SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 20: SPURS VS. LAKERS, 25-11-2022, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 74 LAKERS 79

Well well well look who put together a 34-point Q and a 14-point advantage in it despite not hitting 3s? We made but one from the arc, but we PUSHED it downhill time and again. This while leaving lots of points on the floor, too with that botched 2 for 1 at the end of the Q, and with too many one and done shots too early in the clock (looking at you, Sochan).

A 12-2 run, including 8-0 to finish the Q is VERY solid. We haven't had that in a LONG time.

KEPP PUSHING. KEEP MOVING. KEEP COMPETING.

[G R E Y]

We have had SO MANY 3s rattle in and out. It's just incredible.

[imagump1313]

Lonnie Walker is Lonnie Walkering them.....

[G R E Y]

Yeah getting beaten down the court on D AGAIN with Collins not even contesting is going to get a Pop timeout just about every time.

DO NOT SETTLE FOR 3s, SPURS!!!

Push, move, pass, rock the rim.

[G R E Y]

Roby and Keldon not using the proper angles on the glass each of those misses.

[G R E Y]

Holy basketball gods! Please let our shots go in!!!

[G R E Y]

*sigh*

We have to stop getting in our own way.

[G R E Y]

Sochan FIGHTING HARD for positioning with LBJ. Great. Really great.

[G R E Y]

We werw withing THREE points, missed two layups, and presto we're down 15.

[G R E Y]

Sochan 3.

Sochan runs the middle of the floor on our steal, gets ahead of Tre, gets the pass, quick zip pass back for a Tre layup.

Really nice sequence by him after the bodying up on D, too.

He's going to be a huge glue for us once he gets better at recognizing what to do when.

[G R E Y]

I mean the basket is just cursed with an invisible cover. That's the only explanation.

[G R E Y]

Only 12 points three quarters of the way into the Q.

[G R E Y]

I like that in the timeout guys are still locked in on Pop, eyes up, listening. It's important to take in what we can do, what is within our power to.

[G R E Y]

Tre of all guys breaks our scoring drought. With a 3 no less. Basketball gods taking the piss.

[G R E Y]

Fifteen points with a minute and a half left. Pop brings out Hall, Romeo, Mal, Roby, and Bassey to finish.

[imagump1313]

WHEW! We did it! Great job guys!

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 94 LAKERS 105

Post-game, Pop and Tre talking about rough slow starts, focusing on positive take aways.

The D was better. The competitiveness was better. But this was our second worst O night of the season. They won't all be like this, but I really liked that we kept fighting through scoring droughts, that we kept pushing it, that we tried finding ways to score.

We still don't move off and on ball as well as we have previously. I don't recall how many cuts we had in the game, but we've done this far better in the past.

Since the O was seasonally bad in terms of efficiency, it was still good to see Keldon break through at least a bit. He drove to start the game, though tentatively. But he was far more downhill in the second half and was rewarded for the increased physicality. REALLY good to see him let out a roar on the +1. I'd rather see him do that and get blocked than try to Euro his way on bigger players or slow down on drives.

Devin had all the shots he normally makes. It's incredible how many shots rattled out. They were good shots. Keep taking them. Love his two way game. And he's finding new ways to finish at the rim, too which is nice to see. Ball held up high, deke moves in the air, etc. Like his P&R when facilitating as well.

Sochan will get better at recognizing the situation and what it calls for. His midrange is solid, but he took several way too early in the clock without us trying anything, no ball movement, no cuts, passes, nothing. He was contested and we didn't have guys on the glass. Again, I like the initiative, and the experience will come. He's good dribbling in the open court, so good running the open court, better passer, terrific instincts, brave, and used all his physicality and tenacity in fighting with LBJ for position when trying to front him on D. Just all our effort all the time. If you watch him, he does a lot of little things that are helpful.

Despite mistakes, his imprint was all over the game, however: 13 on 5-11, 1-3 from 3, 2-4FTs, tied for team high 9 boards (team high 5 on O), tied for team high 5 assists, team high 4 steals, and tied for team high 1 block. Probably his best overall game of the season. And we're only a quarter of the way into his first one.

Part of being too tentative to start was dealing with a shot blocking front court. Part of it was mental in trying to get out of a scoring funk. Our O to start was way too deliberate, not nearly downhill enough, and not physical enough. Too slow is not the style of play that got us generating good D to O chances to start the season. And even when we pushed it and had open scoring chances we missed at the rim, we missed in middys, we missed from the arc.

I don't recall the last time Tre led the starters with made 3s (2), and the last time that our best 3s shooters combined for 1-14(!). We shoot close to our average it's a different outcome but the game is not won in hypotheticals. We got beaten down the court with poor transition D too many times for too easy uncontested layups; we allowed too many second and third and at times fourth scoring chances on lost rebounds; we got our signals crossed too often on coverage leaving shooters open.

We did limit our TOs to 15 and forced 21 with some better overall D which was good to see. We got after the boards better, got some good +1s from the effort, too. I liked the push, I liked that we kept trying to find ways to score, even if for three Qs it was a frustraing fight to even hover around the 20-point mark, while the 3RD Q we finally had a glimmer of our old selves on O scoring 34.

We still managed to have all five starters in double figures but our bench scored only 19 points without Doug and JRich available to contribute, especially from the arc and in off ball movement.

Of course, a fast start is not optional. We've been hurt by deficits and it's both a habit and a mental hurdle. We have a hard time scoring so we're too deliberate in trying to create the perfect chance or fear shooting for fear of missing, we miss or TO it and the whole thing snowballs. Just too tentative and slow. We need to impose our game and live with the results rather than get put on our heels from the get go.

More pace, more deliberate movement, more D to O, more physicality. Do all of them, the results will come.

[G R E Y]

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

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