SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 3: SPURS AT 76ERS, 22-10-2022, 5PM (CT)

Post #41 » by **G R E Y** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 12:18 am

I like that we have a man on Harden at all times and are forcing someone else to bring it up and tick precious seconds away.

Post #42 » by **G R E Y** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 12:19 am

OH FFS TRE NOT AGAIN!

THINK!!!

Post #43 » by **G R E Y** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 12:26 am

Pop yelling at Primo on his foul late in the game is everything I love about our team hahaha!

Post #44 » by **Baphomet** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 1:08 am

The ball movement at times was spectacular. That Devin 3 pointer in the second quarter, among other buckets, evoked the "beautiful game" 2014 Spurs with the basketball and spatial intellect. It's good to see the Spurs way living on through our young guns. It's not something we've always seen with post-big 3 Spurs teams, but it's actually faintly moving and nostalgic to behold.

Pop is still a force as a coach, despite what some might say. He made Doc look like an amateur tonight with a team of kids that had no business winning this game, on paper.

I wanted to tank going into the season. I still don't think this team will win all that many games, but it's nice to see this young core continue to develop and find ways to win.

Post #45 » by **G R E Y** » Sun Oct 23, 2022 2:55 am

4TH Q: SPURS 114 76ERS 105

Well well well.

Start strong, execute the defensive gameplan, move the ball, distribute scoring, finish strong.

We won three of four Qs, only down 6 in the 1ST. It wasn't the fastest start on O but luckily both teams were missing. And after that rather anemic 1ST we had two 30+ point Qs and the final one, 29.

We made 16 3s a day after making 17, and we were not forcing these as perhaps some were yesterday. Much better within our system.

On the other end, we did well to set our team defensive tone and I loved how we established the doubling of their C then rotating over, good angles, stance, arms up, to cover the players on the arc. We held them to under 30 in all of the Qs. Well done.

Not for nothing, but having Brett Brown on the bench surely helped with the game plan.

We had four starters in double figures, six in total with terrific scoring distribution.

After a torrid 20-point first half start (really a 2ND Q explosion), Devin was only 0-2 in the 3RD Q, and 1-2 in the 4TH. But you can see he's taken a next step at least. Devin was getting any shot he wanted, moving off ball, using those two-step jumps into space, and that beautiful QUICK high shot release. All kinds of confidence all over the floor. Oh and he's driving more now as well. Some better moves while driving already! Keeping the ball up high is such a great attribute.

Read on Twitter

I was all about us drafting Patrick Williams and many others are glowing about Haliburton but man oh man am I EVER THRILLED we have DEVIN!!!

Where Devin left off, Doug picked up the lightning shooting and poured in a bench leading 14 points on 5-9, 4-5 from 3.

He was joined by fellow vet JRich's 11 on 4-9, 2-6 from 3.

Jakob was our double double player this game with amazing work fighting to front Embiid all game (and the help did agreat job sneaking in to double), get positioning on rebounds on both ends. He's more assertive this season in looking to take his own shot off the dribble if he's left alone or sees the space, too. 13 points on 6-9, 10 rebounds, SEVEN on O! Incredible work. Add 3 assists and a block as well as playing responsibly with 5 fouls ("Don't foul, Jak! Don't foul!" you could hear someone yell on the court haha!)

I love the wave after wave of one guy then another then another getting points doing what they're good at: Keldon and Devin and Doug and JRich 3s, Jakob interior points, Tre floaters, etc. Each guy is excelling playing withing himself using Jakob and other bigs screens

That's what stood out so far this season: we keep moving, we execute, and there are improvements from one game to the next.

Keldon notched his third consecutive 20+ point game, this one on 7-17, 3-8 from 3, 4-5FTs. How nice it is to have a SF who shoots and makes 3s. His defensive commitment and energy also stood out. How nice it is to have a SF who commits and impacts the game defensively. He was all over the boards, too, with 9 (2 on O).

Tre is SOLID. A couple of dumb plays late in the 4TH again like stepping out of side bounds, but he made FOUR FTs late in the game, sealing it AGAIN, he has clearly taken his game to the next level with reilable O, steady D as we knew already, and a steady distribution. TEN of his points were in the 4TH Q. He finished with 17 points on 6-13, 5-5FTs, 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal.

So with FOUR starters clicking and reliable, we can afford to have Sochan, a 19-year-old rookie, learning the NBA game trial by fire. He still rotates well, and contests decently, shows smarts and athleticism, but he is a bit overwhelmed and lacks the physical prowess and strength at this point. He has a big gap and is asked to take bigger leaps, find ways to contribute with his current skill set while growing it. I think it's interesting he has gotten all the rookie minutes and Mal and Blake have yet to, but it's a looong season, and the latter two have to make sure they're ready for when their time comes, and surely it will come this season.

How soon? Depends what offer we get for our ever reliable vets JRich and Doug, without whom we don't win these two games.

It's a great balance of vets and youth and we're finding ways to play together, each guy pitching in.

Some more than others. This was one of the few games where Primo didn't look comfortable, where his playing at his own pace looked out of sorts, where his movement and body language stood out poorly.

He has shown flashes with his passing (4 assists) but I was surprised to see he was second on the bench with 22 minutes, surprised that he was 2-8, 1-4 from 3. I really didn't notice him this game. He also had 3 rebounds and 1 block, so part of it is on me, but when guys stand out it... stands out. Primo is better and stronger and more assertive than last season, no doubt. He's where Tre was the season before, spotty contributions with holes in his game but showing some two-way game with room to grow. I expect Primo to take a bigger step even this season.

So with our SEGABABA tonight, Sochan played only 10 minutes, Roby (14) and Dieng (13) who didn't play yesterday got to contribute, and they did well in rebounding, passing, and Dieng in protecting the paint and trying to keep their C from easy points.

Pop played 12 players, only two in single digit minutes.

We had a 40-8 bench points advantage which helped offset their advantages in the paint and at the FT line.

Our bench had 16 of our 27 assists, 15 of our 43 rebounds (3 of 12 on O), only 4 of our TOs, but 5 of our 7 blocks. Really nice all around contribution. Fun full team win.

We cut down on our TOs, finishing with 13 and only three in the final Q. These cost us 19 points, however, so it's a learning process as guys get used to various opponents and play more together.

Good job in keeping up the pace, in taking and making more shots (43-90 vs. 37-84), crashing the boards on both ends (just about even), and various line-ups finding ways to score and defend together. Simple sets, repetition, reading and reacting, getting everyone involved is working well to start the season.