Spurs’ head coach Mitch Johnson is in a familiar spot. After taking over from the legendary Gregg Popovich, Johnson’s rise to head coach was met with sighs. With such a large tutelage from Popovich, why was Johnson chosen to take over the franchise?
Becky Hammon, the first female head coach, was regarded as a better choice. Similarly, almost every other active head coach who Pop mentored was mentioned instead. Now, after losing in the NBA Finals in only five games, complaints have come back, despite a season in which over 60 games were won.
Spurs Mitch Johnson Is Here To Stay
One Of The Most Successful Rookie Seasons For A Coach
Despite the mistakes made in the finals, recency bias should not overshadow Johnson’s accomplishments. In his first year as head coach, he was a serious Coach of the Year candidate. On top of that, his mentorship has continued to improve key players like Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama.
In every playoff series, the Spurs lost early but won all but one. Johnson should be applauded for winning an uphill battle to reach the finals more than he should be chastised for failing to win it all years ahead of schedule.
In every series, Johnson and his crew made significant adjustments to defense and held their team together. For such a young team, the game plan is important. The Spurs’ big advantage over most of their opponents was their transition offense, which was also a crutch for the team.
With De’Aaron Fox sidelined in several games, Johnson helped elevate the team’s play without one of their only veteran players and an offensive leader. It seems as though this came back to bite him, as Dylan Harper played so well that instead of being applauded for placing Harper in the right place in key moments, he was criticized for not playing him more.
Johnson has clearly created a good environment for the players, with passionate coaches, and he runs a well-disciplined team. That’s not even mentioning that he has the second most successful challenges from the past season. Johnson is a professional who will grow with the team.
Accidents Will Happen
With all the praise heaped upon Johnson, it should be mentioned that his critics have a lot of ammo. The coach allowed the largest comeback in NBA Finals history that led to his team being down three-to-one.
His decision to continue playing Fox, despite his injuries, late in the final games of the finals, was right to be criticized. Wembanyama was extremely close to missing a game in the finals for having too many flagrant fouls. On top of that, his flagrant fouls mostly resulted from too much pressure on him to rebound, with his teammates’ box-out efforts falling flat.
The Spurs, without a doubt, panicked at the end of the playoffs. Although the list of mistakes goes on and on, it seems better to focus on issues that can be proven to be his fault. Young players not performing well under pressure should not be solely blamed on the coach.
What can be blamed on the coach is the slow start to every playoff series. In every series, the Spurs dropped one of the first two games. In every series, this was due to defensive issues. The biggest adjustments the Spurs consistently made were to play more man-to-man and to stop gluing their centers to the paint.
In the series against the Timberwolves, the Spurs lost the first game because the Wolves only needed to set a screen to get an open three. Similar moments can be found in every series. If the coaches had just shifted their defensive strategy early on, they would have had an easier time in the playoffs.
But for all of his faults, Johnson will mature with the players. San Antonio, as an organization, is fond of and used to stability. Johnson has returned them to their stable place in the playoffs, and I’d be shocked if he ever coaches anywhere else.
Photo credit: Dustin Safranek, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
