SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 15: SPURS VS. CLIPPERS, 22-11-2023, 7PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

DEV + TRE are having terrific D synergy and effect. NICE!

[G R E Y]

DEV AND WEMBY **** P&R

**** FINALLY!

[imagump1313]

Guess I'll comment on game stills since my feed freezes every 15 seconds

[G R E Y]

Not a great foul but I'd rather we get it with aggressiveness.

[G R E Y]

2ND Q: SPURS 48 CLIPPERS 54

Well we woke up with a better effort as the Q progressed. We won it 34 - 28, cutting a 17-point deficit down to 2 after Pop went to the arena ref mic and told the crowd to stop booing because it's not who we are, fans booed even more loudly and we went on a run LOL

Tre doing a lot of great perimeter work to get into passing lanes, get into opponent spaces, get deflections, making right reads, and protecting the ball with his body on layups after getting steals.

Dev shot selection from outside has a couple of questionable attempts, but he also drove well to get through their D and get to the FT line where we are 13-15, much better tonight.

Dev was the only one from what I recall to run a P&R with Wemby for the latter's dunk.

Wemby has to figure out a way to adjust to defenders getting RIGHT into his space when he gets the ball. Pop has told him to focus on the sequence of balance first, then decide what to do with the ball, but he tends to rush as he gets pushed out of his space and take off balance shots.

He made a nice extra pass at the top of the arc to Doug left of him for a 3. Good steps.

Keldon needs to drive more, too. Film of him being blindsided by the screen behind him he just ran around which allowed his man to get unimpeded to our paint has to start sticking in his memory.

Sochan scoring touch is Jekyll and Hyde and so far the 1-5 stands out poorly though he got to the FT line a couple of times.

I like our doubling, more aggressiveness, more fight this Q. Making shots is a jolt of energy. We just HAVE to make sure we PUSH at them, don't settle for outside shots, run back on D, protect the ball.

[G R E Y]

HEY A PASS INSIDE TO WEMBY WHO HAD HIS MAN SEALED AND HE SCORED. IT WORKS!

[G R E Y]

ALLEY OOP TO WEMBY


HOLY ****!!!

[G R E Y]

SOCHAN MUST SIT THE REST OF THE Q FOR FLAT OUT IGNORING WEMBY IN THE PAINT WIDE OPEN FOR LIKE 3-4 SECONDS.

INEXCUSABLE!!!

[G R E Y]

We match out 1ST Q output of 14 points at the 7 minute mark of the 3RD.

[G R E Y]

Dom is not effective out there. We do not have any physicality out there.

It was JUST a two point lead and now has blown open on another run against for a 13-point deficit.

[G R E Y]

18-point deficit. Just like that.

[G R E Y]

Bill just said it is a 14-0 run against.

[G R E Y]

I think it's Dom at the 4 and Wemby at the 5. Interesting.

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 70 CLIPPERS 82

Started the Q well, brought it to within a basket, allowed a 14-0 run against, then finished better. We got down 18 at one point so to trim it to within 12 is better.

Sochan is not working. We have too much to compensate for. It's one thing is he's missing a cutter and the too quick chance passes him by, or he makes a wrong angled pass, but he had Wemby down low WIDE OPEN for like 3 seconds and passed to the strong side! HOW is that possible? BAD bad.

We got Wemby more involved with some nice alley oops for beautiful and EASY dunks.

Tre and Devin back court feels good. Don't care if it's Sochan at the 3 or whoever but depending on the type of mistakes should determine his minutes. Still fuming about the above play.

We need to score more efficiently. Part of it is getting the ball to Wemby better, part of it is extra passes, part of it is more drives and physicality.

[G R E Y]

Kaput choppy stream. Not sure what's going on...

[G R E Y]

Lmao Sochan on the weak side with his hands up as Wemby brings up the ball. Like nah dude you're getting looked off as Zach gets the pass from Wemby inside.

Socham somehow incredulous with his hands up still after we made the basket that he didn't get the ball.

What's he thinking?!

[G R E Y]

We should pressure the ball more as they bring it up.

[G R E Y]

Box out. BOX OUT. Box. Out.

[G R E Y]

Wemby left post, hand up, Sochan LOOKS off him again, decides to drive and misses a dunk.

**** hell.

This is inexcusable.

[G R E Y]

SPURS: 102 CLIPPERS 109

Well some heated moments during the game and from my seat at home lol

Not just for the streaming konking out, but Sochan BLATANTLY looking off Wemby. There's missing short windows of opportunity due to inexperience and then there's hurting your team by not making the RIGHT PASS, the easiest possible **** play, and it was **** BRUTAL. Made worse by the fact that this ended up being a close game, made worse still by the fact that Sochan missed do many **** shots.

Wemby scored 22 points on SEVEN FGs. He only took 13 because **** Sochan DID NOT PASS TO HIM when he was blatantly open.

Guess who took the most FGAs? SOCHAN. **** SOCHAN took shots away from the guy who was scoring better when he was not scoring well. He was 6-15 (tied with Dev for team high).

This may have happened when my stream died for a few minutes:

Read on Twitter

But **** for all the times I've given Sochan W I D E berth for mistakes on the fly in a new position. But these were **** LOOKING OFF decisions. Just can't have that. CAN'T HAVE THAT.

And then on the other end, Sochan had his hands up on the weak side, like Wemby had before, and Wemby bringing up the ball passed instead into the paint to Zach who scored.

Reporter just asking Sochan Qs post game presser and said he scored 12 straight. Didn't know that. Didn't see it. Still seething from the Wemby getting frozen out.

This is a more measured POV than I can muster:

Read on Twitter

The thing is, it wasn't ONE missed read. It wasn't even a 'read'. It was a flat out **** look off. And Sochan favoured passes to team mates on the strong side with defenders on them instead of Wemby open on the weak side or down low. I just can't with this **** tonight... My seething about these has really tainted my perception of the rest of his overall game. It's just a weird vibe between them when these happen and that stood out tonight. The thing is, Sochan is so thoughtful in interviews it's hard to believe he simply doesn't see it. And Wemby being the tallest guy on the court for sure sees Sochan open with his hands up on weak side but gives the ball to others instead after several debacles the other way. Weird vibe. I don't like it.

Ok, as to the game in broader picture, we started very concerningly slow but I liked how we picked up steam, how we fought more, how we won two Qs scoring 30+ in both, how we finished a couple of Qs even if we gave up runs in a couple as well.

We had fewer TOs, 13 to their 16, but they had 10 steals, so it's both fewer unforced mistakes, and we have to limit mistakes under pressure. I like the more intense pressure as the game went along, I like that we drove more, and we put more and better pressure on them defensively. Although we had fewer TOs, we gave up twice the points on ours, 16-8, so yeah depending on the situation, either hard foul, or don't allow opponents to beat us down the court and get behind us on D.

Branham was somehow worse than Julian as a starter. Julian is a big guy who can guard some and has made some 3s, but 6 points or whatever else doesn't ease pressure on other guys. Shots won't go in, but then you have to find other ways to contribute and he's very Jekyll Hyde about that. Only two of his shots were in the paint. He can and has driven, but didn't do a good job pushing the case on drives and barely contributed elsewhere.

It looked like Dom was played the 5 when we had a small skinny lineup that got shellacked for a big run against. He looked better as the 4 next to Wemby at the 5. Notice how we're sprinkling in Wemby at the 5 a little now? Good. This was an effective lineup - perimeter pressure on D, quick transition the other way, competitive.

Bassey somehow had more TOs (3) than minutes (2). An accomplishments of sorts. Really thought we could have used some Mamu minutes for the bigger more experienced presence instead of Dom or Bassey but it was good to see Dom get some minutes anyway. He needs the reps.

Everyone on the bench struggled to score. Teamwide we shot 38.5%FGs and 28.9% from 3. Although we put up 6 more shots, we made four fewer overall. Tough shooting night. I hope we don't start games settling for outside shots like we did this game. We were just stubbornly horizontal and settling for the long Js and 3s that were not going in. PUSH the ball at opponents, impose, put them on their heels.

Back to Wemby because he had a terrific game - adjusted in taking only two 3s, making one. Adjusted in getting to the FT line, leading us with 7-7. Adjusted in making the extra pass to Doug for a more open 3. He had a good shot at the top of the arc, but recognized that the better shooter had a better, more open shot. In addition to leading us in scoring (22), he grabbed a career high 15 rebounds (2 on O), had 3 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks to 2 TOs. Better decisions with the ball, better shot selection, he isn't jumping as far forward on 3s as he did in the beginning of the season, and still very solid D.

Thank goodness Dev is back. Yes he struggled hard to score (6-15) and yes half his shots were from the arc (2-8), but he had one elbow J (made it) and the rest were drives which he made 3-5. Really nice to see aggressive, creative, driving Dev back. He's very important for us.

I though Keldon settled for too many outside shots, and we could really use him and his bulk driving at the rim. Eight of his 13FGAs were from 3 and he made only 2 of them. So he made 3FGAs - in the deep paint. Defense, well, the whole anticipating screens to not allow his man into our paint is an issue.

Ironically Sochan took the most shots in the paint and also missed the most. Wonky touch. Defends best opponents, needs to get into their space more, not bite on fakes as much. Dom and Julian do this well.

Zach was terrific deep in the restricted area. Good synergy between him and Wemby and love the beffie vibe between Wemby and Dev.

Just a better effort in longer spurts, still gave up too-long scoring streaks but fought back from them better. Still need to box out better - or box out at all in some sequences. Just keep putting it together and putting it TOGETHER. The easiest right play is just that. Whatever's going on there to us not making them, when we do that consistently, the tide will turn in our favour. Team-first. D-out. Stay together.