After coming up a minute shy of their fifth title in franchise history last year, the San Antonio Spurs enter the 2013-14 season motivated to get back to the Finals, with last year’s roster mostly untouched and still hating the word “bang”. Tony Parker, the undisputed focal point of San Antonio’s fourth-ranked offence, remains one of the league’s most efficient point guards with a nearly three to one assist-to-turnover ratio and has established himself as a perennial top-five finisher in MVP voting. Another career season for the Frenchman could go a long way toward setting the Spurs up for Tim Duncan’s eventual retirement, which has to happen sometime, right?
Duncan’s age and the falloff in Manu Ginobili’s game last season are common knocks against San Antonio’s chances. But with little evidence to suggest that Duncan is human and a bounce-back season for the Argentinian far from inconceivable, both are pretty easily shrugged off. As always, Gregg Popovich’s system will be the Spurs’ true star, and a veteran core, a group of hardworking youngsters and a quiet offseason all seem to indicate that, in 2013-14, that star is going to shine.
Additions: Marco Bellinelli, Jeff Ayres
Departures: Tracy McGrady, DeJuan Blair, Gary Neal
DeJuan Blair saw his minutes decrease dramatically in his fourth season in San Antonio and left to join Dallas in the summer. Blair’s career with the Spurs started out promising but, as an undersized forward, he lacked a true position and played his way out of the rotation. Gary Neal—whose size and ability to play both guard positions made him a trusted, if undervalued, piece last season—is also gone, having signed with the Bucks. Italian forward Marco Bellinelli will replace Neal coming off the bench to provide secondary scoring and ought to fit in well as the Spurs showed a true dedication to the three ball last season.
Key storylines:
– Will Tim Duncan be able to replicate his success from last year? A great case can be made for Duncan being the most consistent player in NBA history. The ageless big man had one of his best seasons in recent memory last year, making the All-NBA first team for the first time since 2007, and posting increases in every statistical category, a remarkable feat for a player who has logged nearly 1,400 career games (playoffs included). If Duncan plays at the level he did last season, the Spurs will contend for a title, no question.
– Can San Antonio sustain its three-point excellence? Danny Green’s post-season gunslinging provided the exclamation point, but the Spurs were remarkably consistent from behind the arc all season, hitting 37.4 percent of their threes in 2012-13 (the fourth-highest mark in the league behind Golden State, Miami and Oklahoma City). That percentage didn’t come from a limited sample size, either, as San Antonio unleashed the seventh-most threes in the league, a telling stat for two reasons: First, the numbers highlight San Antonio’s potent inside-out game, with Duncan and Co. locking down the paint and dishing it out to a number of three-point specialists. Second, eight of the top ten teams in three-point attempts made the playoffs, signifying a league-wide commitment to the long ball. Still loaded with sharpshooters, San Antonio could once again be very difficult to defend on the perimeter.
– Which member of San Antonio’s sneaky-good bench will step up? While Duncan, Parker and Manu Ginobili get the bulk of the credit, the Spurs’ bench has been taking the pressure off the stars since the glory days of Robert Horry. Last year, Danny Green set the Finals record for most three-pointers, and the likes of Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills and Cory Joseph played well in spurts throughout the regular season. San Antonio usually finds a hero amongst its reserves, and this year ought to be no different.
Breakout player: Kawhi Leonard. The 22-year-old may have already had his breakout performance, locking down LeBron James for long stretches in the Finals, but he still has a ways to go before hitting his ceiling. The San Diego State product is a versatile offensive threat, a shutdown defender and is above league-average in every aspect of the game. Taken just outside the lottery in 2011, it’s fair to say that San Antonio brazenly stole Leonard. This year, it’s quite possible that we’ll witness his ascension to genuine stardom.
Scale of Decency: Mad decent. The Spurs have all the necessary ingredients to win another championship, with Parker ensuring they’re one of the league’s most efficient offences. The team’s league-average rebound differential could be a bit of an issue, but San Antonio is expected to see increased rebounding production from both Leonard and Splitter. Popovich has a proven ability to outsmart the brightest of coaches, and remains San Antonio’s one great intangible. With the core of last year’s team still intact, the Spurs will make a strong push for their first title since 2007.
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