SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 7: SPURS AT PACERS, 1-11-2021, 6PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

The third and final road game of this trip has trap potential so we must be ready to leap over it. We must respect ourselves, our opponent, and the game and put together our best two-way play to secure the result we want.

WHERE: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

WHEN: Monday, November 1, 2021, 6pm (CT)


(Image from spurs.com)

Read on Twitter

GO SPURS GO!!!

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[imagump1313]

I'm not sure I agree with the trap game thing unless you are talking about it being the last game of the trip and losing focus LOL.
Or maybe you mean a trap game for the Pacers

Brogdan, Sabonis, LeVert, Turner are 4 better players than any 4 players we have on our roster right at this moment. If they stay healthy, Indy will be a top four team in the East.

We could play really well ourselves and get beat easily tonight. Indy is more balanced than Milwaukee IMO.

Lets get back to getting Poeltl involved more!

[G R E Y]

I'm not sure I agree with the trap game thing unless you are talking about it being the last game of the trip and losing focus LOL.
Or maybe you mean a trap game for the Pacers

Brogdan, Sabonis, LeVert, Turner are 4 better players than any 4 players we have on our roster right at this moment. If they stay healthy, Indy will be a top four team in the East.

We could play really well ourselves and get beat easily tonight. Indy is more balanced than Milwaukee IMO.

Lets get back to getting Poeltl involved more!

It's more like knowing they'll be down several players and seeing their record we'll take it too easy and it comes back to bite us. It's happened plenty last season so I hope new mindset, etc., now.

[G R E Y]

Too much back and forth scoring.

DJ is terrific again, but Keldon is driving into a congested key and the dish to Jakob was read and stolen.

Keldon tends to be flat on his feet on the perimeter rather than balls of his feet and it's easier to get step backs and drives on him.

Lonnie was in no-man's-land between players and was late to contest one of their corner 3s. Protect the arc, Spurs!

We need to tighten up our D. It's too easy for them to score.

[G R E Y]

LONNIE MISSES A WIIIIIDE OPEN **** LAYUP AFTER A GREAT BACK DOOR CUT.

THEN FOLLOWS IT WITH A TURNOVER.

**** HELL.

[G R E Y]

What about Turner's play EVER made Jakob think he could drive in with the ball unprotected for a layup like he was wide open?

Like I said - TRAP. GAME.

[G R E Y]

1ST Q: SPURS 33

PACERS 43

It's wonderful that we're shooting a red hot 5-8 from 3 for 62.5%. But we just allowed 8-10 - 80%! - from 3.

Well ****.

We're sagging too much in their key Js, too.

Just missing coverages. All it takes is one guy to miss an assignment.

We had 5 TOs on which they scored 11 points.

Death by a thousand mistakes.

[G R E Y]

Weak ass finishes at the rim are back when we need to dunk and assert some aggressive energy.

[imagump1313]

Pacers shooting the lights out.

Hopefully they forget that in the locker room.

I forgot Carlisle was their coach. He will keep them from slacking with a big lead.

[G R E Y]

2ND Q: SPURS 56

PACERS 78

The end of Q 3 is emblematic of our play and the game. Too much space allowed by TWO defender Spurs on a step back shot that they've made at a ridiculous clip so far.

Our **** defense has let us down. Too soft down low, too many 3s allowed, too many TOs.

Lonnie is NOT a starter. He STILL misses ed bunnies at the rim. Just should falt out have figured it out by now.

Keldon has been scouted and figured out. He's pushing and making erratic drives into congested spaces versus bigger shot blockers. Recognition, please!

Derrick needs to get his O game. Find it. Do it now.

DJ and Jakob need O help. ONE Spur in double digit scoring (DJ).

Just very soft, unfocused play.

[G R E Y]

Soft D.

Dribbling into multiple defenders by Keldon on O and losing the ball.

...

Pop timeout.

Just put in guys who want to contest, Pop, and execute simple plays on O.

Way too overcooked on O and way too undercooked on D.

Read on Twitter

Oof lmao

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 83

PACERS 109

LOL

[imagump1313]

I was about to get pissed if Forbes came back out. Thank you for putting in Jones....

[imagump1313]

Pacers playing their starters way too long for a November blowout game.

[G R E Y]

Jock's in!

GO JOCK GO!!!

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 118

PACERS 131

Yep trap game. I was going to say it was decided by the half (you never think 80% from 3 in that 1ST Q would be sustainable) but it was really decided before the game began.

Couple that with this being a tough match-up for us with mobile big front court and a mentality that we could walk through this one versus a clearly hungry team (like we just were after losing four in a row) and it made for the night we had.

The second half was actually closer with us winning it 62-53, so in the sense that we kept playing especially in the 4TH to see what we've got with whom it was constructive.

But we were WAYYY too soft inside, and their 3s, some contested, others not as well as we should have, opened up their P&R game. Our bigs sag wayy too much on pick and pop Js time and again. At one point Jakob actually - and I can't believe I'm writing this - TURNED HIS BACK TO THE SHOOTER WHO WAS JUST GOING INTO HIS SHOOTING MOTION. So not only did he sag but he **** turned his back to the shot. I mean, emblematic of how brain dead we at times were.

The game stats are actually a lot closer than would indicate because all they had to do was sustain a baseline level of play and we had to try hard to score and defend so the second half evened things out a bit.

But before that, there were just too many soft plays. Jakob got bodied down low and pushed out of the way; he finished too softly on O at the rim. Miscommunication on rotations and then lacklustre recovery made for a long night.

DJ fought over screens, scored at will, passed well, ran plays well, lead well, but there's only so much he could do. He didn't score in the second half, but truly he didn't have nearly enough help up to that point.

Devin did very well to stay with defenders - I was so impressed with his unorthodox foot and body movement to keep finding drivers whether over or under screens. He just has a knack for covering a lot of ground. I loved his two handed stop to their high low attempt, too. It's like he reads and adjusts in real time.

Derrick had some decent string of plays - a charge taken followed by a made 3, and he was ok to good on D, but his O is tripping up somewhere. DJ has emerged as the more poised and polished player.

Our guards were forced into picking up their dribbles too early and we scrambled to get some kind of shot rather than orchestrating our O. And those were the more experienced ones.

Lonnie is an issue. He's struggling as a starter going back to last season when he started in 38 games. He's struggling with consistency versus starters of opponents. I used to think that DeMar was ahead of him taking up minutes so Lonnie had a tough time in the more limited chances he got to score and he would also defer to the more vet players on the team.

Like Lonnie, Keldon has plateaued and as he's being scouted he reverts to old habits - driving into a congested key versus bigger opponents who are set, missing open team mates to pass the ball and keep the play going, bulldozing rather than finessing his way around opponents. The play too often ends with a Keldon attempt and I think it's starting to suck the air out of our O, especially since he's just not efficient.

He made some nice drives and dishes today later in the game, when it was well out of hand, and he made some contested shots then, too, but that is not when the pressure is on versus the opposing starters. How does he still miss WIDE open layups at the rim? Or why does he still roam around dribbling slightly into the key only to pull back out and pass the ball? It just eats up the clock time and again. He's far better when he gets the ball and just drives and kicks or drives to the basket. He still can't finish with his left hand. Whatever stats he got were inflated by the 4TH Q and this is an issue. You can see with the habits he continues to show why we didn't extend him.

Bryn should just **** shoot the ball or pass it. Not pass it in the air to a team mate contested in the key, though. He was well defended at the arc, had to make secondary decisions and over dribbled. You're not that guy, guy. Just shoot or pass.

Drew is an issue, too. When he was a third string C and came in a made a couple or few nice hustle plays it was viewed positively relative to his undrafted status and position with two Cs ahead of him. But as the regular back-up C he's still doing a couple to a few good things and it's nowhere near enough. It's particularly damning when he gets burned on D on drives and P&Rs.

Jock was a revelation. He's what Drew once was, the hustle guy, but he actually has some talent and touch in spacing the floor, getting to open spaces, putbacks, FTs, etc. Now it may well be the case that he's getting good results because of the level of competition, but he was also featured more on his Olympic team versus the best of the best in the world so he's game for some higher competition. I'd like to see more of what he could do. He's earned it even after tonight's showing. I get that Drew knows our system more, but we need to give Jock more minutes to get acclimated. He can contribute.

Thad is wonderful at the arc orchestrating passes. Tre and Diop and I think Devin were the recipients of his good passes thanks to their good off-ball movement. I don't think it would have changed the outcome in this game, but in the future I hope we use Thad more sooner and have him pass more to cutters. We could utilize his skill set and that of our young off ball movers more. I wonder if we could get Jock to do some of that as well. He was a good passer on his national team.

I can't wait until Zach is back. We NEED a true PF, and he's someone with a broad skillset and size. Sort of like Thad right now minus spreading the floor as much - it gives us a different look.

We ended up with eight Spurs in double figures and shot very well, more so as the game progressed but we were still shooting throughout the game. It was the D that failed us.

So which assistant coach scouted this game? Either the game plan was way off or we just didn't execute what we were told or weren't clear on what to do or we didn't care enough to or what. Oof.

It was a trap game versus a team that has strengths we have trouble with - mobile, talented bigs and a team that has a lot of inside and outside threat.

We can get get back from low double digit deficits but we're just not that efficient team that can chip away at big deficits with scoring. We were exchanging baskets after giving up a big lead early and that was basically the game. We have to work that much harder on D because we're not efficient and so the margin for error is smaller for us.

Hopefully we can get a better rhythm going on O but right now we're still waiting on several guys to make a more noticeable leap. DJ's done it, Jakob has, too, Devin is showing signs of it, Thad has been better in more minutes, Doug and Bryn for the most part do what they're supposed to, and Tre and Diop have showed well in limited minutes. But that's two, maybe three starters, and three bench players who get regular bulk minutes.

Not enough guys are stepping up and it seems like they're pressing a bit now. You can't pull off team wins when a different group of guys are inefficient or unreliable game in game out (ie/ too cold so that they barely contribute on the O end after a decent game from there before). Six or so dependable players on O is a tough match-up. Every one else around them takes turns scoring fairly well or being too cold. Either we wait for them to catch up and figure it out or we incorporate Tre, Diop, Thad, Jock more. Plus, Lonnie is not a starter, and Keldon at the 4 is being exposed. I hope we can try Devin as starter in for Lonnie next time the opportunity comes up. He seems to play within himself better.

We're a deep team but don't seem to be fully realizing what others have to give. We wont play 12 players equal minutes, that's not what I mean. But just a better balance in minutes so that there's less pressure for the starters who are still figuring out how to deal with the bigger roles.

Just leave this stinker in Indy and let's move on to better.

Nice. Good for Jock.

Read on Twitter

[mzfk69]

4TH Q: SPURS 118

PACERS 131

Yep trap game. I was going to say it was decided by the half (you never think 80% from 3 in that 1ST Q would be sustainable) but it was really decided before the game began.

Couple that with this being a tough match-up for us with mobile big front court and a mentality that we could walk through this one versus a clearly hungry team (like we just were after losing four in a row) and it made for the night we had.

The second half was actually closer with us winning it 62-53, so in the sense that we kept playing especially in the 4TH to see what we've got with whom it was constructive.

But we were WAYYY too soft inside, and their 3s, some contested, others not as well as we should have, opened up their P&R game. Our bigs sag wayy too much on pick and pop Js time and again. At one point Jakob actually - and I can't believe I'm writing this - TURNED HIS BACK TO THE SHOOTER WHO WAS JUST GOING INTO HIS SHOOTING MOTION. So not only did he sag but he **** turned his back to the shot. I mean, emblematic of how brain dead we at times were.

The game stats are actually a lot closer than would indicate because all they had to do was sustain a baseline level of play and we had to try hard to score and defend so the second half evened things out a bit.

But before that, there were just too many soft plays. Jakob got bodied down low and pushed out of the way; he finished too softly on O at the rim. Miscommunication on rotations and then lacklustre recovery made for a long night.

DJ fought over screens, scored at will, passed well, ran plays well, lead well, but there's only so much he could do. He didn't score in the second half, but truly he didn't have nearly enough help up to that point.

Devin did very well to stay with defenders - I was so impressed with his unorthodox foot and body movement to keep finding drivers whether over or under screens. He just has a knack for covering a lot of ground. I loved his two handed stop to their high low attempt, too. It's like he reads and adjusts in real time.

Derrick had some decent string of plays - a charge taken followed by a made 3, and he was ok to good on D, but his O is tripping up somewhere. DJ has emerged as the more poised and polished player.

Our guards were forced into picking up their dribbles too early and we scrambled to get some kind of shot rather than orchestrating our O. And those were the more experienced ones.

Lonnie is an issue. He's struggling as a starter going back to last season when he started in 38 games. He's struggling with consistency versus starters of opponents. I used to think that DeMar was ahead of him taking up minutes so Lonnie had a tough time in the more limited chances he got to score and he would also defer to the more vet players on the team.

Like Lonnie, Keldon has plateaued and as he's being scouted he reverts to old habits - driving into a congested key versus bigger opponents who are set, missing open team mates to pass the ball and keep the play going, bulldozing rather than finessing his way around opponents. The play too often ends with a Keldon attempt and I think it's starting to suck the air out of our O, especially since he's just not efficient.

He made some nice drives and dishes today later in the game, when it was well out of hand, and he made some contested shots then, too, but that is not when the pressure is on versus the opposing starters. How does he still miss WIDE open layups at the rim? Or why does he still roam around dribbling slightly into the key only to pull back out and pass the ball? It just eats up the clock time and again. He's far better when he gets the ball and just drives and kicks or drives to the basket. He still can't finish with his left hand. Whatever stats he got were inflated by the 4TH Q and this is an issue. You can see with the habits he continues to show why we didn't extend him.

Bryn should just **** shoot the ball or pass it. Not pass it in the air to a team mate contested in the key, though. He was well defended at the arc, had to make secondary decisions and over dribbled. You're not that guy, guy. Just shoot or pass.

Drew is an issue, too. When he was a third string C and came in a made a couple or few nice hustle plays it was viewed positively relative to his undrafted status and position with two Cs ahead of him. But as the regular back-up C he's still doing a couple to a few good things and it's nowhere near enough. It's particularly damning when he gets burned on D on drives and P&Rs.

Jock was a revelation. He's what Drew once was, the hustle guy, but he actually has some talent and touch in spacing the floor, getting to open spaces, putbacks, FTs, etc. Now it may well be the case that he's getting good results because of the level of competition, but he was also featured more on his Olympic team versus the best of the best in the world so he's game for some higher competition. I'd like to see more of what he could do. He's earned it even after tonight's showing. I get that Drew knows our system more, but we need to give Jock more minutes to get acclimated. He can contribute.

Thad is wonderful at the arc orchestrating passes. Tre and Diop and I think Devin were the recipients of his good passes thanks to their good off-ball movement. I don't think it would have changed the outcome in this game, but in the future I hope we use Thad more sooner and have him pass more to cutters. We could utilize his skill set and that of our young off ball movers more. I wonder if we could get Jock to do some of that as well. He was a good passer on his national team.

I can't wait until Zach is back. We NEED a true PF, and he's someone with a broad skillset and size. Sort of like Thad right now minus spreading the floor as much - it gives us a different look.

We ended up with eight Spurs in double figures and shot very well, more so as the game progressed but we were still shooting throughout the game. It was the D that failed us.

So which assistant coach scouted this game? Either the game plan was way off or we just didn't execute what we were told or weren't clear on what to do or we didn't care enough to or what. Oof.

It was a trap game versus a team that has strengths we have trouble with - mobile, talented bigs and a team that has a lot of inside and outside threat.

We can get get back from low double digit deficits but we're just not that efficient team that can chip away at big deficits with scoring. We were exchanging baskets after giving up a big lead early and that was basically the game. We have to work that much harder on D because we're not efficient and so the margin for error is smaller for us.

Hopefully we can get a better rhythm going on O but right now we're still waiting on several guys to make a more noticeable leap. DJ's done it, Jakob has, too, Devin is showing signs of it, Thad has been better in more minutes, Doug and Bryn for the most part do what they're supposed to, and Tre and Diop have showed well in limited minutes. But that's two, maybe three starters, and three bench players who get regular bulk minutes.

Not enough guys are stepping up and it seems like they're pressing a bit now. You can't pull off team wins when a different group of guys are inefficient or unreliable game in game out (ie/ too cold so that they barely contribute on the O end after a decent game from there before). Six or so dependable players on O is a tough match-up. Every one else around them takes turns scoring fairly well or being too cold. Either we wait for them to catch up and figure it out or we incorporate Tre, Diop, Thad, Jock more. Plus, Lonnie is not a starter, and Keldon at the 4 is being exposed. I hope we can try Devin as starter in for Lonnie next time the opportunity comes up. He seems to play within himself better.

We're a deep team but don't seem to be fully realizing what others have to give. We wont play 12 players equal minutes, that's not what I mean. But just a better balance in minutes so that there's less pressure for the starters who are still figuring out how to deal with the bigger roles.

Just leave this stinker in Indy and let's move on to better.

Nice. Good for Jock.

Read on Twitter

I think Popovich will continue to put Lonnie in the starting five because he is trying to balance the second unit and does not want to leave the bench without a good defender.

[G R E Y]

Spoiler:

4TH Q: SPURS 118

PACERS 131

Yep trap game. I was going to say it was decided by the half (you never think 80% from 3 in that 1ST Q would be sustainable) but it was really decided before the game began.

Couple that with this being a tough match-up for us with mobile big front court and a mentality that we could walk through this one versus a clearly hungry team (like we just were after losing four in a row) and it made for the night we had.

The second half was actually closer with us winning it 62-53, so in the sense that we kept playing especially in the 4TH to see what we've got with whom it was constructive.

But we were WAYYY too soft inside, and their 3s, some contested, others not as well as we should have, opened up their P&R game. Our bigs sag wayy too much on pick and pop Js time and again. At one point Jakob actually - and I can't believe I'm writing this - TURNED HIS BACK TO THE SHOOTER WHO WAS JUST GOING INTO HIS SHOOTING MOTION. So not only did he sag but he **** turned his back to the shot. I mean, emblematic of how brain dead we at times were.

The game stats are actually a lot closer than would indicate because all they had to do was sustain a baseline level of play and we had to try hard to score and defend so the second half evened things out a bit.

But before that, there were just too many soft plays. Jakob got bodied down low and pushed out of the way; he finished too softly on O at the rim. Miscommunication on rotations and then lacklustre recovery made for a long night.

DJ fought over screens, scored at will, passed well, ran plays well, lead well, but there's only so much he could do. He didn't score in the second half, but truly he didn't have nearly enough help up to that point.

Devin did very well to stay with defenders - I was so impressed with his unorthodox foot and body movement to keep finding drivers whether over or under screens. He just has a knack for covering a lot of ground. I loved his two handed stop to their high low attempt, too. It's like he reads and adjusts in real time.

Derrick had some decent string of plays - a charge taken followed by a made 3, and he was ok to good on D, but his O is tripping up somewhere. DJ has emerged as the more poised and polished player.

Our guards were forced into picking up their dribbles too early and we scrambled to get some kind of shot rather than orchestrating our O. And those were the more experienced ones.

Lonnie is an issue. He's struggling as a starter going back to last season when he started in 38 games. He's struggling with consistency versus starters of opponents. I used to think that DeMar was ahead of him taking up minutes so Lonnie had a tough time in the more limited chances he got to score and he would also defer to the more vet players on the team.

Like Lonnie, Keldon has plateaued and as he's being scouted he reverts to old habits - driving into a congested key versus bigger opponents who are set, missing open team mates to pass the ball and keep the play going, bulldozing rather than finessing his way around opponents. The play too often ends with a Keldon attempt and I think it's starting to suck the air out of our O, especially since he's just not efficient.

He made some nice drives and dishes today later in the game, when it was well out of hand, and he made some contested shots then, too, but that is not when the pressure is on versus the opposing starters. How does he still miss WIDE open layups at the rim? Or why does he still roam around dribbling slightly into the key only to pull back out and pass the ball? It just eats up the clock time and again. He's far better when he gets the ball and just drives and kicks or drives to the basket. He still can't finish with his left hand. Whatever stats he got were inflated by the 4TH Q and this is an issue. You can see with the habits he continues to show why we didn't extend him.

Bryn should just **** shoot the ball or pass it. Not pass it in the air to a team mate contested in the key, though. He was well defended at the arc, had to make secondary decisions and over dribbled. You're not that guy, guy. Just shoot or pass.

Drew is an issue, too. When he was a third string C and came in a made a couple or few nice hustle plays it was viewed positively relative to his undrafted status and position with two Cs ahead of him. But as the regular back-up C he's still doing a couple to a few good things and it's nowhere near enough. It's particularly damning when he gets burned on D on drives and P&Rs.

Jock was a revelation. He's what Drew once was, the hustle guy, but he actually has some talent and touch in spacing the floor, getting to open spaces, putbacks, FTs, etc. Now it may well be the case that he's getting good results because of the level of competition, but he was also featured more on his Olympic team versus the best of the best in the world so he's game for some higher competition. I'd like to see more of what he could do. He's earned it even after tonight's showing. I get that Drew knows our system more, but we need to give Jock more minutes to get acclimated. He can contribute.

Thad is wonderful at the arc orchestrating passes. Tre and Diop and I think Devin were the recipients of his good passes thanks to their good off-ball movement. I don't think it would have changed the outcome in this game, but in the future I hope we use Thad more sooner and have him pass more to cutters. We could utilize his skill set and that of our young off ball movers more. I wonder if we could get Jock to do some of that as well. He was a good passer on his national team.

I can't wait until Zach is back. We NEED a true PF, and he's someone with a broad skillset and size. Sort of like Thad right now minus spreading the floor as much - it gives us a different look.

We ended up with eight Spurs in double figures and shot very well, more so as the game progressed but we were still shooting throughout the game. It was the D that failed us.

So which assistant coach scouted this game? Either the game plan was way off or we just didn't execute what we were told or weren't clear on what to do or we didn't care enough to or what. Oof.

It was a trap game versus a team that has strengths we have trouble with - mobile, talented bigs and a team that has a lot of inside and outside threat.

We can get get back from low double digit deficits but we're just not that efficient team that can chip away at big deficits with scoring. We were exchanging baskets after giving up a big lead early and that was basically the game. We have to work that much harder on D because we're not efficient and so the margin for error is smaller for us.

Hopefully we can get a better rhythm going on O but right now we're still waiting on several guys to make a more noticeable leap. DJ's done it, Jakob has, too, Devin is showing signs of it, Thad has been better in more minutes, Doug and Bryn for the most part do what they're supposed to, and Tre and Diop have showed well in limited minutes. But that's two, maybe three starters, and three bench players who get regular bulk minutes.

Not enough guys are stepping up and it seems like they're pressing a bit now. You can't pull off team wins when a different group of guys are inefficient or unreliable game in game out (ie/ too cold so that they barely contribute on the O end after a decent game from there before). Six or so dependable players on O is a tough match-up. Every one else around them takes turns scoring fairly well or being too cold. Either we wait for them to catch up and figure it out or we incorporate Tre, Diop, Thad, Jock more. Plus, Lonnie is not a starter, and Keldon at the 4 is being exposed. I hope we can try Devin as starter in for Lonnie next time the opportunity comes up. He seems to play within himself better.

We're a deep team but don't seem to be fully realizing what others have to give. We wont play 12 players equal minutes, that's not what I mean. But just a better balance in minutes so that there's less pressure for the starters who are still figuring out how to deal with the bigger roles.

Just leave this stinker in Indy and let's move on to better.

Nice. Good for Jock.

Read on Twitter

I think Popovich will continue to put Lonnie in the starting five because he is trying to balance the second unit and does not want to leave the bench without a good defender.

Yeah that's a good point. Interesting that Devin already plays slightly more minutes per game and gets only about two fewer PPG on fewer attempts and almost 5% less usage than Lonnie, that's on top of the D you mentioned. We're giving Lonnie every chance to flourish but his habits keep getting in the way. Hopefully he settles in.

Tre is playing more bench minutes and when we stagger DJ and Derrick one of them also spends time anchoring more bench players so I thought these factors would help Lonnie on the bench.

I took a look at our roster again and I thought well maybe we could start Thad. That way Keldon wouldn't have to play small ball 4. But then who backs up Thad with Doug out? It's a pickle.

Longer-term I like our Thad/Zach overlap and can't wait for the latter to get healthy. To whatever extent Thad can play more and Lonnie less as starter then it's a win-win. Thad increases his value and steadies the ship until Zach returns and Keldon can play the 3.