SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 39: SPURS VS. PISTONS, 6-1-2023, 7PM (CT)

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Bey found a way to not play defense LOL

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Tre showing all kinds of P&R usage growth of skills.

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Vet to vet!

JRich drive, Doug back door cut, great pass, great reverse finish off the glass!

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DONT LOOK NOW FOLKS!!!! PISTONS ARE ONLY DOWN 10!!!

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Malaki great back door cut for the pass reception and finish!

Tre hard drive off glass!

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Jakob shows it Jakob hides it Jakob scores it!

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GREAT work by Jakob. Recognition, quick decision to drive, gets the foul. Makes both FTs.

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By the way, on that Malaki back door cut - great pass by Jakob! - he easily leaped to the basket for a dunk off of one foot.

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ANOTHER dumb pass by Sochan. Too early in the clock TO.

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And five quick points against...

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THREE STOPS IS ALL WE NEED!!!!

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Malaki bail out 3. Wow. We really made something out of nothing.

Great clock recognition form him.

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Jakob's a **** warrior on the boards especially in the second half. Great O board putback.

And just now a patient pass to the trailer. So valuable.

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Sochan is just exploding with the weirdo TO 'moves'. A back court carry TO.

Pop pulls him. Good.

Just wow, rookie...

[imagump1313]

Ugh, I guess its too much to ask to lose to Detroit but damn. We are winning way too many games people. This is getting serious.....

[G R E Y]

Ugh, I guess its too much to ask to lose to Detroit but damn. We are winning way too many games people. This is getting serious.....

Another game tomorrow, missing two starters, and some trades coming soon. Vets looked good

[imagump1313]

Ugh, I guess its too much to ask to lose to Detroit but damn. We are winning way too many games people. This is getting serious.....

Another game tomorrow, missing two starters, and some trades coming soon. Vets looked good

We have 13 wins already?

The way its playing out im guessing to finish in the top 4 we will have to be around 22-27 wins all season. And this is a good year. Usually you have to be around 15-20.

so STOP IT Spurs!!!!

[G R E Y]

Ugh, I guess its too much to ask to lose to Detroit but damn. We are winning way too many games people. This is getting serious.....

Another game tomorrow, missing two starters, and some trades coming soon. Vets looked good

We have 13 wins already?

The way its playing out im guessing to finish in the top 4 we will have to be around 22-27 wins all season. And this is a good year. Usually you have to be around 15-20.

so STOP IT Spurs!!!!

The competition for the season is on. I get it. PATFO does, too.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 121 PISTONS 109

We had a job to do and we did it. After a three-game losing streak, winning three Qs and tying the second one, we beat a team we frankly ought to. But along the way, there were also things we could and should have done better. At times, we played to lackadaisically like we knew we were the better team, but we’re just not in a position to take any team lightly.

Playing to the level of the competition happens to every team, but while some teams don’t care how they win, the ‘how’ is most important to us in a developing season. We didn’t start with the requisite urgency, didn’t run back in transition D, and the help D was spotty.

We had 17TOs – 11 of which were on steals against! - that cost us 23 points and put us at -9 in the category. And although we had a 44-37 rebounding advantage, we were nearly double 15-7 on O boards, and the long shot – long rebound lesson continues to elude us. Boxing out is an ongoing venture as well.

We were only 2-14 from 3 at the half compared to their 6-18 and we just about caught them from the arc by the end of the game, making 9 to their 11. The points in the paint were close with us edging them 68-64 but it was offset by their 13-8 fast break points.

It didn’t help that we lost Keldon in the first few minutes of the 2ND Q and had to now make do without our top two scorers.

We had a stronger second half, 70-61, on the back of better, more physical, cohesive team effort. Whereas our bench was ahead just 14-12 in the first half, we ended outscoring theirs 52-28. Next man up stepped up.

Malaki made the biggest jump from the first to the second half. In the former, he only had 2 points on 0-4, 0-1 from 3, 2-2FTs in 12 minutes. He finished with a bench-high 14 on 4-8, 2-3 from 3, 2-3FTs along with 2 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal on a bench high 26 minutes. It was a good adjustment and result for him, and good practice for a rookie to work through a rough start. He operated strictly in the key and at the arc. Yes a player takes what defenses give them, but then again, we’ve seen him score at three levels and would like to see him create from the mid-range as well.

Our vets each chipped in 9 with JRich (3-6, 1-4 from 3, 2-2FTs) also grabbing 2 boards, and getting 1 steal, but leading the bench with 5 assists and Doug (3-7, 1-3 from 3, 2-3FTs) also getting 3 boards (1 on O), and 1 assist in 20 and 21 minutes, respectively. They were terrific in moving off ball, keeping the ball moving, driving, and setting up others. Time and again, they provide steadiness that experience in honed craft and pressure situations brings.

Stanley (17 minutes) and Collins (16) also scored 9 points, had 4 rebounds (Collins, 1 on O), and 2 assists each. Stanley led us with 3-3 from 3; Collins, with 5-5FTs. Both continue to provide a steady presence with their physicality, good D, and inside-outside scoring.

Just about everyone on the bench was efficient in different aspects of scoring but it’s the foundation of the vets’ reliable support on which the rookie blossomed.

Sochan did well, too, with a near double double. He scored 10 points on 5-9 (he made all his 5-5 in the key), 0-2 from 3, a slower work in progress than his FT’s. He was a stat stuffer with 8 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. Nice mid range shot and shot selection addition as well. Right now he’s a blend of instincts, BBIQ, and inexperience, roaming around, stretching his courage with shots, passes, and peskiness. I love when his constant movement and hustle result in traps and steals but he tends to get tunnel vision from the excitement of the play and makes mistakes. At times he hasn’t look for team mates, at times he has taken ill-advised, contested shots. In this game, he was more flash than substance with his passes. He tried one behind the back which ended up in the stands, and another one-handed sideways whip across the court attempt ended in a steal. Use two hands. Use good vision making sure the receiver is ready. Fundamentals are sexy. He did make a sweet alley oop pass to JRich for a reverse dunk, but a back court carry TO was one too many sparkly moves and Pop benched him for a spell. There are types of mistakes we can live with and play through and there are others that need to be curbed. And so not including Keldon who got injured, Sochan played the fewest minutes from among the starters with 27.

In 32 minutes, Jakob actually did get a double double with 11 points on terrific 4-5, 3-4FT’s, game high 16 rebounds, and tied for game high 4 on O. Oh, and he led us with 7 assists as well. He was a monster on the boards in the first half grabbing 8 (1 on O) and already led us with 4 assists, and 2 blocks, but he was sorely underutilized on O. Perhaps it’s unfair to expect more of a player that probably does the most work most consistently for us, but even 4-5 by the end of the game was a bit low. He was doing work just about everywhere else so that by the 3RD Q he already had all of the main top stats accomplished: 9 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. And in the 4TH Q, he topped it all off with 3-4 and 2-3FTs on O. He still passes up dunks and plays like a guard at the rim sometimes, but he takes a beating versus far more muscular players, and holds his own with his strengths of speed, timing, and angles. I love what our front court provided.

Our back court was no less essential and effective to our success. Tre was all kinds of terrific, and showed growth in P&R management. Each decision of whether and when to pass, when to shoot, and what kind to take is more sound and confident. His variety of shots be they floaters, pull ups Js, or drives in different gears is growing. I love his finishes off the glass, too. We have an increasingly complete PG growing before our eyes. It’s only the 3 he needs to add more consistently. His efficiency has dropped in each of the last three months although his FGAs and overall efficiency have also increased in that time. He is growing into a bigger role and is a more confident initiator that we rely on, so we take some growing pains along the way. It results in games like this in which he leads us with 25 on 11-18, 1-3 from 3, 2-2FTs, 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals in 32 minutes.

Romeo was right there with him filling in for Devin with steady defense and improving O play. He scored 15 on 7-12, 1-2 from 3, 2 boards (1 on O), 1 assist, and 1 steal. All but two of his attempts were in the key, and of those, all but two were in the restricted area. He was a relentless, assertive driving machine who finished off the glass with a soft touch or dunked, absorbing hits along the way. This serpentine moving, more physical and assertive version of Romeo is but a more consistent O game away from being the sixth man we need. So glad we kept him; so glad PATFO were right that there is more to his game to explore.

Team wise, through the errors we still did some important things well. We held the best foul drawing and FT making team to 10-17 and rewarded our drives with 22-26FTs. We had 27 assists. Loved our movement with more back door cuts. Loved our more varied passing using high low ones more, as well as those to cutters finding their mark. Pop used a mostly nine-man rotation after Keldon had to leave with Roby filling in 7 minutes. That everyone but Roby registered at least one assist, and that they were distributed 14 among starters and 13 among bench shows not only our strength but also how well it is developing.
That we could absorb two top scorers being largely absent, share the load, and execute the game plan shows our confidence and good habits coming through. The ones we need to work on along the way – TO’s, sloppy starts, rim protection – we overcame and got better at as the game progressed. We led after each of the Qs, but we didn’t always have the lead. Sometimes it’s a matter of opponents pushing back and in those situations how we respond is the focus. At other times, how we allow the push back to happen – lax play, slow transition D, aimless passes – needs work. We overcame both as well as missing key contributors to get the win, though the game was not without mistakes we need to tend to and improve.

[G R E Y]

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

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