Spurs’ big contrast lurks for Warriors
The Warriors don’t play the San Antonio Spurs until the last week of January, in a ridiculous bit of scheduling, but the mind games have begun. Coach Gregg Popovich has fired the first shot, recently telling reporters “I hate the three-point shot” and “I think it’s kind of a circus sort of thing.”
As in: The Warriors, at the forefront of the league’s threepoint movement, play a style that discourages subtlety, variety and the game’s true beauty. “I don’t even think it’s basketball,” he said.
Know this: Things will never get heatedly contentious between Popovich and Steve Kerr. They go back too far, shared too many good times together, and Kerr can’t count the number of lessons he learned playing four seasons under Popovich.
Eventually, though, these teams need to settle things in the Western Conference. It seems entirely plausible they could meet in a seven-game series with a spot in the Finals on the line. And let’s hope that happens, for it will bring an element so alarmingly absent in today’s game: contrast.
Recalling how much the three-point shot contributed to Popovich’s success, in the hands of Sean Elliott, Michael Finley, Brent Barry, Manu Ginobili and Kerr (to name a few), insiders got a kick out of Popovich’s remarks. “It’s so powerful that you’ve gotta be able to do it,” he admits. Take a look at this year’s Spurs, though, and you’ll see an intriguing counter to the Warriors’ long-range onslaught.
Popovich starts two traditional big men in Tim Duncan, the driving force behind five NBA championships, and 6-foot-11 LaMarcus Aldridge. Kawhi Leonard is the Spurs’ answer to Draymond Green, a 6-7 power forward who may be headed for first-team all-NBA status, and 6-9 David West comes off the bench. The Spurs play the best defense in the league, and they allow fewer three-pointers per game than any other team.
Popovich loves playing big in a league going small, and he’ll give the Warriors a challenge they won’t face anywhere else. It’s a style close to his heart, Popovich having won his first NBA title (1999) with Duncan and David Robinson in twin-towers dominance. I think he’s making a broader statement, though.
I think he’s loudly dismissing a popular and wildly inaccurate theory that there is no longer a place in the league for post-up centers or mid-range shooters.
True, these days it’s all about the three-pointer and the high-percentage inside shot. Several teams (including Houston) build their philosophy around that. But I’d love to watch someone tell Popovich there’s no room for Ka- reem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin McHale, Bernard King, James Worthy or Bob McAdoo.
Sorry, revolution fans, but each of those players would
destroy defenses today, just as they always did, because they couldn’t be stopped by anyone. The problem in today’s league is that so few players are taught, or practice, post-up moves or the mid-range jumper that such players nearly cease to exist.
They haven’t disappeared for good, though. The notion just doesn’t make sense. The game’s trends are too cyclical for that to happen. Let’s see a team with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Green, a center with Olajuwon’s textbook arsenal and a forward with King’s quick-release vir- tuosity in the paint. That would be beautiful basketball.
Around the NBA
The Sports Illustrated website (SI.com) came up with its quarter-of-the-season awards and named Luke Walton Coach of the Year. Remarkable, especially because no other name comes immediately to mind. And forget this “interim coach” label — a lot of people around the Lakers would like to see Walton take over that club right now.
Rest easy, Warriors fans. Whatever fate lies ahead for Kerr, Walton is likely to stay with the Warriors at least through the 2016-17 season. He has found a coaching gold mine and isn’t about to let go. It’s just that Walton played 10 years with the Lakers and
Byron Scott has been an outright disaster: allowing Kobe Bryant to torch the offense with nonstop misfires, benching lottery picks Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell instead of allowing them to develop, not bothering to talk to those players about his decision, then relenting only because Kobe told him to “let the kids take over” in fourth quarters. That seems to be the case now. With Scott and Bryant, you never really know.
I’ve heard Warriors fans say they like the team exactly as it is, dismissing the idea of acquiring potential free agent Kevin Durant next summer. Crazy as it sounds, it’s a debatable topic. Remember this, though: If Durant is satisfied with Oklahoma City’s season and its future, he could stay right there. It would make financial sense for him to resign for one year, then enter free agency in the summer of 2017, when the ever-escalating salary cap will jump from about $90 million to $108 million. He’ll have 10 years in the league by then, contractually eligible for 35 percent of his team’s cap, and sources say he stands to make an additional $35 million to $40 million by taking this route.
The league lost an all-time great when Dolph Schayes died last week at 87. Maybe it’s amusing to watch him cast those two-hand set shots on films from the 1950s, but he was a force in the league with the old Syracuse Nationals (who became the 76ers), driving to the hoop with authority at a time when defensive tactics bordered on brutality. When he retired in 1963, he ranked second in the NBA in career scoring and first in games played, and he was voted one of league’s top 50 players on the league’s 50th anniversary in 1996. A great name, never forgotten by those who saw him play.