So you look at the NBA, like any average fan, and see a two-team race. The Warriors or the Cavs will emerge. No need to look elsewhere, right?
Well, there are the Spurs …
“That doesn’t matter. The average fan probably thought we never would have won in 2014,” Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs All-Star and one-time Finals MVP said. “You don’t worry about the outside. You play off your expectations and what you believe.”
And believe it, the Spurs are as much a threat as anyone. In Year 1 without Tim Duncan, the Spurs have continued their mind-boggling run of consistency and success. It’s not by accident. Yes, drafting Duncan with David Robinson already in place eons ago is a darn good starting point. But it’s filling in the pieces around where the Spurs have excelled for so long.
Look at the team they brought to Barclays Center against the Nets on Monday. Pau Gasol, signed to replace Duncan, was home with a broken hand. So was Tony Parker with a bad foot. Leonard sat with a sore left hand. And Manu Ginobili was out to rest. Coach Gregg Popovich likes to rest his graybeards.
With their four biggest pieces sitting out, the Spurs’ depth was on full display as they still walloped the Nets 112-86, led by backup point guard Patty Mills, who scored 20 off the bench.
“The Spurs are the Spurs regardless of who’s hurt,” Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie said. “I guess they’re the Patriots of the NBA.”
The Spurs simply went to the next-man-up way. They like and use their reserves because not just anybody can be a Spur.
“It starts with what players you want to put around your best players. Finding people who have gotten over themselves, who want to fill a role and who don’t just talk it but will be satisfied with their role,” Popovich said. “A lot of players can tell you that or they might be satisfied for a year and then it’s contract time and no longer a role player and doing other things.
“So you have to do your work to make sure you’re bringing people around your stars who will do that in perpetuity. That’s important.”
Popovich, also stressed the development aspect of the San Antonio system.
And you want a development success, you don’t have to look much beyond Leonard, named the Western Player of the Week on Monday.
“He didn’t shoot jump shots, let alone 3s, when he was in college, and now he’s pretty darn good at it,” Popovich said.
Nets coach Kenny Atkinson concurred.
“In summer league a couple summers ago, Kawhi was running every pick-and-roll and you could just see the development,” Atkinson said. “The way they bring people along, it’s just impressive. There was some question, ‘Can he be the leader?’ He’s answering those questions.”
The Spurs have found answers in so many places. Rookie guard Dejounte Murray was supposed to be a D-League stash, one who would learn and develop. But he played so well, Popovich wanted him around the team. He has amply filled in when Parker is ailing or resting. Ex-Knick David Lee and developing 7-footer Dewayne Dedmon are filling in for Gasol.
Don’t forget the usual suspects: shooting guard Danny Green, last year’s big free-agent import LaMarcus Aldridge and sub-guard Patty Mills. But as Popovich stressed, with seven new faces and Duncan hanging around the team, “I’m really enjoying the season. … It’s been a lot of fun, not the same old same old.”
But there has been some stuff that is the same. Like success. The Spurs entered Monday just 3 ½ games behind the megastar-laden Warriors in the West.
“You throw numbers out the window and playing time out the window,” Lee said. “It’s about whatever combinations the Mad Scientist [Popovich] has to help you win games. There’s no ego involved. It’s about contributing. This is bigger than all of us. It’s the leadership of Coach Popovich and [general manager] R.C. Buford, as well as the players they choose to sign to long-term deals and bring on the team.”
“They’re not sacrificing anything with character in order to bring in talent.”
The Spurs will be there again, vying for their sixth championship. They are the model franchise. The Nets have brought in at least a half-dozen people with San Antonio pedigree, including general manager Sean Marks.
“They’ve got a system in place,” Marks said. “They’re a tremendous organization and have great people around them on the court and off the court.”
Count them out at your own peril.