The Spurs proved talent, preparation are more important than experience

The Spurs kept their composure and closed out Game 7. Should their poise in the Conference Finals finally put to rest the concerns about their inexperience?

Marilyn Dubinski: They’re going to make mistakes, but so is everybody else, and they’ve put this narrative to rest.  They showed that an alleged “lack of experience” can be overcome with maturity, togetherness, chemistry, good coaching, and of course talent. A theory that has been building in my head is that last year was the “experience” year (i.e. win, lose, learn and grow), and they would have gotten that playoff experience had Victor Wembanyama not gotten deep vein thrombosis.  Sure, it got cut short and they came into this season with a lack of “playoff” experience, but they do know what losing feels like, and they also have a lot of guys who have that experience at other levels, whether it’s Wemby in Europe or the Olympics, Castle at UConn, etc.  Maybe even the NBA Cup Finals was that “losing experience” they needed.  That’s my theory, at least.

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Mark Barrington: The Silver and Black made a ton of critical mistakes headed down the stretch of Game 7, with turnovers from Harper and Castle giving the Thunder chances to bring the margin down to two scores several times in the last couple of minutes. But partially thanks to Luke Kornet’s timely block and some incredible rebounding and putbacks, they overcame their poor plays with some really good ones. So, I think the inexperience is still a big concern, but the fact is that the team is so talented and resourceful that they were able to overcome it by not dwelling on the mistakes and making more positive plays than the negative ones, assisted by one veteran hustle play from Luke to make it to the end. I still have concerns, but I also have confidence in the team’s mental toughness to work hard and smart enough to win, even with inevitable mistakes along the way.

Jacob Douglas: I’d encourage anyone still considering this narrative to go watch Mitch Johnson’s locker room speech after Game Seven. It puts into perspective everything this team has been through in…

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Publish date : 2026-06-02 00:32:00

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