El Conclusión: Out with the old, in with the new (Part I)

San Antonio's success in the new year will depend on the entirety of the roster continuing to grow together, but will ultimately come down to the performances of its two most important pieces.

Photo courtesy of SS&E

Welcome back to La El Conclusión, where a somewhat-educated basketball writer grades the performances of highly educated professional basketball players. It’s perfectly irresponsible.

“El Conclusión” was born in the ESPN TrueHoop Network days of 48 Minutes of Hell, and is a play on words borrowed from one of Manu Ginóbili’s nicknames, “El Contusión.” Now, it’s been given new life here at Corporate Knowledge.

Note: All players are graded on a curve here at CK. A Victor Wembanyama ‘A’ is not the same as a Julian Champagnie ‘A.’ No offense to Julian at all.

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Progress, not perfection.

Words yours truly has come to appreciate over the last several years. Many of us lead lives perpetually chasing the dopamine hit that comes with instant gratification — especially as sports consumers — even though its nature is inherently fluky. Immediate satisfaction is not the standard, as much as we want it to be, and as much as outlets like social media, YouTube, television, and the internet in general (not to mention the addictive stuff like drinking, smoking, gambling, etc…) lead us to believe it can be. Life would be so much easier if it was normal to find true reward with the blink of an eye.

I’m reminded of this during New Year’s resolution season which, for most people, is kind of like one of those tall, undulating water slides. You climb up from ground level, sit your butt in a swirling pool a million people have also visited recently, and excitedly wait at the top for the dude or dudet in a swimsuit and a Schlitterbahn tank top who probably slammed 12 Lone Stars the night before to tell you, “You’re good.”

Then you begin the descent — sliding precipitously from the peak, then rising a little bit in an attempt to maintain altitude, then falling again, then plateauing again, over and over until you’re back on the ground ready for another run. All was fun and good for a second there, but now it’s over and you’ve got to schlep your way back to the top if you want to feel the rush once, twice or three times more.

In an ideal world none of us should wait for the new year to make an effort to improve ourselves. A random Tuesday in August would be just fine. But if the turn of the calendar is a more effective source of motivation, then great! But like any other goal that doesn’t have a specific date attached, they’re often destined to fail if not appropriately applied. I get it — new year, new you. But remember that even the slightest bit of progress from the person you were yesterday is a new you. Treat yourself kindly, know your current limitations, and remember true gratification is rarely achieved overnight.

Work your way back up in the gym, don’t go chasing your max from a decade ago lest you find yourself too sore to go back a couple of days later; gradually curb your ice cream intake, don’t go cold turkey with the sweeter things; cut your alcohol consumption by a third or a half, and maybe eventually those eight or nine two or three fewer drinks each week leads to four or five.

Progress, not perfection.

And now that we’re in the spirit, let’s apply all this to your favorite basketball team — as if you didn’t already know where this was headed.

For this edition of El Conclusión, we’ll give grades for the games that were and a goal for which each player should strive. Remember, none of it will happen overnight, but we can at least identify a nice landing spot as the team continues a very real transition toward greater expectations.

The postseason is within reach; the team was over .500 at the beginning of January for the first time in six years (and still is); the games are actually starting to matter, and more often than not they’ll be coming on the road in hostile environments down the stretch; and even as the improvements San Antonio is making still remain gradual, the time for bigger steps is nigh. The Spurs have been preparing for this kind of moment for a while now, where when the stakes are actually raised, they’ll be ready to take them on and face whatever results come their way.

Progress, not perfection. But everyone has to grow up at some point.

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