The Spurs have made basketball harder than it needs to be

Spurs fans know what this team has in its arsenal with a roster this loaded with talent. They can win from almost anywhere on the floor. Brian Wright deserves acknowledgment for thoroughly building such a strong roster. But talent can sometimes get in the way of patience, since everyone believes in their own abilities to win their matchups no matter who is in front of them.

They were proven right through most of the season. By the end of the season, San Antonio's offense was ranked as one of the NBA's best. However, when watching the games, fans were often left frustrated when the players didn't exploit the advantages that playing basketball naturally creates. They can take their execution to another level this year by changing that.

The Spurs need to slow down when they have an advantage

Mitch Johnson wants his team to play fast, but there's a difference between doing what the coach asks and rushing. The Spurs can push the pace while being patient once they've created a favorable matchup. The most obvious example comes when Victor Wembanyama has a smaller player switched onto him.

For example, Vic may have the ball in his hands but throw it out to reset his positioning in the post against the smaller defender. He's expecting to get the ball back so he can go to work and score what should be an easy bucket himself, or one for his teammates, because the defense is forced to collapse and leave someone else open.

Instead, too many times, one of his teammates will receive the pass and swing the ball to the other side of the floor or just attack the paint themselves. Now, because of the talent, good things usually come from these actions. A bucket gets made, or a foul gets drawn. But it will still be harder basketball than it should be.

The Spurs can make their talent work smarter

They must be better at identifying those opportunities. Recognizing that can be just as important as feeding a hot hand, strong ball movement, or anything else. It doesn't matter if it's Wemby, Tobias Harris, or Stephon Castle; if they have a matchup advantage, the ball should go there almost every time.

The secondary benefit to playing this way, besides just getting easy buckets, is that it can conserve energy. For a team that hangs its hat on defense, having more energy to play it at a high level for longer stretches should be a priority.

This is where coaching responsibility comes in. Mitch has to emphasize discipline to see the mismatch and attack it deliberately. The Spurs were already a great team last year, so this is more of a nitpick, but it's also the truth of their style of play. They can make life a bit easier on themselves by making this adjustment.

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