SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 47: SPURS VS. NETS, 21-1-2022, 7:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Why do we insist on allowing Jakob to get isolated on Harden on the perimeter?

[imagump1313]

Why do we insist on allowing Jakob to get isolated on Harden on the perimeter?

It must be intentional because every night he is left out there guarding someone half his size. We just seem to switch on everything.

[G R E Y]

SEAN: "Derrick has no regard for personal beauty" LMAO!

[G R E Y]

SEAN: "That time Derrick got his face out of the way" Jokes!

[imagump1313]

GREEN BALL AGAIN!!!!!! They need to change the tape!!! 4 games in a row!

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 74

NETS 79

Derrick did go on a 5-0 run by himself to get us the lead back, but those two drives for blocks in their key were bad decisions. I like the idea, but he tends to pull up or try a fadeaway in that situation when we should be pushing downhill more.

Pop is irate on the sideline and he should be. Too many missed calls on them.

Once again we paid the price for lack of movement on O and not getting back on D and it's a couple of four-point swings and we give up the lead.

We are doing a good job getting to the FT line, but need more 3s, and more movement on O.

We MUST stop their perimeter effort scoring and get more of our own.

[G R E Y]

And now we're missing a whole lot of bunnies and getting beaten again and again down the court in transition. Bad combo for a 10-point deficit.

[G R E Y]

That was a nice high P&R pass from DJ to Jakob just there...

[G R E Y]

**** YOU, TONY BROTHERS. IN PERPETUITY.

[G R E Y]

JAKOB DUNK THE **** BALL!!!

[G R E Y]

Yep Irving getting whatever he wants, not only because he's an excellent player on O but because we keep switching and isolating Jakob on him and then we don't switch back fast enough to cover and contest.

[G R E Y]

We should know by now that LMA is pure pick and pop yet we continue to have both defenders go with the dribbler into the key and then leave the shooter wide open.

[G R E Y]

Juancho with the end of game time, and gets an O rebound.

[Mirotek]

Juancho with the end of game time, and gets an O rebound.

Nice work Juancho

[G R E Y]

Juancho with the end of game time, and gets an O rebound.

Nice work Juancho

Haha if we had a cheerleader emoji I'd use it!

It was only a minute and a half or something, so we'll see how he gets along the rest of the way.

[imagump1313]

Loss puts us in the top 5! Tankathon has us taking Shaedon Sharpe

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 102

NETS 117

Well looks like we have a new couple of patterns to fix: end of Q breakdowns, missed bunnies, and 4TH Q separation by opponents.

I was a bit concerned after the previous game that we unloaded all our shots and sure enough rather than continuing our hot hand we got colder as the game progressed. Still, in the final Q we scored our highest amount of points with 28, but allowed their highest as well at 38.

Along the way, it was a seesaw game with the lead changing several times. We came back the last time to take a slim 74-73 lead then made some end of 3RD Q errors on both ends, allowed a 8-0 run and we were looking at the back of them growing smaller as they zipped ahead in the 4TH Q.

We shot 10-25 in the final Q, 0-4 from 3, 7-11FTs to their 15-25, 4-7 from 3, 4-4FTs. Oof.

Along the way, we lost the points in the paint 56-46, 18-9 fast break points as they outpaced us 100-95FGAs. We chased them more the longer the game went on. We got caught on their bounce passes to their bigs in our key; we got caught over-committing on drivers on their pick and pops; we got caught not running back on D; we got caught missing a ton of bunnies - whereas TOs have at times been the self-inflicted kill wound, in this game it was these.

They had four players in double figures, but three are arguably HOFers, each exceptional at what they're best known for. We still could have closed the space on them earlier, and we still could have tried more to prevent them from getting the ball back on passes, but overall their perimeter tandem flat out bested us with their talent. With LMA, we got bested by an old nemesis in general and in particular: we struggle against bigger, bulkier bigs, and we got caught by a wily vet's interior positioning and timely O board punchouts as well as pop outs for those patented high release Js and we neither boxed out for rebound positioning consistently enough nor did we cover the gap to contest.

Our bigs are more finesse in that they are lanky and mobile and while they can absorb some bulk, unless they have a momentum start, they don't move larger front court players as much as they tend to get moved. It didn't help tonight that we got fouled several times. Diop got flat out slapped when stripped and that was called a deflection; Griffin went over the back like three times and it wasn't called - it's not why we lost, but it does set a precedent and affects the way we responded, and that's on us. And how 'we' responded was Pop blowing a gasket on the sidelines so much that he got called for a tech.

It's amazing the passion he has and how hard he fights for his players when something's flat out wrong. But we could and should have responded as a team with more fire, too, and I thought at times we didn't go downhill enough or with enough force to push the issue as it was pushed on us. Wherever the balance was between taking the shots that a defense gives us and initiating it, I thought that we were at times more a quick light blade rather than a strong iron sword. That's in part personnel, and in part an attitude and execution.

I thought Derrick did well for the most part in his forward motion drives, but at times (like the two he got blocked in the key) he pulled up in the key and was closed on quickly and effectively. He and DJ made good overall pass/shot choices, though at times I felt DJ went into slight tunnel vision and took his shot without anyone else touching the ball despite their being open. That cross court pass early in the game which they stole when he had Keldon on a smaller player is an example, too, of DJ still honing his decision making skills in real time, and that will come with recognition from experience -- and Pop timeouts and glares.

Keldon made 3-5 in the paint, 2-7 from the arc, and I hope we get him to play more finesse/bully ball balance as he did earlier in the season. I'm not sure whether it's the grind of the season that's got him conserving a bit, but he's not his primal self of late, though he's more efficient than when he was in the doldrums slump.

Pop used mainly an eight-man rotation with Keita, Lonnie and Devin getting the bulk of the bench minutes. Keita struggled with efficiency again (2-6, 0-1 from 3) but I thought he was decent on perimeter coverage on their guards. His length was disruptive and forced some passes. Lonnie was only 2-6 as well (1-2 from 3) but he stood out so well defensively tonight. A game later and there he was with his legs side shuffling, his body upright, AND his ARMS up and out preventing shots or passes inside. His 3s contesting was from the side with arms outstretched as well. And he switched wonderfully to cover a team mate's leaving the key to contest and was just in the right place at the right time so much of the game. Just excellent and so encouraging that he can make such a leap in just one game.

He's still finding his touch around the rim, but when he's also contributing a board, two assists, a steal, and two blocks, well frankly he gets more leeway on his shots and misses. We NEED this version of him on D, and we need his size and athleticism on O. He and Keldon are the guys who can most bully their way through on drives and in that way they are unique on our team. You can't teach bigger bones and muscles and their frames have filled out really well so they have to take advantage of this strength more.

Devin - welcome to the rigors of learning to be consistent in the NBA game in, game out. After shooting lights out, he struggled with 4-11, 0-5 from 3. He got great looks, just felt a bit rushed and a little flatter of a shot as a result that front rimmed out quite a bit from what I recall.

But Doug came back to earth, too, (3-9, 1-4 from 3) a game after he shot it so well so it's a lesson for the younger guys that it happens to the best of them, and they can learn from Doug how to navigate through it.

The other four starters were in double figures, led by DJ's 25 points and another triple double (12 with 4 on O and 10). I wasn't in love with all of his 20FGA attempts, but Derrick was 4-16 (and considering his other makes were 3-7 from 3, he was actually 1-9 everywhere else. Oof!)

Our back court did a great job getting to the FT line with Derrick making 6-8 and DJ 8-8. We were a solid 20-24FTs, with even Jakob coming through 3-5, but our bench only contributed 1-1 of that, so something to work on.

Jakob once again did the heavy bigs lifting in this game, playing 36 minutes (one less than DJ's team high 37) scoring 6-12 and grabbing 11 boards (5 on O) plus 3 blocks, while Jock and Drew combined for 12 minutes and 3-3FGs with no other stat registered, which belies not only the hustle they put in muscling about with their bigs counterparts but in giving Jakob some rest. Still, their bulkier bench bigs tandem got a combined 26 points on our bigs who combined for 21 points.

We can't suddenly get 20lbs heavier in our front court, but there are things we can do - get early positioning (we did try to trap an double their bigs but we weren't fronting them hardly at all), box out, use the glass angles far far better (and use the glass for those who don't but should) and DUNK the ball with two hands! We missed SO many soft ones at the rim tonight. Jakob talked about it like we just have to find our shot, but really it's not fate but just a technique alteration. Sometimes you have to tap it in, but we're almost always trying to finesse the ball in and on putbacks down low, it is especially impactful when oneof our bigs can rise up and stuff it. This changes the energy and momentum and makes opponents think twice about they guard us. Otherwise, we send the message tha we can be pushed around and we were.

Finally, timing. They only had one more 3 made overall, but they made four of them in the final Q. They suddenly got very efficient, and ran everything simply and with ore precision. We are facing a team that has contention aspirations, filled with players who are pretty much at the top of the league in what they do, be it beat the doubles or P&R coverage or getting through on drives. It was a clinic in not reaching in (arms up wherever possible), in execution of our game plan, and in pushing forward more for more of the game.

Some better distribution of scoring labour between the starters and bench is important to zero in on, too. Our bench scored only 24 of our 102 points so we're going to need more balance. Lots of minutes for the starters in this one, though, too, so it's a factor in the number and type of shots the bench players got.

I thought we switched and recovered well and covered for others and doubled well, too, even though it's not always optimal to keep switching so much (but if that's the gameplan to keep it simpler and Jakob keeps getting isolated on the perimeter, then that's it). When our bigs to do get onto the perimeter, then if there's a miss our guards are up against their bigs for the rebounds. It's an interesting trade off that I'm not sure is optimal all the time.

So our patterns of getting rolled in the 4TH Q after late 3RD Q string of mistakes is something to keep in mind. Very good teams will lock and execute when the time calls for it most, and we've just gotten a couple of lessons about getting back to doing just that like we did when we were on a good roll earlier in the season. We need to reconnect with that killer instinct for the 4THQs, and hopefully some more reps will bring it out more in us.

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter