SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 31: SPURS AT BLAZERS, 29-12-2023, 9PM (CT)

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Tre is now limping FFS

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3RD Q: SPURS 94 BLAZERS 104

Hey look who stormed back to WIN a 3RD Q? We finished the Q on a 14-2 and were and end of Q Keldon 3 miss from bring the 20+ point deficit down to single digits.

We won this on 38-33 which is a terrific result considering how we started and how much we were down.

And this was done largely by the second and third unit players. Mamu in for Dom made a big difference. He's far more experienced and doesn't get phased by playing at this level.

We got the ball to Doug often for lots of 3s.

We just need to keep pushing. Play smart. Play together. D to O.

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We didn't need that 3 early in the reset clock, Keldon.

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We have Mamu, Cedi, Doug, Branham, Keldon starting the 4TH Q.

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WHERE THE **** WAS THE HELP D?!

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ANOTHER **** INBOUNDS TURNOVER AFTER A TIMEOUT.

**** SIT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO THINGS RIGHT.

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We now have Mamu, Sochan, Keldon, Devin, Branham in.

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And Tre subs in for... Mamu. Super small ball.

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4 of 5 starters in and we did that inbounds TO and now a defensive 3 seconds tech.

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Good Devin man D, gets the deflection, we push D to O for a Branham layup. Deficit down to 10 again.

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Pop timeout after ANOTHER bad D read wherein we don't cover the shooter on the switch. That was on Keldon, by the way. Stayed in the paint because lol

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THREE **** MISTAKES IN ONE PLAY: We had three Spurs in the paint as they kicked out for a 3; then we didn't box out as they got the O board but missed the put back; then we got our hands on the bal and passed behind a team mate, turning it over.

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Beautiful baseline drive and reverse finish by Devin. Now there the hell was that the entire game?

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No box out. AGAIN.

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We pass ahead to Sochan who loses the bobbled ball out of his hands for a TO.

What's maddening about him is this stubbornness to not give a **** when he doesn't care to.

Like say what you will about Keldon but the guy TRIES.

Missing effort from Sochan and Devin tonight really hurt us with Wemby out.

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TO leading to a Keldon dunk.

More of these in the last 40 seconds lol

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4TH Q: SPURS 128 BLAZERS 134

When you win two Qs, tie another and lose one badly...

When you miss 7FTs in a 6-point game...

When you allow the opponent to shoot almost 60% fro 3 so that they end up making two more 3s in a 6-point game...

When you TO four inbounds passes and three end up in buckets against...

Yeah there were chances all over the place.

And with Wemby out, and then Zach who shouldered much of the two-way work had to leave the court, we needed Devin to step up and he made shots - a pretty baseline reverse finish, some off the dribble 3s (quick decisions to do so), but he was a complete liability with his passive play for too much of the game.

Devin had 4 points at the half and 10 points after three Qs. So yeah finishing with 22 is deceptive. "Thanks" for stepping up for you numbers when there was no pressure and when we needed more during getting 42 rammed on us in that crucial 2ND Q.

We need him to LEAD with energy and hustle and smart two-way play, not settle for Js, pick up his dribble, pull out of the paint. That he showed much better play in the 4TH Q is all the more frustrating because you know it's actually there and he didn't bring it.

Keldon make defensive mistakes but at least he tried hard every time he was out there. He led us with 29 on 9-18, 3-8 from 3, team high 8-11FTs, team high 7 boards (2 on O), team high 7 assists, 1 steal, and only 1TO. It was an EXCELLENT performance all around, yes even if the defense awareness on bad reads and camping in the paint (again) still happened. He was relentless with his energy and heart.

We NEED this from Devin. He's been disappointing for too many consecutive games. He can't be a passenger out there, surveying. He has to start with with downhill play, with setting others up, with getting D stops.

Even though he finished with 4 steals (team high), and starter high 5 assists, he was also -6 for the night.

His back court partner Branham was a game high -24 for largely being a defensive sieve. 11 on 5-12, 1-3 from 3 along with 6 boards (3 on O), 3 assists, 1 steal, but his particular skill set is better suited for a bench scoring punch role. He is out of his element versus starting back courts he faces.

Sochan was somehow even worse than Devin and that's saying something. He scored a mere 2 points - TWO **** POINTS! - 0-3, 2-2FTs, 4 boards (1 on O), 4 assists, 1 steal, 3TOs. Just a negligent performance, poor O effort, and the GAF level is something that he can't be impressed upon to increase when he stubbornly doubles down on it. Not sure if it's passive aggressive or what, but he really didn't give what he is capable of, and combine that with only 7 points from Julian, there was too much to overcome.

So when three starters don't combine for Devin's 22 points and barely score more than Zach's 17 points (8-10, 0-1 from 3, 1-3FTs along with 3 boards, 1 on O, 2 assists, 1 block) and he only played 18 minutes, it makes for a tough night for our D and for the rest of the team.

Turns out our bench stepped up to usher the comeback: our bench once again outscored the opponent's 69-45. In other words, our bench outscored our starters by 10 points.

Combine that with 14TOs (though we were +5 in points scored off them, the points we did give up were costly) and the second chance points off of O boards made for a running in mud kind of game - messy with lots of slips.

We did close the FGA gap so that we shot only 1 fewer FG. We also closed the rebounding discrepancy so that we were down 43-42 and 13-11 on O boards.

I loved the effort in the second half which we actually won 72-63, a rare improvement, but man do we ever need our top players to be consistently better. An average hustle game from Devin and an average scoring game from Sochan and the result could have easily gone in our favour.

We did win PITP 62-60 and won the fast break points 23-7, had 32 assists, shot 52% overall, 42% from 3, so there were some good aspects, but yeah it boils down to expecting and getting the best from our best players, needing them leading by example with smart running of plays, setting up team mates, downhill play rather than settling for Js. Keldon got the memo. Devin and Sochan folded theirs into paper airplanes and tossed them around for too much of the game. Do better, guys.

Dom didn't stand out well. He tries, is in the right spots on D but gets scored on, makes good footwork based spins in the paint to get into positions to score, but his rim finishing was erratic and poor (2 points on 1-6). Not ready for the moment. The moment Mamu subbed in for him we got passes inside, got moving on and off ball, got buckets.

Doug blitzed the opponent for 6-9 from 3 (6-9 overall); Cedi chipped in 2-4.

Tre rebounded with a crisp 7-9, 8 boards (3 on O again on those trailing drivers for cleanup of putbacks in transition), 6 assists, to 3TOs.

Yeah it boils down to navigating the lulls in the game better, communication on D for better switches and arc contests, boxing out, and getting more leadership by example from our more of our top players. On to the next one with more of our guys doing their best.

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