SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 49: SPURS AT HORNETS, 7-2-2025, 6PM (CT)

[BrianInPhilly]

Casual Spurs fan here - Watching this game it was apparent the Spurs lack of size outside of Wemby (and Sochan too). Hard to believe they didn't go after a bigger forward at the deadline in my opinion. So many plays Wemby or Sochan would go for a block and the small guys were left trying to box out & rebound. If you're committed to going small 1-2-3 (Fox, Paul, Castle, Vassell) rotating, you gotta' have a 4' who can rebound. Feel like Spurs forced to go to Wemby-Sochan tandem now - they gotta choose between spacing out all 5 guys and having 2 rebounders in. Which is odd because they could have solved the issue by going after a guy like John Collins at the deadline who can do both shoot & rebound (basically Sochan/Barnes wrapped into one player). I thought going after Fox was a signal they were going for the playoffs, but they're still an odd bunch rotations wise.

[imagump1313]

Casual Spurs fan here - Watching this game it was apparent the Spurs lack of size outside of Wemby (and Sochan too). Hard to believe they didn't go after a bigger forward at the deadline in my opinion. So many plays Wemby or Sochan would go for a block and the small guys were left trying to box out & rebound. If you're committed to going small 1-2-3 (Fox, Paul, Castle, Vassell) rotating, you gotta' have a 4' who can rebound. Feel like Spurs forced to go to Wemby-Sochan tandem now - they gotta choose between spacing out all 5 guys and having 2 rebounders in. Which is odd because they could have solved the issue by going after a guy like John Collins at the deadline who can do both shoot & rebound (basically Sochan/Barnes wrapped into one player). I thought going after Fox was a signal they were going for the playoffs, but they're still an odd bunch rotations wise.

If Fox didn't fall into their lap I doubt we would have acquired anyone at the deadline. He was handed to us for basically nothing. We weren't seeking him out at all IMO.
I really dont understand what the plan is here other than them just waiting for Wemby to get better. I doubt we even make the play-in. Especially after this loss. At least maybe we might get 2 chances to luck out on Drafting #1 again and getting Flagg

[BrianInPhilly]

Casual Spurs fan here - Watching this game it was apparent the Spurs lack of size outside of Wemby (and Sochan too). Hard to believe they didn't go after a bigger forward at the deadline in my opinion. So many plays Wemby or Sochan would go for a block and the small guys were left trying to box out & rebound. If you're committed to going small 1-2-3 (Fox, Paul, Castle, Vassell) rotating, you gotta' have a 4' who can rebound. Feel like Spurs forced to go to Wemby-Sochan tandem now - they gotta choose between spacing out all 5 guys and having 2 rebounders in. Which is odd because they could have solved the issue by going after a guy like John Collins at the deadline who can do both shoot & rebound (basically Sochan/Barnes wrapped into one player). I thought going after Fox was a signal they were going for the playoffs, but they're still an odd bunch rotations wise.

If Fox didn't fall into their lap I doubt we would have acquired anyone at the deadline. He was handed to us for basically nothing. We weren't seeking him out at all IMO.
I really dont understand what the plan is here other than them just waiting for Wemby to get better. I doubt we even make the play-in. Especially after this loss. At least maybe we might get 2 chances to luck out on Drafting #1 again and getting Flagg

True, I just think if they truly wanted to go for the Playoffs it's inexcusable they didn't make a deadline deal with all the assets they have. Another big, ideally a 4' that can shoot would help the roster tremendously. Now, they're forced to go super small and have Wemby do everything defense/rebounding wise OR they are forced to put a non-shooter next to Wemby in Sochan.

I'm a big believer unless you are totally out the mix and tanking for pick #1, make trades to upgrade the roster. You can always trade these players a year from now anyway and recoup value ... Example - If they traded a pick/two w/ say Keldon Johnson for John Collins, even worst case if you decide to move away from Collins later on - you can easily trade him in offseason as part of a bigger package for a star or just recoup value back ... Or extend him at reasonable # and trade him down the road if a younger better forward comes along. Or just keep him next 3-5 years as part of your core as 2nd/3rd big. I'm just not a fan of seeing a clear hole in the roster (Only having 2 adequate rebounders & 2 adequate lengthy defenders in the entire rotation - them being the same 2 guys) and just essentially saying "we'll figure it out later on". How anybody could look at Barnes, Keldon Johnson, or Champgnie and think to themselves "Yes, that's a good power forward to run out when you are consistently playing 3 guys 6-5 or under at 1,2,3 positions" is incomprehensible ... unless of course you're not trying to actually win games.

[vtime]

Casual Spurs fan here - Watching this game it was apparent the Spurs lack of size outside of Wemby (and Sochan too). Hard to believe they didn't go after a bigger forward at the deadline in my opinion. So many plays Wemby or Sochan would go for a block and the small guys were left trying to box out & rebound. If you're committed to going small 1-2-3 (Fox, Paul, Castle, Vassell) rotating, you gotta' have a 4' who can rebound. Feel like Spurs forced to go to Wemby-Sochan tandem now - they gotta choose between spacing out all 5 guys and having 2 rebounders in. Which is odd because they could have solved the issue by going after a guy like John Collins at the deadline who can do both shoot & rebound (basically Sochan/Barnes wrapped into one player). I thought going after Fox was a signal they were going for the playoffs, but they're still an odd bunch rotations wise.

If Fox didn't fall into their lap I doubt we would have acquired anyone at the deadline. He was handed to us for basically nothing. We weren't seeking him out at all IMO.
I really dont understand what the plan is here other than them just waiting for Wemby to get better. I doubt we even make the play-in. Especially after this loss. At least maybe we might get 2 chances to luck out on Drafting #1 again and getting Flagg

True, I just think if they truly wanted to go for the Playoffs it's inexcusable they didn't make a deadline deal with all the assets they have. Another big, ideally a 4' that can shoot would help the roster tremendously. Now, they're forced to go super small and have Wemby do everything defense/rebounding wise OR they are forced to put a non-shooter next to Wemby in Sochan.

I'm a big believer unless you are totally out the mix and tanking for pick #1, make trades to upgrade the roster. You can always trade these players a year from now anyway and recoup value ... Example - If they traded a pick/two w/ say Keldon Johnson for John Collins, even worst case if you decide to move away from Collins later on - you can easily trade him in offseason as part of a bigger package for a star or just recoup value back ... Or extend him at reasonable # and trade him down the road if a younger better forward comes along. Or just keep him next 3-5 years as part of your core as 2nd/3rd big. I'm just not a fan of seeing a clear hole in the roster (Only having 2 adequate rebounders & 2 adequate lengthy defenders in the entire rotation - them being the same 2 guys) and just essentially saying "we'll figure it out later on". How anybody could look at Barnes, Keldon Johnson, or Champgnie and think to themselves "Yes, that's a good power forward to run out when you are consistently playing 3 guys 6-5 or under at 1,2,3 positions" is incomprehensible ... unless of course you're not trying to actually win games.

Bingo. One more trade and could’ve really had something.

[BrianInPhilly]

Did anyone else notice that the clock started early on that last play? I am shocked the Spurs are not making a big deal of this ... Hornets TV didn't show the full replay for some reason so it's hard to tell but it seems to be when Fox gets the ball the clock is at 1.2 - or 1.3 AT BEST. That .1 or .2 seconds is enough for that shot to count in my opinion. Can refs not reviews this? It's the sort of call that should warrant an appeal to replay the game or something ... Not saying they would, but is nobody talking about this?

+ Bridges last shot went in at 1.6 yet 1.4 was left on clock. And they can review this pretty sure. Was the Spurs coaching staff just oblivious to all this?

[imagump1313]

Did anyone else notice that the clock started early on that last play? I am shocked the Spurs are not making a big deal of this ... Hornets TV didn't show the full replay for some reason so it's hard to tell but it seems to be when Fox gets the ball the clock is at 1.2 - or 1.3 AT BEST. That .1 or .2 seconds is enough for that shot to count in my opinion. Can refs not reviews this? It's the sort of call that should warrant an appeal to replay the game or something ... Not saying they would, but is nobody talking about this?

+ Bridges last shot went in at 1.6 yet 1.4 was left on clock. And they can review this pretty sure. Was the Spurs coaching staff just oblivious to all this?

I didnt notice at the time. Officials are always adjusting the clock at the end of games so who knows. They could have come up with some reason to put it at 1.4.

I wouldnt be surprised at all if our coaching staff was oblivious to it. Our coaching have been pretty bad all season.

Either way, my first thought was that Fox should have known that he didnt have time for that dribble. He had to catch and shoot.
Plus, if we would have played an ounce of defense the play before we might not have been down 1.