SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 39: SPURS AT HAWKS, 15-1-2024, 2:30PM (CT)

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KELDON WILDER JOHNSON RIPS the O board and forces the putback. RAWR.

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I'm LOVING Blake's full court D pressure and the Blake-Sochan tandem defending the back court.

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D to O!

Sochan driving, Sochan picking the pocket for the steal, Sochan dish to Wemby for the dunk.

Sochan to Wemby for another dunk and foul.

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KELDON HOW COULD YOU MISS A LAYUP?

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WEMBY!!!!!!!!

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SOCHAN GET UP!!!

He does this fall on the floor and stay there routine for effect. GET UP AND RUN BACK ON D!

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Keldon. BBIQ. *sigh*

Missed layup after we steal.

Charge in D to O transition.

[imagump1313]

Thanks for keeping me updated Grey. Had to work today so wasn't watching this.

[imagump1313]

Just saw some highlights with those stupid looking uniforms. We deserved to lose.........

[G R E Y]

Thanks for keeping me updated Grey. Had to work today so wasn't watching this.

I **** rearranged my schedule to get home by 3:11pm and get all ready for this first half debacle. I was **** seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeething LOL

Devin is a problem. If he's going through something personal we don't know about then it is what it is but he's been pulling Houdini performances together and it's just not good enough.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 99 HAWKS 109

Amazing second half.

But who do we think we are? Just who the **** do we think we are?! We strung together five competitive games in a row, face a struggling team and what? They were going to roll over for us? Nope. They rolled right on over us and back again on repeat for the entire first half. Don't come prepared, prepare to pay for it.

Sochan showed up. That's about it.

That was one of the worst halves of basketball I've ever seen, and I've been watching the NBA since the early 1980s.

Just an absolutely embarrassing, unprofessional, uncompetitive level of basketball.

Unless Devin is going through something personal, or unless this is some plateau that sometimes guys get mired in for a while until they figure it out (facing top back courts and being targeted to be shut down, like Keldon was last season, is a newer challenge; plus he's had various backcourt partners to handle playing alongside), it's a harbinger of a passive default setting that is as troubling as it is necessarily revealing. Better to be aware of it now and monitor it going forward.

Here the gist of the problem on O:

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And the corollary of that is passive play / getting his shot first going through those summer reps / settling for outside shots too much. The Venn diagram of these overlapping traits is the ugly bitter spot emerging as a bad pattern that needs addressing.

The additional problem(s) is/are that he looks heavy and is having a harder time handling his own physical stature now, flat footed and plodding, stiff hips, takes too long to set up O, slow on reads and reactions, and ends up calling his own contested shot anyway.

I took a quick look at his games on a monthly basis:

October: 4 games, 1 inefficient.

November: 9 games, 4 inefficient.

December: 13 games, 7 inefficient.

January: 8 games, 4 inefficient.

(I consider inefficiency around 40% or under, per my own cutoff point. Arbitrary, fine. But it's not a high 50% or above standard).

It's not a coincidence that far more often than not, the inefficient games also have too many 3s in the shot selection profile. There are only a couple of games from the inefficient list in which he didn't average almost half over just over 50% of shots from the arc.

He settles for 3s, hunts for 3s even when they're not falling, doesn't work nearly enough to look for and create drives. When he gets the ball up top from a pass, he tends to hold onto it and look around too long rather than try to beat guys off the dribble. He has shown some good creative handles flashes but they're too often underutilized or left in the toolbox altogether.

Maybe he's hitting a fatigue wall. It was around this number of games played last season that his season ended. And last season was his first starting. Even Sochan got more starting game reps last season as a rookie.

Learning isn't linear and it isn't always in an upward progression. Sometimes guys take a step back, are stagnant at a lower level, cycle back and forward. But it's the attitude, competitive spirit, and fire with which Devin approaches games that stands out badly. He CAN get to the rim but chooses for the easier, energy saving outside shots; when he drove today he had paths open to the basket but kicked out instead and we missed the 3s (a pattern he's doing more of late). You have the OPEN path, TAKE IT.

When a leader does it, we stop moving and settle for more quick one and done shots. It has a trickle effect.

That's why Tre as starter is important in setting up plays, telling guys where to move, keeping up energy with dribbling, maintaining drive or pass or shoot options as a threat which keeps defenders honest, as opposed to Devin holding onto the ball which invites defenders to close space on him, making things even more difficult for him and the team as a result.

Former Spur DD does this to good effect but he’s bigger, stronger, and has more nimble footwork to get out of tighter situations. He’s also more of a hekry jerky motion player, able to deke defenders out with little body fakes and stutter steps and pump fakes and of course handles.

Devin had eight games this season in which he didn’t get any FTAs, another six games in which he had only 1FTA, and a further five games in which he had only 3FTAs. So in 19 or 33 games played, he’s only had 3 of fewer FTAs. It’s no coincidence considering nearly 50% of his shots come from the arc this season (6.9 of 14.4FGAs).

Yes shooters shoot, but scorers find ways to put the ball in the basket when a given shot isn’t falling. They find ways of helping the team beyond chucking ill-advised shots, they drive, get into the paint more, get more FTs. In this game, he had THREE shots in the restricted paint, making one. Overall in this game - 2-11, 0-5 from 3, 4 boards (1 on O), 4 assists, 1 block. He and Tre combined for 10 points in 30 minutes each.

Devin has combined for 3-24, 1-13 from 3 (so again, more than half of his shots from the arc), 2-3FTs, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 1 steal in the last two games.

I do like that in nearly every game he registers assists (only one didn’t have any) and rebounds (only two games). And more often than not he gets a steal (he’s averaging a career high so far 1.3 per game). But my goodness the energy level, the picking his spots to stand out beyond setting up his pet spots, the stubborn doubling down on his shot profile regardless of whether or not it’s a good shot, the lack of aggressiveness to start games and sustain it, the lack of drives, it all combines to create an unflattering talk about it not be about it bad example, bad leadership, not stepping up when we need him to. Another winnable game. Another disappearing act, not beating his man with his handles, not making quick decisions (beyond reverting to chucking 3s). His tunnel vision, energy conservation, and taking too long to only end up doing the same thing is hurting us.

No spot is guaranteed. Pop said guys are being evaluated for long term who we want. No reason why that doesn’t also pertain to Devin. If guys who had their roles before him longer were moved on from, then there’s no reason to think we can’t with Devin, largest contract or not. It’s just the reality of the predicament and opportunity. You can’t have a guy putting up 18/3.4/3.2 on 46/36.8/81.5 efficiency and not expect more considering he’ll he the highest paid player for us next season.

Joining him on the careening struggle bus is Keldon, who is reverting to some previous low BBIQ plays of barrelling into multiple defenders in the paint and yelling, TOing, getting stripped or blocked, missing bunnies to boot. Only 1-11, 0-5 from 3, 3-5FTs, 6 boards (2 on O), 1 steal, 5TOs (tied for his season high). Lots of mistakes in reads, finishes, but the effort is always there. Sometimes all we have is a primal yawp, for him or his teammates, and today a lot of his effort was detrimental, but the hustle and energy bringing is always a positive.

Still, food for thought:

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Keldon is in a better spot as a bench sixth man. Devin is where we expected as starting SG. If our previous first option (by default, but still it was a good learning curve for him) as starter can change roles to a better suited one, so too can Devin’s. We’ll see how he adjusts, preferably starting with the heart/mental approach.

Just about everyone struggled, especially to start the game. After leading us to a career high, Tre scored 3-8, 0-1 from 3, no FTs, 1 board, but led us with 12 assists, and 3 steals – found ways to play to his strengths base.

Julian finally had an efficient game (again, after a woeful start) scoring 5-8 from 3 along with one each of assist, steal, and block in starter low 20 minutes.

But who consistently showed up? Sochan. Efficient, fifteen first half points, finishing with 23 on 8-16, 2-4 from 3, team high 5-5FTs, 8 boards (team high 3 on O), 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks (and yes, 4TOs). It was one of his most complete, consistent, two-way games. I’ve been reminded recently that he’s younger than this year’s high lotto rookies Thompson twins and Miller. And his feel for the game, better recognition of plays developing and of what he can set up and execute more quickly, like that high P&R with Wemby when he made a behind the head pass for a Wemby dunk, is an encouraging sign.

Smart, judicious shot selection, varied shot distribution, good use of physicality. He did stay on the ground too long again when he fell, and he did get caught by drivers in the paint and couldn’t recover as quickly with that wide stance in place. But that’s a small detail and surely an easy adjustment for him as he gets more reps. He’s been an impressive defender:

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And in this game, he was a terrific perimeter defending tandem with Blake. So he’s fitting better with Wemby, is functioning better as O initiator in spots, defends multiple positions, impacts the game in multiple ways, and has a motor that is always in **** disturbing gear. I will be thrilled to be wrong about my initial lukewarm impression of us drafting him and I hope he continues to prove he wrong.

There’s no sugarcoating Wemby’s 0-4 first half. Some ill-advised shots (like the two 3s misses) and only one attempt in the restricted area made for an underwhelming 12 minutes. Of course, it didn’t help that we did a poor job finding him.

Then Pop benched Wemby, Devin, and Tre to start the second half.

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And I love this about him:

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One thing about Wemby, he clearly rises to another level in critical moments, he clearly has a gear in skills and mental focus and competitiveness that bring out jawdropping plays that give us a chance to win, even in this game in which we were down 35 at one point.

He put together 26 on 12-18, 1-5 from 3, 1-1FTs, team high 13 boards (2 on O), 2 assists, 2 steals, and 5 blocks(!) with 3TOs. We not only found him in P&Rs, and alley oops, we even threw one to him from a side inbounds. He showed more of his handles, unique physicality and its impact, BBIQ, and clutch gene tenacity. As wretched as the first half was, seeing this response was worth the wait.

The second half momentum change was initiated with the lineup change. Pop started Blake, Cedi, Julian, Sochan, and Dom and they worked their collective asses off, sending a message from coach to team to teammates about requisite effort, basic fundamentals, impact. And we won another 3RD Q, our sixth in a row, as well as the second half 65-40.

Blake was defensive beast, picking up Trae full court, fighting through screens, picking him up again quickly under screens, forcing passes, forcing adjustments of high screens for switches. Sure the team with a big leads tends to pull back the effort, but we did do enough good things to bring the game all the way back to within 6 points. Small victories within the game, but big lesson beyond it.

Blake was a blur on O as well, still missing one layup, passing up another (much to Pop’s displeasure – again, like with Devin, take the shot you’ve got), fighting inefficiency, but it hardly registered. What did leave a lasting impression was his intensity, impact on D, speed, and fighting for a roster spot with his renewed confidence in his more controlled game from Austin reps. It’s translating well. He set up the starters for the just-short comeback.

As his game impresses, Branham’s is regressing. A game-low -21 in only 10 minutes is arresting. So much so that he didn’t play in the second half. Outside of shot attempts, bagels in any other measured stat. He may have made 2-4, but the one-sided game and ghastly D resulted in an even stronger message sent than the ones three starters got. He was once a starter, then sixth man, and is moving down the minutes ladder in games like this. There’s letting a young player play through mistakes, and then there’s sending a message for repeating them when he knows better now. He’s got a smooth O game, lots of shots in the toolkit, but his D BBIQ and effort need a reset in focus and work.

Doug may have carved a career as an off-ball moving sharpshooter despite his D, but he’s a career 41.3% from 3, and is making a blazing 46.8% from the arc this season. He’s never averaged more than 24.5 minutes per game and has come off the bench for the majority of his career so his use has been as scoring spark plug and play, ever at the ready, which isn’t easy to do. He’s at the top of his specific craft, honing a couple of skills so well as to add value to teams. Also underrated are his coachability, affability, and vet presence. Branham has a lot to learn. Nice guy, always smiling, has a unique style, but has to find his niche and absolutely outwork anyone else in it. There’s no shortage of 6’4” inefficient, D deficient scorers. Find your niche, Branham.

So Branham’s minutes were consistent for a time and are now getting trimmed. On the other hand, we’re seeing what opportunity and effort are reaping with Dom. There is a really good article about his rise from undrafted player to securing a roster spot with us to being thrust into a bigger role courtesy of fate stepping in to make him next man up:

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His effort and hustle are never in question. His defense is impactful. He is disciplined (sound help D, takes a beating on man D but doesn’t back down, doesn’t bite on fakes, times blocks well, fights for and grabs rebounds), and fundamentally sound (proper screen setter, moves to right spots on P&Rs, good shooting form). He does need to make his paint baby Js automatic, and have a go-to shot there (like Drew’s baby hook) to improve his efficiency (1-4, 2-4FTs), but he also grabbed a bench high 7 boards and got an assist and a steal.

It was a worst of times best of times dichotomy of a game, and we’ll see how we respond individually and as a team. It’ll be interesting to see how positions and roles adjust based on guys getting sent a message that the only guarantee is minutes based on impactful play.

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NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

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