Mitch Johnson backlash ignores painful Spurs reality everyone saw coming

Mitch Johnson has been the recipient of some extremely harsh criticism since the Spurs lost to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals on Saturday. He undoubtedly made several mistakes, and some were pretty costly. However, we've lost the plot, people. Outrage has overtaken sensibility, so vitriol is seeking a scapegoat in one of the most obvious "two things can be true" scenarios in recent history.

There's plenty of room for Coach Johnson to grow

Yes, he should have called a timeout when the Knicks were on that ridiculous run in Game Four. Yes, he should have made sure Victor Wembanyama got more rest. Yes, he should have trusted his backups more. Mitch Johnson looked like a rookie coach at the worst possible time of the season. All of those things are true.

Some of those things even cost the Spurs a game or two. However, isn't that what everyone was predicting would happen to this team? It wasn't just the players lacking postseason experience; it was their head coach as well. People have allowed their over-analytical brains to forget that this was Coach Johnson's first time at the helm of a full season as "the guy," let alone a contender.

I hate to say it, but sometimes, naysayers, truth-tellers, or however you want to categorize them, are correct. The team's (that includes the coach) inexperience caught up with them, and they looked like a young bunch. Their talent didn't lose them these games; their poor execution, focus, and decision-making did.

Unfortunately, those are the marks of an inexperienced team. But that doesn't mean you overreact to defeat. They were only supposed to be a play-in team, according to preseason projections, so a loss in the NBA Finals is pretty damn good.

Mitch Johnson is proving to be a tremendous coach

San Antonio may not be a major market like the Big Apple, but there was no bigger pressure cooker than what Mitch stepped into this season. It was his first official year as the undisputed head coach of the most promising young group in the NBA. The future face of the league was his star player, and he was replacing one of the greatest coaches of all time, Gregg Popovich.

To say it was a big deal would be an understatement.

Under these heavy circumstances, Coach Johnson led the Spurs to 62 wins and the best season they've had since Kawhi Leonard was winning Defensive Player of the Year awards in a silver and black jersey. He did so with one of the youngest squads in the NBA, and they finished the year third in offensive rating and third in defensive rating.

The team's inexperience was supposed to stop them against the Timberwolves in the second round after San Antonio dropped Game One. Instead, they rallied and won four of the next five. The Western Conference Finals were even more impressive, as they no longer had home-court advantage, yet fought back from a 3-2 deficit to win the series in a Game Seven on OKC's floor.

Mitch led these efforts as a first-year guy—one who finished as a finalist for Coach of the Year. He showed why that was the case more than a few times during the playoff run nobody saw coming. Good coaches aren't easy to come by. The Spurs are fortunate to have one so young and talented with so much room to grow.

To be clear, I don't think the team is seriously thinking about doing anything with Mitch Johnson but praising him for taking Spurs Nation on an exhilarating ride. That would be brash and reactionary, and we all know San Antonio does not do brash or reactionary. That's how you end up like the Sacramento Kings.

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