SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 44: SPURS VS. KINGS, 15-1-2023, 6PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Ok that was a terrific string of sequences: two 3s by Keldon, a steal by Tre.

[G R E Y]

Pop in Keldon's ear first thing in that timeout.

[G R E Y]

Jakob pass to JRich left corner 3. Nice and nice.

Sochan D board.

Sochan off the glass in - OFF THE GLASS AND IN!

[G R E Y]

Weak Sochan pass in to Jakob for the TO. Too low, too contested.

[G R E Y]

Long shot, long rebound - another given up. And another second chance for a 3.

And another O.

[G R E Y]

When Keldon leans back too much on his 3s they tend to rim out.

[G R E Y]

Ass browser issues.

Ass stream issues.

ASS!

[G R E Y]

Nice O board putback by Jakob.

[G R E Y]

"Johnson continues to play defense" - oh Bill lol

[imagump1313]

Missed the 2nd half.

Glad to see the guys keep focus while I was away. Great game all!!!!

FU Richardson!!!

[imagump1313]

BTW: FIRE THE EFFING LAZER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Phreak50]

If we don't get Wemby to make KJ the 3rd option, we need to move him, sell high.

He has shown he is little more than a chip and chase player. Struggles against taller defenders, isn't a great ball handler and throws up so much junk at the rim trying to score when his three isn't falling.

He is 3 inches too short for his skillset.

[imagump1313]

If we don't get Wemby to make KJ the 3rd option, we need to move him, sell high.

He has shown he is little more than a chip and chase player. Struggles against taller defenders, isn't a great ball handler and throws up so much junk at the rim trying to score when his three isn't falling.

He is 3 inches too short for his skillset.

If we miss on Wembanyama then all bets are off. I agree, Johnson isn't a #1 option on a good team. Just his size alone prevents that. But he also only 24-25? He's made some huge strides since he's been here and I'm all for seeing how he can polish his game in the next 3 years. He still has some growing up to do.

Now if someone blows us away with a great trade we can't say no to, I wouldn't rule that out either. Anything to get better.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 119 KINGS 132

This truly is a pounding the rock type of season, and games like this exemplify that we’re right about the half way point of getting through, with incomplete efforts in plays and for the duration of Q’s.

The first half was close and we actually led by one, but it was the defense carrying over into and declining in the second half that did us in. They were 6-15 from 3 in the first half to our 2-8, but we allowed 5-11 from 3 in the 3RD Q alone and the resulting 13-point deficit was too large to overcome. There’s almost always at least that one Q…

Post-game Pop talked about having enough people with good habits and Jakob called this a ‘learning season’. Both encapsulate our overall challenge, though the details beyond inexperience are getting in our way, too. Jakob talked about a lack of focus and effort which are things we are supposed to know already.

I love Devin as a starter, but with him out Romeo holds the fort with reliable D yet inconsistent O; Tre fills in admirably at point but is not the departed defender we had there; our front court comprises of uber rim protector and defender, Jakob, as well as Sochan who is a willing defender but lacks experience; that leaves us with Keldon, our second most experienced starter and top usage player who declared a dedication to defense in the pre-season presser.

Going off of Pop’s and Jakob’s comments, foregoing individual O games for this one – we don’t have trouble scoring; 119 on 51. 6% should put us in a good position to win – part of the good habits we are building have to do with getting better at ‘communicating’, ‘finding each other’, and ‘rotat[ing] better’ – and that applies to everyone, less and more experienced. But even when we do communicate, the effort (or lack of it) of one player affects everyone.

These include basic habits like staying with a star player rather than sagging off him when he passes the ball so as to contest the pass back. Part of that is everyone having the habit of arms up and out, and moving feet to to stay with opponents. Part of that is anticipating screens and adjusting footwork and body angles to better get over them.

The first we tend to be lax on as a team. We do a decent job pressuring the ball coming up the court, a pass is made to release pressure, and then we just allow it to come back to a main threat to operate. Some clock is wound down, but we need to better reward ourselves for all those earlier ball pressure steps.

The second not everyone does consistently either be it on passes that are made, denying chances to make them, or in contesting, the latter being the biggest pet peeve. We have done better running out on 3s shooters when we get rotations right – good effort running out on the shooter side hip, jumping up to contest. But at other times, we don’t even get hands up or run out to close the gap between defender and shooter. It’s like some guys are resigned to just let the shot go up because oh well they’re a bit late chasing the pass anyway.

The last, anticipating and getting around screens, many of our guys do well, especially the guards and some forwards. But in the latter two issues, Keldon stands out poorly. Is it fair to once again highlight his deficiencies when he has to shoulder a much bigger role? Probably not, but he soon will be our highest paid player, he is the most consistent starter, and he made a defense-priority declaration. I appreciate how he’s grown his O game from the bulldozing through everyone in the key to better footwork, body control and variety of finishes in close as well as improving his 3s shot.

As he’s more of a target for defenses, keeping up his career-high PPG (21.1) on career-high attempts in both overall FGAs (17.5) and 3s (7.1) on career-high MPG (32.1) comes at an efficiency cost of career lows 42.1%FG and 33.8% from 3 (actually his second lowest next to 33.1% in 2020-21). To his credit he’s also at a career-high FTAs at 5.2 per game on second-best of his career 77.2%. We frankly need him to be good at 3s and drives and in getting to the FT line so the volume compensates for efficiency somewhat.

It’s how he’s getting the points that needs addressing. I believe Keldon is a team player and sometimes pushes too much to help get a win but scores in a way that is not best for the team and ultimately for the good result. There are too many instances of him bringing up the ball and not making the quicker outlet pass to Spurs already ahead of him on the wings. There are too many instances of him over dribbling into too many defenders in the key rather than advancing the play, making the hockey pass that eventually results in a basket by someone else in a better position. These waste time as he takes too many dribbles to get a shot off, stagnates team mates who stand around watching him as he finishes with at times erratic, inconsistent angles off the glass.

So it’s not only his scoring that is inefficient, it’s the way he’s creating some chances as well. I know we’re at times pressing for a W because when the L’s stack up it feels demoralizing. And we tend to rush shots or get tunnel vision and not execute in ways that got us leads or closed deficits. When he goes ISO mode in times like these it looks like he’s trying to reach his PPG average even if he’s pressing to help.

We need Keldon to play more within our pace and movement. Pass the ball ahead; make the extra pass to open team mates (credit where it’s due, he’s averaging a career high 2.7 assists per game); develop a mid range game to be more of a threat and less predictable to guard; use the glass consistently wherever possible; decide on a shot with fewer dribbles taken. Combine these with the drive and physicality he already has and he’ll unlock even more of his O game. But he has to do it within our system. It’s designed to get the most out of his game for him and for us. Trust it.

Rounding back to Keldon’s D, it’s lagging behind his O. We can’t talk about tending to defensive details and have our starting 3 keep getting caught on screens when other more and less experienced players are already figuring out ways to get around them. There continue to be too many instances of him being front to front with a screener, pancaking into him, trying to push his way through. If he can figure out ways to Euro step around defenders, he can figure out ways to angle his body and adjust his footwork to slide by screeners to then contest a shot or prevent a pass and not leave his P&R coverage partner or switcher on a defensive island. Basic habits that Pop refers to and effort that Jakob does like having arms out or running out to contest consistently have to be there. Team-high -18 passed the eye test that they were not.

And I agree with Phreak’s comments above that he’s not a #1 guy on a contender. I don’t think anyone has made that assertion. But he is now one of the best players on the team and there are aspects of his game that he can improve on both ends. When we get a true #1, Keldon will be flourishing all the more in a role that can take advantage of defenders’ attention being elsewhere.

I want to make clear that I REALLY like Keldon. And that his effervescent attitude and outgoing personality are central to keeping us light and loose in a season that can get dark and weighed down. He was praised for it when Team USA was going through trials and tribulations. And it’s only because we see him making right reads, rotations, coverage of space, contests and blocks as well as the occasional outlet pass, hockey assist, and proper use of glass that we know there’s huge potential to raise both his floor and ceiling. And so going back to Jakob’s point, that’s what this season is for as the more experienced guys have different roles they have to learn, too.

This is, of course, where Jakob is also crucial for us. His even keeled approach to each game and ability to forget it and move on to the next one are so important to a young team navigating the ups and downs of a learning season. It’s his job to be our last line of defense, but we’re also taxing him with handling earlier breakdowns. He does it without complaint and that workmanlike approach is very important.

The main gist of the three points about D above is that we often don’t do the final step to either finish the O play well ie/ proper use of glass, or the D play well ie/ contesting with arm up, boxing out, etc. Finish the play the right way. Not surprisingly, Jakob, JRich, and Romeo, some of our best defenders, were the lone players in the plus. Given the disparity in plus/minus (and even with the stat being broad and murky), Jakob (23 points) and JRich (21) in particular stood as foils to Keldon who was third in scoring with 20. And that’s with Jakob coming into the 4TH Q with four fouls, playing ten minutes cleanly in it, and picking up his fifth foul with only thirty seconds left.

Guys have to know the scouting report. Blake went under a screen versus a 40% 3s shooter. Rookies will make rookie mistakes. It’s only his four pro game. He’ll learn from it.

Tre got switched on by their forward, held his best as he could, but you can’t teach height. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last so better help D or not getting caught on them is something we need to work on.

Down 14, we once again cut it to within only four points about half way into the 4TH Q but couldn’t get over the hump. We were 4-14 from 3 after three Q’s and made 6-12 in the 4TH Q alone. We threw all we could at them and I love the fight and scramble. But four fouls and 3TOs – which came on three steals against - hurt. We managed a single steal all game. One. We ended up losing the final Q by one point, just like the 1ST, while winning the 2ND Q by two. That left a wayward 3RD Q that had us chasing like mad but falling short with a conflation of bad habits that dug too deep a trench to climb out of.

Though we are mired in a five-game losing streak, we have been competitive in all of them except one. The effort is there, the desire is there, even with mistakes, even when we can’t seem to get out of our own way. So the right habits have to catch up, both among the more inexperienced players and those learning different roles. These are their growing pains and it is during such times that the stonecutter’s credo is never more important to keep in mind.

[G R E Y]

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

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[G R E Y]

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

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