Basketball's Greatest Team

                My return to the blog will consist of telling you about the greatest basketball team I have ever seen.  A team that has no weaknesses and can seemingly play any style of basketball that the game dictates.  This team has star talent up top and is extremely deep with a bench that can adapt to just about any situation.  No this is not some super team like the Miami Heat or Oklahoma City Thunder, or even the veteran Boston Celtics or Los Angeles Lakers, this team is forever “boring” San Antonio Spurs.

                Since winning their last title in 2007 the Spurs have year after year been considered too old to truly compete for championships.  Even before this season star Tony Parker had thought the Spurs time as championship contenders had passed them by.  However something strange happened this season, the Spurs became the most dominant team in the league, and this “old” team that would seemingly be hampered by a lockout season with a condensed schedule tore through the league by tying for the best record in the league basically without trying to.  They constantly rested star players, limited minutes, and were extremely cautious with regards to players returning from injury. 

                The main reason for the emergence of this juggernaut is a complete change in team philosophy starting at the top with Head Coach Greg Popovich.  This team has transformed from a defensive oriented team that relied on making stops and its half-court offense into one of the scariest efficient offenses I have ever seen that relies on corner threes and easy twos, ranking first in the league in offensive efficiency, while still bringing a top 10 defense to the table.  This has happened because Popovich changed the foundation of the team from playing off the talents of Tim Duncan to playing off the talents of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.  Both of these players are extremely dangerous ball handlers who can get into the lane to create shots for themselves and others.  They then have built the rest of the team on players who can play off their talents.  They have three point shooters galore by employing Matt Bonner, Gary Neal, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Stephen Jackson, and Boris Diaw, all of whom are great catch and shoot three point shooters. 

                You cannot talk though about the San Antonio Spurs franchise without talking about the importance of Tim Duncan.  As the leader and face of the franchise the way he has acted has allowed the Spurs to become the team they are today.  Duncan’s ability to step away from being the focal point of the team has allowed the Spurs franchise to grow and keep steady as a premier franchise in the league.  We have seen the same type of concerns plague this year’s Lakers team, as Kobe’s unwillingness at points to realize that he shouldn’t be the focal point of the offense has cost the team dearly, and the team is at its best when Kobe is focusing on dumping it inside and feeding the team’s star big men.  Even though Duncan isn’t the player he used to be and has accepted this, his drop-off though has been dramatically overstated, as he has made up for lost athleticism with an increased basketball IQ.   Actually when looking at numbers per 36 minutes when compared to the 1998-1999 season, the last lockout shortened season and Duncan’s first championship season, Duncan’s numbers are almost exactly the same.  Actually Duncan’s limited minutes this season could prove to show that the Spurs defense is actually better than their rank indicates.  The Spurs defense is significantly better when Duncan is on the floor and with increased postseason minutes the Spurs defense will likely play better than it did during the regular season. 

                This team though can matchup with any team left in the playoffs easily and will dispatch of all the competition in its path.  The Spurs showed last night that the Clippers are no match for their superior ball movement and great team defense.  This team will continually get easy shots and minimize the impact of Chris Paul, the only true shot creator on the Clippers.  If they are matched up against the Thunder they will turn them into a jump-shooting team.  If the Thunder attempt to go small to matchup with the Spurs then that leaves the Thunder with nobody to guard Duncan in the post, Ibaka while a good help defender struggles in regard to post defense, and if they play Perkins to go big then that hurts the offense.  Duncan would then be free to guard the paint with little fear that Perkins could hurt them, and thus would force the Thunder into perimeter shots where the length of Leonard and Green could force them to shoot for low percentages.  The Lakers length is seen as a threat to the Spurs dominance but recently the Spurs have shown that they can handle it.  Duncan and Diaw are capable post defenders, along with the emerging Tiago Splitter, that can handle Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol one on one which really neutralizes the Laker’s greatest strength and even Kobe Bryant’s impact would be mitigated by the great defense of Green and Leonard.  The Spurs then are much too fast for the Lakers offensively and could score at will against the slow Lakers team.  Perhaps the greatest threat to the Spurs dominance would be the Miami Heat, but again this is an extremely flawed team.  The Heat’s greatest strengths are getting to the rim and one on one defense, which would be mitigated by two of the Spurs biggest strengths are defending the rim and great passing.  Duncan could keep Lebron and Wade out of the lane and force them into a jump shooting team.  While the Heat are great one on one defenders they are not as strong on help defense which is the key component of slowing down the Spurs attack.  The Spurs also employ a significant upgrade at Head Coach over every single one of these teams.

                This year’s Spurs are the deepest and most dynamic team in all of professional basketball.  They employ a great offense and underrated defense to exploit the weaknesses of the opponent.  Popovich utilizes the deepest bench in the NBA to create matchup nightmares for the opponent that allows the team to adapt to almost any situation.  This team is peaking at the right time with the late season additions of Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw filling the biggest need of the team and the reason for the fall of last year’s Spurs and actually the emergence of the name of this blog, toughness.  This team knows how to execute in all situations and is perfectly built to have a surprisingly easy run toward this year’s NBA Championship. 
Stay Hungry My Friends