GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 26: SPURS AT ROCKETS, 16-12-2019, 7PM (CT)

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The mini two-game road trip ends where the historic OT run began, and the hope is that coming full circle reaps the same results. Playing like we mean it from the start and maintaining a solid compete level throughout the game will go a long way in succeeding in regulation.

WHERE: Toyota Center, Houston, TX

WHEN: Monday, December 16, 2019, 7pm (CT)

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GO SPURS GO!!!

[ducler]

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Thankfully Lonnie is no worse for wear and available tonight!

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DJ does not back down, but has to be smart about taking it out on opponent and not potentially hurt us. I LOVE the spunk.

EDIT: double techs. Ok.

Great that Timmy is there talking to DJ to keep his wits about him.

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Well, that was a hell of a start and first half. No lead at half is safe and despite our stellar play, there were some things the still needed cleaning up that, if we weren't careful would come back to bite us and they did. We knew there would be some counter punch, and there was, but the result was largely self-inflicted. In a way it was the tale of the season with those two halves of the game, BUT there are some signs of change and I wonder what they portend if anything.

It seemed as if we hit just about every shot, and we were really active on defense and generated good D to O points in transition. We passed well, moved well, and contested well. But we were outrebounded on O boards 8-2 -- first harbinger, turned it over 11 times - second harbinger, and got to the FT line only eight times -- third harbinger. More on these in a bit.

LMA stepped up and took charge and was a lot more pro-active with the ball (and it helped that we made a concerted effort to keep trying the high-low passes to him), making good quick decisions of whether to post up and shoot, seal his man and drive physically, contest shots down low. Generally our collapsing into the key, and help D to anticipate and step in and contest drives by the 3,4,5 positions was really good. LMA was also active on the boards with a team-high 14 (3 on O). These are the kinds of nights we hoped to have seen more of and are pleased to see again. You can just tell the assertive player was back and we rolled with him as he was a strong presence on both ends. Full credit to him tonight.

Trey was active and assertive in his minutes and role, and this is the version we need to see more consistently - more physical, driving as well as shooting, hustling after the boards.

Bryn's shot was perfect in the first half, and he was a threat on O each time he touched the ball. There's a double-edged sword to his game - more on that in a bit, too.

DJ back in the starting line-up is a far better in round two. He's pacing himself to better suit the rest of the guys but also better at balancing when to pick his spots of asserting his game; those ball deflections, steals, and dunks are so energizing for the team. He did well to find his pockets of space for shots which he connected well on. I love his fight and feistiness, and when he channels that aggression to take it out on the court rather than getting techs, he will be even more dangerous. Great defensive instincts, more poised game from him overall, but does have to work on his P&R, his passing decisions - he had a couple of open drives on which he chose to kick it out, and driving like a bull for an O foul. But these will come with experience and practice. As he's learning, he's providing efficient scoring, assists,rebounding, steals and blocks. Full gameRight now, things you can't really teach but hone - defensive instincts and fiery competitive spirit, are already reaping positive rewards for us.

DeMar - not sure what happened but he was ass from the start with the worst aspects of his game on display. Other than the dunk he got from getting a D rebound and taking it full court, he was driving and getting blocked, or driving and dishing in traffic which they read, or shooting without having passed it just off his own dribble dribble dribble, or losing the ball in his feet, or - maddeningly - passing in the air for turnovers which happened twice in a row on which the opponent scored. He got to the FT line only once, and turned it over team-high 4 times. Yes we were up big, but habits in looser moments are habits in tight moments, and when you give an opponent a slither of light then big leads become big targets of ways to exploit a team for points.

And exploit the did. Our opponents kept missing a lot of shots which meant a lot of rebound chances, and while we were far more active team-wide, we still got caught in weird angles and box outs and they outrebounded us on the O boards 14-9 overall from which they generated several second chances on which they scored or generated energy to keep fighting.

We got quite careless in the third Q with loose play and poor ball protection. Eighteen turnovers and getting it stolen nine times was the result from their increased pressure and our lack of adjustment to it in tightening up our game. We either settled for poor shots, or we drove into them for charges (DJ and Lonnie), or we lost the ball on dribbles into they key and got stripped, or we lost the ball on contested passes to LMA inside, or we lost the ball on missed bunnies (again Jakob with the too-soft hands around the basket and not using the glass in these situations).

Bryn's shot fell off a cliff and he went from 6-6 in the first half (all 3s) to 0-6 in the second (including 0-3 from 3); Beli went 0-5 (0-4 from 3). Both were driven on relentlessly and they either scored or got fouled. So although JH was neutralized in the first half, RW kept driving and getting fouled and Bryn got into foul trouble (3 in the first half, I believe) and his effectiveness on both ends waned as they put more pressure on him with the ball in the second half and kept zeroing in on him and Beli to drive on. It put a lot of extra pressure for the other guys keep having to step up and we kept sending them to the FT line. They made more FTs than we got chances: 17-20 for us, 18-27 for them. So while the outside shooting was not always going to be sustainable, we could and should have moved the ball and driven more.

Lonnie was just not effective tonight on O. It'll happen with a young guy making his way in the league, though defensively he remained responsible. Patty had an off O night, and so along with Beli our back-up 1,2,3 positions combined for 1-10 (0-7 from 3). Team-wide we made two 3s in the second half. Oof.

While LMA put up 18 on terrific 7-15 shooting, the other three bigs - Trey, Rudy, and Jakob - combined for 22 points. Rudy did well with his 21 minutes as back-up (12 points on 4-9 including 2-5 from 3 and grabbing 11 rebounds, 2 on O, to go along with 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block). Trey and Jakob have lesser scoring roles, that's fine. But while Trey was assertive in his minutes, I though Jakob resorted to a more passive game, punching out rebounds rather than trying to grab them (it's more a reaction to what's happening at a given moment so I get it's easier to point out after the fact), and then just not holding on to the ball when guys dished it to him down low, or missing bunnies because he doesn't try dunking (when possible) or or use the glass. He played only 10 minutes, grabbed only 2 rebounds, but did get 3 assists.

Each of them has a main role, with LMA and Rudy more of the scorers and Trey and Jakob the rebounders with defense among all of them. I understand we tried and thought we shored that up in the summer, but this is the situation we find ourselves in now, so somehow we need to shore up our bigs situation so it's not as much on LMA and it gets better distributed among other bigs as well whether it's more looks for Jakob (don't recall the last time he had double digit scoring game or how many he's had this season) or via trade or later FA signing. I do wonder about Trey's 20 minutes whether it's a showcasing move or what. Jakob has been a defensive stalwart for us, but 10 minutes is quite low. Maybe the thinking was we needed more scoring up front, maybe it was his less aggressive play. Either way, the next step in his development is definitely more consistent looks and fundamentals on O.

Derrick was all around terrific and a wonderful complement to DJ. Solid defensively, ran the P&R really well, took his 3s, drove with physicality and got to the FT line the most for us, hitting 6-8 along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. In time the hope is that we get a bit more from the 3 more consistently from our PG collectively, joining Patty with clutch distance shots.

In the meantime, our young duo once again got end-of-game minutes together, this time with DeMar sitting for the last four and half minutes or so. That's right. DeMar sat at the end of the game. He said in a post-game interview that he didn't like it, that as a competitor he always wants to be out there, but as a competitor he should have showed it throughout the game to earn those final minutes. Frankly, he didn't, and deserved to sit while we went with guys who were better on both ends throughout the game. THIS is a big development, not so much DeMar sitting, although in itself it has weight in terms of consequences and guys deserving minutes. But DJ and Derrick finishing games together with more minutes from last game to this one. Love it.

So, every play counts, even the seemingly innocuous missed chances in the first half when we were cooking. Attention to details, ball protection, and fundamentals always serve well. While blazing hot shooting isn't reasonably sustainable, defensive intensity should always be foremost. It's not realistic to be perfect there either, but we did well in keeping their main cog from going off on us. The lapses on their drives was one thing, but we did not match their driving efforts, and the second half let down in scoring as we were put on our heels from their pressure caught up to us. The final shot misses are what they are. At times they were from not moving the ball and off ball well enough to generate better chances, at times we got open looks that were falling in the first half and didn't in the second.

In the end, all the accumulated made and missed plays on both ends led to the result. Forty-eight minutes of sustained play. In those minutes, the changes made - DJ starting again, DJ and Derrick playing meaningful minutes together which should only increase in time, Lonnie also getting regular minutes - is a better balance with the vets getting theirs. It shows we need everybody hustling and can only sustain the main guys not having it going on either end for so long. It's next guy up, and I do like that if some are not performing well on D and O, their minutes are given to others.

A missed opportunity, but it's always about how we respond. A couple of days off to let the sting sink in and pass, and then focus in practice on how we can better take advantage of our chances. We played ourselves into and out of this game, and we know where we can improve. With more players available to play more, and adjustments being made to their combinations and minutes, we have more options to explore and test how they execute our system for the full game going forward.

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Someone on Twitter mentioned how LMA missed most of his second half shots so I took a look at the shots chart, and holy ****, I got totally hoodwinked by his first quarter! He went 5-9 in the 1st Q, then 2-6 the other three combined! So I'd like to amend my earlier praise to "Full credit for the first quarter on O." DeMar shot 3-4 in the 4th Q, but 2-9 in the first three quarters. It didn't help his cause that he held on to the ball and either passed in the air for TOs or threw a cross court pass at the end of the shot clock that Beli had to save and heave up for a miss because DeMar couldn't make a move closer and wasn't willing to shoot it.

Bryn made 100% of his shots in the first half, and missed 100% of them in the second. Same with Beli - bagel. But the group out there late was there either because they played really well and deserved it or had a specific role in either hitting a 3 or getting rebounds. Seeing as how his play didn't fit into any of those categories late in the game, DeMar didn't deserve to be out there. And that's just the O end of things for the team, the D which I addressed earlier.

I mean, what are coaches supposed to do, suit up? I bet that Pop, Timmy, Becky, Will, and Chip could have put together a quality made shot and a defensive stop. Guys have roles and the two main ones disappeared on O for three of four quarters, and when perfect shooting was then matched by perfect missing of complementary guys who also got driven on, well, there's only so much the staff can do. I do like that we are trying to generate O from other players than DeMar late in games: so far it's been DeMar, Rudy, Patty, Beli, Bryn. We're trying different looks, plays, line-ups, so coaches are doing their part; it's up to the players to execute and hit open shots. We did do really well in guarding JH all night and keep him off the FT line, but there are other aspects of our game we can improve on.