SAN ANTONIO — "When reflecting on the season, they achieved a lot more than people gave them credit," Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said during his exit interview with the press. "You know, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know how this group would respond to this kind of adversity. Along the way, we lost about three games by 30, which we never do. We had the worst Rodeo Trip ever, 1-7 I think, and they kept on going where a lot of other teams would have just died. I credit them with doing a hell of a job."
Imagine building a house. You're following a great blueprint, everything is going according to plan, you just need to make a little tinker here and there. As you're putting together the finishing touches, boom, a bulldozer just plows through the structure and all you are left with is the foundation.
The bulldozer is the Kawhi Leonard trade, but the foundation is Pop, R.C. Buford and everyone else who has helped build San Antonio into an organization with 22 straight postseason appearances.
I know the 2018-2019 Spurs made fans crazy this year, but I don't know how you can't be proud of this group?
Certain teams require certain expectations. When Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker were on the floor, fans had to set the bar at championships. With this team, how many fans were confident after the Dejounte Murray injury the Spurs were going to make its way to the postseason?
Emotions did not.
No matter how badly they looked at times, the group always found a way to turn it around. This unit worked so hard to earn that No. 7 seed and was on the precipice of knocking off the second best team in the West.
In this city, this blue-collar city with families working so hard, day in and day out, San Antonio has somehow turned elitist when it comes to its basketball.
It's okay to set the bar high--Pop wants that--but when a team gives it everything they have, you cannot be upset with that.
It is demoralizing to see that bulldozer go through the house, but it is also empowering to see every one of those Spurs pick up the proverbial shovels and get to work again.
Down the road, fans won't hearken back to the team we watched this year, but they should. No one gave up and because of it, the rebuilding process might not be as painful as we all originally thought.