Ah, early season overreactions. Are they not the best? From the Knicks season being over already, and the Warriors regretting the Durant signing, the hot takes are rolling. Hopefully this won’t be one as sizzling.
If you happened to be under a rock since the NBA’s opening night, the San Antonio Spurs annihilated the Golden State Warriors, 129-100. The box score had some nice elements with Jonathon Simmon’s performance off the bench, along with Kawhi Leonard’s career-high 35 points.
Two numbers did catch much of the NBA community off guard. The plus/minus of Tony Parker and Pau Gasol.
The plus/minus statistic measures how well the team performs with a certain player on the court. The two future hall of famers did not fare well in the opening night contest against the Warriors.
When Tony Parker was on the court, the San Antonio Spurs were outscored by 12 points (-12 +/-). Paul Gasol’s was one point worse at -13. This is particularly concerning, considering the outcome of the game and that the team will be counting on Parker and Gasol quite often.
Parker has a history of struggling against the Warriors. Last year, he finished in the negative in three of the four regular season matchups. The only positive plus/minus came when the Spurs won by eight, in which he was +8. The rest were negative performances as San Antonio was outscored by double-digits.
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For the entire 2015-16 season, the Chicago Bulls were -3 when Pau Gasol was on the floor. Not a good sign for an aging veteran. With questions about his rim protection and lateral quickness there are thoughts that he will struggle mightily in Pop’s defensive system.
Both players abilities at this point in their career are not suited for the pace Golden State likes to play at, making head coach Gregg Popovich’s job much harder.
They are his studs, but may need to see a diminished role in the rest of the regular season matchups this year.
There is some depth for Popovich to play with in the backcourt. Jonathon Simmons showed that depth right off the bat last night with his 20 points off the bench and this MONSTER slam.
Oh, and then there was this.
Jonathon Simmons taking cues from The King. https://t.co/ksIrXdwQDL
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 26, 2016
But can Simmons and Patty Mills be counted on if these two teams were to meet in the playoffs? The Warriors will be better gelled by that time. If Parker and Gasol were -12 and -13 in a blowout victory, how would their plus/minus look in a Warriors win.
The frontcourt does not have as much depth so, barring any moves, Gasol will have to be on the floor. Even the frontcourt reserves for the San Antonio Spurs looked rough. David Lee and Dewayne Dedmon aren’t exactly the ideal tandem.
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The point is, Gregg Popovic has some experimenting to do in the rest of the regular season matchups. This could include some DNPs for Tony Parker and Pau Gasol to see how the reserves look playing against the starters. This may be just speculation at this point. Regardless, Pop won’t get sleep when thinking about ways to stop the Warriors.