Dusty Garza
The Spurs have been hit by the key player injury bug and have had to learn to survive and even thrive with Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan- arguably their three best young players- sitting in street clothes on the bench as they recover from injuries.
When asked how different San Antonio’s roster looks these days one NBA coach said, “So much of what they do revolves around Wemenyama, I think, for his development and then also just the player, the impact he has, especially on the defensive end with the rim, you know, presence and deterrence. So they’re different, but, you know, teams take on different shapes when they’re missing players. “
San Antonio has been finding their groove, winning four of their last six games by sharing the load across the entire rest of the team. In their victory against Utah on Thursday, November 21, eight out of the ten players who took to the court scored in double figures.
Despite a challenging first half where they struggled from beyond the arc, hitting only 5 of 21 three-pointers and trailing by up to 20 points, they managed to turn things around and secure the come-from-behind 118-126 win.
Still, Acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson has got this team believing they can and should win games if they stick to his script which reads something like this: Everything begins on the defensive end. Even if shots aren’t falling, solid defense will keep you in the game. Perhaps his biggest challenge thus far is having to remind this squad that they’ve got depth and that they need to protect the ball after working so hard to get possessions. “I didn’t think we, came out with good energy. I didn’t like our reactions to some of the things that happened in the first half, the body language, confidence, or lack thereof felt like felt like were indecisive,” explained Johnson. “Give Utah credit for that. They’re well coached.”
Game recognizes game, they say. Utah is coached by Will Hardy, who was highly regarded during his time in San Antonio. He spent several years with the Spurs, starting as a video coordinator and eventually becoming and serving as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich during their 2014 Championship run. Hardy’s basketball knowledge, leadership, and player development skills earned him widespread respect and many saw him as a potential successor to Popovich due to his deep understanding of the Spurs’ system and culture. When Popovich decided to keep his job longer than many had anticipated, Hardy took the head coaching job with the Utah Jazz in 2022, and the basketball world witnessed his rise as one of the NBA’s youngest head coaches.
Hardy knows exactly what Mitch Johnson is up to. He knows the challenges his former co-worker faces working within an established, sometimes rigid but tested Spurs system as he guides this young Spurs squad.
“I love Mitch. He’s a really close friend, and he’s a hell of a coach,” says Hardy as he describes the first time he met Mitch Johnson in San Antonio. “ I remember very well. It was in the off-season, you know, in the gym in the summer. Mitch is somebody that I had heard a lot about. We got along very quickly. He is a point guard through and through. He’s incredibly tough, very competitive, very cerebral, sees sees the game from kinda all angles.
“It’s amazing when you come across, like, real point guards, how they know where all 5 people are supposed to be all the time. It’s not just what they’re supposed to do. So Mitch’s basketball acumen and IQ were obvious from the beginning. He’s also an amazing communicator, has a a great sense of humor, carries himself in a way that, like, he’s got he’s got a way of, like, commanding a lot of respect without, demanding a lot of attention.”
Whatever Johnson is doing, he’s got his players believing and reaching deep within themselves to not let games get away from them like they used to. He’s got them working hard on consistency so that they show up from one game to the next ready to execute their game plan and he’s got them expending a lot of energy on the defensive end. As a result, the Spurs are now 7-3 at home, their best start since the 2017-18 season (8-2).
“I think you always wanna build upon previous games. Hopefully, you take away something even from the losses, but I definitely think we’ve shown ourselves a little bit and now can hold ourselves accountable to some of the good stuff that we’ve shown in the last two games for sure,” says Johnson.
“It’s just nice to see the growth,” sighs Johnson through a raspy voice that is getting a workout during each passing game. “You know, Pop talks about the process and not skipping steps, and you see the veteran presence, but these young guys maturing before eyes a little bit, hopefully, we can continue to keep that momentum going.
The Spurs will face the Western Conference-leading Golden State Warriors (11-3) at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at 7:30 PM CST. That will be one of their toughest challenges yet.