’s Roy Hibbert and Boston’s Kevin Garnett. And as of this writing, Parker is running third in assists at 8.5 per game, behind Boston’s Rajon Rondo and the Clippers’ Chris Paul.

Winning at the right time. One thing the Spurs are masters of is the rhythm of the season. In a tough Western Conference, they win big early, take their foot off the gas, then make a run towards the end of the season. With an abbreviated schedule, San Antonio has tallied winning streaks of 11, eight and 11. That’s 30 games right there, practically half of their schedule. San Antonio knows when to push, when to save its strength, and when to peak. They’ve broken down their schedule to its minutiae, and have mastered when to pounce.

The fundamentals. In a whopping 92 percent of their wins, the Spurs lead their opponents in rebounding. That number is tops in the league. There may be more athletic teams or younger teams in the league, but that stat speaks for itself. With a point differential of 7.2 per game, San Antonio also owns the second-biggest average margin, next only to the Chicago Bulls before the ACL injury of Derrick Rose. In their 50 wins, they’ve won by double figures 31 times, tied with the Bulls for the most wins by 10 points or more.

Countering athleticism. In February, the Spurs blasted the Thunder, one of their top rivals in the West, 107-96. San Antonio jumped ahead in the third quarter, Parker dropped 42 (just the sixth 40-plus point output at that point in the season), and the Spurs won walking away. OKC couldn’t defend the pick and roll, and San Antonio’s defense took their scorers out of their prime scoring position. If things go as planned, the two teams will meet again in the Conference Finals, assuming they get past the Clippers and Lakers. Though the Thunder have also beaten the Spurs, the pace of the playoffs favors San Antonio.

Continuity. What most people don’t notice is how the Spurs have been training their next-generation players, with Parker leading them. The bench is steadily contributing more, and the starters crank it up in the postseason, as usual, from Robinson to Duncan to Manu Ginobili to Parker, the transition has been smooth, largely because they’ve kept the players who have helped them succeed. Eight of the Spurs have never played anywhere else, two others have been there at least three years. That speaks volumes about building chemistry and loyalty, essential intangibles in building a winner.

At the end of the day, San Antonio is always about improving the odds, then beating them. They’re used to being underestimated, and head coach Gregg Popovich likes it that way. While everyone was talking about the Clippers, Lakers and Heat at the start of the season, the Spurs were racking up wins. When everybody was talking about the Bulls, Magic and Clippers before the injuries to Rose, Dwight Howard and Caron Butler at the end of the season and start of the playoffs, the Spurs were racking up wins. The Spurs don’t mind being ignored, as long as they keep beating the other teams.

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Tomorrow marks the official start of the 2012 Palarong Pambansa in Lingayen and other venues in Pangasinan. The provincial government and Department of Education have taken steps to have the safest, most well-managed, secure Palaro. All that remains is for 8,000-plus grade school and high school athletes to show their best in the 17 events being contested.