SAN ANTONIO — There was a common word San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich kept repeating during the preseason and early games of the new season: Physicality.
The Spurs head coach kept focusing on physicality, whether it be the team being less physical versus the opponents or maintaining the physicality needed to win games.
"I thought we weren’t very physical. We kind of followed them around. I thought they were more aggressive," said Popovich postgame against the Thunder on Oct. 7.
He brought it up again after the team's win over the Magic on Oct. 9.
"I thought we were more physical tonight, more aggressive at the defensive end of the floor, and that makes a difference for us," he said. " The physicality was good."
However, as the Spurs' season moves forward, the team is upping their level of physicality, and Interim Head Coach Mitch Johnson is seeing the tide turn in the team's favor.
"We moved on," Johnson said. "It's been nice to see us respond to that."
The stats show the team is upping their level of physicality on their three wins. In their wins, the team ranks sixth in Defensive Rating at 102.4, tenth in Defensive Rebounding Percentage at 71.8%, and tied for ninth in steals at 9.7, including 17 steals in a road win over Utah.
That tougher play has resulted in the Spurs winning their last two outings, including a win over Minnesota, which held them to 103 points.
Johnson points out that the team started the new season against physical teams: Dallas, Houston, and Oklahoma City. Those teams were more physical on the court, which resulted in the team's three losses.
"I think we had a tough schedule to start, right? Houston, Dallas. OKC, these guys are very physical teams," he said.
Responding to physicality and maintaining it is a sign of the team projecting upwards in the rebuild.
Players like Jeremy Sochan are stepping into roles where physicality is part of their game. He defends multiple positions, grabs rebounds and is aggressive to the point temperatures flare on the floor.
"That’s what we worked on, team defense, having each other’s back. All the things that we emphasized in training camp and at the start of the season until now," forward Keldon Johnson said. "That’s just the main thing, just having each other’s back."
It is still very early in the new season, and teams will adapt just like the Spurs will.
However, Johnson knows that teams will be looking to play aggressively against San Antonio. The team is adapting to the physicality level, as the recent wins show, it's a good thing.
"I think that's been some of the game plan against us," Johnson added.