SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 82: SPURS AT MAVS, 9-4-2023, 2:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

Love that play where we pass to a driver down the middle and with him another player slides down and gets the pass on the strong side.

It's how Mamu made that beautiful fake and make in the paint yesterday and now Tre dishes to him inside.

[G R E Y]

We have Tre and Diop with three nineteen-year olds building the lead.

[G R E Y]

WOW what a beautiful basket!

Can't wait for that highlight!

EDIT: Here it is!

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Pretty drive and dish to a trailing Dom down low for the basket and foul!

[G R E Y]

Blake with the pass it to your tallest team mate who has good position down low. Dieng splits two defenders for the basket.

[G R E Y]

Dom O board putback slam!

[G R E Y]

Blake again picks up his dribble arly anticipating that team mates will go to the right spots rather than responding to what was actually going on. He will learn to not do that like Tre did.

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 138 MAVS 117

Wildly overdue but for the sake of consistency, one last one for this season Nice to be at a proper keyboard again.

A game after scoring 131 and losing by 20, we poured in 138 and won by 21. The outcome looked all but decided early when we dropped a 42-14 1ST Q but as ever, how we respond to various situations and what we learn from them has been the focus this season.

And so giving up 45 in the next Q was downright ugly despite scoring a respectable 29. ‘Let's guard the arc’ has been an aspirational mantra this season and it still ever applied even in this Q alone as they got hot. We were 6-12 from 3 to their 1-11 in the 1ST and then it reversed 3-10 by us to their 7-12 in the 2ND. We got cute, over-relied on our previous hot hand, and got burned by theirs. It should always be D-out no matter what, but given our D rating this season was last, it was a pattern that we reverted to when we had white hot shooting.

In fairness, many, even great, teams get too comfortable with big leads, settle in too much, and let opponents close the gap. But that we allowed so many 3s from specialists who got hot is once again, clips for film. In fairness, too, some of the contests, the hard effort ones at the hip and shooting hand should get video clips as well and be shown as 'well we know we can do better because look! we've done it' as contrasts to those breakdowns where rotations and effort hindered us.

But given our opponent played only eight players, and we played only nine, both with starting fives that were surely firsts, there was going to be some messy coverages. STILL, expectations are that we show some improved understanding and effort, and after that weird 2ND Q blip, we went back to pouring in 37 and 30 in each of the final two respective Qs while holding our opponent to 32 and 26.

It was really about how certain players stepped up for us as well how we played together. As Pop has been stating more directly towards the final games of the season, guys are playing for jobs, be it with us or elsewhere.

To that end, even though all of our starters - comprised of a first round rookie, second round PG, a second round SF previously claimed off waivers, a second round big claimed off waivers this season, and an undrafted two-way forward - scored in double figures, I wanted to highlight Dom Barlow's game first and foremost.

An undrafted nineteen-year-old rookie, someone I recall really liking during last year's draft, thrilled we signed him, and he's looked poised beyond his years, not phased going against seasoned, bigger pros despite getting shoved and bounced around by them. He kept getting back up. That's the first thing that has stood out consistently. He never really lost his temper even when he had reason to. That's another.

If minutes indicate who we wanted a good long look at, Dom leading us with 34 gave us a solid chance, and gave him ample opportunity to respond. And respond he did, leading us with game-high 19 rebounds and game-high 6 on O. For a wiry but not yet muscular physique, Dom showed out with smarts and effort and timing. He has a knack for using his unassuming presence to sneak in and get tap ins. He's one of those players for whom effort is rewarded with the ball finding him more often than not. Positioning, timing, willing to absorb contact, BBIQ, poise, touch.

Not only did he get career high in rebounds but also in points, scoring 21, bench high, second highest for us overall, on 8-11, 7-5FTs to go along with one each of assist, block, and steal. He was busy and contributing well on both ends in a variety of ways. That efficiency and those FT chances came on all of his shots taken in the restricted area exclusively. In the 18 Austin games he played, he made 7-22 from 3, but in the 28 games with the big club he's taken only four from the arc, missing all of them, which is to say that he *can* take longer shots, just has focused almost exclusively on 2s, and from these, more than half were in the 0-3’ range. That's fine. Lots of room to grow. But considering his role, his finishing at 53.5% for the season puts him at second behind Diop in PF efficiency. I know I know, sample size and opponents. Still, these are encouraging as they trend the right way.

Love his patience on opponent fakes - he keeps his feet planted and uses good timing to get blocks. He's learned well from one game to the next, too. He tended to reach forward with his arms and get called for fouls and adjusted to keeping them straight up. Really hope we keep him.

Next in minutes with 33 were rookie, Blake, and waiver claimee rookie Julian. Blake played 37 games for us this season having missed months due to an injury so he's gotten fewer reps than our other two drafted rookies. His physical attributes - speed, quickness, arm length - stand out as much as his rawness does. But what also stands out is his resilience in taking a Pop tongue lashing or two and his determination to get back out there and keep trying. It's an important attribute for a young, green player who has a great opportunity in his return. Although he's struggled with efficiency (a lot of it having to do with an unrefined finishing game at the rim) he's found other ways to contribute and this is encouraging.

Like Barlow, Blake took 11 shots, making 4, including 2-3 from 3, along with 6 boards, and team high 9 assists. He was a pest defensively, bothering ball handlers up high, sometimes getting caught for fouls but in others getting deflections.

Julian had his star moment with his sharp shooting previously and although he wasn't as efficient, he still scored 16 on surely green-lit volume, making 5-16 (our second highest attempts), 3-10 from 3 (team high in 3s attempts), and 3-4FTs. I liked as well that he looked for other ways to chip in with 10 boards (1 on O), one of four Spurs with double doubles, and 3 assists.

The only other player to reach the 30-minute PT mark was Mamu with 31 and in that time he led us in points (23), and attempts (17), making 8, led us with 4 made 3s on 7 attempts, starter high 6FTAs (made only 3), 11 boards (starter high 3 on O), with 4 assists, and 1 block for game high +27 as well. Mamu is an interesting case. Such a Spursy player, unassuming, great court vision and passing, lefty which is handy as opponents are less used to defending it, and just hustles. He can do a little bit of everything. Serviceable, with a higher ceiling than we may have anticipated. The big difference with him versus Roby is the fluidity, understanding of impact within the team concept, and effort. What a great swap. Kudos to PATFO.

Next we had Diop and Malaki with 24 starter minutes each. They’re actually second and third, respectively, in games played this season, so kudos to consistency. Diop is so unassuming, the ultimate plug and play glue guy who gives you a bit of everything. You look up and suddenly he has 17 on 7-14, 1-2 from 3, 2-4FTs, 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Sharp shooter in the making Malaki scored 20 on 2-2FTs, a solid 8-15, but considering he was 2-7 from 3, he was really a stellar 6-8 in non-3s, and these once again comprised of attempts and makes in the deep paint, unrestricted paint, and non-paint. Three-level scoring, testing his toolkit and chops versus experienced defenders, making more of the glass as the season progressed for better finishing at the rim, and brimming with confidence throughout. He’s already garnering positive comments from road TV crews about his mature and tough shot making. Given how he’s improved this season, I can’t wait to see what he brings out of his bag next year. Three rebounds and no assists and no other measured box score stats may hide his impact but also reveal where he could made a bigger one.

Tre, our ever reliable PG already, led us with 8 assists and grabbed 3 boards while scoring 13 on 6-9, 1-2 from 3 in 23 workmanlike minutes.

Dieng looked to try and make the most of his 23 bench minutes also scoring 13 on 4-8, 2-6 from 3 (bench high in arc attempts), 3-4FTs, along with 10 boards (1 on O), 4 assists, and 1 block. It was a rare assertive O game from him, one in which he looked for his smooth, aesthetically pleasing shot which was nice to see. He still balanced it with rim protection and finding team open team mates well. I thought he sagged too much/ didn’t run out to contest distance shots. Way too many open shots allowed by us.

Then again, they did take 53 from the arc. Fifty-three. Out of 108FGAs. Gross. We shot a respectable 36.5% of our attempts from the arc, above our average 20th ranked 32.2 attempts per game, but not overly so. They’re third with 41 attempted 3s per game and still eclipsed that mark. That’s a LOT of running out and chasing shots.

It explains the FT and rebound disparity as we had a big 21-30 to 8-16 advantage at the charity stripe as well as a huge 69-46 (including 13-8 on O) rebounding one. We created good chances to get to the FT line, but making 70% of our chances needs improving. Good that we won one of our strength categories with a 62-48 PITP advantage. Thirty-one assists to only 12 TO’s is a solid ratio but giving up 19 points on the latter has been a season-long pattern we’ve been battling against.

I got to see four Spurs games live this season but hope of watching Sochan play continues. Until next year!

[G R E Y]

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

HIGHLIGHTS

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

POST-GAME INTERVIEWS

Watch on YouTube