Spurs' unique secret weapon provides advantage no other team has

The San Antonio Spurs are stacked full of talented players, backed by a strong coaching staff that knows how to get the best out of them. That simple truth makes them difficult enough to conquer. Now add in the presence of the greatest NBA coach of all time, Gregg Popovich, and you have a special formula nobody else in the league has.

You can believe in coincidence if you'd like, but that's not happenstance. The Silver and Black played their best postseason game as a team the day after former Coach Pop sat in on the film session. The 5x champ has seen everything, and there's nothing special about how the Timberwolves play. The mistakes the guys made in Game One were 98% self-inflicted because they're a better ball club.

They demonstrated that truth in a major way in Game Two. San Antonio's defense is better, and their offense is better. That was the case in the regular season, and it holds true now. All they had to do was remember that and play like it. I would imagine that's at least some of what Popovich told them.

Whatever Popovich told the Spurs worked wonders

Now, let's give credit to Mitch Johnson and his staff, too. They're still going to be the ones to design and implement the game plan. Johnson was coaching his tail off on that sideline on Wednesday night. His energy was noticeable, and the players responded to him as they have all season. There's a reason why he's a Coach of the Year candidate.

Having El Jefe in the building to use as a sounding board, as he continues to mentor whenever necessary, is an invaluable privilege, and the Spurs are taking advantage of that. The man not only won five championships, but he did it in different decades. Pop was one of the best we've ever seen at adapting his teams to keep up with the times. It would be foolish not to use his expertise.

Most of us have followed the San Antonio Spurs for so long that we know what he would say if he were reading this article. He'd deflect credit and give it to the coaching staff and players. They're the ones who showed up and performed on game day, and to that, I say, fair enough. However, we're still going to acknowledge the greatness that came before. It laid the foundation for what's coming next.

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