PtR Survey: The Spurs’ best passer and ball-handler of all time

The best Spurs at getting the ball to others and holding on to it themselves.

Welcome back to the PtR Survey, where we are following an online trend where fans are voting on players from their team to fill out a grid like the one below. Most recently, we did the best Spurs shooters of all time, and these were the results:

One again, no real surprises in the results, but how truly dominant the winners were came as a bit of a surprise given how close some prior topics have been. The closest win in this race was best three-point shooter, with Danny Green — a.k.a. Icy-Hot — winning 43% of the vote — 19% more than runner-up Patty Mills. While the nickname indicated he could be inconsistent at times, Green was on more often than not, and when he was, he didn’t miss much and even held the record for most threes in the finals at one point.

George Gervin also made his first (and maybe not last) appearance on the grid as the best midrange shooter, comfortably winning with 51% of the vote. Again, not surprising for the Spurs’ best scorer of all time, but what really threw me for a loop is how dominantly Tim Duncan won best post player with EIGHTTY-SEVEN percent of the vote compared to just 11% for David Robinson. Now, I know Tim Duncan is just about the best Spur at everything he did well, but my goodness. None of this is to say Robinson should have won over Timmy, I just never imagined the poll would be that lopsided. I now feel obligated to give you some Admiral highlights just to give him his props.

The next topic is the best players with the ball in their hands, including the best passer and best handles. They may sound similar to each other, but there is a difference. Best passer is exactly what it sounds like: a player who is the best at passing the ball with accuracy while making the right play. This can also include but is not limited to playmaking for others, and factors such as assist-to-turnover ratio, assist percentage, and creativity were taken into account. (And this goes without saying, but Chris Paul doesn’t count since he hasn’t played for the Spurs yet, plus his time here will probably be too limited to count going forward anyways.)

Best handles is more down to how a player does with the ball in his hands, whether it’s navigating through traffic without turning the ball over or taking the ball to the rim. This one probably has a clear-cut winner, but you all have managed to surprise me before, so we shall see where this goes.

Be sure to vote, and remember, if “Other” wins in either poll, I will check the comments here and on social media, and the most liked will win.