GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 24: SPURS VS. WARRIORS, 8-2-2021, 7:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

We're home for the first of another back-to-back versus another West opponent. We're facing a depleted team, but that can make for a desperate and dangerous one. We must impose our transition, pace, and consistent competitiveness - oh, and keep someone on Curry at all times - to even out the series tonight.

WHERE: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX

WHEN: Monday, February 8, 2021, 7:30pm (CT)

Earn The Stripes Mode: Teamwork, D to O transition, and all out rim-rocking energy!









GO SPURS GO!!!

[G R E Y]

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[ducler]

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[G R E Y]

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[G R E Y]

We are not showing anywhere near the urgency we need to start.

They are doing to us what we ought to be doing to them - running in transition, beating our D down the court, and driving at us, which is opening up their 3s, too.

DRIVE HARD AT THEM, SPURS!

RUN BACK ON D!

[imagump1313]

See how other teams finish at the rim?
Besides Johnson and sometimes DeRozan when he isn't throwing his hands up looking for a cheap foul we are just weak

[imagump1313]

White is still hurt, shouldn't be playing. Its obvious.
Murray is literally the worst PG in the league.(I'll take that back, not the worst. The dumbest.)
Its comical how many weak shots that have no chance to go in, we take.

Positives? Keldon being Keldon. That's about it.....

[azwfan]

White is still hurt, shouldn't be playing. Its obvious.
Murray is literally the worst PG in the league.(I'll take that back, not the worst. The dumbest.)
Its comical how many weak shots that have no chance to go in, we take.

Positives? Keldon being Keldon. That's about it.....

Take a closer look at Wanamaker.

[imagump1313]

Take a closer look at Wanamaker.

You got me there, but not by much

Now Murray hits a couple shots, has the blinders on and thinks he's Jordan.

[G R E Y]

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We went on a 22-6 run for a stretch there to come back within striking distance.

This as too many of our scorers are ice cold. 3s are the difference for them.

Run back on D and MAKE OUR SHOTS, SPURS! WE CAN DO THIS!

[imagump1313]

Thanks Draymond LOL.

[G R E Y]

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AND WE DID!

Defense and momentum are a hell of a combination! Oh and some clutch shooting!

YES!!!!!

[G R E Y]

I love this SO much!!!

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[Phreak50]

Pop is living in the past trying to create something that is simply an illusion of Tony Parker.

Just done watching this one and Murray (as Gump says above) made some stupid decisions.

And despite his 8 steals, he did not defend all that well on his own player.

Will still never trust his shot. The league has nearly 70 players shooting over 40% from three, no one is playing defense with anywhere near the usual intensity.

I'd never bet anything of value on Murray making an open jumper when it matters, let alone a contested one.

We'd still be screwed without Derozan in most games. Yet, this team will never make it past the first round with him. (Not a knock on him but the team around him right now).

It's so frustrating being a fan right now, I'm still not sure what the franchise is aiming for.

And Murray getting praise like this after such a game is just fool's Gold and throwing us off track imo.

[imagump1313]

Pop is living in the past trying to create something that is simply an illusion of Tony Parker.

Just done watching this one and Murray (as Gump says above) made some stupid decisions.

And despite his 8 steals, he did not defend all that well on his own player.

Will still never trust his shot. The league has nearly 70 players shooting over 40% from three, no one is playing defense with anywhere near the usual intensity.

I'd never bet anything of value on Murray making an open jumper when it matters, let alone a contested one.

We'd still be screwed without Derozan in most games. Yet, this team will never make it past the first round with him. (Not a knock on him but the team around him right now).

It's so frustrating being a fan right now, I'm still not sure what the franchise is aiming for.

And Murray getting praise like this after such a game is just fool's Gold and throwing us off track imo.

Well said, couldn't agree more.
I wouldn't really say screwed without DeRozan though. Screwed with him maybe
Again, as long as they don't do something stupid like resign him I'll be ok.

[G R E Y]

What?! There's no evidence that Pop is trying to create anything close to TP. All he said was DJ takes Pop's tongue lashings with a similar attitude - to get better. Saying that assumes Pop doesn't realize they're completely different players and ignores the fact that Pop has changed playing styles to suit strengths of each group of players (or that of the dominant player).

DJ came in after one year in college as a raw score-first athlete. He has gotten better, even if he's taking longer, even if he's making mistakes along the way. I just think there's a disproportionate weighing of his strengths and weaknesses. He missed some passes to be sure. His vision needs improving, yes. But to dismiss his EIGHT steals like they were not impactful and disruptive and altering how a player plays is really not giving credit where its due. And he shot a lot - too much? - because so many - including Derrick who had an abysmal night of it - were struggling to score for much of the game.

DeMar is our best facilitator. That does say something about our PG's, yes. But that's not just a criticism of our PG's, it's a path forward. DeMar also came into the league an O-first pure athlete, with very raw skills outside of great dunks. If anything, his path is the better model in terms of development (on the O and facilitating end of things, of course) than that of TP who was a pure PG and already playing professionally for a while by the time we drafted him.

The fact is that outside of Jakob and Devin, everyone struggled to score. And the fact is that despite his mistakes and flaws, we don't win this game without DJ's D and his O in this game. He's gutsy and has a knack for stepping up to make good plays that impact the game in our favour. And he did it again last night.

[Phreak50]

I mean we wouldn't win many games without Demar this season. I'm fine with trading him/letting him go, but a lot of the gloss of what our young players are doing would be worn off if we were losing every game.

And without Demar and his consistent scoring, ability to get to the line and attention he draws for kick outs, we would be screwed.

Again, that's a good or bad thing depending on what the front office is trying to achieve here.

And back to Murray, unless you have him as a point guard for a superteam, he'll never win a title as a starter anywhere else. You can just see the type of game he has with his wobbly, inconsistent jumper and almost complete lack of running an offense and putting guys in their spots and getting them the ball.

Don't think I've ever been this pissed off with a win before!

[G R E Y]

I mean we wouldn't win many games without Demar this season. I'm fine with trading him/letting him go, but a lot of the gloss of what our young players are doing would be worn off if we were losing every game.

And without Demar and his consistent scoring, ability to get to the line and attention he draws for kick outs, we would be screwed.

Again, that's a good or bad thing depending on what the front office is trying to achieve here.

And back to Murray, unless you have him as a point guard for a superteam, he'll never win a title as a starter anywhere else. You can just see the type of game he has with his wobbly, inconsistent jumper and almost complete lack of running an offense and putting guys in their spots and getting them the ball.

Don't think I've ever been this pissed off with a win before!

I agree about DJ needing to get better in the getting the ball to the right spots at the right times for other guys. But then, DeMar was never seen as a guy who would have the vision he has now either.

And sure, we don't win as many games without DeMar - that's his role. Teams need a go-to scorer to do just that, so I don't see this as a criticism of DJ. It doesn't take away from the fact that we don't win this game without DJ even with DeMar's double double. And DJ got crucial steals versus Boston and Denver, too, for example, which helped us seal those games. He's gutsy and has a knack for good impact plays.

As for DJ's prospects of winning a title - the assumption begs the question: would TP have had the career he had with four titles had he not played alongside Timmy? Boston was reportedly interested in drafting TP but passed on him. Spurs sought to trade TP for Kidd, and actually almost signed Kidd. Yes of course DJ isn't near the facilitator either was. But the point is contexts and growth affect perception.

I think DJ has room to grow as a facilitator. And I use DeMar as the comparison because his tunnel vision was far more deeply set and he was a score first guy as well. DJ isn't naturally a pure PG like Kidd or TP (who also had a wonky J when he came to us and improved his shot over time), but that doesn't mean what what we see (already an improvement on when he came into the league) isn't what he'll remain as. Is he the best PG out there? Of course not. But he's certainly far from the worst PG in the league and is improving. He's impacting games with his strengths even as his weaknesses need work.

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We need the young guys to grow in this way, too.

[G R E Y]

To even a series versus a West opponent was the goal, and we did just that despite poor shooting but by holding them to a far lower points total than they’re used to scoring.

It was a clash of our bigs advantage versus a hugely talented star leading an undermanned team. They can pour in the points in bunches averaging 113.9PPG which is 10th overall. Holding them to only 100 points was a solid effort by our bubble starters. Having our bubble first unit back together again is wonderful. Even with some kinks to smooth out, defensively we already looked far more sure footed. But we will need more in-game experience to really gel on both ends, as we got caught by far too many many back door cuts, left many 3s too open, and are still searching for a higher shot efficiency.

I liked our pace to start. In the 1ST Q, we took 27FGA’s (7 of which were from 3) to their 22 (11! of which were from 3). Of those 27FGA’s, seven were in the restricted area (making 4) and 2 more in the paint (making 1). We took 8 mid range J’s, connecting on only ONE. So we had a balanced attack, great, but our mid range game was an absolute letdown.

Contrast that to their making 7-8 in our restricted area and 7-11 from 3 and it’s a simple explanation for another 1ST Q deficit, this time by 9.

Side note: I hate Curry’s clown dance after he makes a shot like he did at the end of 1ST Q on Rudy. Ok. You made a contested shot. That’s your job. **** off with the **** dance to no audience.

With our settling for outside shots too much early, or at least trying to exchange 3s with an opponent that is fifth in attempts with 38.3 per game and 11th in efficiency connecting on 37.6%, our misses resulted in some 6-point swings against us. I’ve argued in other game summaries that we need to take more 3s. We rank 27th with 29.9 attempts from the arc and are 17th in efficiency at 36.1%. We took 31 in this one, but it’s the context within which we did, especially to start the game, that set the tone. It’s not that taking more 3s was bad, it’s that we didn’t pressure them enough with drives given our interior advantage and we settled for outside shots too much which weren’t falling at a good rate.

In the first part of the 2ND Q, we were too tentative, making a series of mistakes, not taking advantage of our steals, giving them right back, and getting torched by their quick responses after our misses for a quick 14-point deficit. We didn’t run back on D with nearly enough urgency, and with our poor ball protection and shot making, we were then on the wrong end of a series 4-, 5-, and 6-point swings.

They went on a 9-2 run to finish the 1ST Q, then started a 9-4 run in the 2ND resulting in Pop taking a timeout and absolutely obliterating our guys throughout it. He seemed to be singling out DJ at one point, standing there gesturing vigorously to him and the team for tentative lacklustre play, getting driven by, not moving well on O, dribbling into defenders without looking for others, etc. Take your pick. There was a lot to choose from.

Cue our own 9-2 run to cut the deficit on 7 on some improved D play – a Jakob block from behind here, a steal there, and better transition scoring – a Jakob shot in the key, a Devin 3 on some good off ball movement and better sense of urgency. I liked the attentiveness of our guys in the subsequent timeout that they took after our run, and I liked that we responded well with better play on both ends. We expanded it to a 26-14 run to close the first half to within 5 points.

Part of the turn was the 12-3 advantage in TO’s for us by the half, and 20-11 by the end of the game on which we had a 17-5 point advantage. This, along with 17-12 edge in fast break points helped offset a 46-40 points in the paint gain for them.

Coaches stress the starts the of 1ST and 3RD Q’s, and though we let up towards the end of the 1ST Q, we adjusted better in the second half. Fresh off the momentum of the second half of the 2ND Q, we pushed to win the second half 51-41. After allowing yet another back door cut for a dunk to start the 3RD Q we were far more crisp. We collapsed better in the key to prevent their drives, we were quicker in transition, we shared the ball more, and finally made some 3s to take a 65-64 lead. Details in ball protection, O board putbacks, rotations and closeouts were better and so were the results. Still, Pop kept urging us to push it and that’s what we did. We were ahead in shots taken in each of the Q’s, and that to some extent helped off-set our efficiency struggles. We actually rank third in the league with 91.7FGA’s per game, and rank twelfth in making them at 41.4 but that’s good for twentieth in efficiency at 45.2%. That’s too big a discrepancy; that’s too many points left on the floor. The hope is that once our bubble starters get going they’ll be closer to that of their bubble success.

Their movement and back door cutting was a challenge all game long and they took back the lead late which we had for much of the 3RD Q to finish it 80-78. But the momentum had shifted to us and we did enough to ensure we kept it. We used it to stay poised in a series of 4TH Q runs. A 10-1 run by us in the 4TH Q to take a 91-83 lead was countered by their 8-0 run to bring it within 93-91. Then ensued what can only be described as a series of strange miscues from both teams: a bad pass here, a steal that was stripped right back there, and for once it was nice that the other team was missing bunnies at the rim, too.

While just about everyone except Jakob, DJ, and Devin were efficient, our bench was nevertheless instrumental in securing the win by outscoring theirs 32-18.

Our fast breaks still need work. It seems like very game we fumble one. In this one we had a three-on-one that went off of Devin’s hands. Jakob ran back to block their push and we rewarded him for his stellar D with a DeMar pass inside for a basket.

Jakob was back to being great again and he was very good for us, We used this bigs advantage down low time and again: he was 7-9 for 14 points, all inside of course, but NO trips to the FT line. He also had a team high 11 boards (and team high 3 rebounds), team high 4 blocks, and team high +15. He was impactful down low, made good cuts and screens, and was a disruptive problem for the opponent throughout the game.

Our other usually dependable inside scorer, KJ, drove and drove... and drove, but a first missed bunny floater was a harbinger for his night. But his following DJ’s steal and drive with an O board putback is the other marker – relentless and impactful effort regardless of whether or not shots are falling. He just couldn’t settle his touch around the rim and finished with 9 points on 4-13, 1-4 from 3, and NO trips to the FT line. Surprising. He had 6 boards, 3 on O – and these were against multiple defenders, and 2 assists. I wonder if Keldon is hitting a wall and it’s fatigue (be it mental or physical) that is causing him to have such hot and cold games of late.

DeMar scored 21 on 6-15, 1-3 from 3, and led us with 8-8FT’s. He also had 6 boards, and led us with 10 assists. He got as many assists as our entire back court – starters and bench – combined. But he started perhaps too unselfishly when we needed him to be far more aggressive. He was approaching this game with too much finesse when we needed him to be more physical and drive with more determination. He once again started not nearly assertively enough, scoring only 2-6 (4-4FT’s) at the half. That he picked up his game in the second half was terrific, but he makes it more difficult for himself and for us when he does this thing where he lets his game come to him or takes what the defense gives him rather than asserting and imposing his game. We need him to do that versus high scoring teams. It’s a mindset we need to get better starts, especially versus high scoring teams that themselves like to get an early jump.

DJ led us with 27 points on 10-19, 2-5 from 3, and a solid 5-6FT’s, along with 10 boards, 4 assists, and a whopping 8 steals. He was a disruptive menace on D getting deflections throughout the game. He wasn’t as much a distributor but he had the hot shooting streak, and given that so few of us were actually scoring, the low assists were a combination of DJ looking for his shot first, and many others missing theirs.

He made gutsy plays throughout the game and this courage, in addition to his quick hands and defensive tenacity, is an important if less acknowledged part of the core of his expanding game. He needed that courage as he took another tongue lashing from Pop who had DeMar smiling at DJ on the bench through some of it. Not only did DJ get two thirds of all our steals, he also hit a clutch 3 to put us up 96-91 and then another one with under a minute left to keep us ahead 101-97. This was an ice-in-veins play that started with Derrick’s drive to the baseline, his pass to the left corner to DJ, DJ dancing with the dribble to create just enough space and rhythm to hit an incredible shot.

He followed it with a smart clutch D play on their inbound. DJ was on Curry and did a great job preventing the screen so that the inbounds pass to Green who was covered by Derrick couldn’t easily get back to the sharp shooter. Green threw up an errant miss instead, a shot contested very well by Derrick. Whether Green was rushed into a bad shot or thought he could get Derrick to bite on a foul is hard to say, but our back court tandem did just enough on D for a split second bad decision. One last clutch play of DeMar making two FT’s gave us a five-point lead and sealed the game.

Jakob’s shooting was a vast improvement from the previous game but that inefficiency baton was passed to Derrick for the worst shooting of the night. He struggled all over the place and at one point looked like he was tearing up from the onslaught of misses. Only 2 points on 1-11, 0-5 from 3, and NO trips to the FT line. He also got caught early in the 2ND Q mid air and indecisive about what to do resulting in a bad shot. The feel is not there yet. He chipped in with 2 boards, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He provided solid defense overall, and was entrusted with being out there on the final play which helped secure the win. Despite his O struggles which I expect will dissipate with more game reps, his D focus was there and ever reliable and effective.

Drew was solid in the previous game, but had only 2 points on uncharacteristically low 1-5, 2 boards (1 on O), and NO trips to the FT line, 1 assist, and 2 blocks. Jakob and Drew were the only two Spurs who got blocks. Given the struggles of our front court, I was surprised that Trey didn’t play given that he was solid and efficient the last time he played a couple of games ago.

Rudy and Patty struggled, each connecting on 3-10, with Rudy making 2-3 from 3 and hitting 3-5FT’s. Rudy also got 5 boards (2 on O), with 1 assist and 1 steal. Rudy struggled early in particular, making only 1-5 in the 1ST Q, but came through with 2-4 in the crucial 4TH Q. He’s a terrific vet, too, who routinely talks to the young guys in timeouts before or after Pop’s instructions to the team. Patty’s misses were mostly from the arc, 3-9, 2 boards (1 on O), 3 assists, 1 steal. Patty also struggled throughout the game, surprisingly not taking any shots in the 1ST Q, but like Rudy elevated his game in the 4TH Q and made 2-4 from 3.

Devin was terrific with 10 points on 4-4, 2-2 from 3, 2 boards, 1 steal. He skied for rebounds, moved into open spaces well, pushed the ball in transition well, and stayed with his man with wonderful shadow D to disrupt shots.

We were without Lonnie and LMA again, and we won another game without them. We are hitting a better stride with this starting group, and I hope that once Lonnie returns he also returns to the bench where he was in the bubble. Lonnie needs a reset of sorts, and I think a more manageable role is a good place to start.

I like that we made 96-86 FGA’s as it’s a strength of ours that we need to keep honing. Though we gave up a 36-point Q, we won the remaining three, including the crucial 4TH in which we havea pattern of outscoring opponents. We had difficulty scoring, but we were steady with our O output and clamped down defensively especially when we needed to late. But we were once again got outrebounded 49-46 (10-6 on O boards for us, though). This is something we need to be more mindful of as we’re allowing even undermanned opponents to outhustle us. At times we’re just ball watching, not really boxing anyone out. There were certainly many opportunities to secure rebounds in this game.

We took more 3s than in the previous game but our low efficiency is just something we have to improve. That we had everyone but our C’s shooting them was a good sign, though. The shots will fall; we have to just let them fly. With Derrick back, we have one more O weapon to utilize and implement, so hopefully the extra manpower eases the pressure as the scoring load is better distributed. It’s curious how hitting or missing shots tends to spread through a team. If we can just start a good streak, if enough players see the ball falling through the net, we can get rolling and make things easier on ourselves.

We did make 16-19FT’s but it was strange that only two starters and only one bench player got to the FT line. It’s hard to explain how only THREE Spurs got to the FT line, including none of our C’s who only scored from within a few feet of the basket. Patty took most of his shots from the 3 so that’s understandable but many others kept driving. I wonder if part of it was the lack of aggressive push towards the basket, too much finesse, or shooting and driving for calls as much as for points. There’s a way that all of this cumulatively results in making a harder case for getting calls. We need to be more assertive.

Our D had to be active and disruptive because we faced an opponent who can score a lot of points quickly, but also because we only had three players who were efficient. That our D helped hold our opponents to well below their average is encouraging, but we have work to do. Our miscommunications led to too many easy points behind us especially from back door cuts, and to too many open 3s. They made only 13 3s, but we have work to do for the next game because 10 of those came from their starting back court duo. Easy to say, but that’s the task at hand. We have to make it more difficult for them to even get the ball let alone shoot it with any space if we want to win the series in the upcoming game. Solid struggle to give us a chance to do so by winning this one.

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