San Antonio Spurs Picking Up Steam

I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. After a rough couple of weeks, it seems that the Spurs have finally turned it around. You can say all you want about the record of competition that this team went against, but in the Western Conference, you will take a win against any and everybody. This was one hell of a week for this team, as a streak like this can really push you ahead for the rest of the year.

While we are still in December, things were headed very south very quickly, and there are many reasons to really be ecstatic to four weeks to come. While you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself, you do want to take time and smell the roses, because you can see this team really flourish at a time where they really needed it.

Offensive output

If you don’t want to put much into the Suns game then that’s fine, but against teams like the Lakers, Jazz, and Clippers, you have to really be impressed with what they did. For example, against the Clippers, the Spurs managed to put up 120 points while making only 9 3 point shots. Against LA, you saw a barrage from everyone on the floor, as the Spurs finally caught some momentum and bombarded LA in the 4th.

The Spurs have gone up to 2nd in 3pt %, and 9th in FG%, and surprisingly 5th in points! The most impressive thing too is FT%, the Spurs are #1 in the league from the charity stripe. The reason why that’s important is the Spurs never waste opportunities at the line, and for a team who can have a stale offense at times, that can really help build momentum and sustain some sort of scoring output.

The amount of players hitting shots efficiently is through this roof for this team during this 4 game stretch, Rudy Gay shooting a career-high 53%, as well as Jakob Poeltl is shooting 71% during this stretch, 64% for the year. Lastly, HUGE standing ovation for the guys named Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes, while they won’t get the highest praise from the national media, they are hitting over 40% a clip from 3, while maintaining the same effort on the defensive side of the court. As the year goes on, players 6-9 (nice) will be a very important game in and game out, as we hit 2019 and beyond.

What has changed?

On both ends of the floor, the Spurs have played much better. While the Shooting has been better, really the ball movement and shot selection has been more impressive. The Spurs have been better defensively as well, playing phenomenal on ball defense, collapsing the paint while still maintaining a continuous solid effort on closeouts, as well as playing passing lanes very well. The Spurs have to be up there when it comes to batting passes and really effort plays. The amount of plays the Spurs make that don’t appear on the stat sheet is not only encouraging but as a basketball fan, you really enjoy to see night in and night out.

The Spurs have been great at feeding players like LMA, especially against teams like BOTH LA squads, where LaMarcus had himself a day. Feeding LMA is very beneficial to this team, as it helps alleviate pressure from DeMar’s shoulders and really balance the offense. Although the Spurs tend to live in the mid-range, having a passer like DeMar to kick out to wide open players at the 3 really makes life easier.

As the season goes on, you’ll continue to watch this offense flow even better. The point output is there, the efficient play and ball movement will only improve. This team is starting to click, and really play that Spurs style of basketball we all love. (They call it broccoli, and I’m always about my green, especially when you add cheddar to it. Pretty dope broccoli-cheese reference if you didn’t get it. Broccoli=Money, Cheese=Money)

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Could the tide begin to turn?

Looking at the Spurs schedule, you can very well see that this win streak can extend past 4, as the next 2 or 3, are against lottery teams. No disrespect to Chicago and Orlando, but their best interest this year is getting more and more ping pong balls, rather than winning at the moment. In terms of the state of the team, more and more you see the offensive efficiency go up, and the defensive get better. Defensively this team has struggled but game in and game out you’re starting to see the communication, switches, rebounding among other things get better.

The rebounding still worries me a little bit, but I’m sure when Pau gets back that could have a positive effect on the team. Jakob has shown some improvements defensively and has shown us why he was an important piece in the Kawhi trade from this summer, and even guys like Dante Cunningham, who doesn’t get the most of PT but has made his mark defensively when called upon. The Spurs are fighting currently to be in the “playoff hunt” but through almost 30 games, you can see this team is starting to hit, earlier than usual, but that’s not a bad thing. Not to be tacky but, Go, Spurs, Go.

Season Predictions 12/15-12/19:

12/15, Bulls: W-(124-100):
Chicago is very bad. Jabari now isn’t getting minutes, I like Jabari but man he isn’t at his best right now and really I don’t know where would really suit his game. The Bulls aren’t on point whatsoever. This game will be over after 1, regardless of how close the last matchup was.

12/17, 76ers: W-(108-107)
Philly is a very good team, still struggling to find chemistry. Embiid is the 2nd best player in the east, Ben Simmons is a top 3 PG in the east, Jimmy Buckets is nasty but dealing with some injuries… this game the Spurs should win but the stars of Philly will be showing out most definitely. This will be a good game, back and fourth, I think the Spurs bring it home after a big night from DeMar, as him and Jimmy will go back and fourth.

12/19: @ Magic: W-(121-103)
This is another very bad team, although they currently hold the 8 seed in the east, that shouldn’t last much longer. I’m big on Vucevic and AG, I love DJ (Hook’em) and I love Mo Bamba. This team can give the Spurs fits, and really they matchup well but I think SA brings home the dub in rather quick fashion after a tough Monday night game.