San Antonio Spurs Rightfully Voted As Favorites To Repeat This Season
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If you’re looking for the odds-on favorite to capture the NBA throne this season, look no further than the San Antonio Spurs. According to the recent results of the annual NBA General Managers’ survey, the Spurs are a prodigious pick to win the 2015 NBA Finals.
The survey is comprised of over 50 different questions aimed at the general manager of each NBA team and is a good indicator of the mindset and culture of the league currently. The survey questions cover a range of topics such as the best players, teams, coaches and fans. In an attempt to keep the survey as legit as possible, general managers aren’t able to vote for their own team.
With all the offseason moves and new faces in the league, it may be surprising to hear that the Spurs received more than 46 percent of votes for this year’s champion. What could be even more stunning is the 16.4 percent of the vote that the Cleveland Cavaliers received for the same question, and they came in second.
Who can blame anyone for voting this way though; we are talking about the Spurs here. This is the same team, with the same game plan, and the same coach that just knows how to win. Whether people like to admit it or not, the Spurs are surest thing in basketball right now. They have great leadership with Gregg Popovich and 17-year veteran Tim Duncan, amongst other veterans.
They can score with the best of them. Last season, San Antonio’s boring offense was sixth in the league in scoring (105.4 points per game). They have one of the most unstoppable pick and roll offenses in the league and a rising star in Kawhi Leonard, who is expected to have a huge year.
There is no team in the NBA that can compete with the depth of the Spurs’ bench. Any player is liable to have a career night, and Popovich isn’t afraid to play anybody. Last year, Patty Mills was the ninth man in the rotation and his minutes were 40 percent higher than estimated before the season. To keep this in perspective, this was the only team in NBA history to not have one player average more than 30 minutes per game.
Why did the general managers vote for the Spurs? It may be because they understand the subtle greatness that the Spurs possess. Last season, this same survey produced an outstanding 75.9 percent vote for the Miami Heat to win the NBA Finals. It looks like the GMs learned their lesson.
Winston Harris is a San Antonio sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @winstonharris34. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.
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