The San Antonio Spurs don't have much playoff experience on their roster, but one of their most trustworthy veterans laid out a blueprint for their success.
As the San Antonio Spurs prepare for the playoffs, the biggest knock against them is their lack of experience. Franchise cornerstones like Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell missed out on the tail end of the dynasty, and Victor Wembanyama has never played in the postseason.
Only eight players on the roster have ever even played in the postseason, and only Luke Kornet and Harrison Barnes are both key rotation players and postseason veterans. De'Aaron Fox has only played in one series in his entire career, and Jordan McLaughlin, Kelly Olynyk, Lindy Waters III, Bismack Biyombo, and Mason Plumlee aren't exactly expected to get big minutes.
Since being traded to the Spurs before the start of last season, Barnes has been a steady veteran hand, and he outlined what it will take for the Spurs to thrive when the pressure is on.
Spurs Veterans Reveal Postseason Plan
Barnes spent the first four seasons of his career with the Golden State Warriors, blossoming alongside Stephen Curry and winning a ring in 2015. Since then, during his stints with the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings, the postseason has eluded him, although he knows what it takes to win.
"There's going to be a higher attention to detail, a higher physicality," he predicted. "There's more at stake in these games, but I think the biggest thing for us is to continue to do what we've been doing this season. It's been our identity, building the type of basketball that we want to play, establishing who we are. A lot of it is just sticking to that."
Luke Kornet, meanwhile, won a title with the Boston Celtics and offered a similar perspective.
I just hope to be able to kind of just build on what we've built on throughout the year," he said. " If things are going well, then you try to keep doing that. But also, if you're struggling, then teams are willing to just kind of try whatever might work. And so I think that ability to kind of do that game after game just kind of puts you through the furnace a little bit better. And that's just kind of like the reality of it."
While the Spurs do lack experience, they boast the NBA's biggest game-breaker in Wembanyama, so expectations are sky-high for San Antonio.