Fate sent the Spurs a surprise.
Maybe even Popovich himself could not have imagined that at the end of the regular season, the Spurs could actually rank in the top 10 in the West, with the opportunity to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019 through the playoffs.
After a 113-92 victory over the Blazers on April 4, Beijing time, the Spurs improved their record to 33 wins and 45 losses, two wins ahead of the 11th-place Lakers in the West. In the battle for the last play-off spot, the Spurs have taken the initiative.
Yes, the 10th place in the West to have a chance to play the playoffs is not a feat, after all, the Spurs want to enter the playoffs need to win two consecutive playoffs, which is extremely difficult. And also ranked 10th in the West, the Spurs and the 10th Nets in the East are 7 wins away, and the 8th place in the West Clippers are 5 wins away, which is equivalent to a gap in strength.
But in this season when even the Spurs themselves did not have much hope, the Spurs cultivated an All-Star, hoarded all kinds of chips for the future, and now reached the play-off zone. In the eyes of the swing team, this kind of up and down is very embarrassing. But in the Spurs' definition, this is definitely a success.
The Spurs were looked down upon after losing DeRozan
Over the past two seasons, the Spurs have won only 32 and 33 wins, once in 11th place in the West and once in 10th place in the West, and lost to the Grizzlies in the playoffs. With DeMar DeRozan spurs unable to win 35 games, the Spurs were even less optimistic after losing DeRozan in the offseason.
Before the start of the season, ESPN predicted that the Spurs would finish 12th in the West with 34 wins, which is already a high-profile Spurs. Because the Spurs did not have any reinforcements to hand in the offseason, the draft took the No. 12 pick to pick Primo, and the Spurs management was questioned for "old eyes". With zach Collins, who has major injury hazards, and McDermott, who is not well defended, the Spurs have been criticized for spending money and not spending money into crazy gamblers.
On media day, the Spurs side was quiet, although there were many young and energetic new stars in the team, but no one dared to shout "impact the playoffs". This is also normal, in addition to those traditional strong teams in the West, the Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Kings are also aiming at the playoffs, and the Spurs are not to mention impacting the playoffs, and it is difficult to fight for a playoff spot.
At that time, the expectation of the Spurs was to cultivate new talents through actual combat and strive to win a few more games to help Popovich surpass Don Nelson as soon as possible and become the manager with the most coaching wins in history. For most of the season, the Spurs have kept a low profile outside radar range, with only a few days before the trade deadline, when Murray was named an All-Star, Popovich tied and overtook Nelson Sr. and Ginobili was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In previous mid-year trades, the Spurs tended to be the quietest team, and they rarely made a shot. But this year is different, with the promotion of meritorious general manager Buford to become CEO, less than 40-year-old new general manager Brian White more to the front of the stage, spurs in the trading market is also a lot more active. White is more courageous than Buford. Before the trade deadline, White made a number of trades for the purpose of changing first-round picks, and after a series of operations, the Spurs had three first-round picks in this year's draft.
In these few deals, whether it is to send away Derek White or Thaddeus Young, the Spurs are sacrificing immediate power for the future, which makes the outside world even more unsightly about their prospects for this season.
Nova Progress Waste Wood Reborn
The Spurs are low-key, but the team that is good at using the first round of the back draft picks to make a fuss is too strong to cultivate talents, and under the careful cultivation of the Spurs, many players have played a career highlight season.
In the sixth year of his career, the 29th show of 2016, Zhangtai Murray, who was reimbursed for a knee injury in the 2018-19 season, did not become an injury, and this season he averaged 21.2 points plus 8.4 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 2 steals, shooting 46.3% from the field and 33% from three-point range. Murray's scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, shooting percentage, average three-point shooting per game, free throw shooting and shooting per game are career highs. With Draymond Green missing the All-Star due to injury, Murray was substituted for the Roster and entered the All-Star for the first time in his career.
Today, Murray is the core star of the Spurs on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. Murray's performance this season is actually not what the Spurs expected. Just before the start of the season, the Spurs were exploring a proposal to trade Murray's package trade for Simmons. Thankfully, the Spurs eventually gave up, leaving Murray behind, who held the cornerstone of their future. Murray is already the league's top breaker, averaging the league's top 5 breakthroughs per game, and three-point shooting is still his weakness, but he does not resist three-point shots, and three-point shooting has been improving. Murray is only 25 years old, and his future is limitless.
Like Murray this season, 2019's No. 29 pick, Kelden Johnson, who is only 22 years old, has completed his evolution after the baptism of the Olympics. This season, Johnson averaged 16.7 points per game plus 6.1 rebounds and 2 assists, shooting 40.2 percent from three-point range. As a well-heeled winger, Johnson has become an excellent 3D player. Spurs once trained 3D-born Kawhi Leonard to be an All-Star, and Johnson is following in Leonard's footsteps. This season, the Spurs have consciously let him hold more balls, but the effect is not good, and Johnson is still more of a no-ball play.
Although the Spurs are not in the top 15 offensively and defensively, this team has several treasure players.
The 26-year-old Has averaged 13.4 points, 9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 blocks per game this season, and in addition to the "pie" stability, Pollel's basket protection has also been widely recognized, he has averaged 8.3 basket shots per game this season, suppressing the opponent's shooting rate at 54.8%, which is better than joel Embiid, Ivan Mobley and other centers.
In 2020's No. 11 show, Vasell is becoming a top 3D player step by step, averaging 12.1 points per game this season, and has reached seven three-point shots per 36 minutes, and his three-point shooting percentage has increased to 35.4%. Vassell's only flaw was that he was thin and weak, and his height was against the tall wings.
Players like Lonnie Walker and Trey Jones are also evident, collins, Josh Richardson, and other players who were regarded as waste wood by their former owners show signs of "resurrection" after coming to the Spurs, and the questioned rookie Primo has also shown his potential after increasing playing time. The Spurs don't have the potential to become a superstar, but the Spurs have multiple immediate players who can play the main rotation on any team.
The culture of refusing to play a bad win has never changed
In the words of the AMERICAN media, the league pays the most attention to team culture is the Heat and Spurs. A major manifestation of Spurs culture is to refuse to mess up and move forward proudly.
Since the 1996-97 season when he won the draft for Tim Duncan, the Spurs have never rebuilt by a bad swing. Rotting and rebuilding are two different things, rebuilding does not necessarily mean relying on pendulum, Spurs' reconstruction refers to a slow transition on the basis of winning culture, rather than a rotten search for high draft picks like the 76ers, Thunder and other teams, building a team around talented new stars.
In a way, the Spurs' approach is somewhat "stupid". Because after all, getting a more talented high-pick pick is one of the fastest paths to rebuild, but the Spurs, who have always put "winning" first, are reluctant to go down this path, preferring to let young players learn how to win in a healthy team culture.
Relatively speaking, the Spurs do not have a high ceiling on this practice. But spurs have always believed that the past is the prelude to their success.
In ESPN's list of future power, the Spurs are only ranked 20th. The Spurs are ranked No. 1 in salary space and No. 5 in the draft, but their market and player strength are ranked outside the 20th, and management operations are only ranked 16th.
In the eyes of industry insiders, the future prospects of the Spurs are not good, this is a team without big-name leaders, empty salary space, but unable to rely on the big market to attract big names to join. But the Spurs don't care about that, and in their view, the hoarding of draft picks and salary space in their hands will be their future turnover. Draft picks can be traded or used for their own purposes, and the salary space can be signed to stars who fit the Spurs team's culture.
The Spurs are trying to win while waiting for an opportunity to come. The outside world may not think that the Spurs can get the opportunity to shake the territory of the league, but just like no one thinks that the Blazers and the Lakers will fall behind to give up a play-off place for the Spurs, what will happen to the Spurs in the future, and who can predict it?