Thursday’s game between the Spurs and the Heat was really amazing.
San Antonio worked Miami 111-87 in the Finals rematch in San Antonio. It was seemingly a typical Spurs game. Just clinical, incredible precision that has been the definition of the Spurs in the last two decades (almost).
Tim Duncan scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a turn-back-the-clock performance for the veteran and surefire Hall of Famer, the center of everything the Spurs have built int he past two decades. Boris Diaw had an eye-popping 16 points on 5-for-5 shooting.
Diaw represents what the Spurs are about as much as Duncan. There is a second nature about the way San Antonio plays. It has come with years of drilling, careful review of the players they acquire and bring into the fold and, yes, the perfect stars that put the team above all else and treasure the solitude of this little basketball haven in South Texas.
Year after year, San Antonio keeps doing the incredible no matter who is sitting out, who might be injured or who might be even be on the roster. It is clinical, precise and successful.
Orlando Magic Daily Podcast Episode 19: Stephen Anderson of Project Spurs
There probably is not a better model for Orlando to try to build its quest for consistency off of.
“I’m not even quit sure what they do,” Afflalo said. “They play hard, just play hard and play well. I don’t know if it’s their blueprint or their personnel. I don’t know if you can just apply what they do to any team and think you’ll be successful. They’ve got good players. The longevity and success fo what they have done is probably a large part because of Tim, Manu and Tony. Those guys are really good.”
Really good does not begin to explain it.
San Antonio, despite missing 11 games from Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili intermittently throughout the season, is 45-16, second in the Western Conference. Everyone who believed San Antonio could not get through this season with the age of the team and the deep Playoff run last year clearly underestimate what the Spurs are all about.
San Antonio’s run since 1998 has also been astounding. The Spurs have won four championships, have never missed the Playoffs and have not had home court advantage in the first round of the Playoffs just twice. That is a remarkable string of dominance.
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It all goes back to the system the Spurs put in place, the culture they have built and the way they approach their business.
“It’s the ultimate consistent effort,” said coach Jacque Vaughn, a former Spurs assistant coach before joining the Magic. “That is what that organization is build around and the people in it and the people who play. So having a consistent effort every night gives them a chance to win. Ultimately those days and weeks add up and it puts you put yourself in a position to win something really big.”
The Spurs are the family from which Rob Hennigan came from and are probably the organization the Magic have pointed to most as the models they want to emulate. San Antonio’s continued success has brought a championship-level approach to their games for nearly two decades.
There is a secret there.
in a podcast I did with Stephen Anderson of Project Spurs (linked above), we talked a bit about what makes the Spurs system so good. Anderson said it is a trust in what the team is doing and what the team is running. Duncan knows which way Parker or Ginobili are going to cut. They understand what the read is and understand the ways to work around the offense.
Missed it the first time? Here is Orlando Magic Daily Podcast with Stephen Anderson of Project Spurs
Not to mention Gregg Popovich is a defensive taskmaster who focuses mostly on that end while running an incredibly efficient offensive system. It is on defense where San Antonio’s principles are borne out.
There is also a continuing quest to get better.
“Everybody wants to get better,” Gergg Popovich said. “It’s a matter of execution and not making as many mistakes as your opponent. Everybody is going to turn it over. Everybody is going to shoot well or poorly on a given night. The things that are habitual — you know playing defense and understanding rotations defensively and being consistent and doing it better than the other team for more minutes of the 48 minutes — that’s what you all work for. It’s nothing different. It’s basketball. It’s never tough.”
This probably defines the Spurs way as much as anything else. Controlling what you can control and doing it extremely well. These are the principles the Spurs have ingrained into every member of their organization.
We can see the Magic trying to do that. Rob Hennigan talks about staying true to a process and assessing players on their fit into the organization and what the team wants to be. Jacque Vaughn echoes many of the same things about playing hard and bringing a consistent work ethic — a professionalism.
The Magic are just laying the foundations. They have their model clearly in what the Spurs are doing.