San Antonio Spurs: Revisiting foolish preseason predictions at the midway mark
1. The San Antonio Spurs will be ranked the No. 1 defense in the NBA
Prediction Counter: 0-of-1 (0.0 percent)
Prediction Comparison: a Joakim Noah free throw.
As of right now, the prediction of the San Antonio Spurs having the No. 1 defense in the NBA is only 22 spots off. No. 23 in points allowed, and No. 23 in defensive rating — not too far off of No. 1, if you squint hard enough and be optimistic.
A major yikes. If at season’s beginning, you spun me around and told me that Dejounte Murray would be active in 43 games and Derrick White would play in 45 of the first 47 games of the season, there’d be almost no regrets about this prediction.
Of course, that’s with the understanding that Murray and White would have shared the floor together, something they’ve only done for 50 of a possible 2,286 minutes played.
The silver lining could be what coach Gregg Popovich alluded to during a postgame interview with KSAT 12’s R.J. Marquez:
Popovich on pairing of Dejounte Murray and Derrick White late in recent games: 'They compliment each other pretty good. Two guys that are willing to pass. Make pretty good decisions. They play good defense, so we have a pretty good tandem there.' #Spurs #KSATsports #KSATnews
— RJ Marquez (@KSATRJ) January 24, 2020
We’ve enjoyed that 50 minutes too, Pop.
The Spurs actually put a plan in place to roll a Murray-White combo out to start the second half during the Raptors game on Jan. 25.
And sure enough, two things happened: the offense was initially clunky; that Aldridge-DeRozan-Murray-White-Forbes lineup has only shared the court together for 20 minutes and it showed. But once the groove was found, the Spurs stepped to the defending champions with a renewed confidence.
Here’s a gem of them turning defense into offense, a common trend in the Murray and White lineups (a breakneck 108.8 pace vs. the normal 100.2).
The end result? It only took a half-quarter for the Spurs to turn a 65-51 deficit into a deadlock at 73 apiece. (Side note: How about DeMar DeRozan holding it down at the “4” spot? Take notes, Tim Duncan.)
Just for the sake of culture, here’s another clip of a beautiful defensive rotation. This grouping radiates energy.
Don’t mistake this for me being prescient; you just can’t help but wonder how many of the Spurs’ defensive struggles get remedied by playing this lineup more frequently. The Spurs are the third-worst team in the league at opponent shooting from 16-feet and deeper and No. 21 in defending the league’s most lethal shot altogether.
There’s still time for the San Antonio Spurs to right the ship for a run at the ‘ship. And more importantly, there’s time for the Spurs to help make my prediction not look half bad.
If you had told me in October that a prospective solution would be … a Murray-White lineup with DeRozan and Aldridge as the “frontcourt?” — we’d have to shake on that. You’d sound just as crazy as me.