SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 50: SPURS VS. CAVS, 3-2-2024, 7:30PM (CT)

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Inbounds TO leading to a **** dunk against. LOL

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OF COURSE Branham doesn't **** pass the ball out versus multiple defenders in the paint and having team mates around to help. OF COURSE!

One **** decent team first game and he goes back to mememememememe. Jackass.

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3RD Q: SPURS 71 CAVS 92

OF COURSE Devin **** takes forever to set up our final shot *wink wink* so that OF COURSE HE CAN HERO CHUCK A 3 AND **** MISS. **** OFF. And of course they score very quickly the other way.

We actually won that Q 26-25 but we trimmed it to I think 15 before dumb selfish reverting to me-first hero ball or just me-first contract time! ball for ill-advised shots and quick points the other way.

Whoever plays team-first ball gets to play and stay.

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MANU IN THE HOUSE!

Best look of the night lol

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I like how engaged and attentive our guys are listening to Pop instruct during opponent challenge.

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Tre will forever be a backup at best unless he improves 3s shooting.

Missing wide open from the arc.

0-3 again tonight.

Brutal floor spreading liability.

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Devin had Doug running out to the right corner, open, hand up, but chose to drive right down the middle taking it himself. He made a circus shot for the +1 but it was not the right play. Tunnel vision. Hierarchy. Decisions.

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Manu's kids were just shown practicing the Manu Euro step flawlessly before the game.



Get those 2030 picks accumulated, Spurs!

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Devin fighting through screens on D to stay with his man. Gets the D board.

Brings it up, tells guys where to be, we move it well. Good job on both ends.

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Yeah Zach threw an elbow on the screen. Unnecessary. Then he got a punch as a result.

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Oh wait that was a Zach payback for a previous Spider drive and elbow to the chin.

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Pop now telling the ref about the Mitchell elbow to Zach's face on an earlier drive that wasn't called.

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Branham shoots our tech FT. Makes it.

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lmao Julian drives baseline and gets our last bucket. Ultimate no pressure shot maker.

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4TH Q: SPURS 101 CAVS 117

Thought I'd posted this already.... Anyway, onwards...

We looked like a rebuilding team on the SEGABABA versus a team that has been at the top of the league since mid-December because we are a rebuilding team on a SEGABABA facing a team with top results since mid-December.

Wemby is hitting the rookie wall, getting subbed out sooner in the last three or so games, and playing on the SEGABABA compounds the fatigue. Early in the season, he started slow and finished strong late. He needed to get acclimated and impacted the game in spurts. The spurts have extended to two-way impact throughout the game, and now we go to Wemby early and often, providing streaks of impact that then give us and him a cushion during which he could rest.

He played 27 minutes tonight after 28 minutes last night, and got an inefficient double double, getting 19 on 5-16, 2-4 from 3 (good!), and team high 7-8FTs. He missed a lot of bunnies but he also got hacked over and over. The FTs attempts don’t reflect all the hacking he sustained, clutching his arms and hands after drives. He made the most of his chances, even though he was defended front and behind, even though he missed some shots on wrong glass angles, even though he missed some shots on inaccurate alley oop passes. He even finished another of the latter by smartly bouncing the ball off the glass for a trailing Sochan to once dunk it.

And though the dreaded rookie wall is speculated as a fatigue factor, this is what Wemby said about what’s been affecting him:

Read on Twitter

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Makes sense. We’ll see how he responds on the road. And we’ll have to figure out the best way to counter the allergies going forward.

We had a very hard time making shots. Part of it was facing yet another huge big man tandem that affected our shots or even the mental approach to them. And whether it was fatigue or altered shots or mental approach or inconsistency or some combination of any of these, we missed them aplenty.

Sochan was invisible on O, scoring only 2 on 1-9, 0-5 from 3. He did grab 9 boards (tied for team high 4 on O), had 2 assists, and 1 block all of which was made worse by at times being a step slow on drives on him. He banged well for rebounds, but it was a big variance game. When he makes shots he’s super efficient, when he doesn’t, it’s like nothing falls. His shot profile was arc and paint exclusively, and included getting blocked by a guard inside. Some more moves and more finishing varieties off glass can only help him. Right now he’s got that spin-o-rama in the paint, or the post up turning his back to the defender to protect the ball. It’s still progress considering how raw his O game was coming into the league. He’s worked hard on 3s and FTs and he’s coming along nicely, but this is the variance we have to live with for now.

Variance is the key word about us. The swings from terrific to terrible as a team and individually are staggering. We want to work on closing the gap between the highs and lows. You can see the impact of a player like Keldon who has closed that variance gap in his game. Had he been available last game, the result very likely could have been different. But it shows our youth and talent deficiency that not having a sixth man available impacts the outcome so much. He’s our longest tenured Spur so it’s also a factor on a team with a dearth of experience both as pros in general and as Spurs in particular.

Keldon’s return came just in time. He scored 10 points on 4-5 in the 1ST Q to keep us within 5 points. His physically punishing drives couldn’t be stopped and he was one of the few Spurs who could penetrate a disciplined, aggressive defense. We need more of his ilk. I can’t wait for Sidy to be more ready.

Keldon was slow on D in the first half but better in the second where he improved on not camping out in the paint, running out well to contest better, and staying with his man in half sets well.

I don’t trust Devin to make the right decisions until he shows team-first decisions. He had players doing the right thing – running out ahead on the wings, ready to take passes, yet he decided either to drive into multiple defenders, or **** do what he did yesterday, hold onto the ball for too long so that the last play available was him taking a contested hero shot he missed again. Awesome. Thanks, man.

He was scoreless in the first half and bounced back to finish with 22 – again, variance, and it’s not something we’d rather limit from the more experienced players. On the one hand, it’s good that he fought through the inefficiency; on the other, it’s the choices he makes as a more experienced player that are questionable and affect that variance. Sometimes he ran sets well, told guys where to go, moved the ball well, then other times called his own number even with teammates ready. It’s balance when the right decision is made; it’s questionable when it isn’t. He did well to get to FT line 5-5, had 3 assists, and ran around screens well on D, finishing with -10.

And part of that right decisions is including and setting up our best player. What the **** were we thinking? AGAIN, Wemby played 8 minutes in the 4TH Q, and again he had ONLY TWO FGAs. That’s as ‘many’ as Julian (including his end of game baseline layup).

Devin meanwhile shot 3-5 in the 4TH Q. One of them was assisted. Maybe it’s micro analyzing, but he’s not showing enough team-first game. When he’s getting his shots counter to the team game it’s not for the best of the team. Him throwing alley oop passes to Wemby without dribbling shows he both can do it quickly and well when he thinks pass first. The previous game’s final possession was a shoot first decision.

Tre faced a tough counterpart challenge and was inefficient with making 3-10, again 0-3 from 3. It is brutal to have a non-floor spacing PG and it hugely limits a lot of the good he does provide. There’s no get around for him but to get better at it or stay limited. He got 5 boards and led us with 8 assists – good.

Julian made 3-6 (really he was 2-5 for the game up until the final baseline drive). He **** up a basic basic play of throwing a pass into the left block to Wemby. Instead, he chose to fake, dribble, and then pass, not only running clock but also travelling. Do the right thing. It’s almost always the most simple thing, too!

It doesn’t help when Devin gestured frustration about what Julian should have done there. It’s all well and good when showing frustration with someone else’s mistakes; but accountability for his own decisions is far from public view.

Anyway, Pop yelled at Julian for the dumb selfish **** up. This guy wouldn’t sniff a starting spot on any other team. Just make the most of these opportunities. The more a player does for the team, the more of a star he plays in his role, the more solid his position on the team.
Other guys know what to do but are hampered. It’s tough for Zach on D. He’s slower, has less bounce, sags too much in the paint, and doesn’t cover the gap when shots go up. He did show better footwork, body control, and touch on O. He’s also better when he’s moving forward rather than just going up vertically. Baby steps. We need him healthy. Still, given the behemoth tandem we faced, Zach was torched for -28.

Branham once again resorted to me-first decisions, getting into the paint versus multiple defenders and not passing out to team mates. He was almost always the end point of any passes. He played 10 minutes, shot 0-5, 0-3 from 3. Blake didn’t score either, got torched for -15 in 11 minutes.

Twin production: Doug 3-5; Cedi 2-5

Some things that stood out we must do better: we had two Spurs turning around as paint shots went up. Someone contest, yeah? We had instances of five Spurs in the paint and nobody running out to kick out again, something we’d gone away from but resorted to too much in this game.

Some things we did better: only 11 TOs; we won rebounds battle 54-51 and 14-10 on O boards; we got to the FT line well, making 17-21.

We lost the first half 67-45 and won second 56-50 though given that the closest we closed the gap was around 15 points, it’s also a factor of opponent letting up a bit with a big lead. It’s deceptive to call it anything like a comeback, but we also didn’t wilt. Lots to work on, primarily making right team-first decisions on and off ball on both ends. Let’s rest up. It’s a tough road ahead.

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