{"id":32321,"date":"2020-07-26T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-26T12:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=32321"},"modified":"2020-07-25T23:04:55","modified_gmt":"2020-07-26T03:04:55","slug":"nba-disney-contenders-or-pretenders-san-antonio-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/07\/26\/nba-disney-contenders-or-pretenders-san-antonio-spurs\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Disney Contenders or Pretenders: San Antonio Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/san-antonio-spurs\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> are one of 22 teams that will play in Florida. They will play eight season games to end the 2019-20 NBA season. The playoffs would then begin afterward. However, unlike some teams playing in Florida, the Spurs will need to fight for a playoff spot.<\/p>\n<p>The Spurs record is 27 wins and 36 losses, which is 12<sup>th<\/sup> in the Western Conference. The team they have to catch up to, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/memphis-grizzlies\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>, has a record of 32 wins and 33 losses. The Spurs will need to be almost perfect in the last eight regular-season games. Pulling it off is anyone\u2019s guess, as the Spurs face an uphill battle.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The San Antonio Spurs: NBA Disney Contenders or Pretenders<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>DeMar DeRozan&#8217;s Impact<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a><\/strong> has probably been the best player of the Spurs this season. He is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.2 blocks per game. This has been by far the most efficient season for DeRozan as he is having career-highs in free-throw, two-point, and field goal percentage. Yes, he still struggles with a 26.7 percentage from the three-point line. However, it does not take away from the excellent season he is having this year.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, his leadership skills will be tested. A lot of players in the Spurs organization look up to him, and he understands his responsibility according to Jeff Garcia of <a href=\"https:\/\/news4sanantonio.com\/sports\/spurs-zone\/derozan-aims-to-do-his-part-in-development-of-young-spurs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spurs Zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Knowledge,&#8221; DeRozan said. &#8220;Helping them understand how to approach the game. How to play the game. How different the game may be under these circumstances.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of DeRozan&#8217;s best games was against his former team, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/toronto-raptors\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Toronto Raptors<\/a>. He had 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The Spurs would go on to win that game 105-104 on January 12<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"DeMar DeRozan Full Play vs Toronto Raptors | 01\/12\/20 | Smart Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RR_XNt8jKEg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Dejounte Murray&#8217;s Impact<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrade01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dejounte Murray<\/a><\/strong> is one of the Spurs\u2019 most promising young players. In the 2019-20 NBA season, he is averaging 10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. Murray is having a career year this season with career-highs in points, assists, and steals. He is also having career-highs in a field goal, effective field goal, three-point, and free throw percentage. He has made a big jump this year offensively.<\/p>\n<p>However, his biggest strength for the Spurs is his defense. For example, in steals, Murray is tied for sixth in the NBA and has the highest steals per game for the Spurs according to <a href=\"https:\/\/stats.nba.com\/leaders\/?Season=2019-20&amp;SeasonType=Regular%20Season&amp;StatCategory=STL\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBA.com<\/a>. He also has the accolades to prove this as he made it to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Murray has shown flashes of both defense and offense. An example would be against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/cleveland-cavaliers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> on March 8<sup>th<\/sup>, where he had 17 points, 6 assists, and 6 steals. Unfortunately, the Spurs lost in overtime against the Cavaliers 132-129.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dejounte Murray 17 Points\/6 Assists\/6 Steals Full Highlights (3\/8\/2020)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8nU6Qs8vpHc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Greg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs said this about Murray according to Jeff Garcia of <a href=\"https:\/\/news4sanantonio.com\/sports\/spurs-zone\/dejounte-murray-has-a-bright-future-ahead-says-popovich\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sports Zone<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;His future is really bright as long as he stays on that path where he steadily improves,&#8221; Popovich added.<\/p>\n<p>The only problem is that Murray is still young and is not yet an NBA All-Star. As the Spurs&#8217; starting point guard, he will have a lot of responsibility to lead the Spurs to another NBA playoff berth.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>LaMarcus Aldridge Will Not Play in Orlando<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Spurs suffered a major blow as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/aldrila01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LaMarcus Aldridge<\/a><\/strong> will sit out for the rest of the season. Aldridge got a shoulder injury on February 21<sup>st<\/sup> against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/utah-jazz\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Utah Jazz <\/a>according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/basketball\/nba\/spurs-lamarcus-aldridge-season-shoulder-surgery\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sportsnet Staff<\/a>. He had surgery on his right shoulder last month.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Spurs today announced that LaMarcus Aldridge had a surgical procedure performed on his right shoulder, which will cause him to miss the remainder of the 2019-20 NBA season.<\/p>\n<p>MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wFM31GwLjq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/wFM31GwLjq<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kwfI6hVdXU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/kwfI6hVdXU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spurs\/status\/1270068373498585092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This is a big blow to the Spurs&#8217; chances of making the NBA playoffs. Aldridge is the Spurs&#8217; second-best player and was the Spurs only NBA All-Star in 2019. He is averaging 18.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game.<\/p>\n<p>Aldridge is having a career-high in blocks but has dipped in points and rebounds. His points per game have dropped by 2.4 and his rebounds per game have dropped by 1.8. Still, Aldridge is a great player and the Spurs are going to miss him.<\/p>\n<p>Now the question is who is going to replace him. This will most likely be <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/poeltja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jakob Poeltl<\/a><\/strong>. This is what he said according to Paul Garcia of <a href=\"https:\/\/projectspurs.com\/2020\/07\/22\/patty-mills-and-jakob-poeltl-excited-for-first-scrimmage-thursday\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">projectspurs.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like I want to step up,\u201d said Poeltl. \u201cI have to take up as much of the load that we\u2019re missing here. We\u2019re going to have to all step up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Poeltl will not be enough. The whole team which includes other players like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/millspa02.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Patty Mills<\/a><\/strong> will have to step to fill Aldridge\u2019s void.<\/p>\n<p>Poeltl is averaging 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He is having a career-high in assists, steals, and blocks per game. Still, his stats are not at Aldridge&#8217;s level. It is going to be hard for the Spurs to overcome that. This is especially true when they will have to surpass four teams in the Western Conference to get an NBA playoff spot.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Offense and Defense<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The San Antonio Spurs are tied for 11<sup>th<\/sup> in offensive rating with the Raptors according to <a href=\"https:\/\/stats.nba.com\/teams\/advanced\/?sort=OFF_RATING&amp;dir=-1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stats.nba.com<\/a>. This is pretty good and that alone should put the Spurs in an NBA playoff spot. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/stats\/_\/name\/sa\/san-antonio-spurs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">espn.com<\/a>, seven NBA players are averaging at least 10 points or more in the 2019-20 NBA season. While not great, their offense is good enough for an NBA playoff berth.<\/p>\n<p>The problem though is the defense. Yes, Murray is a good defender, but he cannot do it alone. This is proven in the Spurs defensive ratings, which is tied for 24<sup>th<\/sup> with a 112.8 rating according to <a href=\"https:\/\/stats.nba.com\/teams\/advanced\/?sort=DEF_RATING&amp;dir=-1\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stats.NBA.com<\/a>. This is not good enough and is a big reason why the Spurs have a record of 27 wins and 36 losses. A clear example of this was their 139-120 loss against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/brooklyn-nets\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brooklyn Nets<\/a> on March 6<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udde3 BROOOOOKLYYYYYYYN <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LE4kIcvWGy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LE4kIcvWGy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrooklynNets\/status\/1236122787154194433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>San Antonio Spurs Contenders or Pretenders Verdict: Pretenders<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There are only a handful of NBA teams that are contenders. Even some of the NBA teams with a good regular-season record can be considered a pretender. The Spurs have not even had a good regular-season as they sit 12<sup>th<\/sup> in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p>The last time the Spurs failed to make the NBA playoffs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanko01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kobe Bryant<\/strong><\/a> played his rookie season according to Eddie Bitar of <a href=\"https:\/\/fadeawayworld.net\/2019\/11\/21\/the-last-time-the-san-antonio-spurs-missed-the-playoffs\/?fbclid=IwAR0-nGbdrgW-tIzObI3hG4rSaIJC7uToWISypSIVODXlY31nnUTfUakms_g\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fadeawayworld.com<\/a>. Unfortunately, this run will most likely end in the 2019-20 NBA season. As mentioned previously, the Spurs have 27 wins and 36 losses.<\/p>\n<p>They are 12<sup>th<\/sup> in the Western Conference and are four games back of the Grizzlies, which has a record of 32 wins and 33 losses. The Spurs have a respectable four wins and six losses without Aldridge according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poundingtherock.com\/2020\/6\/8\/21284680\/what-lamarcus-aldridge-being-out-for-the-season-means-for-the-spurs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">poundingtherock.com<\/a> in the 2019-20 NBA season. However, this is still not good enough to make the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>They will probably need to win at least seven or all their games to give themselves a chance. It is not just the Grizzlies; the Spurs need to surpass. It is also the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/new-orleans-pelicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New Orleans Pelicans<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/portland-trail-blazers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/sacramento-kings\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sacramento Kings<\/a>. That is four teams in total that are ahead of them in the NBA playoff race.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, their defense and even offense will need to step it up in these last eight NBA season games. Something which seems unlikely to happen, especially with the injury of Aldridge.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/spurs\/san-antonio-spurs-announce-schedule-2019-20-season-restart-orlando\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">nba.com<\/a>, their first game will be a big one. They will face the Kings, who are only a half-game ahead of the Spurs on July 31<sup>st<\/sup>. If the Spurs win that game, it is a small step into making the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>The season is just a few days away, on July 23<sup>rd<\/sup> the Spurs played their first pre-season scrimmage this month. They lost 113-92 to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Bucks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">First scrimmage in the books \u2611\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>We&#39;re back at it on Saturday vs. Brooklyn!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GoSpursGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GoSpursGo<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WholeNewGame?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WholeNewGame<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H7iDqQ6NCy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/H7iDqQ6NCy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spurs\/status\/1286410222911795200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 23, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"RO-jVibdSQ50mt8RFc34Yw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1145567250\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'RO-jVibdSQ50mt8RFc34Yw',sig:'RAuAPmXqQGj5ISevmdZjKWUXitwstbiIm5Vcird4_8M=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1145567250',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The San Antonio Spurs are one of 22 teams that will play in Florida. They will play eight season games to end the 2019-20 NBA season. The playoffs would then begin afterward. However, unlike some teams playing in Florida, the Spurs will need to fight for a playoff spot. The Spurs record is 27 wins [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3104,"featured_media":32364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,1608,62],"tags":[1262,350,1552,968,410,3682,1022,55],"class_list":["post-32321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spurs","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-demar-derozan","tag-greg-popovich","tag-jakob-poeltl","tag-lamarcus-aldridge","tag-orlando","tag-patty-mills","tag-san-antonio-spurs"],"modified_by":"David Ward, Associate Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}