GAME DAY, BALA! RESTART GAME 3: SPURS VS. 76ERS, 3-8-2020, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

A quick turnaround for the second game of a back-to-back has us playing our sole East opponent. There's no time to relish in the result which is just as well as it's next man up, next game up. We'll have to counter their talent with our variety, depth, and hustle. It's a pace and space world and we're developing a style that best suits our strengths to flourish in it. Our defense and playing clean will be crucial as will continuing to make 3s and FTs if we want growth and good results against all odds.

WHERE: VISA Athletic Center Orlando, FL

WHEN: Monday, August 3, 2020, 7pm (CT)

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GO SPURS GO!!!

[G R E Y]

STARTERS: DJ, Derrick, Lonnie, DeMar, Jakob

Beli and Bryn are out.

[G R E Y]

BREAKING NEWS: DeMar has hit a 3! I repeat, DeMar has hit a 3!!!

Bubble development in full effect

[G R E Y]

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[G R E Y]

We've gone away from the egalitarian style of play that gets everyone involved, giving them the responsibility to find ways to contribute for getting the vets more chances. True DD and Rudy are hot, but we HAVE to get the other guys involved more. Lonnie was 0-1 and Keldon 1-2 in the first half. Q showed up well, Jakob in foul trouble with no points, so we need to rely on on our team

ON CUE: Lonnie basket

[Ballings7]

Tough loss.. time for Denver, feel like that'll be a blow out.

[G R E Y]

I seldom complain about refs as every play counts, and it is still true in this game. But there's no denying that Embiid's shot clock violation alone was a clear no-basket, and there was another call I have to recall that was egregious and their points should not have counted. The Embiid one alone was crucial. We have to make sure we're fired up for all the next games from this.

[G R E Y]

Fought hard.

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[Milenkovic]

Didn't expect to win this game, but we should've

On the back of a back to back to play the way we did, really makes me optimistic for the future

P.s Give Derrick Manu White whatever the hell he wants.

[G R E Y]

Lessons. Tough ones, but if we needed this game to learn from them, let's get through it now for better responses in the following games.

First I want to address the calls and non-calls. Starting with the latter, obviously it was a shot clock violation and that basket shouldn't have counted. I don't understand why that couldn't be reviewed.

The call that was made that shouldn't have been that I referred to earlier is when Derrick drove to the basket at 119-118 and instead of it counting to make it 120-119, it was reversed and called a travel when it was clearly a two-foot jump stop which is clearly legal.

So that's a four-point swing in a two-point game. **** infuriating.

We fought so hard to get back from a 14-point deficit against a full team and without three starters and a regular rotation player who is a 3-point shooter. We fought so hard in our third game in four nights.

But in the remaining time of the game besides these plays, we had many opportunities on both ends. Starting with the final plays, DJ clearly shouldn't have sagged off the inbounder, who also happens to shoot the 3 well. So what if their C got the ball - at most it would have been a tie (unless of course he was fouled). Cardinal Rule 101 is to watch out for the inbounder, but he was left wide open instead. On the other end, Jakob is frustratingly tentative with his finishing around the rim. A 7-footer who doesn't need to a lot of hops to dunk it is more about an attitude of finishing no matter what. I'd rather he take an O foul in finishing hard than that soft effort to finesse it in when he's being contested by two defenders. He's done this time and again and time and again has had to be told to finish hard only for him to revert to finessing again. Not good. When will it sink in? The ball happened to go off DJ's hands and we couldn't get the possession back, but at least he was in on the rebound action.

Before that, there were a few sequences in which they hit consecutive 3s that were far too open because we messed up on rotations and didn't even run out to contest. Our defense just wasn't as crisp and disciplined as in the previous couple of games. Also, our hustle for 50/50 balls wasn't as aggressive as before. These are about our effort and determination to flat out not get beat. If it was a physical issue because of the three games in four nights, I hope we come back with more physicality. If this was about getting comfortable because we won a couple of games, well hopefully it sinks in that we cant take any plays off.

DeMar has kept up his terrific, efficient play, and he was actually solid on D as well with a steal and two blocks and good help D. He and Rudy were cooking and it kept us to within two-points at the half, but there's an element of our old style of play creeping in when the vets take charge early in the game. It's more about reverting to a mental space of letting them operate and the young guys playing off them rather than getting them more involved from the outset and creating a multi-pronged attack, which we did more of in the first game, and when the young guys all stepped up. But relying on vets too much too early tends to trickle into old defensive habits I mentioned earlier, and we better just let go of those as some sort of safety net, but it's really a ledge; we can't step back.

DJ had a bad shooting game, and his shot chart showed him operating almost exclusively within and around the key. I feel like at times he wants to take the hero shot to put us ahead even when he's not shooting well. Better to read the situation and give the ball to a hotter hand. I like that he has improved his J, but feel as if he tends to fall back on it too much. Yes, you take what the D gives you, but also find ways to assert another way of scoring and being a threat at the basket. It looks like he drove three times. On the one hand, it's hard to do against their front court; on the other it can't be only DeMar operating inside. Derrick had another great all around, efficient scoring game, and both got to the FT line well. Maybe we can find ways for more alley oop plays but that requires a more transition-movement-loose style that we showed in the previous games.

It's good that they can play off one another, and when they do, we get good results. When the young guys are in together there's better ball movement and hustle, but today we had too many instances of too much dribbling by whoever brought the ball up. Again, as DeMar goes, so does the team. Sometimes it's good in terms of facilitating, but in carving a new identity and style of play, I'd rather the young guys find ways to score within our pace and movement style as they have been when not falling back to letting vets do it. In the end it's about a balance in which everyone can contribute.

I liked what Q brought in this game. That sequences of stripping the ball on D and stepping into a 3 was terrific. He's alert and a bulldog with a big mobile body who is adept at running our sets. Good poise for someone who is just getting his first NBA experience. He is showing he can generate his own positive momentum with his play.

Of course, the spark plug who shifts our gears most quickly is Keldon. He's wonderful. All out effort on every play. He just instictively looks to get involved and throws himself in there and good things happen. Career high 15 on 4-6, 1-1 from 3, and 6-7FTs (tied for team high in attempts with DeMar, even as he played 9 fewer minutes).

Kudos to Drew for leading us in rebounding with 10 and pitched in 6 points, 2 assists, 2 blocks. He filled in admirably for Jakob who got into fouls trouble early. Zeller got his first points as a Spur. I liked his rebounding prowess. They were part of a strong bench unit outscoring the opponent 58-37.

There's an element of disappearing in games that Lonnie has to work on. He's been largely solid on improving that by finding ways to make an impact, but he played 19 minutes, like Drew, Q, and Patty, and little impact on O, 2-5 for 5 points. I don't know if it's playing behind DeMar that at times makes him shrink, or that other guys who've been with the big club a shorter time are standing out more. But the reason they do is because they take it upon themselves to make an impact. Lonnie's lone finish at the rim was that great dunk, but besides that he had four outside shots, missing three. It's not about just these stats, it's about showing that hustle and he didn't have it today. It's ok in that he's learning to find his game alongside our other young guys, but even when DJ or Derrick have off O nights, they're making positive plays. It's about that energy to keep pursuing the ball and the right play one after another after another.

We somehow outrebounded them 44-35, including 13-8 on O, but it was also about when we had the possessions, and about taking advantage of the second chances more. The steals and blocks were just about even, but our 14 turnovers, several of the unforced kind, didn't help, even if we gave up fewer points on them than they did. Another third Q in which we wilted a bit had us trying to fight from behind. And fight we did for a great 43-point fourth Q. So in a close game you can point to any number of plays throughout the game that led to the result, but the details also show we did a lot of good things in tough circumstances. The details matter, but the broader patterns do as well.

I thought 3s and FTs were going to be important for us, and when it comes to efficiency we did well in both, 46.2% from the arc and 89.7% from the charity stripe. But the percentages hide a lower attempt rate from the 3 than in the previous games at only 26, so we need to make sure we generate more chances. In terms of variety, depth, and hustle, all three could have used a bit better balance and more juice.

This game was a tough task against an opponent whose strength is where we're depleted, so all the more reason to use our strengths of O movement and D intensity. It's tough the way this one went, but we have it and a couple of good wins from which to take in what we need to keep doing more of and what we need to do better.

NOTEWORTHY STATS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

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[Phreak50]

First restart game I've got to watch live from start to finish.

Lots of positives.

The negatives are sadly, our guys were like kids amongst giants at times on many of their drives, either having their shot blocked or heavily altered.

In a bit of a predicament with a young core of 'in the middle' guys, not quite a point or shooting guard and not quite a shooting guard or small forward.

Really disappointed in the theme of our big guys being soft. That last shot by Jakob reminded me of Splitter getting blocked by James. Most above average players in the league would have tried to stuff that.

But all in all a great fighting effort by a much less skilled (and much, much smaller) team.

Really happy to see the team happy and playing again and playing with and for each other. If nothing else, just what we needed to see in these not so bright times.