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He’s a liability out in space, but the Spurs have the perimeter defense to fight over, under and through screens and allow the Gasol to hang out by the basket. But Pau Gasol was key to stopping the Rockets in last year’s playoffs. Add LaMarcus Aldridge, who is a huge body at the four, and who is still big at the five against the Warriors lineup of death, and the Spurs have big bodies that make it difficult for opponents to move through their offense. Rudy Gay presents a third long perimeter defender, albeit nowhere near Leonard or Green, who could shine at the four. Both can guard positions one through four, and their ability to take turns on opposing stars is a rarity in the NBA. The Spurs have the best defensive wing combo in the league in Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. His shooting mechanics leave a lot to be desired, but his ability to penetrate and finish at difficult angles should offset the loss of Simmons. He was unafraid in the playoffs last year, and should breakout in year two as Spurs coach Gregg Popovich trusts him more. Dejounte Murray is a 6-foot-5 point guard with the length to disrupt opposing lead guards and some wings: But the Spurs have size throughout their roster, starting in the backcourt. When people talk about size, they mistakenly think about big men clanking post-ups and an inefficient style of play in the modern NBA. The Spurs won 67 games in 2015-2016 and 61 games in 2016-2017, and may be even better equipped to defend the Warriors this year: Although criticism off the offseason has some merit, you can’t win games in the summer. Put it all together, and many feel like the Thunder and Rockets moved ahead of San Antonio with their respective additions of Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and several good role players. Unlike other teams in the West that added superstars, the Spurs’ offseason was ridiculed as they overpaid Pau Gasol, added injury-prone Rudy Gay and lost Jonathon Simmons, who played a significant role in the playoffs last year. But after an enthralling offseason that saw the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder add future hall of famers in an effort to compete with the Warriors, it’s easy to forget how close the Spurs were to going up 1-0 in the Western Conference Finals, with a chance to put pressure on Golden State. Today’s feature is from Eli Horowitz, assistant men’s basketball coach at Caltech & NBA/WNBA analyst):īarring injury, the Warriors should repeat as NBA champions in 2017-2018. Starting today, we will be including a weekly feature from our rotation of outstanding NBA analysts. (Note: We are expanding our original content at Basketball Intelligence.