GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The first of three games back in San Antonio and an opportunity to strengthen our home presence, this one is versus the only East opponent in October. Coming off a big character win, looking for us to build on it and solidify our play on both ends. We are scoring well, but we're going to need to rely on defense to win games. Might as well start with this one.
WHERE: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
WHEN: Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 7:30pm (CT)
GO SPURS GO!!!
WHERE: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
WHEN: Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 7:30pm (CT)
GO SPURS GO!!!
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
Jakob is back in the starting C position. Here's hoping for a better showing from him and for cohesion in our starting five-man unit:
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Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
Good move by Pop moving DD to 3. The gettin' is much easier versus Bogie.
EDIT: Good Luck
EDIT: Good Luck
"A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears." -Michel de Montaigne
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
Tough game...
Indiana are more together and deeper, and came out more ready for the whole game. Their bench is really good, and their starting group is solid and well-rounded with Oladipo leading them.
Also not a lot of athleticism and playmaking to keep up with their speed, with the three big wings out.
Indiana are more together and deeper, and came out more ready for the whole game. Their bench is really good, and their starting group is solid and well-rounded with Oladipo leading them.
Also not a lot of athleticism and playmaking to keep up with their speed, with the three big wings out.
The Playoffs don't care about your Analytics
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
The TL;DR version.
Post-game interview:
Reporter - "What’s the biggest challenge defensively for you?”
Pop - “Oh you don’t have enough time.”
Sums it up. The details were there for all to see last night, and surely the video session(s) instilled the requisite reflection and fire in practice to improve. There's a fine balance between taking the bitter pills and getting motivated, so it was good to hear the guys acknowledge the need for improvement while being even keeled about it; the LA game's carry-over and eight new guys are realities, but they were not used as excuses.
Our opponents had lost some road games and came into this one hungry for a win while we looked still full from our LA victory. We came out flat physically and mentally. It was our worst outing on both ends. Our O was stagnant from the start: no off-ball and ball movement, no looking for good-to-great chances, settling for long Js and one-and-done shots. Early on, DeMar held onto the ball for too long, dribbling while looking for something to set up, and whether that stagnated our movement or he was responding to a lack of it to begin with, this made it easier for defenders to set up and aggressively close out on us. He put up only two shots in the first Q and didn't score until less than five minutes left in the second. Other plays like Rudy having to yell, "Move move move!" to jolt guys out of standing around or Bryn passing to LMA at the top of the arc for a 3 - one pass and a bad shot too early in the clock - showed our penchant for making things difficult for ourselves.
We did end up with five players in double figures, but 18 was the scoring high. On a night when we made our FTs, these were the only shots falling at a good rate: 95.2% to 40.2FG% and 31.6% from 3. Bryn had a good night on O, and Marco and Davis did from the bench, but the rest of the line-up struggled. Our bench was outscored 59-35. Patty and Pau combined for 4 points, but that's because Pau shot 2-7. Patty with most bench minutes went 0-1. Perhaps it's unfair to unload on him in particular, but with 4 rebounds and 3 TOs, and only one shot attempt, you hope for a higher level of consistency. In truth, the whole team looked out of sync with one another.
That we had 16 assists to 13 TOs which led to 23 points against hints at the issues at both ends. We outrebounded them 51-44, and a whopping 15-5 on O boards, but the points in the paint were 48-46 for us. They did a good job making sure we did not exploit our bigs and called timeouts whenever we got easy buckets. After that, it's like we forgot what worked and went away from it; LMA had a much more difficult time scoring in the second half. Of course, what hurt us the most was the 51 points we gave up on their 3s. One miscommunication here, a defensive breakdown there and we kept getting on our heels playing catch up to their O schemes. It was the lack of intensity and hustle in finishing defensive responsibilities that was maddening. Pau watched in the key as VO dribbled to the top of the key for a J. Jakob got benched for his lax guarding of a made 3 and got an earful from both Pop and Ettore. When Evans alone with 5 hit one fewer three than our entire team, it's a wonder we left so many of their 3s uncontested. We have to get up on 3 shooters, simply have to put in the extra effort each time.
Side note 1: I thought LMA, Dante, Bryn, and Davis stood out defensively. They didn't always get stops, but they didn't stop trying.
Side note 2: When Pop put in the end-of-bench players with about five minutes left in the game, our opponents chose to leave their starters in and run up the score when they were already up by more than 20. Really bad form.
It was an important lesson; we cannot depend on trying to outscore teams. That is not our game. A strong, responsible defense is the core of our identity, and though it is good to know that we can score well while we are establishing the defense with a lot of new players learning the system, better to get this reality check early in the season. Players interviewed post-game were forthright about what we need to focus on. We know the why; now to improve the how. It's only game four. We've already shown we can play better. How well we bounce back is the next first step.
Post-game interview:
Reporter - "What’s the biggest challenge defensively for you?”
Pop - “Oh you don’t have enough time.”
Sums it up. The details were there for all to see last night, and surely the video session(s) instilled the requisite reflection and fire in practice to improve. There's a fine balance between taking the bitter pills and getting motivated, so it was good to hear the guys acknowledge the need for improvement while being even keeled about it; the LA game's carry-over and eight new guys are realities, but they were not used as excuses.
Our opponents had lost some road games and came into this one hungry for a win while we looked still full from our LA victory. We came out flat physically and mentally. It was our worst outing on both ends. Our O was stagnant from the start: no off-ball and ball movement, no looking for good-to-great chances, settling for long Js and one-and-done shots. Early on, DeMar held onto the ball for too long, dribbling while looking for something to set up, and whether that stagnated our movement or he was responding to a lack of it to begin with, this made it easier for defenders to set up and aggressively close out on us. He put up only two shots in the first Q and didn't score until less than five minutes left in the second. Other plays like Rudy having to yell, "Move move move!" to jolt guys out of standing around or Bryn passing to LMA at the top of the arc for a 3 - one pass and a bad shot too early in the clock - showed our penchant for making things difficult for ourselves.
We did end up with five players in double figures, but 18 was the scoring high. On a night when we made our FTs, these were the only shots falling at a good rate: 95.2% to 40.2FG% and 31.6% from 3. Bryn had a good night on O, and Marco and Davis did from the bench, but the rest of the line-up struggled. Our bench was outscored 59-35. Patty and Pau combined for 4 points, but that's because Pau shot 2-7. Patty with most bench minutes went 0-1. Perhaps it's unfair to unload on him in particular, but with 4 rebounds and 3 TOs, and only one shot attempt, you hope for a higher level of consistency. In truth, the whole team looked out of sync with one another.
That we had 16 assists to 13 TOs which led to 23 points against hints at the issues at both ends. We outrebounded them 51-44, and a whopping 15-5 on O boards, but the points in the paint were 48-46 for us. They did a good job making sure we did not exploit our bigs and called timeouts whenever we got easy buckets. After that, it's like we forgot what worked and went away from it; LMA had a much more difficult time scoring in the second half. Of course, what hurt us the most was the 51 points we gave up on their 3s. One miscommunication here, a defensive breakdown there and we kept getting on our heels playing catch up to their O schemes. It was the lack of intensity and hustle in finishing defensive responsibilities that was maddening. Pau watched in the key as VO dribbled to the top of the key for a J. Jakob got benched for his lax guarding of a made 3 and got an earful from both Pop and Ettore. When Evans alone with 5 hit one fewer three than our entire team, it's a wonder we left so many of their 3s uncontested. We have to get up on 3 shooters, simply have to put in the extra effort each time.
Side note 1: I thought LMA, Dante, Bryn, and Davis stood out defensively. They didn't always get stops, but they didn't stop trying.
Side note 2: When Pop put in the end-of-bench players with about five minutes left in the game, our opponents chose to leave their starters in and run up the score when they were already up by more than 20. Really bad form.
It was an important lesson; we cannot depend on trying to outscore teams. That is not our game. A strong, responsible defense is the core of our identity, and though it is good to know that we can score well while we are establishing the defense with a lot of new players learning the system, better to get this reality check early in the season. Players interviewed post-game were forthright about what we need to focus on. We know the why; now to improve the how. It's only game four. We've already shown we can play better. How well we bounce back is the next first step.
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
- G R E Y
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
Post-game interviews.
Pop:
Bryn:
DeMar:
Marco:
Pop:
Bryn:
DeMar:
Marco:
The Spurs Way
Thinking of you, Pop
Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
- Donald Kaufman
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Re: GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 4: SPURS VS. PACERS, 24-10-2018, 7:30PM (CT)
Lessons learned: DNP Poeltl = WIN.