GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 20: SPURS VS. CLIPPERS, 29-11-2019, 7:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

If there's ever a time to bring a complete game on both ends for the full length of the tilt, tonight is it. We'll have to make sure we keep distractions at bay and stay mentally focused on our game. Grit, resilience, and finishing strong are the cornerstones from which we build stronger team play. Let's get after it!

WHERE: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX

WHEN: Friday, November 29, 2019, 7:30pm (CT)

Read on Twitter

GO SPURS GO!!!

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

Bah! Excuse me, ducler, appreciate the dedication to the line-up posts, but as we tinker with ours, here is yet another change to the starting unit:

Read on Twitter

Hmm interesting. Assuming it's DJ, Bryn, DD, LMA, then Rudy adds a versatile scorer who can create his own shot and hit the 3. A more mobile, better matched unit, too, for the purposes of this specific game.

[G R E Y]

Early trend: when we don't run back on D we give up mismatches; when we run on O we get open shots. Fix the one, maintain the other.

I like our ball movement and effort to drive.

[G R E Y]

Requisite why is Beli in querry...

[Ballings7]

Impressive win... team really needed that, maybe they can ride off of this and get some momentum. Pretty cool that they've beat Kawhi both times he has come back, and while losses, Kawhi's teams have beaten the Spurs at his homecourt both times, though not by much.

Contained or shut down basically the Clips 3 top scorers... Kawhi, Lou, and PG. All with multiple TOs as well shows it was a pretty tough night. And the team as a whole did not shoot that well other than from 3, even there from 36% isn't real good, but average percentage on 33 attempts.

Spurs should stick with this lineup until Murray develops his shot and facilitating more. They also really moved the ball and didn't over-rely on DeRozan, Aldridge... Derrick White getting more in the groove recently will help out a lot. White was big tonight.

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

I missed some parts of the game, so it was good to see this compilation:

Read on Twitter

[G R E Y]

I missed chunks of the game, but from the rest I saw it was the most fun to watch all season. The players, bench, and fans were all so into it. Great vibe.

I loved our energy and assertive effort from the beginning of the game, our grit and resilience throughout it, and our strong finish. It was the most complete defensive output both individually and collectively, and it fueled our O.

And although our FT shooting was a stellar 13-14, it's not as if our shooting percentages were so out of the norm bloated that they were the sole reason we pushed through, a pedestrian 43%FG and better-than-of-late but hardly record setting 38.9% from 3. We did start with a more assertive game plan and we moved the ball well and drove with more physicality than we have in previous games. The main thing was that we stayed more consistent and despite hitting the same amount of FTs as our opponents, executing the game plan opened up shooters for us, and we needed and got a variety of scoring to prevent our O from getting easier to defend. We generated shots from among other things moving the defense, from D to O transition, from some alley oops, and from O rebound putbacks. And everybody contributed and fed off the very solid defense: we finished with more steals, blocks, assists, and fewer turnovers.

We've fared far better this season when we haven't been down by double digits, and their largest lead was 8. We've given up big leads because of lax play and settling for outside shots and self-inflicted turnovers especially in the fourth Q, but we mitigated their runs with defensive stops and counter-punched with concerted force: great rotations for help D blocks, staying in front of drivers enough to disrupt shots, deflecting passes for steals that led to running in transition for easy baskets, sharing the ball but not over-passing, and making quick decisions. It also helped that we had better shot selection as guys were sharing the ball more, and didn't take it too early or late in the shot clock.

Though noticeably fewer than in previous games, when we did have lapses Pop's game management was on point. A bad P&R read resulting in an easy basket or two consecutive points and the timeout grounded us and got us going on the right path again. Our execution out of timeouts was solid, and we didn't have any of those inbound brain cramps as before.

The rotation minutes were a bit of a surprise since DeMarre was a DNP and Lonnie played only one minute, but I think Pop goes with guys he feels comfortable with and that's directly tied to knowing and executing the system. All games count equally, but let's be frank, some are bigger than others. Players have to approach it mentally as 'just another game' so they don't get psyched out, and we did a great job channeling that into playing well. And to whatever extent that is facilitated by carrying out the game plan and limiting outliers and disruptions to that flow, Pop goes with who he trusts. Beli knows the system and spaces the floor. He's so streaky that opponents have to come out to him. That he made some shots helped. It's known info that DeMarre still has issues with knowing where to go on O and Lonnie, well, bless him, he's so important for us, but known assets with set roles were ahead of him.

The group that did play was the more focused team and kept finding vulnerabilities and exploiting them. A lot of that had to do with the mindset of making sure we kept running down the court to make something happen be it a layup, a foul call, dunk, or putback. Rudy had an off shooting night, but he kept running the floor, driving and being active defensively; Dejounte, Trey, and LMA positioned themselves for putbacks; LMA and Jakob's four blocks each gave us 4-5 point swing chances we converted which energized the team and the crowd.

Jakob looked all the more engaged this game. His excellent recognition, response, mobility and timing on help D provided much needed rim protection. As he contributes more, he grow in his role, and part of that is showing some more grit; I like seeing him more assertive calling for fouls from the refs. His defensive numbers show his reliability and importance as one of our main anchors. He can come across as kind of unassuming, but there's no questioning his competitive spirit on the court.

In that sense, he's a bit like Derrick - quiet off the court, but with some bite on it. Derrick was a solid floor general for us, and when he's assertive on O good things happen. He set a career-high with five made 3s, and these were critical for the starting unit on a night when Bryn didn't have his outside shot going early (two 3s in the fourth were clutch, though, so full credit to him). Derrick help spread the D with his outside shot and because defenders had to respect it, it opened up chances for teammates. He does tend to have a missed bunny layup often enough that it registers, and it's peculiar that it keeps happening. He uses his body well to protect the ball, but the finish is sometimes too soft. Maybe better glass angles will help, I'm not sure, but it's like he has to get one out of his system and then he resets and plays with sound fundamentals again. It's a small point in an otherwise terrific overall PG leadership performance on both ends. At 28 minutes, he was a few minutes above his average, and this increase serves his rhythm and the team well.

Trey comes across as almost too passive at times, but tonight he showed some hustle and fight running the floor and dunking a putback. He had a more assertive energy in this game. This bench role and his comfort in it seems to be really suiting him. Some 3s, some layups in transition, some rebounds, assists, and a steal - a sharp Swiss army knife performance.

FIBA Patty really knows how to rise to the occasion, and here he was once again being the spirited bench leader we needed. He led the bench in minutes, scoring, made 3s, and enthusiasm. He's actually having a career season so far in several categories. Worth ever penny and more.

LMA and DeMar were their best selves tonight. Each got their favourite shots in pet spots, but each also was willing to play more of the transition game. We had a much better balance between it and the half court set, in part because the ball didn't stick in the latter. LMA didn't have an efficient scoring night, but he still led us in scoring (17), FT attempts (7-8) and assists (7!), plus 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 4 blocks. DeMar is having a career high efficiency season so far, and pitched in 15 on 7-16, led the team in rebounds (9) and steals (3), plus had 5 assists. Out two leading scorers combined for 12 assists, so the did a great job finding teammates. Dare I say DeMar played solid man and help defense in this game, and ... even hit a 3. You know it's a good night when.... We had six players in double figures and held an opponent to under 100.

It was our most complete game of the season in terms of good defense, flow in offense, and playing hard for all four quarters. As Jakob said in a post-game interview, "It felt like that's how we were supposed to play all season and that's what we're capable of doing."

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

Read on Twitter