Will the Spurs' 50-Game Winning Streak End this Year?
Will the Spurs' 50-Game Winning Streak End this Year?
The Spurs are struggling right now. This season is one of their worst in the Gregg Popovich era and their famed 50-game winning streak may come to an end this year.
The Spurs are struggling right now. This season is one of their worst in the Gregg Popovich era and their famed 50-game winning streak may come to an end this year.
In Gregg Popovich’s first full year as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, he led the team to 56 wins. The next year, the season was shortened to just 50 games because of a lockout. But if the Spurs’ win percentage was extrapolated over a regular, 82-game season, they would have won 61 games. In the 18 seasons since then, San Antonio has never won less than 50 games.
No other franchise in NBA history has come close to this standard of sustained excellence. (The Los Angeles Lakers, who won 50 or more games in 12 straight seasons, are the closest.)
For the past two decades, San Antonio’s success has been a constant in the league. Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain except death and taxes; in modern times, it has seemed as though the Spurs winning 50 games ought to join Franklin's list of inevitables.
Until this year.
A Different Team
This year’s team is not the same perennial title contender we have seen in past years. Watching them play, they look slow and lack the “spark” needed to win in tough situations. Even more concerning, they do not seem to be having much success with their characteristic offense by committee.
Even Manu Ginobili, in his 16th year with the Spurs, is worried by their poor play this year. "It feels like we are terrible, that we have so many things to improve," Ginobili said, per San Antonio Express-News. "It feels like we have played 10 games, not 60, or how many we have played. We've got a feeling we are still building, trying to find our identity, trying to get players back, rotations and who is in and who is out."
If even Ginobili is concerned, the situation doesn’t look good. A big reason for their poor play this year is out of their control: injuries. Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills are the only players on the roster who have played in all 59 of the Spurs’ games so far. Tony Parker and Rudy Gay have both missed significant amounts of time. Worst of all, Kawhi Leonard, the best two-way player in the league and heir to Tim Duncan, has played in just nine games this season.
Disappointment on the Rodeo Road Trip
The Spurs’ annual Rodeo Road Trip has historically been a chance for the players to grow closer and solidify their identity as a team. It has also been an opportunity to get in crucial road wins. In the 15 years, the Spurs have completed the Road Trip, they have come home with a winning record 13 times.
This year’s trip began with a thunderous 48-point victory over the Phoenix Suns. After such a brilliant game, it was hard not to think that, perhaps, the Spurs’ troubles may be over. However, San Antonio lost the next three games to the Warriors, Jazz, and Nuggets. If the Spurs’ don’t win their final two games on this year’s trip, they will come home with their worst record in the history of the Rodeo Road Trip.
Perhaps even more concerning is that these losses are a part of a downward trend: the Spurs have won only one out of their last six games. Their win percentage, .593, is their worst since Gregg Popovich’s first year as Spurs’ head coach. If they continue at this pace, they will win just 49 games for the first time in two decades.
Taking Them For Granted
It is kind of amazing that we are upset that the Spurs might only win 50 games, and are only the third seed. Many other franchises in this league would give an arm and a leg to be in San Antonio’s position right now. Sure, this team is not living up to the standard of excellence set by their predecessors, but it is pretty remarkable that they still are in a position to have home-court advantage in the playoffs, despite missing an MVP caliber player in Kawhi Leonard.
The Spurs may be struggling right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic. This team still has that remarkable hydra-like quality of getting solid games from seemingly anyone they put on the floor in place of injured players. They still have LaMarcus Aldridge, who is having his best season with the team so far, and Kawhi Leonard, who will return to the court someday. Most importantly, though, the Spurs still have Gregg Popovich, one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA.
Even in one of their worst seasons in recent memory, the Spurs are still better than most of the teams in the league. San Antonio's perennial greatness is just something we take for granted.
In Gregg Popovich’s first full year as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, he led the team to 56 wins. The next year, the season was shortened to just 50 games because of a lockout. But if the Spurs’ win percentage was extrapolated over a regular, 82-game season, they would have won 61 games. In the 18 seasons since then, San Antonio has never won less than 50 games.
No other franchise in NBA history has come close to this standard of sustained excellence. (The Los Angeles Lakers, who won 50 or more games in 12 straight seasons, are the closest.)
For the past two decades, San Antonio’s success has been a constant in the league. Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain except death and taxes; in modern times, it has seemed as though the Spurs winning 50 games ought to join Franklin's list of inevitables.
Until this year.
A Different Team
This year’s team is not the same perennial title contender we have seen in past years. Watching them play, they look slow and lack the “spark” needed to win in tough situations. Even more concerning, they do not seem to be having much success with their characteristic offense by committee.
Even Manu Ginobili, in his 16th year with the Spurs, is worried by their poor play this year. "It feels like we are terrible, that we have so many things to improve," Ginobili said, per San Antonio Express-News. "It feels like we have played 10 games, not 60, or how many we have played. We've got a feeling we are still building, trying to find our identity, trying to get players back, rotations and who is in and who is out."
If even Ginobili is concerned, the situation doesn’t look good. A big reason for their poor play this year is out of their control: injuries. Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills are the only players on the roster who have played in all 59 of the Spurs’ games so far. Tony Parker and Rudy Gay have both missed significant amounts of time. Worst of all, Kawhi Leonard, the best two-way player in the league and heir to Tim Duncan, has played in just nine games this season.
Disappointment on the Rodeo Road Trip
The Spurs’ annual Rodeo Road Trip has historically been a chance for the players to grow closer and solidify their identity as a team. It has also been an opportunity to get in crucial road wins. In the 15 years, the Spurs have completed the Road Trip, they have come home with a winning record 13 times.
This year’s trip began with a thunderous 48-point victory over the Phoenix Suns. After such a brilliant game, it was hard not to think that, perhaps, the Spurs’ troubles may be over. However, San Antonio lost the next three games to the Warriors, Jazz, and Nuggets. If the Spurs’ don’t win their final two games on this year’s trip, they will come home with their worst record in the history of the Rodeo Road Trip.
Perhaps even more concerning is that these losses are a part of a downward trend: the Spurs have won only one out of their last six games. Their win percentage, .593, is their worst since Gregg Popovich’s first year as Spurs’ head coach. If they continue at this pace, they will win just 49 games for the first time in two decades.
Taking Them For Granted
It is kind of amazing that we are upset that the Spurs might only win 50 games, and are only the third seed. Many other franchises in this league would give an arm and a leg to be in San Antonio’s position right now. Sure, this team is not living up to the standard of excellence set by their predecessors, but it is pretty remarkable that they still are in a position to have home-court advantage in the playoffs, despite missing an MVP caliber player in Kawhi Leonard.
The Spurs may be struggling right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic. This team still has that remarkable hydra-like quality of getting solid games from seemingly anyone they put on the floor in place of injured players. They still have LaMarcus Aldridge, who is having his best season with the team so far, and Kawhi Leonard, who will return to the court someday. Most importantly, though, the Spurs still have Gregg Popovich, one of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA.
Even in one of their worst seasons in recent memory, the Spurs are still better than most of the teams in the league. San Antonio's perennial greatness is just something we take for granted.