Spurs only have themselves to blame
I’m aware the officiating was abysmal and Tony Brothers should never be allowed near a game, and my opinion of OKC and mainly SGA haven’t changed, they are disrespectful to the game of basketball, BUT, despite that, the Spurs only have themselves to blame. There are some key areas they need to grow up in, regardless of roster changes this offseason.
-Defensive rotations. Yes OKC is shameful with their flopping, BUT they are the best, smartest, and most well coached team in the NBA. OKC realized their best defense is offense. The Spurs watch the ball WAY too much on defense, lose track of their assignment, and close out late. OKC used that to keep the Spurs constantly running and chasing the ball and the Spurs used up so much energy on defense they didn’t have much left on offense. It also constantly created open shots for the Thunder. To me it’s a sign of laziness from the young Spurs, they need to grow up, play some legit deny defense, trust their teammates, and stop watching the ball and leading to very unnecessary doubles.
-Enough 1v1 basketball, move the ball! Whenever this team feels pressure they resort to 1v1 ball, where is the pick and roll? Has nobody on this roster heard of a backdoor cut? Often times it feels like they don’t think they can move unless they have the ball in their hands, the Spurs do not get near enough open looks.
-BLOCK OUT! I wanted to throw my remote at the TV for the offensive rebounds they give up BECAUSE THEY DO NOT BLOCK OUT ESPECIALLY THE SHOOTERS! It drove me crazy.
-Floor spacing: This team throws the ball away a ton because they seem to really lack floor spacing knowledge. Often times they watch whoever has the ball go 1v1 and nobody rotates to give them an emergency outlet to the top of the key or anywhere. Just like in defense, too much watching the ball on offense.
- Obviously ball handling, but they’re young and that will get better, at least I hope.
-Have fun. When Keldon told this team to be desperate, i got nervous. Don’t tell young guys to be desperate! Tell them to have fun and play aggressive. That pressure took them away from their game and they played very tense after that. And don’t let the officiating bother you, the Spurs were very obviously bothered by the flopping and officiating, and I get it, it shouldn’t be allowed, but the Spurs need to be the professionals in the room cause it won’t come from OKC and Tony Brothers and they need to brush it off and move on.
-I’m sure I thought of a few more during the game, but the Spurs are learning the hard way against OKC you can’t just rely on talent/physicality. These young guys need to take look at themselves (especially Wemby, Castle, Harper, and Mitch) and decide if they want to address their weaknesses and grow or not.
I know this isn’t over, Spurs will fight in game 6, but no doubt they dug themselves a hole and against a team like OKC that will be tough to climb out of.