RealGM

We travel west for three games in California, buoyed by a great come-from-behind team win, balanced with learning how to back it up. In this first of a back-to-back, we must play to the level of our expectations, not an opponent's record or available players. To that end, ensuring efficient, team-oriented O founded on communication, contests at the rim and arc, and ball protection on O. Most important of all, and I can't stress this enough, is that we remain healthy throughout. No matter what, be smart, be considerate of choices, be ever more diligent, on and off the court.

WHERE: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA

WHEN: Sunday, December 19, 2021, 5pm (CT)





GO SPURS GO!!!

Nobody breathe on Pop!

MASKS ON!!!

Kind of weird. Do these just happen suddenly? Maybe he couldn't get it taken care of quickly enough or it takes a bit of time to heal?

WOW go get it, Devin!

Spurs small ball power!

Well we're not crisp to start... again.

They are getting ALL the fouls on just about every drive. We're getting into congested lanes inside and our shots are deflected. We're telegraphing the ball for them, too. *sigh* I hope Pop rips into them for this effort and execution.

We're also being kept at the arc, ball side to side, too much.

Get it together, Spurs!

We absolutely MUST address our 4 situation. We're far too small both in height and weight and getting bodied down low time and again. FFS.

Also the **** missed bunnies... Which part of the rim are we aiming for? Try the middle one!

We need Thad or Drew in. We're getting killed down low. Basic drives and kicks or drives to the rim. So no rim protection and no bloody arc protection either. And no rebounding.

I LOVE wholesale line-up changes by Pop. Message sent without a word.

JOCK FIRST BIG OFF THE BENCH!

Bryn is so not smart on P&Rs, man... Just uuuugh...

THEN BRYN DRIVES. FFS.......

1ST Q: SPURS 27

KINGS 37

None of our starters have more than 2 points. Christ.

Lonnie's on fire.

Bryn's D brain is on fire.

But we're being held in this game by the Lonnie, Jock, and Bryn trio.

We're getting killed on 3s (allowing 5-9), killed on rebounds (14-9, 6-3 on O), fouls - they get one just about every time they drive, steals (3-1). Just dumb, unfocused basketball all around.

Pick. It. The. Hell. Up. Spurs.

MISSED BUNNIES. I LOATHE MISSED BUNNIES.

Metu's trying to flex on us for getting cut. Not our fault you suck. Time for some payback.

Jock suck on man D.

LMAO they get a basket RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE and we FOUL them to boot.

I hope Pop gives them a boot up the arse for this 'effort'.

2ND Q: SPURS 56

KINGS 63

We actually caught them on made 3s and rebounds, but the FT disparity -- 14-17 to our 6-6 and that's pretty much the difference. Their bigs are stopping us at the rim and getting just about everything they want in our paint. Over and over.

Pop went small ball around Jakob hoping to counter their bigs by drawing them out with made outside shots, but when there haven't fallen, we haven't opened up the restricted paint. The times we've gotten into the paint it's been a comical series of missed bunnies. 28-20 points in the paint for them right now.

We're chasing them on drives, not reading the P&Rs to rotate out to the popper, allowing points at the rim and fouling to add to our self inflicted misery.

They have 6 steals to our 7 TOs so their active hands are adding to our wobbly passes to their advantage as well. We do have a 13-5 points off TOs advantage so we picked it up in the 2ND Q in transition play.

Terrific scoring by Lonnie and all of the bench, really. None of our starters have made a 3 YET and the highest scoring starter has 8 points. Just but the ball in the basket. More physicality, more weakside cuts, more use of glass, more work on the boards on both ends.

We actually won the 2ND Q 29-26 but there's a LOT of work to be done.

Help D reads from Jock, switching out our guards inside on their bigs, purposeful passes, ball protection, and for the love of basketball, put the ball in the middle of the basket of use the proper angles on the glass. Impose our game, make them work for their shots, at least, and use more of our ball movement (only 11 assists so far) and transition game to catch them unawares and wear them out.

Hustle, smarts, focus for the final 24 minutes, Spurs!

Really can't stand that foul that stops a team in transition.