Spurs opponents are used to being met with resistance around the paint in the form of 7-foot Jakob Poeltl. The 6th year center who paces the NBA in shot contests and ranks among the league leaders in blocks per game is an increasingly ubiquitous part of what goes right for San Antonio on both ends of the floor these days.
A patchwork of counting stats and tracking metrics strains to capture Poeltl’s entire footprint: in addition to his defensive impact he stirs the drink on offense, helping turn the team’s weakness of on-ball creation into a strength through high activity on the perimeter, pressure on the rim, and an abundance of handoffs and on- and off-ball screens to create openings.