SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 70: SPURS VS. GRIZZLIES, 22-3-2024, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

We have 10 points at just past the halfway point of the 4TH Q.

[G R E Y]

Tre drives. Has a layup chance. Kicks out to Devin.

Devin airballs a 3.

It lands in Tre's hands.

Layup.

Then Socham late contest to allow another 3.

[G R E Y]

Julian reaches in and they get the bucket and foul.

It's a comedy.

But

It's

Not a joke.

[G R E Y]

Down 7.

Wemby 3

Down 4.

[G R E Y]

SHOULD HAVE BEEN A FOUL ON THE DEFENDER WHO SLID UNDER WEMBY'S LANDING SPACE ON HIS MADE 3!!!

[imagump1313]

Everything we do is some scrambling mistake even if we succeed.

Its like watching a hockey game........

[G R E Y]

Pop blinking through what must be inner rage...

[G R E Y]

We full court press, get three guys on the ball, and Tre steals and scores.

Keldon fouls on their inbound.

[G R E Y]

Oh look. Sochan 3 miss.

WHY THE **** DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE NO ONE NEAR YOU?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

[G R E Y]

There's Pop on the sidelines making windmill motions with his arms for us to RUN UP THE COURT FASTER in a critical moment in the game.

I kid you not.

[G R E Y]

Baseline pass to Devin left corner 3.

We steal, Sochan to Tre 3.

Tie game.

Oh...

[G R E Y]

We have Keldon, Devin, Sochan, Tre, Wemby

Sochan nearly steals it but they recover and score.

1.2 seconds left.

[imagump1313]

No idea why Wemby thinks he needs to shoot a fade away when he is 3 foot taller than the guy guarding him....

[G R E Y]

Bad.

[G R E Y]

We previously game up a 19-point lead and lost.

Tonight we gave up a 17-point lead and lost.

Dumb. Bad. Not nearly good enough for long enough.

A few flashes after giving up a huge lead isn't going to get it done.

We deserved the result.

[G R E Y]

No idea why Wemby thinks he needs to shoot a fade away when he is 3 foot taller than the guy guarding him....

Agree. Too many 3s by him and all to begin with.

But it was also the obvious play to not give up - the alley oop and it was well contested on Wemby.

Just a stupid game from too many for too long.

[G R E Y]

Everything we do is some scrambling mistake even if we succeed.

Its like watching a hockey game........

At the Bantam level.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 97 GRIZZLIES 99

Seriously? Who the **** do we think we are? I know players don’t care about this, but there goes our 7th pick slot right now. It may well have gone this way by the end of the season anyway, but we should not have been helping it.

We started out well with a 12-point lead, bring it up to 17, then just... stopped thinking or hustling.

Wemby starting the game with five attempts from the arc is not the tone setting we want from our best player, especially considering his strength inside and that the opponent had nobody to stop him. He finished with 31-16-5, 1 steal, 3 blocks. A great game on paper and on the court, BUT he made 11-24FGAs and of those he attempted 12 – TWELVE! - from the arc and only made 3. He also had a game high 7TOs, and made only 6-10FTs. This outcome is as much on him as his good game contributed to our being in it to begin with.

I’d also have liked Wemby on the opponent’s final shot but Sochan was guarding him all night. Instead, the supposed 7’ wingspan length Sochan has, combined with slower reaction time, came up a couple of inches short.

We made only seven 3s on 38 attempts. Just. Kept. Taking. Them. When we could and should have set up shots inside instead.

Besides all the 3s attempts, we started out so smart and then went **** brain dead and hardly recovered with any signs of coming out of a comatose state.

This was some of the worst BBIQ we’ve displayed all season, especially egregious considering the reps we’ve had together. We allowed our opponent to start slow but increase production with better energy. We, on the other hand, started hot, but STILL had two waning middle two quarters, before showing signs of life in the final Q, and that in spurts and stutters.

Sochan stupidly took wide open 3s. Missed all four. 3-13 everywhere else, with lots of missed bunnies through not USING THE **** GLASS. Also, he should be embarrassed enough by his left hand finishing and not attempt it again this season until he closes himself in the gym and works on it. This is not **** practice. 4TOs didn’t help. For a guy known for bringing energy, he picks his spots. Too many 3s with arms at his sides. Why?

Julian tried dunking and once again got stopped. Missed both 3s. “Thanks” for putting on a uniform and getting your cardio in.

Devin. 27 on 10-17, 2-6 from 3, 5-5FTs, 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal. Good all around game. Can’t fault him for the outcome.

Our bench got outscored 34-16. SIXTEEN points from the WHOLE **** bench. Collins fouled out in 15 **** minutes. AND he was a game low -17! Incredible. Along the way, he barely jumped unless a driver was near him, didn’t threaten to contest (he seems to have an aversion now to running out and jabbing with his feet at shooters), left huge gaps when sagging in the paint, didn’t bother hauling ass back on D, and didn’t dunk at the rim. Can’t recall the last time a 7’ player played so small but he is definitely limited by his last ankle injury. Whether it is physical or mental, it is clearly an issue. Come to think of it, he is coming off concussion protocol and it looked like he wasn’t all there. Cedi 0-3, 0-2 from 3; Keldon 2-9, 0-4 from 3, 4-6FTs with a bench high 8 boards (3 on O), 1 assist; Branham ‘never seen a shot I didn’t like’ started out passing well then went all shooters shoot mode for 2-7, 0-3 from 3 with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal; Blake 0-4, 0-1 from 3 with 1 O board.

I didn’t notice if Dom was on the bench but if available we could have used him.

Like Pop said post-game, the broad strokes of 18.4% from 3 and 16TOs that cost us 20 points (we were -2 in the category) were largely the bookends of the game.

I’d add making only 16-23FTs while putting our opponent to the FT line for 21-31(!) were both egregious.

We won the PITP 52-40 but given how many 3s we took, we wasted many more chances to work the ball inside. This is magnified by the fact that we had 13 more FGAs to choose to create great chances. When we did get it inside, we had too many soft finishes. We also won the fast break points 24-14 but in the end cumulatively didn’t overcome the -15 from the arc. We got lured into taking all those outside shots to our own detriment. We neither made wise shot selections nor contested the arc nearly well enough.

Just a huge wasted opportunity of taking a very depleted team lightly, not respecting the game and opponent or ourselves to bring the right mindset and give the requisite effort. That we still had two waning Qs versus a heavily depleted opponent indicates an internal, mental approach issue rather than doing our best but succumbing from great pressure. We also have to recognize our bad patterns and **** adjust. Once again, Pop should not be doing arm windmills at the sideline to get us to push the ball up the court. Once again, we should not run sets that double down on shots that are not working but set up others. We know how to run them; we just got stubborn about arc shots.

Pass the ball HIGHER to the tallest guy on the court; the tallest guy on the court should keep the ball up HIGH away from prying hands; use the glass and right angles on it; fundamentals are the bedrock – deviate at your own risk, as we’ve been proven many times. Consistent effort. Respect. Right, simple play. Resoluteness. Perhaps we thought we’d save some energy this game for the tougher opponent in the SEGABABA. We paid the price for it.

I have an Australian red blend that was underwhelming. Fitting. So yeah **** night all around.

[G R E Y]

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