By Michael Dugat
FOXSportsSouthwest.com.
Feb. 20, 2011
How do you grade a team hitting the break with no one closer than five games behind, leading the Western Conference by six and setting the current standard for regular season excellence?
To be concise: very well.
The San Antonio Spurs enter All-Star weekend with a league-best 46-10 record while playing some of the best "team" basketball decorating the court today. There may have been no attention seeking "decision" to draw the national media to their door, but a summer decision was made nonetheless.
A reputation carries forward from the past, often leaving fans to carry a label of "boring" for these Spurs based on the slow inside-out game dominated by fundamental purity from Tim Duncan to suffocating team defense. However, after another early playoff exit Gregg Popovich embraced, even if reluctantly, a faster game predicated on the offensive prowess of their duo of gifted guards: Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
In the wake of that evolution, here are the grades for the San Antonio Spurs heading into the 2011 All-Star break.
(And, don't look now, but their scoring defense has crept back into the top ten (at ten))
Tim Duncan: A-
By the exceptional standards defined by his own career, Tim Duncan is having a "down" year. Setting lows in scoring, rebounding, minutes and field-goal percentage, one could justify this notion with numbers.
However, as the style of the team has changed, so has Duncan's role within it. The offense is no longer nurtured through his sound, methodical approach. Instead, the attack is unleashed on the run, thriving on the ferocity of a greater pace predicated on the brilliance of the Spurs' guards, rather than their legendary big man.
Make no mistake, a giant still lives in the paint, note the two blocks per game (his best since San Antonio's last title run in 2006-07, despite the drop off in minutes), perhaps saving strength beneath a light slumber and waiting for the arrival of the games with the deepest of meaning, the playoffs.
Manu Ginobili: A
It feels odd to mention a Spur in MVP talks and have it be someone other than Duncan. Yet, for the first time in over a decade the fate of the Alamo City's basketball team may rest in the hands of another on the court.
Manu Ginobili came out of the gates with a burst few expected, redefining the fear lingering behind the eyes of opponents. No longer were foes being buried in the minutia of fundamental brilliance. Rather, they were being overwhelmed by an aggressive and dynamic offense.
Ginobili has returned to earth a bit, countering his second-highest career scoring average (17.9 points per game) with the second-lowest field-goal percentage of his career (42.7 percent). Still, he remains a driving force behind the success of the team with the best record in the league.
Tony Parker: A
For those fed by the national media, Tony Parker's play may come as a bit of a surprise. While Duncan and Ginobili continue to draw the bulk of attention (including inclusion in this weekend's All-Star game), Parker is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career.
In the following categories, his numbers rank at either one or two in his career: assists, field-goal percentage, three-point percentage, free-throw percentage and steals. Of his 13.5 shot attempts per game, 5.7 come at the rim, meaning 42 percent of his shots come at the rim.
Parker's ability to penetrate opposing defenses at will may be the fuel sustaining one of the league's most prolific offenses.
Richard Jefferson: B+
Last year, Richard Jefferson arrived as a much ballyhooed summer acquisition only to disappoint once the season began. A glance at the numbers, a near reflection from a year ago, will tell you little has changed, other than one important category.
This stands as an instance in which statistics fail to tell the whole story. While the renaissance of his career may have been overblown amidst the team's early success, the fact is that Jefferson has adapted his game to better fulfill the role asked of him.
That one stat to have changed: three-point percentage, which has leapt to 42.8, easily a career-high.
Capitalizing from the penetration of players like Ginobili and Parker, Jefferson no longer hesitates at the opportunity to drain an open corner-three. Within the constructs of San Antonio's offense, he is no longer a detriment.
DuJuan Blair: B-
On a nightly basis, DuJuan Blair faces the disadvantage of being one of the league's smallest centers. Only in his second year, he is also plagued by the inconsistencies of youth, earning the minus after his grade.
Countering these "weaknesses," he employs a willingness to embrace a bruising inside game capable of frustrating opponents and sparking his teammates. On a per minute basis, he also leads the team in rebounding.
George Hill: A-
George Hill is not only the best perimeter defender on the Spurs, he may be one of the best in the league. Pair this with more than competent offensive skills and you're staring at a player who should be in the discussion when it comes to Sixth Man of the Year.
As is often the case, the fact that his scoring numbers don't stack up to the likes of Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford or Lamar Odom will keep him from consideration, but he belongs in the conversation.
Antonio McDyess: B
While lacking the offensive punch of his early career, Antonio McDyess has found a new niche in San Antonio. Coming from the bench to backup both the power forward and center positions.
A solid defender with a jumper that can still be deadly from the 15-foot range, though he may push that distance from time to time, and the basketball IQ to adhere to the constructs of the system, McDyess is performing as a sound role player.
While not a headliner, his solid play has impacted the team's success.
Matt Bonner: A
Considering that Matt Bonner is on the court for one specific reason, to stretch the defense from the power forward position, it's hard to give him anything but an "A" while he leads the NBA in three-point percentage. Converting an amazing 50 percent of his attempts behind the arc, easily a career best, there stands little room for improvement.
His rebounding rates have dipped slightly, but it's hard to pick on a guy excelling so thoroughly in his primary reason for being on the court.
Gary Neal: B-
After a steep ascension from the shadows to find his way onto the radars of most with a strong December, the 26-year-old rookie began to slip back to earth in January. With the arrival of February, Gary Neal again began to remind of why so many had lauded him as the newest player plucked from the obscurity of Popovichia (a distant island only Gregg Popovich knows how to reach, scout and import unheard of talent from) to stand tall on the NBA stage.
He's hitting 41 percent of his three-point attempts and continues to surprise those who fail to thoroughly study their scouting reports.
James Anderson and Tiago Splitter: Incomplete
Both are young, talented players hampered by injuries or extremely limited minutes. For grading purposes, there is too little to go on. We can also add Chris Quinn to this group.
