SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 73: SPURS AT WARRIORS, 20-3-2022, 7:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

SO. ****. STUPID.

[imagump1313]

DAMNIT!!!!!! SOO CLOSE!!!! Better luck next game......

[G R E Y]

ROFL!!!!! Primo misses wide open three, Sean explains that the pass was unexpected

I'm watching the Warriors broadcast (only one I could find). They've been refreshingly balanced.

[G R E Y]

Ed Molloy giveth. Ed Molloy taketh away. Ed Molloy giveth. Which team that ultimately benefits, I'm not sure, but here we are with a great team win after the terrible outing. Good bounce back game.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 110

WARRIORS 108

Well we are now 2-35 when being down after the 3RD Q. Progress!

It was a solid bounce-back game after the zombie performance of the previous one. We couldn't wait to put distance between us and that game behind us and roared out to a 36-point 1ST Q.

Then our patterns of middle two Qs lull, but really it was getting caught on some inexperienced D on their more assertive 2ND Q push, and not finishing the 3RD Q well by giving up a 10-0 run.

We roared out to a 14-point lead, and each time they made a run we counter punched well to keep bringing up our lead time and again. It was a topsy-turvy start to the 4TH Q with neither team able to put the ball through the basket. So many weird misses, bounces out, swirls out, airballs, just an impressive array of the ball refusing to fall down. We ran ahead to a nine-point lead mid-way in the 4TH Q when went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 101-101 and we were on our heels with their crowd now into the game. Pressure situation.

They took a brief 105-104 lead before JRich stepped up for another big 3. They drove too easily to tie it up 107-all but I guess with Jakob with four fouls at that point, the only thing worse than giving up a layup is the +1. They missed their 3, they ran down and recovered YET ANOTHER o board, and then bizarro calls took over: we doubled on the sidelines and got called for a foul with THREE seconds left. Where was the foul? But they missed the second FT and as we hoped to call a timeout the refs once again stepped up and called a foul on them on the rebound. Jakob made the first FT - yes! - to tie the game 108-108.

And ironically as their O board and foul put them ahead, so too did a foul for us and on O board and putback by Keldon WILDER Johnson put us ahead. They still managed an end of game heave somehow with 0.3 left in the game, but it was nowhere near the basket.

I am going over these events to sort them in my mind as they happened so quickly and were so bizarre that it's still an unbelievable turn and turn again of events. Post-game Kerr said he didn't understand BOTH of those final fouls, that players should determine the results of the game. Yes and yes.

Maybe the homer fan in me saw more in the second foul for us than in the first foul against us, but they did miss their second FT, and we did get the O board and putback on Jakob's missed second FT. What a weird balance, after all the weird misses that balanced out.

Our D was more aggressive though we still have to work on our switches. We switch almost all the time and we got caught with our guards down low on their bigs with help too late. We also got caught ball watching at times as they back door cut on us time and again. Then again, we did a better job rotating out to close out and contest, and we did a better job doubling them in the post as well as doubling their passes inside. We got seven steals and 22 points off their 16TOs.

That helped to offset their 52-34 points in the paint advantage, as did our 3s advantage - a surprise given we were playing a team that is third in made 3s at 14.5 per game, and ninth in efficiency at 36.1%. True their main sniper is out, but their other sniper still made 6-12. Luckily we did a better job of contesting the arc and only three of their players connected from the arc for 11-33. We made 15-40 for 37.5%, all above our average, and these were still better balanced; 38% of our shots were from 3 (per Paul Garcia) as opposed to almost 50% last game. We put in the effort to get a better variety of shots on better ball movement. Almost every Spur who played shot a 3 (except for Jakob), and seven of nine Spurs connected on them. Although our starters struggles with efficiency, they still kept shooting, putting up 27 of our 40 attempts. The bench shot it really well, making 7-13, including, wait for it... 2-3 from 3 by Tre! I think he almost doubled his season's output from the arc in this game alone. Progress.

Leading us in points (25), 3s - three, efficiency (8-12, 3-5 from 3), FTs (6-6) was JRich who contributed all that plus 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal in 27 minutes. He was crucial for our comeback in the final Q where he scored 13 points on 3-3FTs, 2-3 from 3 including one with just over a minute left to get back our lead again. Just clutch from all over the place, clutch within himself and within our system, clutch without pushing too hard for what wasn't there.

DJ made some clutch shots himself including that spin in the key J +1 for a 3-point play for a 3-point lead but he struggled in the final Q, and it was largely on his "I'm the man" mentality that we almost gave the game away. He just gets into these tunnel vision stretches where he over-dribbles, DOES NOT PASS, gets into contested space and either loses the ball, gets blocked, stripped, or contested at the rim.

MEMO TO DJ: teams have your pet spots and plays scouted and are adjusting to putting bigger defenders on you to get you to over dribble too long, and send a second defender to prevent you from running our sets. Pop has counter-adjusted by putting Tre out there for a second player who can run our sets, but DJ HAS to do a better job making adjustments of his own rather than stubbornly for his pet plays and spots, AND adding ISO hero ball which we DO NOT NEED. DJ was 1-6 in the 4TH Q and while that lone3-point play helped us, we really could and should have generated better chances from the other shots he chose. We won despite his poor O decisions that favoured himself over others. He was 7-18 coming into the final Q and still called his number all those times and in all those ill-timed situations.

I actually do like that he is taking more 3s now (2-6), and that he's driving more, but he's missing a lot of bunnies because he's shadowed on D a lot more. He has to make better decisions with the getting others involved versus getting his shot. He was better at this pre-All Star. And even with Derrick traded, we have JRich as a great option to pass to. And, in fact, he did just that for JRich's final 3.

DJ finished with 19/8/6 (1 on O) but it really was a game in which the stats belie the better game he could have had. Adjusting better to scouted defense schemes and 3s efficiency are DJ's next levels.

Devin struggled to score once again (12 on 3-12, 3-8 from 3, 3-4FTs), but he did get 6 boards (2 on O), 1 assist, and 3 steals. Good man D, and good rebounding from him. Efficiency and assists are his 'next steps'.

Primo fought off the rookie wall to deliver one of his more solid games since getting regular minutes. He struggled 1-4 from 3 but was a keen driver and made 5-10 (so 4-6 not from the arc), along with 3 boards, 2 assists, and 1 block for a second team best +10. He got caught on some team D assignments with back door cuts behind him but his man D was better. He did get beaten on some drives though he tried to keep drivers angled to outside the key rather than toward inside it. He looked more engaged overall even if his team / help D miscues are on the steep learning curve, and he had more confident drives. He was contested a lot especially as they sealed up the key in the final Q where he was 1-3 on the left side of the basket where previously he was 2-2. Threes efficiency and team D are in his assignment book.

Keldon fought through an inefficient scoring game for 14 on 5-15, 2-9 from 3, 2-3FTs, 7 boards (2 on O, and none more important than on the final play), 5 assists (great!), and 1 steal. He pushed and found ways to keep contributing. Some missed bunnies but some great drives, some missed 3s but lots of attempts (some of these had him a bit leaning back so if there's one improvement for him on this shot it's a quicker release as he, too, is being focused on by the D, a lot more on the arc).

But in terms of relentlessness and finding ways to contribute, he was wonderful. You just never know what will happen when you keep persevering. And there was Keldon WILDER Johnson in the mix for the rebound, and just reacting and putting it back up with that sweet soft kiss off the glass.

Jakob was uncharacteristically 2-7, but hit 3-6FTs, none more crucial than his final one as it was in a pressure situation, and frankly, his miss worked in our favour with the 3-point play that we ended up getting out of it. The two-point lead with 0.3 left rather than a hypothetical one-point lead with 3 seconds left is a huge game changer in terms of the kind of shot the opponent can create and has to take.

Jakob was busy on the boards, grabbing a team-high 14, none more important than the final one he got fouled on, and a team-high 8 on O. His work on the boards and Keldon's huge end of game O board helped us to close the O board gap to 20-17, even though they still outrebounded us 57-44.

And when Jakob got into foul trouble, there was giving us another look making 2-3 from 3, 4-8 overall, 1-2FTs for 11 points, 1 O board, 2 assists. As gump said, he had his legs under him on those shots, and he didn't hesitate in taking them which was great to see. As I mentioned before, he has a tendency to crouch too low when he gets the ball in the post which takes his height advantage away as he keeps the ball too low, something to keep in mind, but he was also in a disadvantage of getting a lot of DJ passes inside into too covered a space and he had to fight through two or three defenders. Not really fair to him. We have to get the ball to him sooner and in better spots, and he has to seal out his man for better positioning. But overall he had a great bounce back game from the 1-10 debacle of the last one, and was crucial for us in the variety of looks we forced their D to cover.

Tre had three assists in the 4TH Q. He made 2-3 3s. He trailed drivers and got two O boards (4 overall) including a putback +1 on one of them, bench-high 4 assists, and 2 steals. His 9 points were hard gets, and unusual because he made more 3s than other FGs, 1-3 in the paint, 0-1 on the long J. Despite the 3TOs, he was still a +10.

Pop ran a mostly eight-man unit. He does that when he wants to run a tight ship and we needed the focus after the last game. Jock and Joe filled in a few minutes rest minutes.They didn't get a lot of chances to score (3FGAs between them) but Joe's assertive drive did earn him a trip to the FT line. In a close game where every point counts all the more, his 2-2FTs were big in the context of the outcome. But it was also good to see him grow from the wide-eyed, wild-limbed, fish out of water player to the stronger, more confident and assertive one who takes his shots or drives within our system.

Post-game Pop said he was thrilled with the win for the guys. It's not just the players who like having something to play for. Although we could hardly have played worse last game so in that sense almost anything would have been an improvement, there were still some markers we met - more energetic, cohesive start, good fight to withstand strong waves of counter punches, through some of our own D mistakes and waning efficiency, and despite some strange invisible lid on the basket to start the final Q (did this game set our airball record?), we overcame a young team's tendency to wilt under pressure and came up with some clutch shots and winning plays in a tough environment versus a team that knows how to win.

We pulled through and started Spring on the west coast swing with a cleansing W. Feels good (as does a west coast game that didn't start at 10:30pm EST). We outshot them (98-90FGAs) and that included 3s and FTs (19-25). But we won the final Q 27-24, managing to hold them off to their second lowest scoring Q. Key shots. Key shots. Kept playing through the peaks and valleys. Kept playing through. Love that.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

Didn't realize this:

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Phreak50]

Murray the only minus (-8) of the starters.

He also should never be attempting 24 shots.

Fools good and empty stats if you ask me.

Move him while he is worth something because at his age (and skill level) he is not going to be at his peak during this rebuild.

[JeffReal]

Murray the only minus (-8) of the starters.

He also should never be attempting 24 shots.

Fools good and empty stats if you ask me.

Move him while he is worth something because at his age (and skill level) he is not going to be at his peak during this rebuild.

Move DJ? To be replaced by whom? Who’s your choice to play pg for the Spurs? (Tre is G league.) Any suggestions?

It appears to me that the Spurs have many other problems to correct before any thought of replacing DJ should cross their minds.