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Spurs Share Significant Stat with Former Finals Team
The San Antonio Spurs currently have the second-worst offensive rating league-wide, scoring an estimated 109.6 points per 100 possessions. As bad as they are, at one point in the NBA's history, such a stat with a similar number made for the best in a season.
When your uncle reminisces on how tough basketball was back in his time, he's not lying. However, coincidentally, he's not simply speaking of the players' physical and mental conditioning; it's also how tough it was to watch the games. Clogged paints, leading to mostly isolation plays, and the utterly questionable amount of midrange shot attempts made for a lesser product.
Ironically, the best team regarding offensive efficiency in the latter stage of the 90s and bleeding into the new millennium has a worst offensive rating (108.5) than the current Spurs. That team is no other than the 1999-2000 Indiana Pacers, the sole season in which Reggie Miller reached the NBA Finals.
Although the championship-contending Pacers recorded a slightly lower offensive rating than the lottery-destined Spurs, they still played with a slow pace, even for the isolation-heavy standards of the 90s. The Pacers ranked 15th in pace that season. In the current era, the Spurs rank second in pace but lack the execution of the Miller-led Pacers.
Rule changes and philosophies regarding how to play offense as apparent reasons for the discrepancy between the two eras aside, the system Indiana deployed had veteran players running it. The Spurs are a young bunch, figuring out the league game by game.
What are the Spurs to do to improve their current inefficiencies on offense?
Firstly, the Spurs lack excellent screeners, such as Dale Davis and Jeff Foster, the centers of that Pacers team. The best five-man on San Antonio is Zach Collins, known for shooting the three-ball. Is Collins more skilled than the two aforementioned centers? Yes, but is he the center necessary for the Spurs to take it to the next level? Not likely. With an inexperienced group of guards, having a big man to create looks on screens would only help the inefficient Spurs.
Another thing holding the Spurs back is a lack of star power.
Indiana, while not a city of bright lights, made the right decision by finding a player worthy enough of building around. Miller fit the team's playstyle like a glove. Navigating through a plethora of screens, No.31 gave his opponent fits even with a hand in his face. Miller was a special player, albeit not a top-tier guard; his relentless off-ball movement gave the Pacers a chance every night.
Conversely, the Spurs lack consistency with their best players.
Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan, the best players on San Antonio's young roster, fall below the league .545 mark in effective field goal percentage. Constant injuries to the trio also explain why the Spurs lack consistency.
Still, Gregg Popovich's team is heading in the right direction. Despite only having 19 wins on the season, the young Spurs handle themselves with the maturity of a veteran. No matter the young players' mental dexterity, the it-factor is missing from the roster. San Antonio has a decent set of role players but not the guy to put the franchise over the hump.
Again, similar to the Pacers, stars aren't coming to San Antonio via free agency. It all boils down to the draft.
San Antonio once had home-grown franchise cornerstone players but has since faded into a rebuilding stage. Although harboring a few decent pieces, no one on this team resembles anything similar to a star. However, if the lottery balls bounce in San Antonio's favor, its history could repeat by obtaining a franchise-shifting player via the draft.
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