San Antonio Spurs: Two-pointers galore, indeed, but it’s nothing new

The notion of two-pointers galore for the San Antonio Spurs? Expect it to hold true.

The San Antonio Spurs were once a three-point marksman team. Kawhi Leonard led them to the No. 1 spot in this category in the 2016-17 season, as a squad that had their way from the outside and seemed to be a legitimate threat to the Golden State Warriors.

Then came Leonard’s injury, and San Antonio’s three-point shooting descended into the bottom five of the NBA; a remarkable turn of events, sure, but when the best healthy player was a mid-range shooting LaMarcus Aldridge who had a 29.1 Usage Percentage and 660 two-point field goals (tied for fourth overall, it will not help the cause.

Just how often did the Spurs take those two-pointers in 2017-18, though? They averaged 61.2 per game, the fifth highest in the league. Their 24.1 three-pointers per game were the fourth lowest.

The addition of Marco Belinelli should sway this, if just marginally. He took more three-pointers per game (4.9) than two-pointers (4.6) last season for the first time in his career.

More from Spurs News

However, enter DeMar DeRozan, the face of mid-range shooting guards. In 2016-17, before Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey remade the offense, he averaged 19.2 two-point field goals per game and finished third with 688 two-point field goals made.

This fell off in 2017-18, but, in a Gregg Popovich system that favors player’s strengths over what they can’t do on the court, there could be a rise from 14.1 to somewhere in the ballpark of the previous year, when DeRozan scored 27.3 points per game.

Two-point heavy basketball feels prehistoric, when the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets capitalize on their outside shooting to win postseason games (or flounder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals) and run scoring barrages down their throats. It’s not the way to win, with the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings were all top-10 in three-point percentage. Of the 16 playoff teams, though, only five of them finished in the bottom half of the league in outside shooting; just one of them — the Raptors — made it out of the first round.

So, can the Spurs move out of the high-end two-point zone and find middle ground between the past two seasons? Three-point pieces are there with Belinelli, Bryn Forbes, Davis Bertans and Patty Mills around, but none of them will act as offensive catalysts again; they are side pieces to play off Aldridge, DeRozan and even Rudy Gay, who shot just 31 percent from behind the arc.

The Spurs have players capable of three-point shots, but none of them are dynamic from this range. Aldridge and DeRozan, 1A and 1B, won’t be the players unless they take jumps from respective career-highs in three-point attempts. Both are veterans, and it’s unlikely they remake themselves in their prime, so where do the Silver and Black find the outside-shooting leader to take over games?

DeMar DeRozan getting some 1-on-1 time with his new coach Gregg Popovich. #Spurs pic.twitter.com/lzdbbCMll2

— John Elizondo (@johndelizondo) July 26, 2018

Next. Top 25 SAS players of all time

Any time the Spurs are questioned, however, they tend to cure anyone’s concerns. They worked through not just Leonard’s injury, but a flurry of ailments to the rest of the roster, became a mid-range team and still won 47 games. Expectations should still be high, and two-pointers can work. It’s just the how for 2018-19.

Home/San Antonio Spurs News