SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 45: SPURS VS. SUNS, 17-1-2022, 7:30PM (CT)

[Mirotek]

Devin Booker needs to be stopped!

[G R E Y]

WE JUST CAN'T **** STOP MAKING STUPID PLAYS, WE JUST CAN'T STOP **** TURNING IT OVER, WE JSUT CAN'T STOP **** FINISH A Q SMARTLY.

ANOTHER 12-POINT LEAD DISAPPEARS WITH EASE FOR THE OPPONENT.

11-0 RUN BY THEM.

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 91

SUNS 87

Finally Devin makes and end-of-Q 3! Maybe there's something to that whole Pounding the Rock philosophy after all...

We gave up a big dumb run by them but still poured in 35 points in this Q.

WE MUST protect our rebounding in our end better.

Also, Booker has like half of their points - maybe put a guy on him shadow style for the rest of the game.

REBOUNDS, PREVENT EASY PASSES TO THEIR PERIMETER CREATORS, DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE AT THEM, SPURS!

[imagump1313]

Vassell is actually playing good defense on Booker. Landale needs to grab some of those boards instead of tapping them back.

[G R E Y]

Keldon has to stop pretending like he's fighting over screens DD style when in reality he takes a hit and stops moving and his man gets left open for Js time and again.

[imagump1313]

Every team in the league 90% of the time throws lobs on those pick and rolls and we 99% of the time throw a bounce pass at a big guy's knees.

NBA 101:Don't throw bounce passes to big guy's knees......

[G R E Y]

Stupid plays like soft passes for turnovers or telegraphed passes for turnovers or missed bunnies each of which has resulted in their drives and points.

Soft, weak, SOFT!

[G R E Y]

20-9 for them half way through the final Q. Like what's Pop supposed to do? 10-2 run for them and we just are HANDING the game to them.

[G R E Y]

TO BASKET

TO BASKET

TO BASKET

TO BASKET

TO BASKET

SO **** DUMB. CHRIST.

[G R E Y]

Every team in the league 90% of the time throws lobs on those pick and rolls and we 99% of the time throw a bounce pass at a big guy's knees.

NBA 101:Don't throw bounce passes to big guy's knees......

I don't even mind it if it's there. It's just that we run that even when it's sealed up which I can't understand.

[G R E Y]

Wheels have come off, we've fallen down a ditch, into a river, flipped upside down.

[imagump1313]

Every team in the league 90% of the time throws lobs on those pick and rolls and we 99% of the time throw a bounce pass at a big guy's knees.

NBA 101:Don't throw bounce passes to big guy's knees......

I don't even mind it if it's there. It's just that we run that even when it's sealed up which I can't understand.

Yes, its there. But you're asking a seven footer to reach down to the floor to get a ball where everyone else on the planet can get their hands on it. Our bigs are limited scorers as it is and we are asking them to play like guards.

[imagump1313]

Wheels have come off, we've fallen down a ditch, into a river, flipped upside down.

LOL, almost a perfect description

[Mirotek]

Well nice try

[G R E Y]

Every team in the league 90% of the time throws lobs on those pick and rolls and we 99% of the time throw a bounce pass at a big guy's knees.

NBA 101:Don't throw bounce passes to big guy's knees......

I don't even mind it if it's there. It's just that we run that even when it's sealed up which I can't understand.

Yes, its there. But you're asking a seven footer to reach down to the floor to get a ball where everyone else on the planet can get their hands on it. Our bigs are limited scorers as it is and we are asking them to play like guards.

Yeah it's a function of getting the bounce right and we often do. Credit to DJ who has improved vastly in this area. Derrick used to be noticeably better at this, but DJ's surpassed him.

But yeah when there's less space we STILL do the bounce pass and it's noticeably lower that our bigs have to reach odwn to get for sure. This is where the high pass is better, but just not tonight. They collapsed on Jakob on P&Rs and got tons of strips - I wonder how much of it was relying on percentages of our patterns being the passes that we make inside and them being ready for it?

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 104

SUNS 121

Poor Pop. It must be so exasperating when we regress at times, even if it's against a crafty, experienced team. Post-game he keeps it positive as we're still mired in mostly a losing streak.

I'll try to keep it constructive, but do need to vent a bit...

We scored 16 points in the final Q. SIXTEEN.

So not only did we give up the most points in a Q, we scored the fewest. Trending the wrong way two ways.

We had five costly TOs in the final Q, each of which they scored on which is doubly costly as it was at least a 4-point swing each time with us not getting a shot up, their getting the points off either our unforced errors or from D pressure by them.

It was a close game in several categories: FGAs taken and FGs made, FTAs taken and FTs made, 3s taken and 3s made, and unfortunately they caught us in the reboudning department as well which turned into a disadvantage for us because we gave us a ton of O boards and points on second chances.

We had only 12 TOs in total, but the five in the final Q was the most we gave up from any of the Qs. And it cost us dearly for 23 points. And given they had 9 steals on our 12 TOs, it was at least as much about their D pressure as it was about our just mind numbing decisions with the ball.

It just goes to show that not only do stats not tell the whole story, but timing is crucial with them.

It's the second game in a row where we have most of our players, and the second game in a row in which we had a lead going into the 4TH Q (an important stat for us so far because I think we have only one win at this point when we are down after three Qs), and the second game in a row in which we started the final Q abysmally. It's just we couldn't come back versus the best road team in the league this season. They locked in, executed their D and O like on a string, well practiced death blows on both ends.

But it was also the first game in at least three weeks where we had our starting five back together and they poured in 84 of our 107 points, with all five starters in double figures on good to terrific efficiency. Jakob leading us in scoring and having double double with 23 and 14 (6 boards on O).

Jakob showed more of his O game with the P&Rs we're god at but also some post up and curl drive attempts as well as some crafty up and under moves at the rim. Nice. He also made 5-7FTs! Nicer! But he and Jock led us with 3 TOs each so the defenders really tended to collapse on our bigs to get deflections and steals. They sealed up the key and we didn't adjust well enough and wilted under the pressure of keeping with the same plays and getting them broken down as well as not succeeding in much else. We were 7-22 in the 4TH Q, and 1-8 from 3. Off. Aaaaand OOF.

So not good play on either end in the final Q.

Along the way we had some good stretches of play, getting double digit leads several times, but we could not sustain them. We sorely need to develop a killer instinct when we get a lead as we have a pattern of just taking our foot off the pedal and make poor focus mistakes on O and just let opponents have their way on O on us to give away the leads time and again.

Of course there are ebbs and flows in the game all the time, and no team is going to just lie there and take a punch without counter punching. We've done it and come back to take leads, so it's not a big surprise, but it's how we do it and when. We tend to let up late in Qs, tend to give them up quickly, tend to make dumb largely unforced TOs, and tend to take selfish shots, or at least ones that are out of the team concept and flow, more for their own stats, it seems, than for the good to great concept. It's like we forget how to play. Something to work on.

With the starters scoring 78.5% of our points (!), it means the bench scored a mere 23. TWENTY-THREE. Devin led us with minutes at 23 and points at 10 on 4-12, 2-7 from 3, 4 boards and 1 steal. Inefficient again, but he's being given a bigger role and making good plays on D staying with Booker as well as he could (and with Pop real-time coaching him about how to do so and Devin responding.

He was also given primary ball handling duties late in the game when the final subs were put in. Devin didn't register an assist throughout the game but through most of it he was off ball. We had Devin be primary ball handler last year in SL, but since then he hasn't had a chance to do so. Interesting wrinkle added to our development in real time - giving different players a bigger role outside of the ones they usually have.

Lonnie has been given plenty of chances in ball handling situations throughout last season and this one, even tonight in end of Q situations. He's been given chances as a starter, as the main bench scorer, as the first guy off the bench, as a ball handler, and as ever is maddeningly inconsistent. He's better in terms of engagement on the D end and doesn't disappear when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. And he's looked better in a lead scoring role as starter, looked better at times when he makes quick decisions with the ball, looked better in drives with his physicality and finishes at the rim.

And yet, too often he still takes too long to do something with the ball, too often he takes a couple of steps in just left of center then pulls back out to reset and either takes it over a screen or makes a pass rather late in the clock. When he's mindful to make the play on a drive and kick or a drive and dish inside, he does a good job. But those times when he's the primary ball handler it's like he doesn't really see all the options available and many times reverts to passing because he has no option himself.

Lonnie was 1-6, 0-1 from 3, 2-3FTs for 4 points and a steal in 19 minutes, four minutes fewer than his season average, and that itself is 2.5 minutes fewer than last season. And yet he is averaging slightly more PPG than last season but on more shots. He is averaging a career low in efficiency in FGs and 3s, but has a career high in assists at 2.4 per game, rebounds at 2.8 per game, and FT% at 84%. There's usually a correlation between good FT% and 3s%, but it seems to be going in opposite directions at this point for him.

The point is that it's hard to get read on him even with his improvements. Is he our primary bench scorer? Not yet, right? He's not a starter. He does make a solid contribution off the bench, and his athleticism is unparalleled on our team. But he connected on one drive to the rim, and took four long 2s, and one 3. He's our strongest 6'4" player, and he has still unreached potential, but the between-the-ears just keeps being a step behind, or at least not consistently developing as with his physicality. I don't know it's confidence or what, but those weirdo TOs and fouls and decisions on O sometimes are the one thing we know we'll get from him time and again.

We needed more from the bench, and more from our most experienced player on it.

He bought a house in SA recently so either he knows something we don't or we're still trying to figure out where he fits with us and let's see what happens with his RFA status.

Diop was also a too quiet 1-6, 0-2 from 3, 1-2FTs, though he did good work on the boards with 6 in total (4 on O, second only to Jakob). Diop scoring is really more of a bonus, but he does average 5.9 and 4.3, so he exceeded the rebounding but we do need him to get at least his average in points. I like his frame and hope he fills it out a bit more and finds a good balance between agility and more strength. He's an impactful defender with his length but tends to get bodied by opponent bigs. He's usually good at finishing at the rim, but at times just blows a finishing tire and it's to do with angles and the right lift and pushing through to impose his drives through bigger defenders.

Jock was solid backing up Jakob and each of our bigs had 4 assists which is an important contribution and in 18 minutes hit 2-4, 1-2 from 3, with 4 boards (2 on O). In the last 10 games he's been averaging just over 16 minutes per game, which is a noticeable increase over his season 10MPG average. He's quickly positioned himself as the first big off the bench, and no offense to Drew, it's a function of both Jock's play, so he's earned it, not by default, and a function of frankly Drew being a great guy and all hustle but more limited in his game.

While Jakob and Jock had an impressive 8 assists combined, they also led the team with 3 TOs each. They were defended with strategy of getting collapsed on and our passes eventually stopped making their way through. I did like some of the high low big to big passes we made (I believe it was Jock to Diop at least once) so there were some extra things we tried beyond what we normally run which was good to see.

But we do need our bigs to hang onto the ball better, especially Jakob who just seems to have the softest hands - sometimes that's in the best way and sometimes it's in the worst way. He got stripped an awful lot in this game, and even if some of those should have been fouls, still, he plays an awful lot like a guard or forward at the rim, more finesse than firmness and it's still an aspect of Jakob's game that is frankly spotty. Jock has a 'shoot the piss out of it' and balls to the wall effort.

With Zach already getting an impassioned tech in his first game in Austin, he should infuse even some more and and needed fire and talent to our bigs situation.

So in terms of development, it was a hit and miss tonight from a bench contribution perspective. But it's interesting for a couple of reasons that Bryn is now a second DNP in a row. We know what we've got in him, and he's apparently quite available on the trade block (as is Thad, the now perennial DNP).

I hope we get to see more of what Joe can do perhaps a bit sooner if we get the chance.

So, in terms of improvement, for the second game we've hovered around 20 assists which is almost a third off our near league high average, so more of a team game is in order (of course it's also a function of making shots). They also beat us in another strength - points in the paint, 52-44 - and this without their starting big. Their backup big out energized and and out hustled us for rebounds especially in the final Q. Also, they lapped us badly in fast break points 17-3 which is a function of our not running back well enough on D, their fouling us as we initiated ours (can't wait until these stupid take fouls get eliminated from the game, and until then I hope we finally learn to pass the ball ahead quickly in these situations).

So basically our strengths were neutralized by both a more experienced team and our own errors. I hope we can get back our killer instinct more, one we had when we were rolling and won 10 of 16 games. So a few more games together to get our rhythm back once the roles settle in again should do it. Let's put together more high level consistency and smart BBIQ for the next one.

[Phreak50]

Don't get upset or frustrated. We seriously have one of the worst lineups in the league.

We are still overachieving.

Credit to Pop and the squad. We are hanging in with much more talented teams..