Last season, the Spurs averaged 98.5 points per game, slightly above the league average.
Since aiming for Duncan in the tanking 96-97 season, the Spurs had been averaging scores below the league average for 10 consecutive seasons until the 05-06 season; last season was the first time they bucked that trend.
Although the Spurs have always been somewhat neglected by the media, Zhang Yang still saw some objective media analysis of the Spurs’ changes after last season ended.
Sports Illustrated created an ’NBA Team Portrait,’ and when analyzing the Spurs, they praised Popovich for imitating Larry Brown’s approach from 10 years prior, setting aside his stubbornness and beginning to embrace offense.
Then Popovich got ’slapped in the face,’ as the Spurs, amid a league-wide increase in average scoring, regressed instead of improving, averaging only 95.5 points per game, a sharp 3-point decline from the previous season.
They ranked just above the Clippers, Heat, Timberwolves, and Rockets, making their offense fifth from the bottom of the league; yet they led the league in defense, with an average of 90.5 points conceded per game.
This season, only 3 teams have allowed fewer than 95 points per game, with the other two teams being the Rockets and Pistons.
The Rockets averaged 94.9 points per game and conceded 92.9 points per game; they had no choice but to dig in on defense given their roster.
The Pistons conceded an average of 93.1 points per game, which is also quite low, but their offense was passable, averaging 99.6 points per game — sixteenth in the league and slightly above the league average.
The inability to improve their offense was also due to roster issues; their owner was out of money, couldn’t afford to pay the luxury tax, and didn’t even use the mid-level exception during the offseason because it would put them over the cap.
From a roster standpoint, the Spurs had better offensive conditions than the Pistons; not mentioning how much progress they had made compared to last season, they should have at least maintained an average offensive level like the Pistons but instead saw their offensive ranking plummet 10 places to the bottom of the league.
Defensively, the Spurs were not only far ahead of the other 27 teams in the league but compared to the other two teams that also kept scores below 95 points, the Spurs were in a league of their own.
This scoring differential may seem passable compared to the pinnacle of the rugged defense era, but looking at the rankings alone, the Spurs’ ’ugliness’ this season could rival that of the rugged defense era’s zenith in the 03-04 season.
As a result, even the Christmas battle between the Spurs and the Suns had dismal viewership rates.
Normally, when the champions and runners-up face off and neither side has collapsed too disastrously in strength, even if there wasn’t a scheduled broadcast at the start of the season, there would be a last-minute addition, like the match last season between the Heat and the Mavericks, where there was a broadcast because either Wade or O’Neal was able to play.
But not this time; major TV networks would rather broadcast the Nuggets hosting the Raptors at the same time, hyping up the Iverson vs. Ford and Anthony vs. Bosh matchups, rather than air a battle of finalists with a guaranteed dismal viewership.
Zhang Yang also remembers that about 10 years ago, the Spurs gradually started to increase their offensive emphasis. Although the transformation was slow, the approach was steady; after building enough tactics, they rocketed to the top in the 10-11 season to become a super offensive powerhouse comparable to the Showtime Lakers and the Kings of the Five Tigers era.
But Popovich’s ’reverse gear’ move wasn’t a surprise to Zhang Yang.
It was very much in line with his understanding of Popovich — cautious and stability-seeking.
Popovich’s gradual offensive system build was based on the core roster of the ’Big Three’ being solid and powerful.
With Parker, averaging 20+6, gone, Popovich naturally didn’t dare to continue enhancing the offense.
In exchange for Parker, they got Conley, who exhibited strong defense in college, and Guy, who possesses both physicality and defensive awareness, showing great defensive talent.
The cautious Popovich opting to first solidify the defensive foundation was indeed quite normal.
After a day of preparation, at 7:40 p.m., the Bobcats and Spurs respectively entered the court.
Zhang Yang turned his attention to the big screen, which displayed the stats of several key players from both teams.
Ginobili averaged 19.6 points, 4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals.
Duncan averaged 18.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2 blocks.
Guy averaged 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1 block.
Conley averaged 10.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Ginobili, peaking in his career, was the main sixth man, starting only 5 out of 32 games, yet he led the team in scoring, with his numbers coming within an average of 29 minutes per game—his efficiency rivaling that of top scorers averaging 25 points.
Duncan’s scoring hit a career low, but unlike in the 05-06 season when it was due to injury and an adjustment in playstyle, this time it was because his playing time was significantly reduced, nearly matching Yao Ming’s, averaging only 32 minutes per game.
Conley played steadily, starting with an average of 7 points in the first week, then 8 points after the first month, reaching double figures in scoring by mid-December, and then stabilizing at a 10+5 level. He could shoot, pass, take it to the basket, and defend.
Guy didn’t make the sophomore year leap in scoring to join the 20+ point scorers as Zhang Yang remembered; that Grizzlies team was tanking, and Guy’s average of 20 points was forced by a high shot volume.
Coming to the Spurs, Guy’s shooting attempts increased healthily from an average of 9 in his rookie year to 12, the standard shot attempts for a third scoring option, with a 46% field goal percentage and a 37% three-point percentage, which is pretty good for a player who mainly shoots mid-range and long-range jumpers.