San Antonio Spurs
The 2019-20 San Antonio Spurs season can be defined by the fact that the Spurs missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1996-97 season, the first time in a mind-boggling 23 years.
What did we learn?
It was the year that Winter never came.
The White Walkers of the NBA were finally slain by the regular season. Will we ever see another playoff streak last so long? Chances seem slimmer than a Slim Jim.
As we knew that they would, the Spurs continued their assault from the mid-range, attempting the most mid-range shots in the league by a substantial margin. A whopping 41.5 percent of all of the Spurs shot attempts were taken in the mid-range. The next closest team was Golden State at 36.0 percent.
Yet Pop’s personal vendetta against the 3-ball loosened up slightly this season. Instead of finishing last in 3-point attempts, the Spurs finished 28th in the NBA, third to last. The Spurs still managed to have a top-10 efficient offense overall, averaging the fewest turnovers per game for a second consecutive season.
However, San Antonio’s defense got worse and was downright dreadful, ranked 24th in the league in defensive efficiency. The Spurs looked old and slow on the defensive end. Sometimes they looked like actual zombies.
Pop took his sweet time in moving to the Spurs youth movement, reluctant to play all of the likes of Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Bryn Forbes and Lonnie Walker more minutes together. Pop’s hand was forced when the Spurs arrived to the bubble without Aldridge (recovering from shoulder surgery) and usual starters Trey Lyles and Forbes. Pop elected to move DeRozan to power forward and started Murray, White, Walker and Jakob Poeltl alongside DeRozan. It was a perimeter-oriented and youth-infused lineup that had not played many minutes together before, and they ended up posting a positive net rating of 7.1 in 74 minutes together. A smallish sample size but promising nonetheless.
The Bubble Spurs were a look into the future of the NBA’s most stable franchise with changes in the wind.
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What are the answers to our Season Preview Final Questions?
How will the Spurs handle this year’s Rodeo Road Trip? 02/03 at Clippers, 02/04 at Lakers, 02/06 at Portland, 02/10 at Denver, 02/11 at OKC, 02/21 at Jazz, 02/23 at OKC.
The Spurs went 2-6 on this year’s Rodeo Road Trip which included losing the first five games. San Antonio finished with a home record of 19-15 and went 13-24 away from AT&T Center.
Can San Antonio keep the playoff streak alive?
All good things come to an end.
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Would our preseason Over/Under prediction have hit?
We suspect that the Spurs will do what they always do. They will execute for Pop, and now Timmy, and they will do so in Spurs fashion.
Sound three horns, the Night King and White Walkers are here. OVER 45.5 wins. (55% winning pct)
Spurs 2019-20 final record: (32-39) 45% winning pct
Nope, our preseason Over/Under prediction would not have hit.
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What’s Next?
Continue the youth movement. Pass the baton to the youngin’s, Pop!
Get LMA healthy. And have Aldridge keep shooting more threes!
For as much as we want Pop to play the young Spurs together more, DeRozan had his most efficient season in years and we’ve seen that it can work with DeRozan at the 4. The free agent market is mostly a barren wasteland, so San Antonio might as well bring back DeRozan ($27.7 million player option for next season) with open arms.
Re-sign restricted free agent Jakob Poeltl, another key to unlocking the successful bubble lineup.
Keldon Johnson (Who He!?) is a name that you might not know, but it’s only a matter of time.
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Favorite Spurs Highlight from the 2019-20 Season:
The Lonnie Walker Game.
