Without LaMarcus Aldridge or Patty Mills, but also Bryn Forbes and Trey Lyles, the Spurs had already launched a new movement during the “bubble” of Orlando.
Presenting itself in particular with a very small five, with four backs around Jakob Poeltl quite simply (DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray, Derrick White and Lonnie Walker IV), the San Antonio troop took advantage of this end of the season in freewheeling to learn… and prepare for the future.
“The strategy, the philosophy and the way we are going to play will remain the same [que dans la bulle d’Orlando], and everyone will have to adapt to that because the guys present did a very good job ”, Gregg Popovich declared. “They had fun. We even changed our approach to training, and how we want to teach things. The young players have really taken the time to understand what we are doing. “
In the bubble, several players took advantage of increased opportunities, including Keldon Johnson, Quinndary Weatherspoon and Drew Eubanks.
On this momentum, Spurs want to continue to develop their talents internally and see how far it will take them. All under the benevolent tutelage of a few old truckers, including DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay.
“Guys like DeMar and Rudy have been great at taking young people under their wing, and it even ended up changing some of their playing habits from years past, especially in terms of pace and making defense even more a priority. . They all joined the project and they really appreciated the progress of the young people. The whole team has come together really well. I am very proud of these two guys because they have become leaders. This progression was not necessarily expected, but it did happen. We will simply continue on this dynamic. “
LaMarcus Aldridge even more 3-point shooter
A potential concern may be to bring LaMarcus Aldridge into this faster and more rhythmic style of play. Old-fashioned interior who likes to have his balloons at the low post, the latter can also move away. And it is on this last aspect of his arsenal that the Spurs obviously insisted, to prepare for his smooth return.
“We have a few players who did not participate in the bubble, it’s true, so there is a bit of a mishmash there. But I don’t think LA will have a hard time adjusting to our new way of playing because he wants to win. We want to return to the playoffs and he is ready to take a new course to take more 3-point shooting, which is necessary if we want to be successful in this league, as everyone knows. He already made a lot of progress last season and he will take an even bigger step in that direction this year. His training for the offseason focused on this. He knows how much it can help the team. In short, I’m very happy that this whole group is coming back to play together. “
Although in transition after the heyday of the trident Tim Duncan – Tony Parker – Manu Ginobili, the Spurs do not want to let themselves down and let go. Gregg Popovich wants to join the playoffs again. We are therefore not going to skimp on the way, it would be against the local philosophy …
“Quite frankly, the bottom line is that I don’t remember winning the title, or even making the playoffs, last season. So, it’s time to change, to play differently, to be demanding and to move forward. “
| Tirs | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Demar Derozan | 68 | 34.1 | 53.1 | 25.7 | 84.5 | 0.6 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 22.1 |
| Lamarcus Aldridge | 53 | 33.1 | 49.3 | 38.9 | 82.7 | 1.9 | 5.5 | 7.4 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 18.9 |
| Patty Mills | 66 | 22.5 | 43.1 | 38.2 | 86.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 11.6 |
| Derrick White | 68 | 24.7 | 45.8 | 36.6 | 85.3 | 0.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 11.2 |
| Bryn Forbes | 63 | 25.1 | 41.7 | 38.8 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 11.2 |
| Dejounte Murray | 66 | 25.6 | 46.2 | 36.9 | 79.8 | 1.0 | 4.8 | 5.8 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 10.9 |
| Rudy Gay | 67 | 21.8 | 44.6 | 33.6 | 88.2 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 10.8 |
| Keldon Johnson | 17 | 17.7 | 59.6 | 59.1 | 79.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 9.1 |
| Trey Lyles | 63 | 20.2 | 44.6 | 38.7 | 73.3 | 1.1 | 4.6 | 5.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 6.4 |
| Lonnie Walker | 61 | 16.2 | 42.6 | 40.6 | 72.1 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 6.4 |
| Marco Belinelli | 57 | 15.5 | 39.2 | 37.6 | 82.8 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 6.3 |
| Jakob Poeltl | 66 | 17.7 | 62.4 | 0.0 | 46.5 | 2.0 | 3.7 | 5.7 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 5.6 |
| Luka Samanic | 3 | 16.1 | 31.2 | 37.5 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 5.3 |
| Drew Eubanks | 22 | 12.4 | 64.2 | 100.0 | 76.9 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 4.9 |
| Chimezie Metu | 18 | 5.8 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 76.9 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 3.2 |
| Starts Carroll | 15 | 9.0 | 31.0 | 23.1 | 60.0 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| Quinndary Weatherspoon | 11 | 7.1 | 29.4 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Tyler Zeller | 2 | 1.9 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
