GAME DAY, BALA! GAME 31: SPURS VS. KNICKS, 2-3-2021, 7:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

The opportunity and challenge of winning a SEGABABA continues tonight. We face a strong defensive team so we'll need our O to be crisp, our mental approach to be strong, and our rebounding and transition game to be relentless.

WHERE: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX

WHEN: Tuesday, March 2, 2021, 7:30pm (CT)

Earn The Stripes Mode: United in mindset and response!



GO SPURS GO!!!

[G R E Y]

Uugh suboptimal. LMA was to be a good big body match up to bang with their bigs. Hope he feels better soon.

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[ducler]

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[G R E Y]

**** happens...

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But Keldon's back!

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[imagump1313]

Hard to hear "Bad Stomach" and not think its something else.

Honestly its better if he doesn't play.

[G R E Y]

Hard to hear "Bad Stomach" and not think its something else.

Honestly its better if he doesn't play.

Yeah it's like now anytime someone even sneezes or has a complaint of anything remotely related to a Covid-like symptom they get the side eye. Better to be safe, etc...

I thought we could actually have used LMA in this one as a big body to bang with theirs and post up like he did versus Pels, but if he's not feeling well, we go to the next guys up.

[G R E Y]

Same as last game. I hope Trey continues to trend in a positive direction. Good for him, good for the team:

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[G R E Y]

We are leaving a LOT of points on the floor with missed bunnies in transition and with drive and kicks and missed 3s - no need to keep kicking out when you have the open layup!

[G R E Y]

That end of Q drawn up play and that execution to make the shot!

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Finish better in transition, protect our arc, defend cleanly, and make our 3s, Spurs!!!

[imagump1313]

Good to see Luka FINALLY just shoot a wide open three instead of traveling. Hopefully he learns that.
He really plays decent defense also, using his feet and waist. This has improved during the year.

[G R E Y]

Our first SEGABABA win of the season!

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Complete team win with a lot of the young guys stepping up!

End of bench unit looked like a team on both ends in the last 3 minutes!

Keldon looked terrific!

SO GREAT to see Rudy, Derrick, and Devin on the bench in their civvies and encouraging the team on!!!

[Phreak50]

Derozan now has 50 assists in his last 5 games.

That would have to be close to a Spurs record surely.

Edit: having a quick look at Admiral's MVP season and Avery Johnson had 66 over a 5 game span and similar a few other times. I guess having such a target down low helped.

Still, Demar deserves a lot of credit for what he is doing.

[imagump1313]

I'll probably get hated on for this opinion right now but DeRozan still bugs me.

The constant flopping and flailing along with the whining and throwing his hands up after literally EVERY play drives me insane and makes it impossible for me to root for him.

There are soo many main guys in this league that when you absolutely have to convert a basket they are going to get it most of the time. Weather they are fouled, not fouled, double teamed, whatever. Most times they are going to get a basket.

DeRozan 100% relies on a referee's call to bail him out. 100% of the time. Just watch a game and focus on only him for about 5 minutes. Actual good players try to score first and hope a foul is called. Many, many times DeRozan just throws the ball at the basket with no chance of scoring, then dives on the floor hoping he gets a foul called.

He is just never going to win a game of consequence for a team. He is just a meaningless stat stuffer kind of like an Andre Drummond IMO.
He is as close to James Harden as anyone in this league and its no coincidence that Harden has also never won any game of consequence.

of course we won a couple games and he has a bunch of stats so everyone is drooling over him at the moment but he doesn't have me fooled.

[G R E Y]

I'll probably get hated on for this opinion right now but DeRozan still bugs me.

The constant flopping and flailing along with the whining and throwing his hands up after literally EVERY play drives me insane and makes it impossible for me to root for him.

There are soo many main guys in this league that when you absolutely have to convert a basket they are going to get it most of the time. Weather they are fouled, not fouled, double teamed, whatever. Most times they are going to get a basket.

DeRozan 100% relies on a referee's call to bail him out. 100% of the time. Just watch a game and focus on only him for about 5 minutes. Actual good players try to score first and hope a foul is called. Many, many times DeRozan just throws the ball at the basket with no chance of scoring, then dives on the floor hoping he gets a foul called.

He is just never going to win a game of consequence for a team. He is just a meaningless stat stuffer kind of like an Andre Drummond IMO.
He is as close to James Harden as anyone in this league and its no coincidence that Harden has also never won any game of consequence.

of course we won a couple games and he has a bunch of stats so everyone is drooling over him at the moment but he doesn't have me fooled.

Well the timing's a bit strange, but eh what bugs you is what bugs you. I've mentioned DeMar baiting for calls in some previous post-game summaries when it stood out. But this is where extra eyes come in. I don't always notice it so if it was the case last night I think I was just caught up in the good play of so many others. DeMar played 42 minutes in the previous game and was barely a factor on O in this one. He looked far more to be a distributor and as Phreak said, was instrumental in breaking down a great rated D.

As it turns out, though, DeMar is one of the top 5 clutch player in the last 2 minutes, so he's improved in that regard. DOn't make me break out the stats, gump! I know how much you love them! (anyways I can't right now, just on my way out ).

But as to your point about winning with him, I think it conflates the issue of where we are and where his game is along with us. I think someone with his demeanour and vet presence is a terrific fit for our young guys, and his skill set as a scorer - even if he looks for fouls - is valuable for us. We're not considered a contender - though I do think we're a dark horse threat - and so fitting DeMar into that category isn't an issue for us.

Right now we ARE winning with him, and it's getting us through a crucial stage to get to that next level. He's integral to that with his scoring, O skill set, and equally as significant, his facilitating, and I'm glad we have him. And it may be making a distinction without much difference, but I do think that getting calls is a skill set. There is a balance between pump fakes and like jumping into defenders like Curry and Trae and Harden do on jump shots. DeMar doesn't do that. He can be annoying when he drives and it's clear he wants a call and gestures to refs rather than running back on D. But that happens less now than it did before as well. Sometimes he has a legitimate complaint, sometimes not. I think you live with it for the overall package be is bringing to us.

A hard disagree that he's merely an empty stats player for us, though. He is leagues ahead of what Drummond and Harden provide in the locker room, he is having his best all around season of his career and fitting in so well with the young guys without encroaching on their development (a prior criticism from fans) as his usage is way down so there's plenty of shots to go around, and he's far more efficient. He's a way WAY different player than in his ISO heavy ball dominant years before he came to us. That team mates love him and love playing with him, and that we are succeeding with him all attest to his changed game and overall benefit to us. I can take being annoyed with some patented AAAYYYIIIEEE! and arms out to the refs for that.

[imagump1313]

I'll probably get hated on for this opinion right now but DeRozan still bugs me.

The constant flopping and flailing along with the whining and throwing his hands up after literally EVERY play drives me insane and makes it impossible for me to root for him.

There are soo many main guys in this league that when you absolutely have to convert a basket they are going to get it most of the time. Weather they are fouled, not fouled, double teamed, whatever. Most times they are going to get a basket.

DeRozan 100% relies on a referee's call to bail him out. 100% of the time. Just watch a game and focus on only him for about 5 minutes. Actual good players try to score first and hope a foul is called. Many, many times DeRozan just throws the ball at the basket with no chance of scoring, then dives on the floor hoping he gets a foul called.

He is just never going to win a game of consequence for a team. He is just a meaningless stat stuffer kind of like an Andre Drummond IMO.
He is as close to James Harden as anyone in this league and its no coincidence that Harden has also never won any game of consequence.

of course we won a couple games and he has a bunch of stats so everyone is drooling over him at the moment but he doesn't have me fooled.

Well the timing's a bit strange, but eh what bugs you is what bugs you. I've mentioned DeMar baiting for calls in some previous post-game summaries when it stood out. But this is where extra eyes come in. I don't always notice it so if it was the case last night I think I was just caught up in the good play of so many others. DeMar played 42 minutes in the previous game and was barely a factor on O in this one. He looked far more to be a distributor and as Phreak said, was instrumental in breaking down a great rated D.

As it turns out, though, DeMar is one of the top 5 clutch player in the last 2 minutes, so he's improved in that regard. DOn't make me break out the stats, gump! I know how much you love them! (anyways I can't right now, just on my way out ).

But as to your point about winning with him, I think it conflates the issue of where we are and where his game is along with us. I think someone with his demeanour and vet presence is a terrific fit for our young guys, and his skill set as a scorer - even if he looks for fouls - is valuable for us. We're not considered a contender - though I do think we're a dark horse threat - and so fitting DeMar into that category isn't an issue for us.

Right now we ARE winning with him, and it's getting us through a crucial stage to get to that next level. He's integral to that with his scoring, O skill set, and equally as significant, his facilitating, and I'm glad we have him. And it may be making a distinction without much difference, but I do think that getting calls is a skill set. There is a balance between pump fakes and like jumping into defenders like Curry and Trae and Harden do on jump shots. DeMar doesn't do that. He can be annoying when he drives and it's clear he wants a call and gestures to refs rather than running back on D. But that happens less now than it did before as well. Sometimes he has a legitimate complaint, sometimes not. I think you live with it for the overall package be is bringing to us.

A hard disagree that he's merely an empty stats player for us, though. He is leagues ahead of what Drummond and Harden provide in the locker room, he is having his best all around season of his career and fitting in so well with the young guys without encroaching on their development (a prior criticism from fans) as his usage is way down so there's plenty of shots to go around, and he's far more efficient. He's a way WAY different player than in his ISO heavy ball dominant years before he came to us. That team mates love him and love playing with him, and that we are succeeding with him all attest to his changed game and overall benefit to us. I can take being annoyed with some patented AAAYYYIIIEEE! and arms out to the refs for that.

Ugh. See, this is what I'm afraid of I guess.
Lets say for arguments sake we actually make the playoffs. Would you be happy if we use our cap space to extend him with a max contract? I'm really afraid this is what is going to happen. We are going to panic because there isn't much on the FA market and throw a bunch of money at him. Then we are going to be stuck in the "not too bad but not very good" purgatory for the next 5 years because of it.

IDK, maybe it was because he seemed overly annoying to me last night. You didn't notice it?
I forget witch Knick it was, but he almost turned a guys ankle by flailing into him trying to get a call.

[G R E Y]

Spoiler:

I'll probably get hated on for this opinion right now but DeRozan still bugs me.

The constant flopping and flailing along with the whining and throwing his hands up after literally EVERY play drives me insane and makes it impossible for me to root for him.

There are soo many main guys in this league that when you absolutely have to convert a basket they are going to get it most of the time. Weather they are fouled, not fouled, double teamed, whatever. Most times they are going to get a basket.

DeRozan 100% relies on a referee's call to bail him out. 100% of the time. Just watch a game and focus on only him for about 5 minutes. Actual good players try to score first and hope a foul is called. Many, many times DeRozan just throws the ball at the basket with no chance of scoring, then dives on the floor hoping he gets a foul called.

He is just never going to win a game of consequence for a team. He is just a meaningless stat stuffer kind of like an Andre Drummond IMO.
He is as close to James Harden as anyone in this league and its no coincidence that Harden has also never won any game of consequence.

of course we won a couple games and he has a bunch of stats so everyone is drooling over him at the moment but he doesn't have me fooled.

Well the timing's a bit strange, but eh what bugs you is what bugs you. I've mentioned DeMar baiting for calls in some previous post-game summaries when it stood out. But this is where extra eyes come in. I don't always notice it so if it was the case last night I think I was just caught up in the good play of so many others. DeMar played 42 minutes in the previous game and was barely a factor on O in this one. He looked far more to be a distributor and as Phreak said, was instrumental in breaking down a great rated D.

As it turns out, though, DeMar is one of the top 5 clutch player in the last 2 minutes, so he's improved in that regard. DOn't make me break out the stats, gump! I know how much you love them! (anyways I can't right now, just on my way out ).

But as to your point about winning with him, I think it conflates the issue of where we are and where his game is along with us. I think someone with his demeanour and vet presence is a terrific fit for our young guys, and his skill set as a scorer - even if he looks for fouls - is valuable for us. We're not considered a contender - though I do think we're a dark horse threat - and so fitting DeMar into that category isn't an issue for us.

Right now we ARE winning with him, and it's getting us through a crucial stage to get to that next level. He's integral to that with his scoring, O skill set, and equally as significant, his facilitating, and I'm glad we have him. And it may be making a distinction without much difference, but I do think that getting calls is a skill set. There is a balance between pump fakes and like jumping into defenders like Curry and Trae and Harden do on jump shots. DeMar doesn't do that. He can be annoying when he drives and it's clear he wants a call and gestures to refs rather than running back on D. But that happens less now than it did before as well. Sometimes he has a legitimate complaint, sometimes not. I think you live with it for the overall package be is bringing to us.

A hard disagree that he's merely an empty stats player for us, though. He is leagues ahead of what Drummond and Harden provide in the locker room, he is having his best all around season of his career and fitting in so well with the young guys without encroaching on their development (a prior criticism from fans) as his usage is way down so there's plenty of shots to go around, and he's far more efficient. He's a way WAY different player than in his ISO heavy ball dominant years before he came to us. That team mates love him and love playing with him, and that we are succeeding with him all attest to his changed game and overall benefit to us. I can take being annoyed with some patented AAAYYYIIIEEE! and arms out to the refs for that.

Ugh. See, this is what I'm afraid of I guess.
Lets say for arguments sake we actually make the playoffs. Would you be happy if we use our cap space to extend him with a max contract? I'm really afraid this is what is going to happen. We are going to panic because there isn't much on the FA market and throw a bunch of money at him. Then we are going to be stuck in the "not too bad but not very good" purgatory for the next 5 years because of it.

IDK, maybe it was because he seemed overly annoying to me last night. You didn't notice it?
I forget witch Knick it was, but he almost turned a guys ankle by flailing into him trying to get a call.

It's all good. DeMar took like five shots and at times my stream konked out, so I may have missed it but there weren't really that many chances in this game to focus on his O...

But overall I think DeMar makes terrific sense for us right now. As for the future...

He may very well be the best FA available. He may be the best available for us! He's going to get big money in the off-season. The issue as before may still be length of contract (we wanted shorter; DeMar, longer). Plus we'd still have tons of cap space for some RFA target, for instance (has to be a big, right?)

On Spurs Instagram when Keldon was announced to the Rising Stars USA roster, DeMar responded with, "My son." I think he really likes our young group. He said it's one of the reasons he returned this year. I'm not saying it's a given he stays, just don't be surprised if he does.

I wouldn't be against it for a 2+1 option, per se. But say we sign him to a 4-year deal and in a couple of years he takes on a 6th man role. That's a deadly scoring option off the bench. I never thought I'd see LMA coming off the bench and yet here we are, so I'm seeing rainbow and unicorn possibilities right now

I just have a feeling that the chances are better now than they were before of his returning because of how we're playing. I also think he'd be more open to either a shorter re-sign or a trade to a destination of his preference. Right now contenders don't have money this off-season to sign what he'll command. But he may just believe in us as such a place.

We're trending the right way, so I see your point of getting to the next level with an older DeMar at a high contract. At that point, I agree that he should not be the sole best player when we're contending. But he can be part of an important role towards that goal. DeMar has shown to be amenable to changing roles. His usage is second lowest since his second season. His game has changed a LOT from the when before he came to us.

I'm just saying IF he keeps changing his role and IF he's amenable to further adapt to the changes we will need from him, I could see a mutual benefit. He's talked about taking on different roles off and on the court, and you could see in games like yesterday, the second of a back-to-back, when he didn't really want/have the energy to keep up the scoring. So he facilitated and made it easier for many others to score. It's just a shift I'm noticing this season that he doesn't have to be 'the guy' all the time.

But this could all be just be me imagining things. He may be using this season at a launching pad for wherever-ville.
Still, I there's a real bond that's been formed here, too, between DeMar and the players and the coaching staff, and I think that means a lot to him. So we'll see... If he goes, I wish him all the best and hope we can get a S&T. When he first got here, we adjusted to and around his game. But there has been a shift. If he stays, I hope he'll continue to adjust to our needs.

You may argue - do we want a max player coming off the bench in a couple of years? Fair point. At that point we can also revisit what's mutually beneficial.