SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 71: SPURS VS. THUNDER, 16-3-2022, 7:30pm (CT)

[G R E Y]

I LIKE THE TWO PG LINEUP.

[G R E Y]

Sean talking to Primo again...

[imagump1313]

OMG Lonnie Walker!!!!!

ZERO basketball sense......

[G R E Y]

Bad decisions by DJ - AGAIN! - on both ends may cost us this game.

[imagump1313]

F-ing BLEW IT!!!!!!! SOO CLOSE!

[G R E Y]

LMAO!

Nice to see Pop smiling at the end there.

[G R E Y]

My stomach may have exploded just now hhhhhhhhgnnnnngggghhh...

[Phreak50]

Such a bad pull-up by Murray on the second last possession.

He is not Chris Paul.

And I'll stand by Lonnie till the day I die lol

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 122

THUNDER 120

Hoooooooweeeeeee! Ran ahead, stumbled sideways, got up, tripped on our shoe laces, flailed about and turned it into two good end-of-game plays to seal the win that looked like a sure thing, then a nearly sure giveaway, and then a fun-for-fans exciting first to cross the finish line.

And yet we didn't really deserve it, did we. We were without Doug and Keita essentially, but they were missing like five players, and we still allowed 120 points by a team that ranks LAST in the NBA in PPG.

Over to Pop for the honest assessment:

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Yes yes yes and yes.

We bailed ourselves out on a shot we normally average 31.5 attempts per game (good for 27th) and make 11 (also 27th). We made an unusual 19 on an unusual 41 tries out of 98 shots, good for an unusual 41.8% of our shots.

And we played the percentages of a team that ranks 7th in attempts from 3 at 37.4 per game and 19th in makes at 11.8. So we didn't bother to bother them nearly well enough at the arc with little to no rotations out to contest whatsoever and they made above their average of 3s per game on fewer attempts. We played the percentages that a team that ranks last in 3s efficiency at 31.5% would just ... lie down and give it to us? Well we were up 16 and they refused to go away, especially in the 4TH Q. They shot 5-13 from 3 in the final Q to our 3-7.

That's THIRTEEN attempts we did not consistently rotate out to and contest. Not only did we not rotate well or bother to contest on too many, we gave up too many rebounds for too many second chance points, even though the overall rebounds were almost even, and even though we had a 15-10 O board advantage. But it's one of those cases that raw numbers hide what happened with the rebounds and they made a lot of their second chances.

We also got lucky that even though we fouled them a lot and they got to the FT line more, they made only 21-29 to our 17-20. We did well to make ours, sure, but we certainly substituted driving for taking 3s. We certainly substituted D for O on the whole, too.

We allowed them to shoot 52.4%FG to our 43.9%FG overall. We just happened to take 17 more shots. Despite that, they had an 11-2 fast break points advantage, largely on our not running back on D nearly well enough. And despite their having seven more TOs than us, the teams were within a single point of one another off of them.

Basically with so many areas being so close statistically, we out-gunned them from the arc and got lucky they missed so many free shots from the charity stripe. We needed every single point from every player, and from the 68-point first half because we lost the second half 64-54. Oof.

We gave up a 16-point lead and were saved by... a late-game 3 by Lonnie, AND Primo doing exactly on D what Pop was motioning in the timeout huddle to do - hands up to contest, no foul. And there was the rookie out in the pressure of a close late game situation, and his man got the ball. He moved his feet well, stayed vertical, disciplined with arms the whole time, and I think he got a finger tip on it as the shot with 4.8 seconds left in the game didn't even make it to the rim.

We finally contested a 3 nearly perfectly and it sealed the win.

What didn't is DJ's late game choices - again. ANOTHER over-dribble situation into a contested shot as we stood around watching him. NO ball movement, getting into a tight space and doubled, taking a shot and missing. No pass to any team mate. And it's not like others weren't scoring. Keldon and Jakob were having great games as well. Hard to believe that a no-pass, over dribble to the point of getting too contested fadeaway is what Pop drew up.

Then again, Lonnie's final shot isn't what Pop drew up either. Lonnie said the play was for DJ to get over three (?) screens but he was still covered so Lonnie stepped into the pocket of space to get the inbounds pass, get his balance right, and take the dagger.

There's still a LOT of work we have to do defensively. A. LOT. I DO like that our focus is on development even with the guys' stated goal of making the play-in. There was Pop putting out a line-up of DJ, Primo, Lonnie, Keldon, and Jakob. And the last time that Pop had a youngest in the league rookie in the game late in the game? Not sure. But Pop subbed him in for JRich, our vet, new starter, and solid defender, and though he struggled to score (6-15) but he did make 3-5 from 3. Lonnie went in for Tre, so that's a solid 3s substitution. Primo struggled to score, too (2-5), but he had made 1-2 from 3 (and the FT that followed).

Curiously, two starters - JRich and Devin (1-6, 1-4 from 3 oof!) - were not in. We needed the O, but I do wonder about Primo being in. After they drove in a quick layup (after we missed a dunk, missed a 3, and we missed a midrange J - a trifecta of shots from just about everywhere - THAT'S the issue with trying to outgun an opponent), we subbed in Devin for Jakob (presumably to prevent the hack-a-Jak), Lonnie did his thing, and then we subbed Jakob back in for Lonnie for the rebounds.

And Primo was in throughout. He missed a layup, got an O board on Keldon's missed dunk, and then got the end-of-game stop. He has a knack for being in the right place on those O boards, getting a putback dunk. And there he was again late in the game doing it again. And then he made a textbook defensive stop with good movement to stay with the shooter and good positioning to close up just enough space to contest without fouling. These were huge plays for the team. Good for him - to be out there, and to perform well. Feels like despite the poor shooting he passed some sort of test.

Lonnie did well to get to the open space, readjust his balance, take, and make that shot. He did score 20 points but struggled his way to it, hitting 6-18, but a solid 4-10 from 3 -- both solid numbers for him, especially since his efficiency has been poor this season. So that means he scored 2-8 from everywhere else. He was 0-3 in mid-range Js, and 2-5 on drives at the rim. Missed shots, yes, but he did take it hard to the basket, absorbed physicality, and got to the FT line a bench best 4-6.

The bench scored 39 with everyone pitching in. Tre was 2-4 and missed his lone 3 attempt. Summer goal: work on this shot. He can't do anything about his height, but he can do something about this glaring liability of his game. Our bench is comprised of three guards (one pure PG) and two bigs with Keita out and Joe not getting PT.

Our bigs got into foul trouble - Jakob with four and Zach with three - and the frustration of some rather soft calls (plus bigs having to do double duty down low with our perimeter D getting beat on drives) got to Zach and he let his frustrations out for yet another tech. It's fine by Pop:

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I think Pop likes the more ornery side to Zach showing. We've got some strengths, but being physically imposing isn't one of them. So make up for that, some moxie wherever we can get it is good to have. DJ's got some to him, Keldon's starting to mean mug a bit, but overall we have very nice players, thank you very much. JRich has some to him - ha has a cool vibe off the court and a relentlessness about him on it, and Zach is finally showing some gumption, hopefully a sign of feeling more comfortable. Decent 3-5, 1-1 from 3, with 4 boards (1 on O), 1 assist, and 1 block.

Jakob had a solid 15 (7-10, 1-1FT) and 14 (game high 5 on O) with one each of assist, steal, and block and 3 TOs. But his lack of dunking is seeping through the team. We are missing so many bunnies, too. Just feels like it's spreading and we're at times being pulled this way too much, but that's where the orneyr nature of Zach and JRich will hopefully help to right the balance to the more aggressive way - and that's on a night when all three missed bunnies from either not dunking or not using the glass. Yes I'm correlating attitude to shot type. Dunks are momentum shifters. Look at how Primo's and Lonnie's got the crowd energized. Missed bunnies suck the air out of the arena as the collective exhales in frustration. But in the final couple of minutes, Jakob was crucial. After Pop's timeout at 2:19 he grabbed 3 rebounds (preventing second chances) and a block and was on the inbounder on their final attempt.

DJ drove well and got to the FT line a game high 8-8, and Keldon had an almost highlight dunk... that he missed late in the game. And as DJ has emerged as our leader (and is still adjusting to it, frankly), it has at times obscured Keldon's big improvement, and not just in 3s efficiency. DJ and Keldon played the most minutes (36 and 35), points (26 and 22), assists (12 and 6!), steals (4 and 2), and 3s made and efficiency (4-8, 5-10). Keldon's past the ball stick with him phase, and past the bully through everyone in the key phase, improved the brutal from 3s phase, and now is adding better decisions with the ball - 6 assists!, and getting better at the contributing in other areas phase - 6 boards, 2 steals.

Devin was second best +13 on the team despite not scoring at al well (1-6, 1-4 from 3), but he didn't get to the FT line, got just one rebound, 3 assists. It was DJ's work from 3 that had our back court making 5-12 from 3 - better all around despite Devin's inconsistencies. Steeper challenge in the starting group. And it's not like Lonnie was efficient either. But he has more room to operate as 'the' scoring guy on the bench role and has the green light to keep shooting. Devin has a harder two-way role only in his second year after a first year missing a SL and G-League so for Devin the trial-by-fire continues. He's adjusted before so I expect him to do so again.

Newcomer and new starter JRich was struggling to find his shot, scoring 17 on 6-15, 3-5 from 3, 2-2FTs, and was a stat stuffing 7 boards (3 on O), 3 assists, 1 steal, and a team high 4TOs lol sorry, mate.

With Doug out we're even smaller with the starters. It'll be interesting whether we keep this small ball line-up that pushes Keldon to the 4 or whether Pop tries a two-bigs starting line-up at some point. But we do now have a strong defensive five-man starting unit - at least on paper. We're obviously bleeding points all over the place, from the arc, in the key, from the FT line. Lots of new roles for a lot of new players in the last third or so of the season, and we're adjusting one missed rotation, switch, contest, box out and subsequent film session at a time.

It's going to be an interesting final dozen or so games to this season seeing to what extent adjustments and goals clash or align and where we finish as a result.

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

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