Ginobili: 'We were aiming for the 3rd spot, now we're aiming for the playoffs'
The San Antonio Spurs can no longer be penciled in for 50 wins and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The 37-27 Spurs got by earlier in the season by playing lockdown defense, but they've slipped since the start of February. Not only did San Antonio lose eight of ten at one point, but its defense dropped to 15th over that span, which constitutes as a disaster given how high the bar has been set.
"Halfway through the season we were aiming for the third spot," veteran Manu Ginobili told ESPN's Michael C. Wright. "Now we are aiming for the playoffs."
San Antonio will play the hardest schedule in the league over the last two months of the season, and current sits just three losses up on the ninth seed in the Western Conference. Throw in the continued and confusing absence of Kawhi Leonard, and the Spurs are in real danger of missing out on the playoffs.
Age has finally caught up with them, as the old guard is mostly gone. Tim Duncan is happily retired, Ginobili is on the wrong side of 40, and Tony Parker has ceded his starting spot to Dejounte Murray. With all that, there is no longer the automatic presumption of success that came to define the franchise for years.
"Night in and night out, we could count on Tony to get a layup or Manu or Timmy to execute a play without even having to call it. Now we have to draw up plays and explain it to (players) and see how well they can execute it," guard Danny Green said.
"It's very different. The old Spurs that we used to be (are) not here anymore."