SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 33: SPURS VS. CLIPPERS, 31-12-2024, 6PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 91 CLIPPERS 63

I mean this with the respect it deserves, but Steph Castle is A LOT closer in Dev's rear view mirror than I expected. Like he's a dependable 3s shot away. Amazing hustle and willingness to drive (5-6FTs), intuitive anticipation on D, deft passer, makes his shots - well the most of the ones he creates, right now more at the rim.

Bench pouring in 38 points so far.

MUCH BETTER BALANCE of D and O, passing and off ball movement, starter and bench contributions.

[DorianRo]

WTF.. Get Wemby out of there idiot. Lets not get our franchise player and MVP of the league hurt. Yeesh

[G R E Y]

Wemby got too cute with the handles and got stripped. Learning lesson.

[G R E Y]

Unc Barnes with the vintage stutter step and drive and finish. Sweet vet moves.

[G R E Y]

Timmy text to Sean incoming 3...2...1...

[G R E Y]

HEY SPURS PASS IT TO THE TALLEST ON THE COURT WITH HIS HAND UP DOWN LOW...

[G R E Y]

101 Spurs points at the 7:52 mark of the 4TH Q

[G R E Y]

BLAKE SIGHTING!

[G R E Y]

Collins O board great work continuing.

Julian airball lmao duuuuuuuuuuude... *sigh*

Misses Wemby with a pass ahead earlier.

Then takes it in himself.

Then airballs his bread and butter.

Julian in the champagnie early...

[G R E Y]

MAMU MINUTES!!!

[G R E Y]

We have Blake, Castle, Julian, Mamu, Collins in with about 7 and a half minutes left.

Julian 3 and fouled. +1

[G R E Y]

Branham comes in for Castle now.

[G R E Y]

Collins again works for the O board.

Collins gets it in at the rim.

[G R E Y]

Mamu scores.

SIDY AND BASSEY IN!

[G R E Y]

MAMU block!

We have Blake, Branham, SIdy, Mamu, Bassey in for the final 5+ minutes.

[G R E Y]

Mamu alley, Bassey dunk!

[G R E Y]

Blake kick out to Branham left corner for the smooth 3.

[G R E Y]

Blake alley, Sidy dunk!

[G R E Y]

SIDY HEAD UP AND PIN POINT PASS AHEAD FOR THE TEAMMATE DUNK. I think Blake finished it.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 122 CLIPPERS 86

Proper way to usher in the New Year with that win, that is!

Much better rotations, much better sets, much better D, much better perimeter and rim scoring and protection balance, and everyone who played - that's everyone - scored.

Wemby led us and he hunted points in unexpected places, more middies and more work inside. 27 (10-18, 1-6 from 3, 6-7FTs)/9/5/1/3 blocks. Awesome. Worked really hard to get better positioning on his counterparts. Took advantage of mismatches, and we did well to get him the ball in these situations and various court spots.

Collins with excellent support behind him with work for O boards and points inside.

Castle quickly reminded everyone (well those who thought we could do without, we can't) all the winningplays he brings on both ends.

Keldon has really improved his finishing touch and craftiness at the tail end of his still physical drives. Again, underrated.

Really nice to see Mamu, Sidy et all play late. Both looked solid, as did Blake who had 4 assists in 8 minutes. Branham shot smoothly and within our sets, passed the ball when he was supposed to. Can't wait for more Mamu and Sidy minutes.

Tre was a pest and forced a foul.

I see Julian led the bench with +16 but he looked shaky on both ends. Had a nice block, but really he benefits from drafting effects that the Wemby leading force generates. It's part of his job to make others better, but finding your way when he's not on the court and raising the floor stands out, too. Good block, transition running, but decisions with the ball continue to confound. Better just get the ball and shoot it.

Bench poured in 65 points.

So good to see us going back to our identity and even though we shot poorly from 3 (9-40) we crushed them on the boards, 58-41 including 15-10 on O boards, we crushed them 62-38 PITP, edged them 12-11 in second chance points, and went back to our passing game with 37 assists to only 10TOs. Our energy in pushing the pace also translated in many more D to O transition buckets. We dominated the fast break 32-12. Running them into the ground as they were on a travel B2B was just the ticket. Nobody felt sorry for us when this was our circumstance. Credit for not trying to reinvent the Spurs identity wheel and going back to our fundamentals. We have a system in which we can plug and play many players effectively and use that to great effect tonight.

Hopefully Sochan's back will heal fully and quickly. He was terrific on man D. Finishing at the rim is a hit or miss mystery. Actually it's not a mystery - he just needs to get some fakes into his toolkit. Smaller guys finish better and his going against much bigger Cs to predictable results should garner some reflection about how to do it differently. He has enough feedback there.

Dev, mate, Castle closing in. I appreciate the middy game but he wasn't hunting drives as much and he wasn't doing enough of running sets to completion but setting himself up. I dont mind his calling his own number (not so much Julian...) but better balance with running our sets. Castle 6-7FTs; Dev, 0. Castle 15 points on 5-8, 0-3 from 3 in 23 minutes; Dev 8 points on 4-14, 0-6 from 3 in 26 minutes. Steph 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block; Dev 3 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals. Yes, complementary, for now, but at some points you can see too much overlap and the necessity to make some hard choices going forward. That point will come sooner than we perhaps anticipated, like it has with Wemby's emergence.

Our vets were instrumental glues with Barnes' hustle nosing after the ball and crafty drives and distance shooting; CP3 with the vintage vision and teammate and pace control. Both efficient nights.

Really nice to see us playing within our wheelhouse and you could see the familiarity and reps doing a lot of work.

Led by Wemby, and with better action around him, total team win on both ends. Very satisfying way to finish this year and usher in momentum into 2025.

HAPY NEW YEAR, SPURS FAMILY!!!


GSG