GAME DAY, BALA! PRE-SEASON GAME 3: SPURS VS. ROCKETS, 7-10-2018, 3PM (CT)

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Our third pre-season game, last at home, and the only one versus a West opponent. The Texas tilt should get the competitive juices going. Although some combinations are already clicking, we're still mixing players to see who fits well together. There were good signs of better, more competitive, and consistent D last game that I hope to see carried over to this one as well.

WHERE: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX

WHEN: Sunday, October 7, 2018, 3pm (CT)

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GO SPURS GO!

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STARTERS: DJ, DD, RUDY, JAK, LMA

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[Kabookalu]

Damn, hopefully Murray is okay.

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Dejounte fell in a heap of pain, but...

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Tough young man.

I hope he's ok.

EDIT to add:

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Looks like it's Derrick, DeMar, Rudy, Jakob, and LMA to start the second half.

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Well to address the most important issue first: hoping for the best for Dejounte. I read he walked on his own out of the arena with his knee iced. Hopefully it's like Kyle's situation last season or less.

So far, Jakob in this starting line-up with Dejounte, DeMar, Rudy, and LMA just isn't working. It's a quick and agile group, and Pau perhaps slows it down, but we need more of a facilitator and playmaker, and not a utility guy. The rest of the guys looked good together, with LMA, Rudy, and DeMar each getting and creating ample opportunities, but Jakob was invisible. Perhaps he can grow into that role, but the last couple of games as a starter his current role and skill set isn't being maximized with this group.

But for Rudy, DeMar, and Pau, team-wide the shooting was not as good as in the first two games. It was an abysmal 27.3% FGs and 18.2% from the 3 at the half. It improved to 38% FG by the end of the game, but that includes guys fighting for places on the team at the end of the game. We put up 21 3 attempts, matching the Rockets' FT attempts. Fifty-three of their 90 FGAs were from the arc. Fifty. Three. I hate that kind of game.

They pulled away to double digit leads several times, but we did a great job in contesting shots, D to O transitions, off ball movement and passing for easy shots to tie and pull ahead. The Patty, Bryn, Beli, Metu, Davis line-up stood out particularly well with chemistry, quick movement, great passing and excellent D hustle. Metu's block stood out - a sure bucket for them taken away with his quickness. Then the guys fighting for spots came in to play Houston's starters and that was game. They were more looking to show what they could do in limited minutes so rather than running plays it was more trying to get their opportunities. It looked a bit messy at times.

It's going to be an interesting choice if it is between Q-Pon and Jaron as each provides something different that he does well. Q-Pon was very good defensively on Harden. He was able to body JH without fouling and quick enough to stay with him and deflect a shot attempt. You could tell it was the kind of stifling physical defense that bothers Harden. Jaron is very athletic, runs the floor and is great at putbacks, with a decent J.

Solid D from both White and Bryn, and they are noticeably better at driving to the basket, but they also tend to finish too softly and with a spin to get it right into the hoop rather than using the glass. Team-wide there were a lot of missed bunnies tonight, both with shots close to the basket or O rebound putbacks. Bryn and Davis combined for 1-7 from the 3 which needs to be at a better rate more consistently seeing as how this is their specialty. Both contributed by going after it defensively, getting rebounds, moving well, passing, etc. Pau was solid off the bench with an efficient night of 8 points (3-4FGs, 2-2FTs) and team leading 9 rebounds in only 14 minutes.

DeMar is growing more comfortable with this unit, scoring 22 on 7-16FGs, 1-2 from 3, and 7-8FTs while also getting 2 rebounds, team high 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. At times he still was a bit slow getting his rhythm, but he didn't stagnate the group as much with it, and at other times he moved the ball crisply as part of movement that got some easy shots for us. Rudy and LMA have been in the system enough to know when and how they can get theirs, so it's good to see DeMar fitting in better with them and contributing across the board.

It was a different test for us today against a team with a style of play that requires a lot more perimeter contesting. It's a group effort, and it is rounding into form, and we'll need to rally around one another. Good thing we've got some experience doing that already.

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Marco's post-game interview:

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LMA's post-game interview:

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DeMar's post-game interview:

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[ChuckChilly]

Thanks for the thorough updates

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