How the Warriors may have helped the Spurs
The Golden State Warriors swept the San Antonio Spurs, but may have helped them recognize some flaws particularly with LaMarcus Aldridge.
No one wants to lose in the Conference Finals. After working hard for months, dealing with ups and downs, you are four wins away from competing for a championships. That’s what it’s all about.
So, in that sense, the San Antonio Spurs are probably pretty bitter with how their season ended. Losing Kawhi Leonard for the entire series after a third quarter injury in Game 1 was awful. It hurts even more when you consider the lead that Leonard and the Spurs had built in that first game.
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The Warriors would overcome a 20 point deficit and win the in comeback fashion. The Dubs would then dominate three straight games and sweep the Spurs. What could have been an extremely competitive series with Leonard wasn’t because he was on the bench.
Losing your best player hurts. Outside of the Golden State Warriors, there isn’t a single team that could survive without their top player, especially in the playoffs. Not even the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are on the brink of the third straight Finals appearance, could stay afloat if LeBron James were to get hurt.
But the Spurs should have put up more of a fight. And this is how Golden State’s systematic dismantling of Gregg Popovich’s team could help them. They have to assess why they didn’t put up a fight.
The Spurs were overmatched, even with Leonard. But LaMarcus Aldridge was once an All-Star. And he went down quietly.
He had two games with eight points in the series. He shot just 41 percent for the series. Defensively, he was even worse.
The Spurs’ were once the standard. Just a few years ago, the world watched as their free-flowing motion offense dismantled LeBron James’ Miami Heat. That style is gone.
Admittedly, that team’s personnel was better than this one’s, but that’s what San Antonio wanted to build. Now the Spurs have to assess Aldridge’s future with the team. That’s how the Warriors are helping them.
The Spurs’ pursuit of Aldridge in free agency was uncharacteristic. In the summer of 2015, they signed on to give him roughly 84 million over four years. With two years left on that deal, they need to re-think their plans.
Draymond Green and co. made him look foolish over and over again. San Antonio wants to compete with Golden State, but they won’t be able to with him. His game isn’t the the type to beat the Warriors.
Aldridge is a ball-stopping big that needs his touches. When he gets those touches, he decides to go to a fadeaway–which is fine unless he has a guy seven inches smaller than him guarding him. He doesn’t shoot three-pointers. He is gifted offensively, but he limits what the team can do.
Defensively, he’s no Tim Duncan. He’s probably no JaVale McGee either. He cannot defend the rim at all.
The Spurs need to put a good team around Kawhi Leonard. They also need to ensure that he’s getting the ball as much as possible. Aldridge’s presence might be a problem.
Of course, saying that Green made you look foolish is not necessarily a slight. He’s an elite defensive player that can shut down anyone. But Aldridge should have done more.
Basketball is a team game and so it doesn’t just fall on him. Most of the Spurs offered little to no resistance. Their best player during the series was either the second-year Jonathan Simmons or the (possibly) retiring Manu Ginobili.
The Warriors exposed flaws that perhaps Popovich and the Spurs didn’t know were there. Now they have a lot of decisions to make in the offseason that, perhaps, they wouldn’t have thought about if Leonard had been healthy and kept them afloat.
With Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant in blue and yellow, the Warriors should be on top for the foreseeable future. The Spurs will need to revamp to compete.