San Antonio Spurs: The 2017-18 NBA season has been a nightmare
By Trey Flynn
The San Antonio Spurs can’t seem to wake up from this nightmare, and it may result in missing the playoffs
There have been 40 seasons of basketball for San Antonio, and in only four of those seasons did the Spurs miss the NBA playoffs.
The last season that San Antonio didn’t make the playoffs was 21 years ago, the 1996-97 regular season. The Spurs perennial All-Star, David Robinson, was injury prone throughout that regular season – hurting his back and breaking his foot.
The 1996-97 Spurs went on to have a record of 20-62. Those 20 regular season wins are the lowest in Spurs history. San Antonio needed a change, so much so, that the GM and Vice President of Operations fired their Head Coach and placed himself into that position. A legend was born, Gregg Popovich.
Popovich ended up using that record low season to his advantage. In the 1997 NBA Draft, Pop drafted a future hall of fame Power forward out of Wake Forest University, Tim Duncan. The rest of the story is well-known.
Head Coach Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, Kawhi Leonard, these were the names of heroes that helped San Antonio create a legacy and go to twenty straight playoff seasons, winning five championships.
Unfortunately, this 2017-18 regular season may just be the ticker for the Spurs dynasty. What will San Antonio do?
Western Conference Projections
| TEAM | WIN- LOSS | PLAY- OFFS | NBA TITLE |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOU | 64-18 | 100.0% | 32.8% |
| GS | 63-19 | >99.9% | 32.9% |
| POR | 48-34 | 96.3% | 0.2% |
| MIN | 47-35 | 95.8% | 0.5% |
| OKC | 47-35 | 90.3% | 0.5% |
| UTH | 46-36 | 82.8% | 0.3% |
| SA | 46-36 | 76.0% | 0.4% |
| NO | 46-36 | 72.9% | <0.1% |
| LAC | 44-38 | 43.6% | <0.1% |
| DEN | 44-38 | 42.2% | <0.1% |
| LAL | 37-45 | <0.1% | 0.0% |
| DAL | 28-54 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| SAC | 25-57 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| MEM | 24-58 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| PHX | 22-60 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index illustrates (it was recreated above) what may happen to the Spurs, come playoff time. From this chart, the math tells us that San Antonio has a 76 percent chance to tie with the New Orleans Pelicans for the 8th seed, nearly missing the playoffs. ESPN also reports that the Spurs have the third most difficult schedule for the remainder of the regular season.
Is it possible to once again blame an injury to a wasteful season? Kawhi Leonard’s absence this season is indicative of a real problem blossoming within the organization. Several sources report that Leonard could be back with the team as soon as Thursday, March 15th.
Not sure it will make much of a difference, the Spurs have a record of 5-4 with Leonard in the lineup this season. Injured and disgruntled, the Spurs may just miss the playoffs, it may be time for a reboot.
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Please don’t be like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot, for the sake of my childhood (I am still scarred).