Zach Lowe: The Spurs don’t beat themselves, they just win games

As has become an annual tradition on Zach Lowe’s podcast, he and ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz each picked their five most confusing teams in the league heading into the NBA season. Right off that bat, Lowe wants everyone to keep in mind that “confusing” is not an insult. A confusing team could be one in which no one can seem to agree on a win/loss record, their style is unclear, or it could simply mean they are intriguing.

That definitely sounds like a mold a certain team from South Texas would fit into, and sure enough Arnovitz had the Spurs listed as his third most confusing team, primarily because of their style of play.

I applaud the Spurs. They can create better percentage shots for low percentage shooters better than any system, but it has ceased to be the Spurs as we know it. This is a team that beat everyone with the pass, and I turn on Spurs basketball, and it’s just a different product.

Lowe then jumps in and points out that the bench still plays “Spurs ball”, which only adds to their case as a “confusing” team. They go on to discuss whether or not the Spurs should extend DeMar DeRozan, excitement surrounding Dejounte Murray’s return, who the Spurs should start, and if they’ll make the playoffs (from what we’ve heard before, we know the answer).

Finally, Lowe closes this discussion with probably the best description of the “confusing” Spurs as can be mustered up:

I strangely like their team. The dependence on the bench last year makes me a little bit nervous, but maybe the starters will put up a little bit better numbers this year. DeRozan did get a little bit more comfortable as the year went on . . .

. . . I get it. (The Spurs) are a little confusing, and with that perimeter log jam, they have interesting questions to answer, but they win games. They don’t beat themselves, they just win games.

The Spurs segment begins at the 27:08 mark and lasts about five minutes, but I encourage everyone to listen to the entire thing (about an hour and 18 minutes long). What makes it so fun is both Lowe and Arnowitz had entirely different lists for the first time, so it’s enjoyable to listen to their takes on ten different teams. This just goes to show how intriguing this entire NBA season as a whole should be.

29 days.