Video: How Far Can the Spurs Go?
If you haven’t read my bio, then let me remind you that I’m a very big San Antonio Spurs fan. After Michael Jordan retired for the second time in 1998 and the Bulls Dynasty was all but dead, I decided to root for a Texas team. I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan so it’s reasonable to believe that I would align myself with the Dallas Mavericks who had some fresh faces in Michael Finley, Steve Nash, rookie Dirk Nowitzki, and of course everybody’s favorite big man of all time, Shawn Bradley. However, I did not choose to root for the Mavs even though all the players I mentioned except Bradley became big stars. Then, there was the Rockets who had some fresh faces but none of them really panned out. They did, however, have my second favorite player in Scottie Pippen. I rooted for Pippen to succeed, but it was hard to watch old men like Barkley and Olajuwon go and up and down the court. Then, I turned to the San Antonio Spurs, who had the Admiral David Robinson, the little General Avery Johnson, the sharpshooter Sean Elliot, and of course, the former number one pick, Tim Duncan aka the big fundamental. I chose the Spurs because they were the closest team to Austin and they were usually on TV more than Dallas and Houston, so it was easier to root for them. Make a long story short, I hopped on the Spurs bandwagon and it led to good fortune as they won the NBA championship in a shorten season.
In twelve years, the Spurs have been arguably the best team of the past decade. They have had nine 50 plus win seasons and they are approaching a tenth. In fact, since Tim Duncan was drafted and besides the shorten season, all their seasons have had more than 50 wins. Tim Duncan had been awarded two MVP awards before Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker became formidable players to be reckoned with and let’s not forget, they won the championship in 2003, 2005, and 2007.
They have been in the mix every year and the 2010 season has been no different. Sure the season started out slow with nagging injuries and chemistry problems and has been much of a roller coaster type season. However, it seem as of late, they are starting to look like the team people thought they were going to be the whole the season when they acquired Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess and drafted Dejuan Blair. Winning 13 of their last 18 games with big victories over Cleveland (the best team in the NBA), Boston, and the young playoff bound Oklahoma City Thunder. Four out of the five losses were close games. They did all of this without lead point guard Tony Parker who may not be back until playoffs. And where one team player goes down, another rises to pick up the slack and that player has been Manu Ginobili. His recent play in March has given the Spurs a real boost and has kept them in the thick of things where are they are still jockeying for playoff positioning.
Ginobili’s stats for March:
| FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | TOT | AST | PTS |
| 51.982 | 44.2 | 88.571 | 1.40 | 3.8 | 5.5 | 22.4 |
compared to February stat line:
| FG% | 3P% | FT% | STL | TOT | AST | PTS |
| 45.070 | 35.8 | 85.075 | 1.45 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 18.5 |
The Spurs just recently lost to the worst team in the NBA in the New Jersey Nets, but were without Manu with back spasms. It just shows they still have some work to do before they make their final push heading into the playoffs. How far can they go in the playoffs though? Obviously, Tim isn’t the spring chicken he used to be, but he still a top quality player who commands a double team most of the time. Tony Parker’s health is a big question mark, but if Manu can continue his unbelievable play then that takes a little pressure off Parker. With that being said, if Parker can be healthy and get into sync again with his teammates before the playoffs begin then that just makes them even scarier to play. Richard Jefferson hasn’t really worked out this season as the Spurs had hope, but like Ginobili, he has picked up his play as of late and if he too can sustain it, then their chances of making a deep run increase. The Spurs team in general have picked it up as of late because of the play of Ginobili.
Therefore, if the stars align and everything works out, then the Spurs have a great chance to be in the Western Conference Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers. Sadly though, I think the Lakers are poised to go back to the Finals and face Cleveland. With that being said, do not sleep on the Spurs though. They have tools and talent, but it’s matter of it all coming together at the right time and it’s looking like heading in the right direction.
Check out Manu’s blocks on two of the NBA’s marquee players in Kevin Durant and most recently Kevin Garnett. The Spurs are inspired and you should be too.
