2011-12 San Antonio Spurs Overview
Although this San Antonio Spurs team boasts a core that continues to grow ancient every season, they’re showing tremendous resiliency as they continue to get the task finished year in and year out. They finished the year as the best team in the Western conference with a 61-21 record last year.
But that No.1 seed would be for naught, as they were beat by the 8th seeded Memphis Grizzlies on the way to a heart breaking first round exit. It has become a dreadful trend in recent seasons as their incredible regular season play would only upshot to upsetting playoff defeats.
The Spurs management have been weary in breaking up their present core and start over. The San Antonio front office cannot be blamed but , since the franchise is churning out winning years (at least in the regular season) year in and year out. But , they are risking themselves of falling down hard if they don’t reconstruct soon.
Their top player Tim Duncan is 35, all star Manu Ginobili is 34, Richard Jefferson is 31 and even previous Finals MVP Tony Parker turns 30 in May. Duncan played 2nd fiddle to Ginobili last year as he saw a major drop in production, scoring just 13.4 points and grabbing just 8.9 rebounds a game. A far weep from his career averages of 20.6 points and 11.4 rebounds.
Ginobili stepped up and played as their best player down the stretch last season. It’s probable he’s going to continue to be utilized as the go-to scorer for San Antonio as Duncan desires all of the rest he will get preparing for the playoffs. Manu place up 17.4 points, 4.9 dimes and 1.5 steals last season. In the meantime Parker had a productive season scoring 17.5 points and dishing out 6.6 assists also. Jefferson has been a disappointment though, putting up just 11 points and 3.8 boards for the Spurs.
The Spurs were really active this offseason trading away gifted PG George Hill to the Pacers in restore for the 15th selection in the draft Kawhi Leonard. They also used their own draft picks on Cory Joseph (no. 29), Davis Bertans (no. 49) and Adam Hanga (no. 59). The Spurs also signed PG TJ Ford despite his personality issues. With the vet presence and the business-like atmosphere of this organisation, it is practically likely that they can keep TJ Ford in line.
San Antonio has done some unusual things to close their offseason. They resigned Steve Novak but consequently cut him before the season even started. They also cut Antonio McDyess, which is weird considering he used to be a key contributor to the team’s success last season. At age 37 though, Mcdyess certainly don’t have too many years left in that body.
Tiago Splitter and Dejuan Blair will be sharing time at the five as starter and backup respectively. The 6’11″ Brazilian averaged just 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in his first season in the league. The 26 year ancient may be in for a breakout year though as he’ll be passed the reins as the starting center for the franchise. 6’7″ Blair has shown to be a steal after being selected in the second round of the 2009 draft. He averaged 8.3 points and 7 boards last year.
Western Conference Prediction: 2nd Southwest Division – After spending so much energy on getting the top seed in the playoffs last year only to see it boomerang, the Spurs are going to take another approach this season. While seeding will still topic, coach Gregg Popovich will not place seeding over the shape of his team.
The focal top for the Spurs this year is to be get their players habitually healthy in time for the playoffs, while also keeping their vets rested down the stretch. That is with our NBA predictions we reckon San Antonio is still one of the best groups in the West, and they are excellent enough to hold down the No. 2 spot in this division. Expect the Spurs to have a Top 4 seed inflowing the playoffs and being a troublesome out before losing in the second round.
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