GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 60: SPURS AT RAPTORS, 22-2-2019, 6PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Sammy has been kind and gracious enough in allowing me to impose getting my way with this thread out of sheer emotional intensity for it. You're the real deal, Sammy.

A game like yet unlike any other: DeMar's first return - and Jakob's, too! Us being about as healthy as we can claim to be for this season. And, my very FIRST Spurs game RRAAAAWWWRRR!!! So, yeah, a lot at stake!

I hope we start and finish like we did last time against them - but better. We're fully capable of it, and hopefully channel our emotions into doing our best on the court to show it.

WHERE: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, CA

WHEN: Friday, February 22, 2019, 6pm (CT)

Read on Twitter

GO SPURS GO!!!

[G R E Y]

GO: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GAZE: ESPN national broadcast
GAMBLE: O/U 227.5, Toronto -7.5

Winding down the season, just another game to get through, no major thing...

...nah-- this one is big. Kawhi can call it just another game and I'm sure Pop and his players will say the same in the press today, but there's little question the good guys would very much like to prove that January blowout was no fluke, and it seems equally certain that the Raps want to show they can give as good as they take. Combined with the energy the fans are going to bring to Scotiabank, both to honor DeMar and to support Kawhi, it's going to be electric.

We may be marching uphill all night, though: the dinosaur team is the league's hottest, riding six victories in a row, and LMA is a gametime decision; he's been sick, so even if he runs, he may not be at 100%. Derrick White (heel) is a gametime decision, too, and Fred VanVleet is out until March.



^^SAMMY'S POST

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[-Sammy-]

We're hanging with them so far... Kawhi's having a tough shooting night, though, so we'll see what happens once he heats up.

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

I can hardly believe I got to see the Spurs LIVE FINALLY!!!

So many impressions still swirling around inside. The main difference is that of course emotions are even bigger in person, but it's also more cathartic because of that immediacy. Also, the strokes are broader in a live game. By that I mean it's very difficult to see what's actually a foul most of the time (despite having a great view), so I appreciate the refs' jobs a bit more even if I disagreed with several calls (late in the game, that was a damn over and back if I ever saw one...). The other broader stroke is just the viewing experience; you get to see the totality of the plays and how they're set up far better but sometimes it's hard to choose looking at the one thing over another, and if you focus on one thing, you may miss another. But as a fan in the arena you still select where you look as opposed to having it picked for you. The gaze (chosen or not, and to what extent, from what angles, etc. ) is an interesting topic in and of itself, so I'll just say it's sort of like the difference between theatre and film.

It's harder to analyze the game in its details live, but my main impressions were that we defended better overall, collapsing on drivers (some of our blocks were downright nasty and I loved it!), running out on ball handlers, hands up, feet active, even if we were late on some rotations. We moved the ball well, and I saw live just how much communicating and gesturing players are doing all the time while running plays. I don't know if that's always the case, but it certainly was for us tonight. Patty is flat out the leader in this category, and he was great calling out and gesturing for where guys should move, both on the court and from the bench. Underappreciated.

LMA was clearly off his game, whether it was his illness or what, but we did well to compensate for his off O. It's too bad he couldn't get his O game going in such a close game (though I could just as easily say it's too bad we had so many turnovers), but we did well overall after a long break to make it a competitive game - probably our best of this road trip so far - with everyone pitching in to bridge LMA's scoring gap. Jakob stood out in his evolving understanding of what to do in each situation with and without the ball (gelling with more Spurs), stood out with his better patience to make the right play, and stood out with his sheer physicality. You don't really see on tv just how much of a battle it is on every play for the big guys.

Beli really does shoot better off-balance. It's so strange but it works! (Also, he got chewed out for some bad plays and he takes it well. Forza.)

Bryn's drive and fake pass for a floater is really beautiful. He's done well to improve his decision time and execution flow.

LMA's post-up turnaround and fadeaway Js are as pretty as they are effective.

Loved Rudy's, Derrick's, and Jakob's drives and dunks. Energy changers.

Davis's shot release looks even quicker in person. So impressive especially given how accurate he is. I have noticed that when he fakes, stops, and pops closer to the basket, he looks as if he's judging the distance as he shoots, if that makes sense. It's just a bit less automatic than his 3 shot.

Loved the enthusiasm of our bench.

That 360 layup by DeMar was smooth and spectacular and best of all, effective.

I thought DeMar had more ball handling duties even with Derrick back than perhaps I would have liked, but I didn't realize at the time that Derrick was on a minutes restriction, and of course, having missed four games and not playing until now, he was going to need some time adjusting.

The final play where DeMar got it stolen I didn't realize he slipped first so seeing it a second time when I got home altered my perception and opinion of the play (namely I didn't blame DeMar so much). We should always have another Spurs closer / parallel for a ball handler to pass to. Seems like an obvious point, but we should never take it for granted, especially late in games, that there will be extra pressure.

One play late in a close game tends to get magnified, but as I've said throughout all our games - Every. Play. Counts. They all build to final moments. To that end, we had several plays in which we didn't adhere to basic fundamentals and it cost us. Another game with a poor inbounds turnover because the player inbounding and ball receiver weren't looking at each other. Why these things happen to us more this season is a mystery, but it's a mental issue that we have to be more mindful of. Also, we had several bad passes where a Spur would leave his feet and pass which were picked off, or (and these are starting to irritate more) those lazy one-handed passes from one Spur to another who is not coming to the ball aggressively enough (too passive about creating a good receiving angle).

Other details were a pleasure to witness: the main one is just how constant coaching is throughout a game. Pop was so fiery, I mean fiery and locked in all game - getting on the refs at just about every timeout, being so animated when our guys made good or bad plays on D or O, he and players having their arms around one another in those brief game-stoppage moments as Pop explained something. Of course, these are all in addition to calling out plays, getting on guys in the beginning or middle of plays, blowing off steam walking down the bench and animatedly talking to the guys on it about the mistakes made by the guys on the court, using some solitary time to consult cue card lists from the inside pocket, etc. And seeing the work the assistants do was insightful as well; some gestured for our guys to hustle back on D, some went to refs to get an explanation, others talked to individual players about adjustments (I assume), others still went to Pop while he was coaching on the sidelines to impart some info important for that moment in the game. I have a new appreciation for game management on the whole beyond what I used to focus on - timeouts, what play gets called when, who takes the shot, etc. When there was a less obvious development, often I'd take cues from the coaches that something was amiss, and try and work my way back to figuring out what went wrong (no benefit of commentators filling that in, but I liked that experience of working to understand a play or the breakdown of it). They work synergistically, and are so dedicated and attuned to details throughout the game. It was wonderful to see it all.

The obvious anticipation was so high that when DeMar and Jakob were finally acknowledged - first when they arrived on the court, then when they each had a tribute video (during timeouts, kind of odd?), then when they made plays during the game - that in the end it was a relief to move on from it. There were waves of appreciation throughout the game, and hopefully now with this one over and done with and the weight of its coming up now past, we can better focus on the games ahead.

After the game I walked for a fair bit to take advantage of an unusually warm February night, get some excess energy out, and try to process the experience. The loss was disappointing especially since we had the game in our grasp, but the totality of the night left me feeling so happy and grateful in getting to take it all in live. Of course, rather than satiate, it only left me with a stronger desire. I need to see more Spurs games in person, and time is running out this season. So, some figuring out to do.... I'm not sure if people in SA realize how lucky they are.

I like to celebrate and commiserate with dark chocolate (and red wine for the former), so in doing both, I had a Baci when starting this write-up. These are the ones that come individually wrapped, each with a lovely quote inside. Mine had this written: "La mia anima senza di te non può stare: fai che con te sia felice" which is translated to "My soul cannot bear to be without you, make it happy." The Italians have such a mellifluous, heart-on-the-sleeve way of declaring feelings. I'd probably have found a link with any quote, but though the context is different, it expresses my sentiments as they relate to finally seeing the Spurs live. The best experiences hit the spot just so yet leave you wanting more.

[G R E Y]

The in-game interview wherein the reporter smartly ducks so as to avoid taking a shot from Pop. They keep it short and sweet. Reporter lives to see another interview:
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=26057601

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

POP:

Watch on YouTube

DEMAR:

Watch on YouTube