I’m no stat hound but I love an interesting number if it helps me better understand basketball. See, I live in a state of mild befuddlement. Anything that helps me shed that fuddle, however briefly, is a gift. 

So I decided to give myself a present: 3 stats about the San Antonio Spurs offence I can track to see how they’re going about business this season.

Pick ‘n’ roll frequency

The ol’ pick n roll (PNR) is a staple of NBA offences but the Spurs have been moving away from it over the last five seasons.

They’ve gone from being the 4th most frequent PNRer in the league in the to the 5th least: 

• 20–21: 4th (22.2% of their offensive possessions).
• 21–22: 10th (18.5%).
• 22–23: 16th (16.7%).
• 23–24: 23rd (14.3%).
• 24–25: 25th (13.8%).

That doesn’t happen accidentally (especially when you have Chris Paul, an all-time great PNR ball handler, running your offence in 24–25). The Spurs have been steadily moving away from the play in favour of more holistic movement in the half court.

But now they’ll have a full season of Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox. Wemby is could be one of the most dangerous roll men in the league and Fox is devastating with a bit of space. That’s a fun PNR combo – it’ll be fun to see how often the team goes to it. 

3-point attempts vs makes

The Spurs catch-and-shoot (CNS) 3 ranks are a real ride. Let’s take a looksie.

Last season, they put up a lot of them but they didn’t convert. Here’s where they stand compared to the league:

• CNS 3s attempted: 5th (29.2 per game).
• CNS 3s made: 10th (10.6).
• CNS shooting %: 22nd (36.5%).

That’s just… rough. It’s not an aberration, either. Here are some past seasons:

• 23–24: 4th in attempts (27.9), 8th in makes (9.9), equal 29th in % (35.4%).
• 22–23: 9th in attempts (24.9), 15th in makes (8.9), 24th in % (35.8%).

It’s not news that the Spurs have struggled in the shooting department.¹ Those woes are just compounded when you’re getting a lot of shots up.

Personally, I’m okay with the number of 3s the Spurs are taking since a lot of them are coming in the flow of the offence. They just have to get the % of makes up.

Transition

Wemby’s arrival in San Antonio coincides with a spike in the Spurs transition frequency:

• 20–21: 23rd (13.3%).
• 21–22: 18th (15%).
• 22–23: 20th (16.2%).
• 23–24: 6th (18.7%).
• 24–25: 7th (19.9%).

Get stops. Run. Score. That’s the motto for this team.

They’ll have a lot of guys that can get a defensive rebound and just go – can they push that transition rate even higher?