The NBA Season is ready to start on Christmas Day, the last couple of preseason games are being played as I write this up, and it's time for me to cater to every serious NBA fans love of season previews! The 2011 Geektastic Preview is going to be way too large for one article, so I'm dividing it up into divisions (and even so, it's going to be long, so get a cup of coffee!). In this article I'm going to preview the San Antonio Spurs. As usual, they are on no one's radar, but at the end of the year, they'll be in contention, barring injuries.
Note that this article is using the new formula for calculating Wins Produced. If you don't understand the WP metric, see the FAQ.
The 2011-12 San Antonio Spurs
Lost: George Hill, Desuan Butler
Added: Kawhi Leonard, Cory Joseph (rookies), Gani Lawal, T.J. Ford
Outlook: Fantastic. Not on anyone's radar, but that won't stop them from winning 45+ games anyway, unless there are injuries.
| NAME | GP | MIN | WP48 | PTS | REB | AST | TO | BLK | STL | PF |
| James Anderson | 25 | 288 | .012 | 15.7 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 |
| DeJuan Blair | 81 | 1734 | .217 | 18.7 | 15.6 | 2.1 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 5.9 |
| Matt Bonner | 66 | 1432 | .127 | 16.1 | 8.0 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 3.7 |
| Tim Duncan | 76 | 2155 | .192 | 22.8 | 15.1 | 4.5 | 2.7 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 2.7 |
| Manu Ginobili | 80 | 2427 | .221 | 27.6 | 5.8 | 7.8 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Danny Green | 8 | 92 | .118 | 21.4 | 7.8 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 3.7 |
| Gary Neal | 80 | 1683 | .040 | 22.3 | 5.6 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 4.2 |
| Tony Parker | 78 | 2528 | .142 | 26.0 | 4.5 | 9.7 | 3.8 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| Tiago Splitter | 60 | 735 | .204 | 18.2 | 13.1 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 5.9 |
| Richard Jefferson | 81 | 2459 | .123 | 17.4 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 3.2 |
| WP48 | PTS | REB | AST | TO | BLK | STL | PF | |
| Lawal | -.405 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 24.0 |
| Ford | .003 | 13.8 | 5.0 | 8.8 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 4.3 |
Everyone talks about the big three of Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker, but the reason this team continues to stay in contention is that the organization is great at drafting players that other teams pass on, the most recent of which is Blair, who's a beast. Yes, I know, I know, Oh MY GOD THE KNEES HAVE NO LIGAMENTS, but, well, get back to me when it actually has an impact on his performance, K? Healthy knees don't actually get you buckets, rebounds, or wins. Blair is a great rebounder and efficient scorer. The one area he's weak on is that he fouls too much, but in his third year I now expect that to improve a bit.
Tiago Splitter looks like he'll work out and will be some much-needed relief with this older roster. The Spurs, like the Thunder, just don't have any bad players, and they have three genuine stars in Duncan (yes, he's still bringing it in more limited minutes), Ginobli and Blair.
This team won 61 games last year! I expect them to essentially repeat that performance this year and win this division and thus take the 3rd seed in the playoffs.