While Green had a huge series overall and ended up slashing Ray Allen’s NBA Finals 3-point shooting record, some cracks started to show in his offensive game. Green is your prototypical “3 and D” swingman, but run him off the arc and his weaknesses in ballhandling begin to creep in.
That’s something Green has said he has been focusing on this offseason. If he is able to consistently drive and pull up, adding a midrange jumper to his repertoire, and work on attacking the defense more aggressively, he will be a less predictable player and add another dimension to the offense.
4. Will Tiago Splitter be worth the $36 million he signed for? The Spurs gave up a ton of cap flexibility and the chance to bring in a top-tier free agent this summer by re-signing Splitter to a four-year, $36 million contract. They reportedly also had a shot at luring Al Jefferson to the Alamo City but instead opted to bring back Splitter. Considering what big men have been going for in the open market lately, the Spurs probably saved a good $3-$4 million a year.
San Antonio can be a tough town. Spurs fans are always about what you have done for them lately. Splitter had a solid season and looked even better and was instrumental in the Spurs’ sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals. He limited Memphis’ talented frontcourt duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, who had recently torched San Antonio in a first-round playoff upset.
But against a smaller Miami team, the Spurs were forced to play small ball, and that kept Splitter from disrupting any rhythm or sustaining any momentum he had gained up to that point. After averaging 8.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 blocks in just over 26 minutes against the Grizzlies, his numbers took a dive against Miami, when he averaged just 15 minutes per game.
As Duncan continues to age, Splitter, like Leonard, will have to take another step forward, as it appears the Spurs have no other backup plan in place for the post-Duncan era. While some in San Antonio may not have been thrilled with the Splitter signing or the amount, it makes perfect sense to me.
Corporate knowledge is a term that gets used a lot with the Spurs. Bringing in another player that does not have that knowledge and does not know the system would have come with some growing pains. Several Spurs have said in the past it takes a year to really get accustomed to the team’s offensive and defensive schemes.
Aside from that, Splitter is a good fit for the offense, which relies on a lot of pick-and-roll action and screens, where he excels. He also doesn’t need to be fed the ball constantly to be effective. Splitter does just fine on second-chance points and putbacks, and his 1-on-1 defense improved last season.
Like Green, the biggest knock on Splitter has been a lack of consistency. In the eyes of Spurs fans, who can have short memories, Splitter will have to be more reliable to truly be worthy of his contract.
5. Does Manu Ginobili have any magic left? As stated earlier, the Finals made it painfully obvious that the miles are racking up on Ginobili’s body and that bit of Manu Magic we are used to is becoming more of a rarity. Sure, injury plays its part, and Ginobili could be using an offseason free of international play to rest his body and come back fresh for this season. But, as is the case with Duncan, Father Time has everyone’s number and Ginobili has evaded the inevitable for quite some time.
Last season saw Ginobili produce the fewest points per game since his rookie season. His playoff averages were also the lowest they had been since 2003. Still, Ginobili usually manages to muster up enough magic to make a difference in other areas when he’s not scoring. He has long been one of the Spurs’ best two-way players, and he is a capable enough ballhandler to handle point guard duties during stretches, a convenience considering the lack of trust the coaching staff has had in Parker’s backups.
The Finals were different, though, with Ginobili often forcing shots, being a step slow defending Miami’s guards and making costly mistakes with the ball. He did show some flashes of magic and brilliance in Games 5 (24 points, 10 assists) and 7 (18 points, 5 assists), but those performances flanked eight turnovers in a crucial Game 6.
Whether or not Ginobili can come back as the Manu we all know and love, or the one that looked like he was well on his decline is something only the grind of the regular season will be able to answer.
Michael A. De Leon is the founder and managing editor of Project Spurs, a San Antonio Spurs blog and podcast founded in 2004. Follow him on Twitter @mdeleon