Sports

The (Best) Front Office in Basketball

(Ed. note – I’m too biased to write about the only other relevant basketball team in Texas, so I let my (just as biased) acquaintance change up the rhythm of the blog.)

Once again, as playoff time approaches the Spurs have clinched the number one seed and are in contention for the best record in the NBA (It won’t happen. Let’s be honest – the big three will not play the rest of the season).

As I stand in my lonely apartment and stare at myself in the mirror rocking the authentic and one of a kind customized Matthew Bonner shirt, I ponder if the Spurs are in the same situation they were in last year, remembering the crippling fear of the Grizzlies.

However, I now take time to ponder about how that season’s team is completely different  compared to this year’s team. Obviously, I could ramble on and on about how great Coach Pop is at changing systems, Duncan passing the torch to Parker, or Manu being the only person not realizing that he can afford to get a hair piece, but I will do my best to avoid those topics.

It honestly comes down to how the Spurs have the deepest team in the West since they had Will Perdue riding the bench. The Spurs’ bench has been, statistically, the best bench when compared to every other team in the league and is averaging almost 10 more points a game than any other playoff team averages. Obviously, most of that comes from Manu, but there’s also a flurry of shooters coming off the bench from Cap’n’ Jack to Gary Neal, doing his best impersonation of a point guard while averaging 10 points a game and 42% from the 3-point line. Boris, who sometimes starts, does his best to bang with the Z-bos and Dirks of the league and at times you enjoy his defensive effort and stopping ability, and not his man-boobs flopping around up and down the court.

With all of that being said, the most important player for this Spurs team to go forward is Kawhi Leonard, averaging roughly 8 points a game and 50% shooting. More importantly, he’s been playing Bruce Bowen-like defense on the superstars in the league, making those players work for every shot and frustrating them with his 7’3″ wingspan.

Ultimately, as long as the “Big Three” do not have any health problems, or as Tony Allen described – “fake” broken arms, then they will produce, as always. Looking at all the positives, of course I cannot forget the lack of bigs to compete with other team’s frontcourts, but for now I will ignore it until the playoffs begin.

You can’t be negative while wearing a Matthew Bonner shirt.

-Jacob Jonietz, jacob.jonietz@ttu.edu