SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 35: SPURS AT GRIZZLIES, 31-12-2021, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 105

GRIZZLIES 144

Well the first of seven road games was even as we exchanged winning each of the first two Qs, until around the 3RD Q when Lonnie and Keldon kept missing and we kept giving up points. After that it was a matter of their staying even keeled.

We made 12-35 3s, so both are improvements, got to the FT line 24 times but only made 15, only had 11TOs but I think 8 of them were in the second half, and we gave up 13 points on all our TOs, earning only 6 points the other way.

It's a recurring statement, but they outshot us 102-90 and made 49-39 FGs. We were on our heels early and pushed around in our key, giving up 16-11 O boards, 8 to their starting C alone to be down 58-47 in overall rebounds. We are first in the league in points in the paint but got obliterated 72-48. A lot of it was because of their second chance points on the rebounds we kept giving up and the drives we allowed in transition and P&Rs.

The 3RD Q was the turning point in which we only scored 18 points and were flat for most of it. Then we couldn't make enough of a push. Like running through tar and we couldn't muster enough O.

Not to beat a dead dog, Lonnie made some good plays but Jesus he and Keldon get tunnel vision at times and kept taking shots. Maybe they should have been taken out, but Doug and Devin struggled too, so that left who? Bryn and Tre. Well they got their shots. Sometimes it's just missed shots. I thought Lonnie took too many 3s even though he made 3, more than anyone else on the team. It just felt like he settled for outside shots too much after not making smart reads on drives -- driving into a congested key versus a disciplined D that is very good at getting hands on balls, strips, and blocks.

I liked our cuts and P&R work, our movement when we used it and physical drives, especially by Derrick.

He led us in points (tied with Bryn and Jakob for team high 15) and assists with 9; Jakob led us with 4 O boards; Keita led us with 11 rebounds in total; Keita, Jakob and Derrick each had a team high 2 blocks; Drew and Bryn led us with six FTAs each. So there were good results here and there, and we got 24 assists, but there wasn't enough cohesion - Keldon and Lonnie were tied for a team high 12 FGAs but couldn't get their O going and in attempting to do so throughout the game, took us out of it. But there were too few players who had their O going so it was like having a foot on the gas and brake.

Just not enough urgency after the first two and a half Qs and we were chasing from farther and farther away as the game progressed. From the start we allowed too many transition points after we scored, and that's just awareness and effort, nothing unfixable. We did well to go on runs and get back the lead several times, but we didn't have the requisite juice from the start and enough sustained energy throughout the game. Pop kept the minutes in the mid to low 20s with Jakob playing a team-high 28 so we'll have something for tomorrow's game. We know what we must do better, and hopefully a sense of urgency and pride kick in to do it.