2009-2010 San Antonio Spurs Preview

2008 Record: 54-28, 1st in Western Conf. Southwest Division, lost in First Round
Head Coach: Gregg Popovich, 14th season
Key Additions: G-F Richard Jefferson, F-C Antonio McDyess, C Theo Ratliff
Key Losses: F Bruce Bowen, F-C Drew Gooden, F Kurt Thomas
1st Round Draft Picks: None
2nd Round Draft Picks: F DeJuan Blair, G Nando De Colo, G Jack McClinton

2008-'09 Spurs Review:

It was a new era in San Antonio, and not for the better. Manu Ginobili couldn't last the season, Tim Duncan continued to show the effects of the aging process, and a lack of big-time bench players simply couldn't pick up the slack for a banged-up front line. Add it all up, and the quicker, hungrier Dallas Mavericks dealt the Spurs a rare first-round playoff loss. Team mastermind Gregg Popovich will have to go to the drawing board--and find some reinforcements--if the Spurs are to regain a championship identity in future seasons. Duncan and Ginobili will only be able to last so many minutes over the course of the NBA's long grind.

2009-'10 Spurs Preview:

Oh, the Spurs were so close to having an essentially perfect offseason, only for a nasty French twist to enter the picture.

The brilliant tandem of Popovich and General Manager R.C. Buford pulled all the right levers and pushed all the right buttons once again, finding ideal complementary parts to help their team in urgent areas. Richard Jefferson was brought aboard from Milwaukee to deliver a slashing, scoring force on the wing. While 36 teams somehow passed, the Spurs nabbed Pittsburgh big man DeJuan Blair with the 37th pick of the NBA Draft, arguably the steal of the night's proceedings in New York. San Antonio's braintrust also added a pair of admirably hard-working veterans in Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff to help out an older Duncan. The Spurs snookered the rest of the league, just as they've usually done in a decade that's brought the small-market franchise three world championships, just one behind the star-laden Lakers. After more magic from the Buford-Popovich pair, it seemed that the Spurs were ready to compete with the Lakers on even terms in the chase for the 2010 championship.

But then, Tony Parker--the team's sparkplug and also its least-damaged player--suffered an ankle injury while preparing to lead his native France into the Eurobasket summer tournament. After Ginobili suffered an injury while representing Argentina in international basketball last year, the Spurs saw their other celebrated transnational star endure a setback while not wearing San Antonio colors. The episode has to have Buford and Popovich cursing the darkness in private, late-night moments, but all the Spurs can hope for is a complete recovery from Parker. If their elite-level point guard can bounce back from this injury soon enough, and their newcomers can hold down the fort in the early months of the regular season, the Spurs might still be able to enter the postseason with a great chance of knocking off the Lakers. But after Parker's ankle injury, it's hard to shake the feeling that San Antonio's run of good fortune--aided by a million different smart decisions at various points in time--is simply running out. We'll see if that sense turns out to be accurate in an intrigue-laden campaign.

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By Matthew Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

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