The Good, Bad and Ugly from the San Antonio Spurs' Early Season
One week into the 2014-15 NBA season, the San Antonio Spurs have already experienced a handful of highs and lows.
With injuries prevalent to start the season, the team has both succeeded and failed to overcome them and are currently sitting at a 1-1 record heading into Wednesday night's showdown with the Atlanta Hawks.
And with the journey to a sixth title well underway, it's never too early to analyze what went right and wrong in the Spurs' first NBA action since their victory over the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals.
The Good
During last year's postseason, San Antonio's most competitive series was its first-round matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.
Over the summer, the Mavericks revamped their roster—catapulting them onto the list of potential contenders. The Spurs, meanwhile, grew another year older.
Despite the two Western Conference teams moving in opposite directions, the Spurs picked up right where they left off in their 2014-15 debut, edging their Southwest division rivals 101-100 even as injuries sidelined two of the team's five starting players.
Even more comforting than watching the team roll to victory without Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter on its side were the individual performances that made it possible.
Tony Parker proved that he's still an elite point guard, silencing any naysayers with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
Though efficient dominance is business as usual for the All Star point guard, fans were pleasantly surprised to see him 4-for-4 from three-point land in the opening contest. Another perfect outing in his second game proved that his mark in the opener was not a fluke.
Parker, known more for his mid-range jumper off the dribble and his tenacity when attacking the basket, unleashed a brand-new facet of his game—one that could pay dividends and make him virtually unguardable.
In addition to Parker's expanded arsenal and overall continuation of dominance, the 38-year-old Tim Duncan showed that he hadn't lost a step—something that fans fear at the start of every season.
Though he looked shaky in the opening quarter—he shot the ball poorly and looked out of tune with the rest of the offense—the veteran big man found his groove by the end of the night, finishing with 14 points (on 50 percent shooting) and 13 rebounds.
A second outing of 16 and nine solidified the notion that Duncan—though closer to retirement than he was when we last saw him in action—is still a reliable source of star production, something that is a must if San Antonio is to contend again.
And, of course, to round out the Big Three, guard Manu Ginobili—whose status hangs in the balance with each passing year—enjoyed a hot start of his own. With 20 points and a team-high six assists in under 30 minutes of action, the sixth man gave us a glimpse of what he is still capable of doing.
Elsewhere, the roster contributed where needed. Danny Green was a defensive stud and played his part offensively. The same applies to Aron Baynes; if he can earn legitimate minutes in the rotation, he would solve a frontcourt depth issue that has plagued San Antonio for quite some time.
But overall, the team's opening-night victory—especially with two of its most crucial contributors watching from the sidelines—served as a strong start to the season. Not only did it prove that the Spurs were capable of picking up where they left off from a winning standpoint, but it quashed any fears regarding certain players' inability to compete for another year.
The Bad
If the Spurs' opening victory built up any hopes, their second contest—against the Phoenix Suns—proved to the world that they are, in fact, human.
Not only did the Spurs fall short, but they watched a lead slip out of their hands in the final few minutes as they struggled to contain the Suns' three-guard rotation.
It was a complete fourth-quarter collapse caused by a worrisome offensive drought that left the Spurs without a field goal through the final five minutes of play. Meanwhile, the team let up 10 fourth-quarter points to Isaiah Thomas and seemed unable to contain the sub-6-foot point guard when he got hot.
That much is simply inexcusable from a championship team—especially one that saw the return of one of its major defensive presences.
As for Leonard, the fourth-year rising star was 0-of-5 from the floor, a mark matched by Manu Ginobili, who managed just two points on the heels of his big performance against Dallas.
If nothing else, Ginobili's poor outing solidified what many already feared—a year later, the bench spark is still wildly inconsistent in a manner rivaled only by Green, who also struggled to a tune of three points on 1-of-5 shooting as he finished the night with a game-low minus-16 rating.
Of course, it was one game, and the Spurs were still without Splitter, whose defensive aptitude could have helped control the paint toward the end of the game.
That said, the loss came as a shock to a fanbase that has known only success, and the manner in which it occurred—an unmitigated offensive collapse down the stretch—was not comforting, to say the least.
The Ugly
Even with a disheartening loss in the second game of the season, the ugliest component came in the form of a contract extension—or lack thereof—for Kawhi Leonard.
The 23-year-old Finals MVP has emerged as one of the brightest young stars in the league, and after a breakout Finals series against the Miami Heat, his stock has skyrocketed.
But despite many having already tabbed him as the next great Spur, Leonard's first shot at a contract extension came with surprising friction, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski:
"“We feel Kawhi is deserving of a max contract, and we are disappointed that something couldn’t get done,” [agent Brian] Elfus told Yahoo Sports. “There’s no debating Kawhi’s value. The market has been set. He’s done everything the Spurs have asked of him, exceeded all of their expectations. Coach [Gregg] Popovich has gone out of his way to call Kawhi the future face of the franchise. We have great respect for the Spurs organization, but here, we simply agree to disagree.
"
Now, I'm not suggesting there will be any long-lasting tension between the two parties or that the marriage is set to end at the close of the season—also in Woj's report was the mention of San Antonio's desire to match any contract sent Leonard's way in restricted free agency.
That said, the lack of discussion was certainly surprising—especially given Popovich's praise for the hardworking talent who has improved with each passing year.
As a result, we're going to have to revisit the topic in July, and if the Spurs plan on matching any offer, it seems senseless to avoid extending his contract in the first place.
Leonard is a world-class talent, and any unnecessary friction between him and San Antonio is alarming—especially this early in his career.
And while I don't doubt that the team will go to great lengths to secure him over the summer, it's difficult to understand what stimulated the franchise to fail to lock up its best prospect since Duncan, especially when he is more than deserving of a max contract that the new TV deal will render less significant.
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