The San Antonio Spurs’ Collective Isn’t So Collected

The San Antonio Spurs’ reputation for being “one team” is taking a hit

Here we go again.

Once again, the San Antonio Spurs played the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena; it was the team’s third meeting this season.

Once again, the Spurs were missing a player: this time, it was forward Boris Diaw, who was back in San Antonio nursing a strain to his hip/groin area.

And once again, the Spurs played like the AAU version of themselves as they allowed the Warriors to win their 70th game of the season in a 112-101 win. I would have said they played like the D-League version of themselves, but the Austin Spurs may have acquitted themselves better in that game.

As the late Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like deja vu all over again.”

For the past two decades, the Spurs have been considered the model franchise among all American professional sports leagues, in part because of their refusal to elevate one player over another at the expense of the team dynamic.

This is an anomaly in this era of the evolving meaning (and power) of a “franchise” player, where having that one (or more, in the case of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors, to name a few) star player who is more than just the face of the franchise to help sell tickets and jerseys.

More than before, said player(s) is also the fount from whom all team basketball blessings flow with regard to points scored, team building, and personnel changes (how you doin‘, LeBron James?) — and said player(s) is treated accordingly. It is understood that the fortune of the team is directly tied to that of this player, and steps are taken to ensure that the player is protected so that he can, in turn, protect the team and help it get wins.

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Somewhere along the way, the Spurs started believing their own hype about being “egoless” and team-first (which I disputed in an earlier article), and it has come back to bite them in the butt.

[Mind you, I have been a Spurs fan for over 25 years, and I ride or die with the Silver and Black.]

A cohesive team — especially a five-time championship team — is greater than the sum of its parts; when one cog in the wheel goes down, another cog compensates for the loss until the bum cog can be replaced, or the machinery reconfigured altogether. The Spurs have mostly seen success in this vein, as evidenced by the usually revered Juice Unit, the sparkplug second unit that comes off the bench to get things popping.

More often than not this season it has been the Juice Unit, led by crafty veteran Manu Ginobili, that has saved the starting five’s bacon and changed the momentum of games in favor of the Spurs.

Against the Warriors on their home court in Oakland? Not so much.

It was understood by the Spurs that the absence of Diaw would be an additional test as they played Golden State on their home court, where they were undefeated since last season until their shocking loss a few days ago to the Boston Celtics. Diaw may not be the first option on many plays, but he does so many little things that not having him in the game can mess things up for the team.

Still, with no on else listed on the Spurs’ injury list and a rough map to success based on their win over Golden State two weeks ago, there was no excuse. People needed to step up (again), and that just didn’t happen (again). It’s not acceptable at any point but with the end of the Spurs’ regular season nearing in five days, it’s borderline criminal.

The Spurs, like everyone else on the planet, knew that the Warriors are heavily dependent on three-point shots — they can do that, since they tend to make most of them. They knew that most of the team can make three-pointers.

They knew that Andre Iguodala, reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year and a key reason Golden State won their first championship in 40 years, was back in the rotation after recovering from an ankle injury. Andrew Bogut was back as well, fresh off a rib injury, along with Festus Ezili and his knee injury.

They knew that Shawn Livingston had a tendency to go off at any moment, as did Harrison Barnes; that The Splash Brothers (Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson) were always waiting to erupt; and that Draymond Green was gonna Draymond Green.

So what happened? Despite having less turnovers and fouls than Golden State, and almost twice as many bench points, the Spurs sent the Warriors to the line 11 times, where they made 10 of those free throws. The Warriors also outscored the Spurs in the paint and had more assists. Harrison Barnes was flammable from three-point land. LaMarcus Aldridge was relatively ineffective even before he dislocated his finger in the first quarter:

Tony Parker and Tim Duncan simply could not keep up with the youthful freneticism of the Warriors. Kawhi Leonard tried, but his team-high 23 points might as well been two points.

And Danny Green had an unforgivable defensive lapse (leaving Klay Thompson to go help in the paint, which allowed Thompson to make a wide-open three in the first few minutes of the first quarter) that set the tone for the entire game and led to perhaps one of the earliest time-outs (and curse-outs) ever by head coach Gregg Popovich.

As much as the Spurs like to downplay it, some players are simply more important than others. Duncan, for all of his uncharacteristic ineptitude when playing the Warriors, is essential for their sixth championship run (and beyond, if he chooses not to retire this summer).

Ditto for Diaw; the Spurs would have had a much better chance of keeping the Warriors’ wins at 69 had he been healthy and playing last night. We don’t even need to mention Leonard, who is like oxygen for the team. And Ginobili. And Parker…it pains me to admit it, but they need him too.

This season has put a spotlight on what is not the norm for the Spurs. Other teams are expected to have setbacks when their key players are out due to injury or rest (for example, the Cleveland Cavaliers are 1-4 this season when James doesn’t play). The Spurs are expected to keep rolling because they (usually) have more of a “plug-and-play” system.

However, this season has cast aspersion upon what has been widely perceived as the Borg Collective of the NBA, or perhaps Hydra. The bench has not come through in crucial games (including both against the Warriors in Oakland). Aldridge has gone MIA (that’s “missing in action,” not the Miami Heat) more often than not. Green’s three-point shots have ended up on the side of a milk carton. Duncan is even slower this year. Parker is streaky.

What this means for the team when Duncan finally retires, I have no idea. Aside from Leonard, there is no true heir apparent to the Spurs’ crown (even given that players like Duncan are once in a lifetime). As much as praise is heaped upon Aldridge in his turn for the Silver and Black, I am still not convinced that the Spurs wouldn’t have been better off spending their $80 million elsewhere.

Kyle Anderson is coming into his own, but at a pace that reinforces his “Slo-Mo” moniker. Boban Marjanovic may be priced out of a re-up for next season, and there’s the pesky detail of whether or not Ginobili will also hang ’em up and go to tan his “solar panel” (bald spot) elsewhere. Both Patty Mills and Green need their shooting prowess to come back ASAPtually.

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The Spurs, if nothing else, are adaptive. By the time the 2016-17 season rolls around, they will have figured out how to spackle the cracks in their vaunted armor, especially with the help of the unprecedented spike in salary cap room that is slated to begin next season. In the meantime, we can see the rest of the regular season treating the Spurs like any other team.