SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 19: SPURS VS. PELICANS, 23-11-2022, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

I really like Tre. And appreciate the strides he's made this season.

But he's not a starting caliber PG.

[G R E Y]

Glad Dieng is in for Jakob now. Jakob's movement was not good. Limping, wincing.

[G R E Y]

Romeo took a knee to the thigh. Expect him to be out for a week lol

[G R E Y]

We have Hall, Romeo, Bassey, Roby, Dieng in for the final 3+ minutes of the game.

[G R E Y]

Well we tied in the second half!

[imagump1313]

FIRE THE EFFING LASER!!!!!!!!!!!

[G R E Y]

Still waiting for you to give credit where it's due when guys have good games

Look I love seeing the team win and would rather see it than getting a top pick.

But good games on bad teams mean very little these days.

We've seen tens of players this generation putting up stats on bad teams that become 3rd or 4th best players on winning teams.

Fair enough. And full disclosure I'm getting more pissy with the losses.

I can only imagine what the guys who are responsible for it feel.

We are where we are because our top designated guys aren't top guys on top winning teams. We know this.

And it hasn't helped that Keldon's gone away from what was working for him. At least in the past when his 3 wasn't falling he was mixing it up. Had some energy we could rally behind. But he's laughed more in off-court camera features that Spurs do than on court and he's making too much of a show of it.

It's not something he's gone through before as the top scorer. I'll keep an eye out on whether you're onto something. He did seem almost passive aggressive tonight, and Pop rightly sat him for the crap effort. He's being tested like never before. Let's see how he figures it out both energy and game wise.

[G R E Y]

FIRE THE EFFING LASER!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you half in the sauce or is this just top pick prospect elation?

[imagump1313]

FIRE THE EFFING LASER!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you half in the sauce or is this just top pick prospect elation?

The Spurs need to install a Wembanyama laser to fire after games. We are doing GREAT!

[imagump1313]

Still waiting for you to give credit where it's due when guys have good games

Look I love seeing the team win and would rather see it than getting a top pick.

But good games on bad teams mean very little these days.

We've seen tens of players this generation putting up stats on bad teams that become 3rd or 4th best players on winning teams.

Fair enough. And full disclosure I'm getting more pissy with the losses.

I can only imagine what the guys who are responsible for it feel.

We are where we are because our top designated guys aren't top guys on top winning teams. We know this.

And it hasn't helped that Keldon's gone away from what was working for him. At least in the past when his 3 wasn't falling he was mixing it up. Had some energy we could rally behind. But he's laughed more in off-court camera features that Spurs do than on court and he's making too much of a show of it.

It's not something he's gone through before as the top scorer. I'll keep an eye out on whether you're onto something. He did seem almost passive aggressive tonight, and Pop rightly sat him for the crap effort. He's being tested like never before. Let's see how he figures it out both energy and game wise.

I'm telling you, I think it was partly that stupid meaningless 3 point record but IMO its more that he is pressing while he is trying to play up to the level Vassell is playing because he thought he was the clear cut guy and all of a sudden he clearly isnt the way Vassell is playing.

Like you said, he just needs to settle down and get back to things that were working for him instead of trying to be the teams best player. He is frustrated and a little butt hurt right now which explains the pissy attitude.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 110 PELICANS 129

I'm a bit shocked to be honest. Not that we lost, although I'd hoped we could break the streak tonight, but how. And with all the starters back, and with some home pride on the line, you'd think we'd come out firing. But there we were insistning on settling for outside shots and missing, then going numb to brain dead on D pouring points on both ends, making each possession count for twice as much against.

Keldon I suppose is the leader of this team, one of them anyway, or at least the loudest player and the one of whom the most was expected from the young guys. He is the 'main guy' I suppose, and he's talked about guys putting egos aside for team-first basketball. He's also talked about how Pop is super hard on him.

When we and/or he plays well the hardass approach can be lived with. When you're struggling, it can chafe all the more. The thing is, Pop was waaaaaaaaayyy WAY harder on players in the past. Like way harder. And Pop understands that not every player can be handled the same way.

Keldon has more responsibility to shoulder this season even as we have a more egalitarian approach. He has been our top scorer, a more dedicated defender, and ever energized. The last few games, he regressed in just about every facet of the game, none more so than tonight on both ends.

I don't know whether he's just shell shocked and has to learn to get himself mentally stronger through bad stretches or whether there's some passive aggressiveness seeping through. Phreak brought up his agency switch and seeing diva behaviour, and I don't want to go there at this point. But his effort from the start of the game was piss poor, like shockingly bad D and passiveness on O.

He's regressed; he deserved to sit. Played only two minutes in teh second half where we tied them in scoring. Damage had been done and we couldn't mount yet another steep uphill battle.

The other part of it is when his 3s aren't falling, and for some reason he doesn't drive as much, he has poor handles and barely any mid range game. Teams start to zero in on a guy's strengths and how they can be neutralized. Really appreciate that Keldon has worked his way to a terrific 3-shot, but he slimmed down 20lbs to be more agile not at the arc but off ball and driving. He's done less and less of the latter two all the while chasing his 3s from the start of the game. He set the consecutive made 3s streak to put himself into our record books, but he's frankly been chasing this and it's caught up to him. Don't start the game from the outside in but inside out. Try something else when one thing isn't working.

What 3s-first instills is a horizontal, more passive approach to start rather than the energy of vertical momentum we sorely need. Our most physical player settling for Js causes us to stand around watching rather than keep moving for good to great shots.

On D he missed rotations, had wrong coverages, late coverages, no contests. Just brutal.

We had three starter in single digit scoring, with Keldon (2-9, 0-4 from 3, 1-1FT, 1 board), Jakob (1-3, 2-4FTs, game high 14 boards, tied for game high 4 on O, 3 assists, 3 steals), and Tre (1-8, 1-7 from 3, 6-6FTs, team high 9 assists, 2 steals) combined for 18 points.

Jakob was clearly not himself physically and passed up shots in the paint on moves he previously made, spins off post ups in the paint. That he didn't do these tonight and that he laboured and limped and winced by the 4TH Q showed a gutsy if less fully capable effort.

Really like Tre, I think he's a super nice guy, and he has made good improvements this season. And this is the season for guys who've worked on things in the summer to practice them in games. But 7 attempts from 3 by Tre is not the O we want to generate. Then again, there's also a reason he had all those chances. We were forced into having less efficient guys taking them. Contest passes to the better shooters, live with inefficient ones having open shots and here we are. He only had one shot from the key, and for someone who takes those floaters so well, his driving game was all but nonexistent. I think when we had several more options behind Tre we could, not hide, but limit too much exposure. Without those back ups of earlier in the season, he's getting zeroed in on and with an expanded role comes a magnified target on both ends. He's improved, and we need someone like him, but he's not a starting-level PG, even as he's our lone true PG who facilitates well. Starters still need help, though, and we need to get him more of it. With Primo done, Blake out, Hall not yet there, we rely on help-by-committee, Keldon, Sochan, Devin, among others.

Sochan has a nice body type that will fill in but he's yet there and against a hulk it stands out all the more. Didn't like the hulk bicep flexing or that we gave him too much space to get running starts for layins at the rim. When he's bodied up close and the passes are contested, it's a different game. But we didn't make it hard for him to score. In fact, several players didn't bother getting rebounds near him at either end, didn't bother contesting hard, or running back hard enough as he got behind our entire D to too easy baskets.

There are some things you can't control. And I'm not asking for guys to lay their life on the line. But we could have done some things to make it harder for hulk and his team mates to score and we didn't.

Sochan took a beating by him tonight but stayed competitive. I like how he's handling the ball a bit more and I like how he's using the P&R to get some mid range Js more - and he's actually getting quite efficient at these. I like how he runs the floor and the alley oop chances we create from it. Big to big, high-low action is something we used to do a lot more of and I hope we keep expanding it. Sochan finished with another double digit scoring game making 6-10, 0-1 from 3, 0-2FTs (WiP), only 2 boards (1 on O), 1 assist.

Devin. He's emerging as our best two-way player, and with a burgeoning facilitating game when he runs point and some improving handles, he's a three-level scoring threat asserting himself within the flow of the game all the while playing solid D. His staying with hulk, arm in to contest, preventing a steam roll drive was all effort and smart angles and as much physicality as he could muster. It's what you love to see. Guts. After a slow 1ST Q, Devin finished with team high 26 on 10-17, 4-8 from 3, 2-3FTs, 4 boards, 8 assists, and 1 steal. He truly can make an impact in a growing number of ways, and when his shot is not falling he stays even keeled enough to still do good things on D.

While we need Keldon to get his mojo energy back, having someone with a steady presence like Devin stands out as at least equally important.

Our bench scored 54 points - excellent, all things considered, including us missing key players. Doug led the bench with one of his peak games, 21 on 9-12, 3-6 from 3, 1 board, 2 assists. He shows the value of a vet's steadying presence, the effectiveness of the motion-based O that was so effective for us.

Roby played more within himself, didn't try to do too much, made 3-4, 1-1 from 3, 1-1FTs, 3 boards (1 on O), 1 assist, and 1 block.

Diop still gets the bulk of the minutes between the two as he's more versatile. He played the 3 and 4 almost 50/50 and Roby the 3/4 about 25/75 of the time, Diop knows our system better, and Pop seems to trust and rely on him more, has started five games to Roby's none on about four more minutes per game. But like Doug, KBD runs hot or cold, and was less efficient for 3-8, 0-2 from 3, 4-5FTs, bench-high 5 boards (1 on O), 2 assists, and tied with Jakob for team high 3 steals. Struggling with efficiency but still contributing all around is what makes a toolsy guy, someone along with Roby we have nothing to lose in seeing what we have with them.

Versatility was our strength, but a depleted roster with rotating available players has us stretched.

Romeo is a solid defender but goodness 1-7, 0-3 from 3, 1-2FTs is cost to pay in missed opportunities while we wait for him to find his shot. Development has some steep valleys be it on D or O.

Bassey has not looked like his old energetic self. He may be a burst then level out given the competition player, and that's fine. It's what becomes of a player over time through various tests and responses and development. Some regression against higher tier talent is expected. Still, you hope the effort is there throughout, and it's something that Bassey hasn't been as consistent with. He still gets rebounds decently, still contributes in other ways, and with Pop playing everyone available, there's only so many shots to go around (1-1, 1-2FTs, 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block). Looks ok on paper, but in the games it's like he's a drained version of himself, picking his spots to burst. Allowing easy uncontested layups is film for what not to do. Basic fundamentals particularly on D are non-negotiable, but they are teachable.

Post-game, Pop was subdued, but focused on where we need to be headed. Same thing with Doug who was as forthright about the discrpancy between what we are doing and need to do.

If Keldon keeps looking like he's just a company man and starts with 3s and drives with Euro steps on smaller players, avoiding physicality, the message, if there is one, intended or not, is of a player struggling through something and not doing it well. Whatever it is is getting the best of him. If he's not fully healthy and can't do what he wants physically, it makes sense for lack of drives and off ball movement off ball as well. But if he's not fully healthy would we let him play? Jakob didnt' look 100% either and he was out there, also not his usual self. The cost this game for Keldon was only two minutes of play in the second half.

Adding now that I just read gump's assessment above, and perhaps there's an element of that in there, too. Devin is really emerging, and Keldon will have to deal with it. Maybe Keldon wanted to be the man or when he is the man and we still can't get over the hump all that energy not making a difference to the outcome is coming to the fore. Maybe the realization of what a rebuild entails, and having to share his top scoring option place with development of players who aren't as far along as him is frustrating. But it doesn't explain the rest of the team being affected. As a fan, it really is frustrating when Tre and Romeo combine for 1-10 from 3 lol

We need more of our reinforcements back that give us variety of attack and can share the load. It feels like we've overburdened and spread thin. We need to believe - and we know we can play better because we have. Even in this game, 31 assists while still shooting poorly is good; we got to the FT line better even if we finished with 18-28 (WiP); we rebounded capably; we got 11 steals. And old habits crept in: we still got lit up for 18TOs; efficiency still eludes us from the arc for too many players.

Rest, time with family, good food will all help. We need to make a turn for the right path. We had a two hour practice, a good film session, and yet what binds us is the team spirit that had us playing well. If one player can't carry it, rather than take on the flat energy, the rest must pick up the slack.

[G R E Y]

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

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[G R E Y]

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

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