San Antonio Spurs: Looking into the Western Conference Playoffs contenders – NBA Feature Part 1
The playoff places have been decided and the post season all set to start on Saturday. 16 of the top teams in the NBA will be looking to lay a claim to the throne of being the best by winning the ultimate prize
of a NBA World Championship.
Let`s take a look at the teams from the Western Conference who will be participating for the prize and have come out as top contenders in this short spanned season of 66 games.
1. San Antonio Spurs
As the season started off in a haphazard way and was shortened to 66 games, many would not have expected the San Antonio Spurs to finish at the top of the Western Conference and be serious contenders for the
Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Spurs are no new comers to his situation, having gone all the way 4 times since the 1999 season. The Spurs are going for gold and the trio that needs to be given it fare share of regard is of the Big Three of
the San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have been together for a very long time and are a big reason why the Spurs present themselves as one of the strongest teams in the NBA at the moment.
Head Coach, Gregg Popovich has always been able to blend together his set of players in perfect combinations to get the best output for his team. This season has been no different as Popovich is a likely favourite
to win the Coach of the Year Award.
Even though the Spurs do all of this in a very casual way but their way of doing things is highly effective. You would not see the usual spectacular plays, you are rather going to see a layup instead of a dunk
but the Spurs roster is highly resource full in their fundamental playing style.
This simple style of playing is merely a projection of Tim Duncan`s mentality who is widely regarded as the ‘The Big Fundamental’. The Spurs veteran is known for his simple yet effective game and can easily lay
claim to being one of the best forwards in the NBA at the moment.
Even though we have grown accustomed to seeing Tony Parker`s play on the court. However it is surprising to know that the 13 year old veteran is just 29 years old and in no way near to the end of his career.
Parker has had a wild season so far and can be taken as a strong candidate for the MVP award.
Manu Ginobili completes this trio and has been extremely functioning while coming off the bench throughout his career. Despite struggling to recover from injury in the early part of the season, Ginobili has hit
form at just the right time to prepare for the playoffs.
However aspiring as the big three of the Spurs are which projects the image of the team as being old but it is not the case at the moment. Spurs have one of the strongest supporting cast in the league at the
moment, the like of Matt Bonner, DeJuan Blair, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter apply their traits with the veteran squad and are still in the early stages of their careers.
It is not how the stars players play but how they make their supporting unit perform. Spurs have chemistry, they have fluency and they get the job done in a highly efficient way which can be taken one of the
strongest aspects of this team.
Spurs start off their post season playing hosts to the Utah Jazz and will be looking to carry the momentum of their impressive season this time around, as last year they were forced into an early exit at the
hands of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent Bettor.com’s editorial policy.
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