SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 51: SPURS VS. WIZARDS, 30-1-2023, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Yeah Collins has stepped up his overall game as the season has progressed. Good effort. Nice to see.

[G R E Y]

Sure he's having a phenomenal night. Doug is guarding him.

[G R E Y]

Stanley got COOKED on the back door cutting roller.

[G R E Y]

Time for Keldon to stop seeing he has team mates.

Tre top of arc clapping for the ball... nada.

[G R E Y]

There. Keldon just surpassed his 20-point mark.

Let's see if he passes now that he's our top scorer.

[G R E Y]

Bad shot selection by Sochan. Contested mid range miss off his own dribble with no one else touching the ball.

[G R E Y]

Nice physical drive by Keldon (after he got lit up for a 3 on the D end)

[G R E Y]

Now Doug got lit up for a 3 at the other corner.

I don't know why Doug is afraid of letting the guy fake and drive instead. Why not? It's what help D is for. If we're to tentative at the contests we give up too much space and sight of the basket.

[G R E Y]

Pop has Blake, Malaki, Stanley, Roby, and Diop in for the final two minutes.

[imagump1313]

Bill doing his part for the tank

[G R E Y]

Both Malaki and Stanley didn't angle themselves properly and allowed a pass and cut through the middle. We foul.

[G R E Y]

Roby missed bunny. That kind of night when we play too soft.

[imagump1313]

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

[Phreak50]

There. Keldon just surpassed his 20-point mark.

Let's see if he passes now that he's our top scorer.

Haha!!

My team at work heard me laugh out loud at this!

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 106 WIZARDS 127

We were *just* at the halfway point and whoosh the last ten games have felt like they’ve sped by. In that time, there has been a bit of a shift. The main things right now are making sure we stay true to the big picture and the day-to-day in getting there.

The big picture is maintaining an equilibrium of mindset as we roll with the ups and downs of the season. It is also focusing on playing the right way through, and especially during, the hard times.

The day-to-day has gotten slightly away from the big picture in terms of playing the right way. Defense was going to be an issue coming into this season and it still is. The *ideal* is having players in and out of the line-up with as little as variance or drop off as possible. Missing Devin as well has not having others as available has affected consistency and cohesion. Roster changes have altered roles and our ability to solidify and raise the floor. On O we’ve had more of the kind of consistency that we want on D; even with a lot of changes we’ve had different players step up and had reliable contributions from the bench.

Nevertheless, on O we’ve been going away from the team concept at times and this is mirroring the cohesion we are chasing on D. All it takes is for one player to get signals crossed and it trickles down to missed rotations and coverage. We are playing three rookies, two of whom have far less experience, so errors are going to happen. But issues of IQ and effort take turns arising.

Team D mistakes that have lead to a lot of 3s against remain a challenge, one that is a function of inexperience and roster fluctuation. We’ve had instances of better coverage so we know it’s possible. To the extent that defensive IQ lags, experience and commitment are big. It is ever clearer now that it’s harder for an O oriented player to grow a defensive mindset than it is for a defense oriented player to balance his game with a growing O. Devin has been proven it, Tre is proving it, Sochan is on his way to proving it in only the first 51 pro games of his career. We’ll see with Malaki and Blake. With Keldon, who at the beginning of year four declared a goal of defensive commitment, it’s had some bright spots like timely blocks, some good tracking of the ball, and some good contests, the latter two which he did well in this game. In between, he’s getting lost on switches, *still* pancaking into rather than anticipating screens and angling his body correctly to get around them, not hustling to cover contest space, not having arms out consistently. He does some things some of the time.

On O Keldon looking off team mates has stood out more this season but he did do a better job playing within the team concept of passing the ball ahead in transition and making the extra pass earlier in this game, and later he rewards himself for it by calling his own number either until he reaches the 20-point or top scorer plateau. He tends to go ISO late in games, too. We love the initiative and this is the season in which players grow and expand their games, though we want it to be on the foundation of our team style rather than at its expense – that itself is part of what we’re learning. There really isn’t a true #1 designation on any one player – but we must be mindful to keep feeding the hot hand and that we’re at our best when we play together.

Sochan made 6-7, 1-1 from 3, 2-3FTs for 15 points and 2 assists in nine minutes in the 1ST Q alone. By the half, he still had 15 points, having taken just one shot in six minutes played in the 2ND Q. Jakob had a big load to deal with defensively but we only rewarded him with one attempt in the 1ST Q. In fairness he only played four minutes because of two quick fouls. By half, he was still only 1-2, though, so in 8 2ND Q minutes we got him but one extra shot. Tre has zero attempts in the 1ST Q and got his legs under him for 2-4, 0-1 from 3 for 4 points, 2 boards, and 5 assists at the half.
Collins filled in for Jakob very well once again leading the bench with 8 on 3-5, 2-2FTs, 6 boards (1 on O) and 2 blocks in 12 minutes by half. And while I liked Diop’s assertiveness, and you take the shots you have or create, he was ice cold throughout the game. Opponent length at the rim was a factor, but getting the ball to our hot or outside shooters were also options. One was Doug who only shot 1-3, 1-2 from 3, 0-1FT for only 3 points at the half.

Diop finished with 14FGAs, the second highest on the team, making only 3, 1-5 from 3. He was the terrific all around contributor we expect, leading starters with 8 boards (starter high 3 on O), 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. But we needed a better balance, recognizing who we had to share shots with. After Sochan’s white hot 1ST Q, he attempted only 6FGAs and scored 2 points in the other three Qs combined. Sure he had 4 fouls by the end of the 3RD Q, but he still played 27 minutes in the game, including 7 in the final Q. Jakob finished with the 2 fouls he got early in the game, and still was only 2-5, 3-4FTs (good!) for 7 points (below his 12PPG average), 5 boards, (2 on O), and 2 assists.

Would it have made a difference to the outcome if we kept feeding the hot hand or gotten Jakob more involved? Well without our 3s falling, perhaps not. But making sure we both give room for guys to expand their games but do so with the discipline of our team style is what we need to stay committed to.

And when we do, we excel consistently in several categories: we once again won the points in the paint 66-56; we won the O board battle 14-5 (January has been our best month of the season with 12.5 O boards per game); we limited our TO’s to 10, and won the points off them 16-6. The 10TOs are well below our season average of 15.3, and in each month since the beginning of the season, our TO’s have decreased – trending the right way in cleaner team play is an important big picture positive. We pushed for 23FTAs (above our 21.4 per game average, though January has been our second lowest output average with 22.1) though we made only 15, something we need to keep working on.

Our 29 3s attempted were just below our 31.1 average per game but just above 28.3 in January, our lowest output month of the season. We made only 24.1%. The seven made 3s was below our 10.7 per game average, and even below the 9.5 we averaged in January, the lowest output month of the season.

That we got scored on 16-30 for 53.3% at the arc is an ongoing issue. On the one hand, you could hear Pop’s frustration in the post-game interview that we did so many things well, including taking 11 more FGAs – so we created chances well, we won several of the categories that are our strengths - but because 3s cover a lot of flaws as well as skip over a lot of actual basketball play, those good things sometimes get overlooked, especially when the results don’t go our way.

We must keep in mind to control what we can. Taking more 3s per game is one aspect, and rotating better to contest 3s is another. We continue to miss proper switches and rotations, and at times these affect our final contests. Zach mentioned post-game that we over commit to paint coverage, and we have tended to drop so much or not run out to contest as if to protect against drives and then give up to open attempts. The final issue is absolute effort on the contests. There have been games where we run out at the shooting hand hip side so well, and others where we don’t even put a hand up, so that effort has to be there consistently.

Resilience is a difficult mental discipline, and we’re getting plenty of practice this season. January is actually our second highest PPG scoring month of the season with 114.3, second highest in assists per game at 27.2 but our shot distribution has shifted so that what we do well we’ve gotten better at (PITP, FT’s) whereas what has been a challenge, 3s and D, are a work in progress we must stay committed to.

We have to make sure that we get the ball to our best shooters at the arc consistently as well. Doug actually had plenty of chances but struggled at 2-9, 2-5 from 3, 0-1FT, and 1 board. When he’s not scoring, it’s hard to have him out there because he is such a defensive liability. It also hurt us that were didn’t have JRich available. In playing three rookies, we live with the levels of experience and growth of each. Malaki (2-6, 0-3 from 3, 2-2FTs) scored 6 points but also chipped in 5 boards, 2 assists, and 1 steal; Blake was scoreless (0-2, 0-1 from 3) but he did get a block.

Collins has raised his floor, his confidence, and our ceiling with his steady two-way play, and his aggressive attitude. There are no half measure with him and I love that about his game, even as he expands it with better moves and a nice touch around the rim. He finished with a bench high 16 on 6-10, 1-2 from 3, 3-4FTs, along with team high 11 boards (and team high 4 on O), and tied for team high 2 blocks. A tremendous effort, one that mitigates drop off elsewhere.

Stanley has provided a steady two-way game, one with disruptive physicality and a calm demeanor through his experience. He was the other bench double digit scorer for us with 10 on 4-6, 0-1 from 3, 2-2FTs as well as 2 boards (1 on O), 2 assists, and 1 steal.

Overall, with four main bench players in double digit minutes (plus Blake, 6, and Roby, 1) and only two of them efficient our bench was outscored 48-38, and managed only 4 of our 26 assists.

Though overall our O has been reliable enough to put ourselves in a good position to compete, and though our top scorer was once again our top scorer (Keldon finished with 26 on 12-21, 2-7 from 3 – efficiency has dropped over time and needs a pick up, 0-2FTs, along with 4 boards, 2 on O, 4 assists, 2 steals), three starters were in single digits in scoring. Tre led us in assists as he usually does with 9, and 4 boards (1 on O), and he’s varied his shots better this season, but he’s still working at steadying the O floor in terms of efficiency.

And while yes 3s against were the difference, we also had two 19-point Qs. The zone D we faced in the 2ND Q is certainly something we can work on penetrating and breaking down better. We can implement zone D more of ourselves, but it’s really the reps and corrections in real time by Pop and players making good on them that will keep instilling the right habits. Along the way, and especially while mired in a losing streak, we must be ever mindful on what we can do better, on what is within our control, and move on from each play so that we mitigate the snowball effect of runs and turn them around more quickly. Keep at it. We have everything to gain long-term from all the opportunities we have right now.

[G R E Y]

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

Coming soon...

[G R E Y]

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

Coming soon...