A New Era of San Antonio Spurs, Or What to Discuss on a Date With a Basketball Fan

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San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs is approaching a new era. Can Gregg Popovich’s team remain competitive and continue to enter the playoffs, considering unimpressive off-season reshuffles?

San Antonio no longer has Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, David Robinson, and even Kawhi Leonard. The list of great San Antonio Spurs players is empty. They still have a couple of players who might get into the Hall of Fame. But can the team really be competitive?

Not only Gregg Popovich but also Arcee Buford, the general manager, who competently completed the squad, has a great deal of merit for Spurs’ success. Except for LaMarcus Aldridge and Demar Derozan, the team does not have any players of the same high standard level. Anyway, there is no one capable of making a significant breakthrough.

Arguing in a relationship is inevitable, but may the sports debate be the only one in your family life.

Aldridge has passed the peak of his sports career. He reminds Zach Randolph at the end of his career. At least Aldridge still has some strengths.

DeRozan scored an average of 27 points at Toronto Raptors a couple of years ago. He got the best possible offer and expected his throwing accuracy to improve. Once he was in the top 15 of the NBA’s best players. Last season, being in the more command-oriented Spurs system, which focuses on using the strengths of each player and does not adjust to one specific player, DeRozan really showed his level. It’s not Demar’s criticism, he’s an upscale mid-range shooter, but this style of playing is somewhat outdated and no longer useful.

Probably, Spurs will try to use 10-15 different starting lineups in the next season. Dejounte Murray and the young Derrick White, who has recovered from the injury, should play in the first position. The chance to get out at the start will also be given to the short shooter Breen Forbes, Bigman Jakob Poeltl. With Aldridge and DeRozan, various team members will be playing as well.

Spurs have always won matches with any line-up. They played well and reliably, making intuitive decisions. Much of this comes down to the talent of Popovic, who skillfully carried out a rotation in the background and managed to cope with minimum quality Scorer options. San Antonio is one of the teams that achieve results. You can hardly say how they manage to do it.

The Spurs management method displeases many experts. Maintaining relative competitiveness and being a mediocre club for a while, without claiming the title? For most people, this is a bit boring and pointless.

For a team with such a great coach and front-office, it is unacceptable to lose intentionally. Highly qualified general managers and coaches should work in excellent teams with a powerful selection of players. Spurs are aware of the fact that they will not attract top-notch available agents in the end but recruit enough good players to be competitive.

As a rule, the fanbase of small-market teams is more loyal than that of top franchises. Therefore, San Antonio’s fans may not care that the team has no chance to reach the NBA finals. Fans just like to watch the performance.

Then how to become better? Everything depends on a few things. First, the key is to know when Popovic will end his career. He will come back next season, but how long will the coach work?

Secondly, it is necessary to realistically evaluate the current roster. Aldridge has two more years under contract. By substituting him, San Antonio Spurs will not get anything useful. The club probably understands this. The claimant for the title will not want to pay $25 million to a confined player.

Nevertheless, Spurs intend to keep Aldridge. Spurs are not going to change Aldridge and Derozan in the near future. This is actually an undeniable fact. It’s no secret that the Spurs need a good midfielder to replace Aldridge right now. Rudy Gay’s resigning signals that Spurs intend to compete. Apart from recruiting a skilled player, DeMarre Carroll, San Antonio hasn’t made any progress. It appears to be another team, the peak of which is an up-and-coming playoff. A few years ago, San Antonio was considered a great success, but now we simply have to be satisfied that the team continues to show some kind of competitiveness.