GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 2: SPURS AT BLAZERS, 20-10-2018, 9PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

That I agree with Donald and gump and they don't agree on some points with one another shows the incongruity of both my initial impressions of the game and of the game itself.

If you read that we had 29 assists to only 6 TOs, outrebounded our opponent on the O glass 15-8 (though overall they had a 46-40 edge), shot 43.3% from the 3 hitting 13, AND scored 108 points, smart money would wager on a win yet we were on the other end of this one.

I was actually surprised that outside of DeMar, some of our other shooters had decent to good nights, including Bryn, LMA, Rudy, Davis, and Pau. Even Patty contributed (4-11) but he was actually exerting noticeable effort on the D end, too. That's probably because our opponents seemed to be hitting anything they wanted for a lot of the game.

It was close in the first half, but perimeter defense was our Kryptonite. To be fair, as gump said, their two guard combo is terrific and would give anyone fits, but it's clear that the book on us is to get past the first defender and drive down the middle. Our bigs like LMA and especially Davis with quick feet and recognition and reaction did a good job recovering on help D to contest some drives and shots, but not enough. Lillard and CJ each had three made shots through drives and two just outside the key. Then there were their 3s, which they shot out of their own dribbles.

DeMar is a far smoother player (28 points on 11-22) and better facilitator (9 assists) than ever. His effort on D is noticeable, but frankly he needs to do more. Just up the tenacity and pride in not getting guys to get by you because you think you can get them on the other end. Yes he is doing a lot for us on O, but it is up to him and Bryn to hold the fort on the perimiter. If a far taller guy like Davis can move his feet very quickly and get to his spots on D so fast, DeMar can, too. Different positions, sure, but I'm just addressing the effort, which is there, but will need to find another gear as we move forward. Some of that has to do with the habit of how he positions himself once a defender makes the initial first step as I've written about before. It's hard to break out of those habits, physical memory and all that. But that is what will need to happen. I'm grateful we have his contributions, but expecting improvements on D is not outlandish. He got a couple of steals, and just missed out on a couple more, so the attention on that end is expanding.

Bryn was terrific and is holding his own thrust into a starting role out of position. Eighteen points on 6-13 (5-8 from 3) with 2 rebounds and 3 assists doesn't even paint the whole story. He hustled through screens, muscled against bigger guys, had good positioning on D; just a solid effort there. On O he was great at passing the ball ahead quickly.

I like that we had DeMar and Rudy bring the ball up at times to take the pressure off Bryn, and then once they brought it up Bryn was able to run the plays, so we are doing a good job of helping by committee to get around our vulnerabilities on this end and on O it is working for the most part.

The awkward elephant in the room is Jakob in the starting role. He's only ever started four games in his career prior to doing so now, and none were last year. His minutes are way down from last season, but that's in part because he had a defined bench role and knew what to do in it, he is learning a new role, and frankly, it is not reaping the dividends we'd like. In the first game, he at least had 4 O boards and some buckets courtesy of nice finds from DeMar, and some putbacks. The latter was from awareness and effort. Last night he looked lost and listless. On one play in particular, we shot and missed and he watched as his opponent beside him got the rebound. Jakob was close enough to at least get a hand on it and contest, but he wasn't in any boxing out position, and then just turned around and ran back. Unacceptable lack of effort. It pissed me off.

The other way it is hurting us is that Pau and LMA have great synergy and Pau helps LMA get easy buckets. No high low action for LMA last night, and this has been a successful feature of our O. ALL of his buckets were inside the key yesterday, and so Blazers doubled him down low and pushed him to outside shots, all of which he missed, or to passing it out. We could and should have exploited what has worked for us in the past. LMA needs more than 12 shots. He's a volume rhythm player and needs the reps to get a grove going.

Metu in THREE minutes was more focused and effective than Jakob. Sure he was up against bench competition, but you can see that he has in mind to do something each time he's on the court. He got the ball and drove for FTs on one play, hustled back for a block on another. Got as many rebounds as Jakob. I don't want to get too critical of Jakob. He's up against west Cs in a new role. But I'm not sure what that is supposed to be (though I do not agree with OP that it is at PF), and he doesn't look like he knows either. I think Pau in the starting unit would help us, but actually like Jakob starting versus Lakers. (Watch Pop start Pau then. What do I know. I'm just a fan on a basketball board).

Despite LMA and Rudy being a bit off on O (though they still contributed) and despite our sieve D, had we not gotten a bagel from Jakob (not even one shot attempt) and had Beli not had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night missing nearly everything - say, 5 points from Jakob and 10 from Beli, reasonable given their averages - we could have actually been in this game.

But in the end shooting wasn't our issue, and to some extent, the D was part of a larger one, namely, that we look like we're lacking that one central guy who is going to galvanize everyone on the floor and get guys in a huddle and refocus the group to the task at hand. After a couple of consecutive breakdowns on D, I didn't like the body language of slumped shoulders and heads down a bit. Dejounte was that vocal guy to direct and energize us with his stalwart D, but in this still feeling out process guys are sort of looking around for that voice. There's a time to defer, a time to lead by example, and a time to grab collars and say what needs to be said to gather the group together.

The bench was very enthusiastic when we made great plays, and I'd like that cohesion and energy on the court as well. We're a bit tentative at times (Side note: This tentativeness is manifesting itself in missed bunnies. Missed bunnies drive me crazy. Put the ball in with some authority. Nobody's handing out points for aesthetics) when things break down and we have to get a bit more angry in a constructive way and channel it to our advantage.

You could tell Pop wasn't thrilled with the D effort as he and the guys interviewed post-game said that there were some miscommunications and breakdowns that we need to address. Sure, but the right effort has to be there. By right effort, I mean better positioning, movement to stay with opponents, etc. Just attention to fundamentals and details.

They took it to us but we came back from big leads, and we shot better despite some easy misses. So it's a work in progress, and I really like the ball movement, the off ball movement, and the D to O transitions we're focusing on. The connection among Bryn, DeMar, Rudy and LMA is already there even this early on, which is really good to see. We are going to have to come together better and communicate and hustle more the right way on D to get the job done. Chins up. On to the next one.

Noteworthy achievements

Patty:

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Pau:

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DeMar (EDIT to add this DD stat):

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Chimezie and Drew:

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[Donald Kaufman]

No Green, Kawhi & Dejounte was always going to effect our D. No hot take there. If we can't contain McCollum and Lillard (and Teague - sigh), how are going to fare against Harden & Paul...Curry & Klay...Rubio & Mitchell...PG & Westbrook? It doesn't get any easier.

It's only two games, and we're incorporating 8 (I think) new guys, so it will take time. Offensively we're OK. The other end is a concern.