San Antonio Spurs: The good, bad and unknown from win over Memphis

The Unknown: The Spurs offense seems to be working, but it’s too early to tell

Over the last few years, San Antonio has adjusted their offensive style slightly to go from a more traditional two big centered offense to a more typical 4/5-out style play. The switch is just the first step in what seems to be the Spurs’ journey to becoming a more “traditional” NBA team, and so far at least, it appears to be working.

San Antonio was just one made free throw away from a stellar 50/40/90 line as a team, and Memphis was not able to handle the Spurs fast-paced style offense, as the Grizzlies seemed to just collapse every time San Antonio drove the ball in. That gave the Spurs plenty of chances to kick the ball out, which they took more often than not, resulting in 28 assists on the game. It’s nice to see that while the Spurs offensive style might be evolving, their mentality of finding the best shot available has not changed. Not only that, but on nearly every fast break the Spurs had on offense they filled the lane very nicely, resulting in 22 fast-break points.

However, there are two key points to note here. First, Memphis’ defense did not do them any favors. For whatever reason, the Grizzlies just couldn’t figure out what the Spurs were doing, which made for a lot of easy possessions.

And the other point is that it’s still very early in the season, and the Spurs have yet to show how they can adjust when the defense does figure out how to guard them. San Antonio doesn’t have the league’s best 3-point shooters for sure, and so it’s unlikely they’ll be able to shoot their way out of a rut like the Golden State Warriors or the Brooklyn Nets can. If the Spurs can’t figure out a different way to score on opponents who stop the kick out game, San Antonio fans could be in for a long season.