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Hey Spurs fans, what changed between 2013 and 2014 ? What made the difference between a closely fought 7-game series, and a record setting blowout the following year ?

1. We talk about the incredible ball movement during the past playoff run.
Back in the 2013 finals, I was following the Heat more than Spurs. I remember Danny Green and Gary Neal shooting lights out. So, I guess ball and player movement was pretty good to get them open looks.
Did ball movement improve a step in 2014 ? Was this the effect of having Kawhi, Danny, Boris, Tiago, etc together for 1 more year ?

2. Another point is the emergence of Kawhi Leonard. This is summed up well in that gif where Lebron gets frustrated with Kawhi's substitution in the final minutes of the half. He was able to guard Lebron without requiring a double team. This in turn helped the D prevent shooters space the floor & have the ball kicked to for open looks.

3. They repeatedly claimed they wanted revenge, & played better.

4. Ginobili showed up better than the previous season.

5. I should also point out that part of the reason for Heat's loss was their reduced spirit. Effort was missing on both D and O. Spo made little adjustments through games 3-4-5.

I would love if yall add your opinions. It would help me better gauge the team's progress and future outlook.

To me, it was hunger and focus. The team knew what the pain of dropping the lead in G6 in 2013 (5 points up with 28 seconds to go, ugh), and did whatever it took to avoid being in that situation again.

Plus, Pop's minutes distribution in the regular season was nothing short of masterful. It never really got talked about, but no Spur averaged more than 30 mins a game. Even with the injuries during the season we never skipped a beat. We were a 60 win team. Plus we were fresh come playoff time, when it mattered. You saw the benefit of that particularly in the WCF and the Finals. We were fresher than our opponents, in spite of the average age of the team.

The 2013-14 season was all about redemption. We just weren't going to lose.

Donald Kaufman wrote:To me, it was hunger and focus. The team knew what the pain of dropping the lead in G6 in 2013 (5 points up with 28 seconds to go, ugh), and did whatever it took to avoid being in that situation again.

Plus, Pop's minutes distribution in the regular season was nothing short of masterful. It never really got talked about, but no Spur averaged more than 30 mins a game. Even with the injuries during the season we never skipped a beat. We were a 60 win team. Plus we were fresh come playoff time, when it mattered. You saw the benefit of that particularly in the WCF and the Finals. We were fresher than our opponents, in spite of the average age of the team.

The 2013-14 season was all about redemption. We just weren't going to lose.

I agree with this, and I'd like to add that bringing basically the entire team back with basically the same system had a lot to do with it, too. In this era of players switching teams seemingly everyday, we tend to forget the importance of familiarity and repetition and symbiosis and all that.

You look at most countries' Olympic teams and you see squads that have been training, playing, and living together for years, and that's why they play so well together. It has less to do with individual talent than it does the collective talent that evolves from being together all that time.

That's one of the things that makes the Spurs so mesmerizing to watch. Sometimes, it seems like those guys are psychic out there- like they're communicating telepathically or something.

Like DK said it had a lot to do with us being more focused and driven but I also think the emergence of Patty Mills and the addition of Marco really helped push us over the top.

Those two guys turned a good bench into a great one which allowed Pop's to rest the starters more and they also took a lot of pressure off of Manu which really helped him get his game back.

Nolan wrote:Like DK said it had a lot to do with us being more focused and driven but I also think the emergence of Patty Mills and the addition of Marco really helped push us over the top.

Those two guys turned a good bench into a great one which allowed Pop's to rest the starters more and they also took a lot of pressure off of Manu which really helped him get his game back.

Yeah, Gino's resurgence was key... I think Boris losing weight was huge, as well. Everyone talked about Mills' improved conditioning, but Boris got in better shape as well, and was able to fly around the court better and be more energized because of it. Marco was a big upgrade, too, like you said.

But the sting from 2013 was almost certainly the main catalyst.

I will point the biggest difference to our bench. Last year we just consistently blow games wide open when the second unit comes in. Patty's break out year certainly a big reason along with Diaw's aggresiveness offensively. That along with focus and revenge.

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I guess the question this season is what is our motivation? Is it the idea of defending a title, something we have never done?

Donald Kaufman wrote:I guess the question this season is what is our motivation? Is it the idea of defending a title, something we have never done?

Honestly, I can't imagine that being a good enough reason for the players to get their juices flowing and match the opponents intensity every night. Our opponents this year is really going to bring it.

I would say the possibility that this could be Duncan/Manu's last year and players wanting to send Duncan/Manu off with another ring is a greater motivation.

But really, I just can't see it. The team's motivation and focus hit an all time high last year because of what happened in 2013. I can't imagine anything that would give the team the same type of motivation and focus.

co_laper wrote:

Donald Kaufman wrote:I guess the question this season is what is our motivation? Is it the idea of defending a title, something we have never done?

Honestly, I can't imagine that being a good enough reason for the players to get their juices flowing and match the opponents intensity every night. Our opponents this year is really going to bring it.

I would say the possibility that this could be Duncan/Manu's last year and players wanting to send Duncan/Manu off with another ring is a greater motivation.

But really, I just can't see it. The team's motivation and focus hit an all time high last year because of what happened in 2013. I can't imagine anything that would give the team the same type of motivation and focus.

I think it's a big motivation for Pop's/RC/Duncan/Gino/Parker which means it's going to trickle down to the rest of the team. Whenever people talk about us being a dynasty that's always the one knock on us and i'm sure it really bothers those guys.