Oof! That's the TL;DR version.
If fans know the strengths of this opponent, of course whichever Spurs assistant scouted the game does, too. The things we did well from the game before and the spirit with which we did them both left us rather early.
They made more 3s than we attempted at the half, by which point we lost the wind in our sails, and the same thing by the end of the game - 21 made 3s for them to 19 attempted by us, on which we connected a woeful six. In the previous game Keldon nearly matched our entire team's output in this one after connecting on 5-9 from the arc. He didn't attempt any in this game, but drove relentlessly instead all while providing stellar D once again. We can't expect him to do everything for us.
We kept miscommunicating on D so our rotations were late resulting in far too many open 3s. But we've been lucky. There is a pattern of a systemic issue unfolding:
I just watched the GSW play some hard D and in a post-game interview Dre was asked about influencing the young guys to defend the arc so well and he said he doesn't focus on that specifically - if you defend, you defend. We need a hardass voice like that in the group, not just from Pop. Vets like Dre make the young guys fall in line in the best way. We have a lot of good guys, and while most are on the same D page, all it takes is one player not doing the right thing and the whole D scheme falls apart. And it did again and again.
DeMar's body language wasn't great in this game. He was visibly frustrated on a fast break in which he dribbled the ball and with DJ ahead on his left he passed just when Lonnie flew from behind to take pass for a layup attempt. Three Spurs within the narrow width of the key on a fast break. Textbook.
On the D end, we had D intelligence like this:
DeMar has long had a habit of looking busy fighting to go over screens but then when he's prevented he just... stops! He faces the action that just went past him and... watches. Sweet Baby Jesus give me strength. There have been times when it's been impressed upon him to not abandon the play and he caught up to the ball handler so as to not allow a difficult choice for the big and others, but this screen issue is more often than not the case.
What struck me in this game is that the fight left us rather early and that's frankly concerning. With Derrick out and DJ struggling epically, the ball handling duties also went to DeMar. And that's fine, he's good at it, but he kept on walking the ball up the court. Like literally
walking it up.
WALKING. THE. BALL. UP. THE. COURT. It drives me **** batty. Last season we didn't really have a clear identity as to what kind of team we were with this half transition, half half-court style that didn't coalesce as the two kept interfering with one another. The first wanted to take over; the second didn't want to let go. By the time of the bubble play, it sorted itself out and the renewed energy from the uptempo style rejuvenated and galvanized everyone. It was clear which was now to be the dominant force.
DeMar scored well enough, but the more he handles the ball, the more his preferred way of getting points is rearing its head again. Re-enter the friction with the bubble style of play, re-enter this agent of fracture, re-enter the waning confidence. The vets on the bench are important to us having another solid supporting cast that is on the whole positively consistent and collectively productive:
And while I'm admittedly partial to and so biased about Patty, he's been all kinds of wonderful:
He's also our best 3-point scorer connecting on 53.6%
of his 4.7 attempts per game. His usage is only 16.5%, too. Patty's also one of the few Spurs who can make the 3 from his dribble. Pretty much the perfect complementary game to what we're trying to achieve with bubble ball.
But Rudy and DeMar are both reverting back more to their long-ingrained styles of play and it frankly conflicts with that of what we're after. Why is DeMar allowed to let opponents set up on D, waste the clock waiting for the play to unfold, then we pass around the arc under pressure and heave a late clock shot or drive into multiple defenders. Our O looked so laboured, too out of sync trying to create something out of over-orchestrated but ultimately less well executed plays.
Why does Rudy keep having tunnel vision when he gets the ball, dribbling up the court or too long while wide open teammates wave their arms only to watch him heave contested shots. We had multiple possessions in which both DeMar and Rudy didn't give the ball to anybody before they shot it. Nobody else touching the ball is vet hierarchy. It's fine if it's the best play, but if it happens enough times it communicates that whatever the vets choose is 'the right play' takes others out of the team concept, the one where more teammates take on a bigger responsibility for the outcome. Combine unintelligent, poor-effort D with slow, hog-ball O and it makes for a wedge between what we say we want to be and what are. Can't have that.
We are far better suited to the D-to-O transition game that is based on a more egalitarian, ball movement oriented style. When we get over 30 assists, our winning record is proportionately stellar. Instead, here's a sample size of what we were doing:
In one of the first two games we won, I mentioned how we looked like an early version of of the 2014 beautiful game team - more in intent than same execution, but there were some positive results.
This intrusion of old style of play is having a ripple effect on the team. We are supposed to be taking more 3s. However:
and:
So fewer taken, fewer made, and here's how we're getting them:
There's also a stat I'm still hunting down that shows how many of our 3s are from off the dribble rather than from a pass and the majority are from the latter. While that's not necessarily bad, we do need more of the former, and when we don't pass enough, we're clearly not going to get those 3s going.
Lonnie as gump and I have discussed is a developing player who needs to stand out more. The book on him was a tendency to disappear on both ends, and while consistency is better, there are still issues that stand out:
One play does not a bad defender make. But it's just one example of out of position (this tends to happen enough for me to have made note of it in other game threads) and ball watching (the DeMar D special) that needs attention and better focus. Some have D smarts coming into the league; others need to work on them a little harder.
On O, he's been noticeably muted. This is one indication:
Yikes. He's too athletic and strong to allow this trend to continue.
DJ. This game needs to be flushed. Full stop. So here's a look at a broader pattern. Cover your eyes, gump:
The conversation continues with ideas that the Spurs perhaps wanting more of a sample size of what DJ can do with the bubble style (after struggling with the half court sets last season) and that this may not be his ideal role, rather Bruno Passos suggests DJ becoming a more slasher / shooter type like maybe Barton.
It's early, but all of these indicate an imbalance, one we're searching for, but as we do we tend to play in a way that reverts to comfortable habits which may be a hindrance to achieving it.
We are doing some things well:
*First four games*
We have to get back to and have faith in developing what we do best: D to O transition, ball movement, more purposeful passing, more 3s. We've gotten away from all of these and it's affecting other team aspects of the game like rebounding, competitiveness, and hustle. We play better and with a stronger spirit when we buy in to bubble-style play.
Context matters to our ups and downs as well. We've yet to get our starting line-up playing together. We're down two starters, and have two new starters (three if you count Jakob). So this is once again a new season with shortened preparation and we're having to get by while implementing a new style with new players and new tendencies to get used to. We're resorting to 6'6" Keldon at the 4 for God's sake. I mean, he's been spectacular, and perhaps we're over-relying on him.
I think with Derrick out we will see Devin get more minutes and hopefully he gets less tentative on O as he gets more comfortable. Focusing on Silver and Black linings here.
Our turnstile starting group is marched only by the difficulty in the early schedule. Beginning the season away, we returned home for a hello single game before turning back around on the road for the second game of our first back to back. Then a three-game home stand against the defending champs and a strong conference opponent, and now a five-game road trip, starting out west for two tough LA games, then onto another back-to-back in Minny, ending with a game in OKC. So five conference opponents across three cities in eight nights. Brutal. But if we can stay together, weather the scheduling storm and the challenge of developing cohesion amidst changing line-ups while remaining competitive and even keeled, we'll have put ourselves in a stronger position going forward. We have the personnel to do it. More have to step up the right bubble style way for us.
Can you imagine if he were a FA after last season? He was shooting at around 40% from 3 and we would have to have paid him. Funny how timing works. Phew! Happy for him with the Bucks, though. Good spot and good role for him.