The evolution of the Spurs Offense: 1999-2014

[Purch]

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MgwZYsXCcVY&t=49


People always seem to talk about Duncan being a part of the "spurs system" when talking about his career. However, the ball movement based system people seem to associate him with really didn't come into play until 2011. I think this video shows how different the "4 down" offense is from the motion the Spurs ran in their most previous championship

[SCdac]

Duncan was the system up till about his 13th-14th season in the NBA (and he had gone to 4 years of college prior to being drafted, mind you), when he started to slow down noticeably and Parker and Manu had become reliable All-Stars. 4-down worked excellently in his prime because Duncan's scoring, post moves, face-up game, jump shot, and court vision were all elite. He could pick apart double and triple teams. He could score on the best of defenses.

If you look at the 2003 playoffs for example, it's amazing how much attention from the defense Duncan got. Against the Mavs, they practically shadowed him on every possession (as seen from the screen grab), always quick with the double or triple to try and keep the ball out of his hands and keep TD out of his spots. But TD was a beast. They slacked off three point shooters, which ultimately helped SA, as they played inside-out (as many half-court teams did with great big men) and as mentioned Duncan's court vision and playmaking was stellar.