It’s less than a month in to the NBA season and already fans and experts are calling out the defending champion San Antonio Spurs following a slow start. The Spurs are coming off back-to-back wins after losing three of their first five. But, at 4-3, they sit eighth in the Western Conference and that’s not where anybody expected them to be even if it is still very early. San Antonio is only the fifth defending champion since the NBA/ABA merger to post a sub-.500 record through the first five games the following season and there are three things in particular that stand out about their struggles.
Lack Of Offense
The lack of offensive punch is obvious as the Spurs have averaged just 95.1 points per game so far this season and were held below the 90-point mark in losses to Phoenix and Houston. The big three of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker aren’t getting any younger but San Antonio’s issues on offense are about much more than age.
Parker is averaging a team-high 19.1 points per game and 4.7 assists while Duncan is averaging nearly 15 and 12 but there has been a lack of cohesion early on and the supporting cast around them has played a role. Kawhi Leonard and Ginobili have each averaged less than 14 points per game and neither one has looked like a real game changer. Danny Green has been limited to just nine points per game despite making seven straight starts and averaging over 28 minutes while Marco Belinelli hasn’t been able to stay in the lineup. Age can make for an easy excuse but the reality is that a lack of cohesion early on has been the biggest reason for the team’s offensive struggles.
Leonard’s Blurry Vision
The only real issue in terms of the individual personnel is the status of Leonard after he dealt with conjunctivitis during the preseason. Leonard admitted last week that is vision is still blurry at times but that he is battling through it and it’s not enough to keep him out of the lineup. Leonard was told by doctors that the problem just has to run its course and that eventually his vision will return to the way it was. Last season’s NBA Finals MVP is a key piece in the Spurs offense and if he has been dealing with blurry vision early on then that can completely affect the way that the San Antonio offense has played.
Maintaining Level Of Consistency
The Spurs have had a tough time maintaining a high level of performance early on and that could very well have a lot to do with a lack of urgency. No coach in the league does a better job than Gregg Popovich when it comes to keeping his players fresh, so a lack of urgency makes a lot more sense than that the team is playing with tired legs. The Spurs have certainly done a better job in that department with back-to-back road wins over a couple of the top teams from the Western Conference in their latest outings. We’ll have to see if they can keep that up.
While bettors have been irked by the poor start (Spurs are just 2-5 ATS), the slow start doesn’t seem to concern anyone inside the organization. They’ve show that they’ve still got it by flipping the switch and earning a pair of tough wins in hostile environments.
Once Leonard gets healthy, the Spurs cut down on their sloppy play and the offense picks up, they should be fine.
