Spurs training camp at a glance
Started: Tuesday
Ends: Friday
First preseason game: vs. Orlando Magic, Saturday, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center
First regular-season game: vs. New York Knicks, Oct. 23, AT&T Center
SAN ANTONIO – He was the other Toronto player in the blockbuster trade last July that sent disgruntled Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors for DeMar DeRozan.
While DeRozan was a four-time All-Star guard, 7-foot center Jakob Poeltl had started only four games in two seasons since beginning his NBA career with Toronto in 2016.
But Poeltl seized on the opportunity for a fresh start in San Antonio, becoming part of the Spurs' rotation and starting 24 of the 77 games in which he played. Poeltl improved steadily throughout the season, drawing praise from his coaches and teammates for his ability to set good, strong screens.
After averaging 5.4 points and 4.0 rebounds during the regular season, Poeltl upped his game in the Spurs' first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. Starting all seven games of the series won by Denver, Poeltl averaged 7.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 25.3 minutes.
Poeltl reflected on the series against the Nuggets on Thursday, after the Silver and Black completed the third workout of their four-day training camp.
Tasked with guarding Denver center Nikola Jokic, a first-team All-NBA pick last season, Poeltl acquitted himself relatively well considering what he was up against. Poeltl also had to mix it up with power forward Paul Millsap, a four-time All-Star who is one of the best low-post players in the league.
"I think it did a lot for me," Poeltl said, recalling the grinding series against the Nuggets. "That was the first time I had the main matchup, the defensive responsibility, guard their main guy for a whole playoffs series. That was a first for me.
"It's just interesting because you'd think for seven games it'd be the same thing, but it felt like it changed every game. The game plan is a little bit different. They attack you in different ways, so you almost start off fresh every single game. You've just got to depend on knowing the tendencies and make their shots as tough as possible."
The Spurs, who won the series opener in Denver, forced a Game 7 with a 120-103 victory in Game 6 at the AT&T Center. The Nuggets took the series with a 90-86 win on their home court two nights later.
Poeltl was asked Thursday if he thought the Spurs could use that series as a springboard to this season.
"I think, for the most part, we played well," Poeltl said. "We played good basketball in that series. We gave away a couple of games that we shouldn't have, but if we can learn from our mistakes and then keep doing the things that we did well in that series, then, definitely, we can springboard off of that."
The Spurs have lost in the first round of the playoffs each of the past two seasons. Did the Game 7 loss in Denver drive the Silver and Black during the long offseason?
"Honestly, I feel like every season you don't win it all, you can rely on that last loss (for motivation)," Poeltl said. "I know it hurt me for a long time. Last week we're watching a little bit of that film again, and seeing all the little mistakes that you made, the shots that you missed.
"It hurts, obviously, because now looking back at it, you know one, two, three plays made a difference and could have won us the series. It's frustrating. It's definitely driving us right now in training camp to go harder."
Poeltl has continued to make strides in his second training camp with San Antonio. The challenge now is to build on the foundation he built last season.
"It's definitely a lot easier," he said. "I've seen all this stuff before. That makes it better. I know my teammates better, obviously, so it's easier, especially now that we don't have a lot of (offensive) sets. We're just kind of playing randomly. It's a lot easier when you know how to play with your guys out there."
Defense is always priority No. 1 for coach Gregg Popovich, whether it's during training camp or the last game of the season.
"Sure," Poeltl said. "Most of our drills are focused on the defense. It's the point of emphasis in every scrimmage, like run back. If you take one defensive possession off, he's going to call you out on it. So it's definitely important for us."
Of course, Poeltl also looked to improve his offensive game in the offseason.
"I worked a lot on my form, on my shot," he said. "I worked on some more post-up stuff, especially taking advantage of mismatches when I get switches, when I've got smalls on me. Worked on some stuff off the dribble, if I can drive a close-out, different finishes. It was plenty of stuff."
Poeltl said he and some of the team's other big men have worked with Spurs icon Tim Duncan, who joined the team's coaching staff this summer, for the past month.
"We're doing a lot of skill work with him, so there's different features, different post-ups, stuff that he teaches us," Poeltl said. "It's been real good."
Is there one thing in particular Duncan has passed on to Poeltl?
"He's shown me a couple of moves, couple of tricks here and there, but I'm not going to tell you guys," Poeltl said, drawing a laugh from reporters."It's hard to pick just one."