SPURS GAME DAY! GAME 35: SPURS AT CAVS, 7-1-2024, 12PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

So Branham thought it was the right play to set the screen right beside another Spur... setting the screen? Then it clicked and he ran off to the left corner.

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 84 CAVS 88

Another end of Q 3 - a wide open one - allowed by the same guy who hit a wide open end of Q 3 to finish the 1ST.

Other than that, and a slower start, we actually WON another 3RD Q 28-26. This is progress for us.

Branham. It is a make or miss career in a make or miss league. Make them.

Good team play for the most part.

Keldon driving well.

Let's protect the arc, and protect the ball, and set up good looks. Make them.

[G R E Y]

A TO leading to a bucket to start the Q. Brilliant.

Then we miss a 3.

Then we overplay with help, get stuck with too many Spurs in the paint, and they hit a 3 for a 5-0 start against.

Just basic basic things to clean up.

[G R E Y]

Another Tre 3?!

After a pretty Cedi O board. Wonderful.

Then Cedi steal and Tre transition layup.

[G R E Y]

Having Branham on D makes drivers get large pupils and just drive at him like he's not there.

[G R E Y]

"Branham almost walked now he turns it over to Mitchell" - Cavs commentator.

So, almost travel salvaged by bad pass to the opponent. Great.

Yep. It's always that ONE GUY **** things up.

And we play whack-a-mole trying to avoid it.

What a cluster **** collection of bad plays by Branham. Not a starter. Blake benefited from G-League. Perhaps Branham would, too.

[G R E Y]

Sochan passes from right corner up top to Cedi and the pass is at his ankles. I just can't...

[G R E Y]

Sochan frustrated about not getting the ball down low from Devin after he had inside positioning on his man.

First, lol at the frustration. Now you know how it feels.

Second, Sochan lost seal positioning on the O board, being now behind his man and not getting the ball. He would have had he kept the seal.

[G R E Y]

No box out, no rebound, basket against.

No help D, basket against.

[imagump1313]

HUGE shot by Vassell!!!! (as we are down by 15)

I'm soo tired of hearing this......

[G R E Y]

Holy crap Keldon and Tre double the ball handler at half court, pass is made to top of arc, wide open 3 miss with Keldon late chasing the shot, and then they come from behind three Spurs in the paint to get the O board. Emblematic of the breakdowns this game. Do some things properly, but not the whole way through.

[imagump1313]

THERE IS NO QUIT IN THESE GUYS!!!!

Yeah, there is no BBIQ either....

[G R E Y]

THAT was a good Keldon-Tre double. We better win this challenge AND get possession...

[G R E Y]

BS WE SHOULD HAVE HAD THE BALL.

[G R E Y]

THANKS SOCHAN. THANKS A LOT.

ANOTHER **** BLOWN O POSSESSION FROM A **** BAD PASS. IT WAS ONCE AGAIN TOO LOW AT A PLAYER'S ANKLES.

JUST LIKE WITH THE HAWKS GAME, A DUMB PLAY.

[G R E Y]

Wemby should have pump faked and dunked.

Sochan has to pass PROPERLY not just throw it out there.

[imagump1313]

No BBIQ

Sochan had a good 2 seconds before heaving that.

[imagump1313]

Wemby should have pump faked and dunked.

Sochan has to pass PROPERLY not just throw it out there.

In fairness, Johnson should have made himself more available by floating to the corner.

[imagump1313]

No BBIQ

Sochan had a good 2 seconds before heaving that.

Ok. Looking at some replays he didn't have as much time as I thought.

[G R E Y]

4TH Q: SPURS 115 CAVS 117

When you win three Qs, including the 3RD, win the second half, and still find ways to ... not push through.

As much as I raged against the final play, ALL plays count. It's a bad final possession, and Sochan's going to get the heat for the pass, though Wemby could have faked and tried dunking; good cut by Sochan but he, too, may have had a quick window to fake and put up a shot; and Keldon, as gump rightly pointed out, ought to have moved over more. The passes in and of themselves were not necessarily the wrong plays, but cumulatively the missed chances in hindsight look worse, especially with the final pass into Keldon's ankles, something Sochan did in this game and in previous ones.

But even before that, we were down 18-7 in second chance points. Boxing out continues to be a glaring bane, this even when Collins was playing. It's not just on the bigs; Dom got 2 but Keldon led us with 3 O boards, and Cedi got 2 as well. And the starters combined for a grand total of ONE O board by Sochan.

After blazing in the first half with 15 points, Devin had only 7 in the second. He did shoot 4-7 (1-3 from 3) in the second half but the fewer FGAs was an issue. Of course, opponents adjust versus players who are scoring well, and Devin continued to be efficient, just not taking as many shots. We won the second half, but having our best scorers most engaged is on us to continue to find. Still, he was wonderful overall in driving, in creating and finding seams in the D, using his physicality, patience, use of screens, finding others as well. Twenty-two points on 9-19, 4-9 from 3 (he's been on a torrid pace of late), 2 boards, 2 assists, team high 3 steals. More of the complete, two-way game we know he has in him.

We won two challenges. That helped. We didn't get other calls. That didn't. But these are the punches you roll with in a game. Control what you can. To that end, Tom Orsborn asked Pop why he didn't use a timeout on the final Wemby block and our rebound and Pop said setting up at half court to allow the D to do the same wasn't optimal. To be honest, we have been turning the ball over just inbounding without hardly any pressure (including today *sigh*) so there was a higher chance of us **** that up anyway. I like the keeping defenses on their heels, but getting the ball to our best shooters, our most experienced in these situations, is best. A Sochan heave, like in the Hawks game (that one was worse because there was more time and he had an open teammate ahead) is not optimal. Yes, he got the rebound and there was hardly any time left. So not blaming him for the last shot, just noticing a general pattern.

I wonder how Sochan's teammates feel about those passing-to-no one, calling my own shot sequences in the game? I care less about his limited FGAs and limited number of times he does this and more that he just calls his own number at the expense of team play. I don't like it because in close games, these get-me-mine add up. Now, it is also true that each of Wemby, Keldon, and Devin have done these. But Sochan is also the least O oriented player. True, it's only his second year and part his development is flexing on these self-generated chances. I can't help but think how we'd be developing him if he were somehow selected out of the lotto. He came into the league as a D prospect with hardly an O game. You can sense the rest of the better, more polished scorers being anchored down by these instances. If he had been drafted later, would he feel, entitled isn't the right word, but maybe emboldened to be making these same types of plays that other better scorers do? Would we be making these allowances? Would he have been starting? There's an expectation of a higher lotto player in terms of minutes and chances, so here we are. He will have to work on his handles and decision making and making the RIGHT play more. When his handles and touch are better, he can create for himself more.For now, he more he does for the team, the better he'll stand out. Start with pass ahead instead of over-dribbling down the court.

I'm critical of Sochan because he's so bold with his limited game and at that slot he get the magnifying glass he does. He finished with 11 on 4-9, 2-5 from 3, 1-1FT, 5 boards (1 on O), 4 assists to only 1 TO, but if it was that last one, it was crucial. Looks like an efficient, clean game, but again, hidden in the numbers are the spots in which his game can be so much better.

Julian. 0-2. Well what can you say? A 3&D prototype whose 3s shooting we're under-utilizing. We have to do a better job setting him up.

Tre has been terrific as starter. He even made both of his 3s! Add to it the fit as a pass-first PG, knows where teammates like the ball (except for making a to high pass to Sochan in the post). Another 18 point game, this time on crisp 7-8, 2-2 from 3, 2-2FTs, along with 2 boards, team high 5 assists, 2 steals.

Wemby. He looked fatigued coming into this game. He was on a minutes restriction. And he still led us with 24 on 6-13, 2-5 from 3, 10-11FTs (game high), 10 boards (team high), 3 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks (game high). Clutch stops, clutch shots, raising his game at the most competitive moments.

Our top three O threats were our top three shot takers, which is good. Keldon struggled with efficiency again (6-16, 3-6 from 3, 3-4FTs) for a bench high 18 points. But he was very physical, drove well, and finished even better at the rim. He's so much better at it than when he started. I didn't think he'd get to this point so there's hope for Sochan.

Of course it all looks better with Tre running the point. We already knew that. As a team in the second year of our rebuild, we have a handful of players to develop, to test in bigger roles, to examine their ability to balance team first concept (D-out, .5, pass first for good to great chances, all out hustle) with stretching individual games, and to see their fit with Wemby. We want to raise the floor of everyone and gain cohesion. To that end, Malaki and Blake are not starters yet. And while I wonder how Sochan could have benefited from coming up in a bench role (or staying in college for another year, or getting reps in Austin), we can see that Blake has benefited from more time in the G-League, this after playing with the Spurs last season (probably no coincidence that he was the lowest of our three picks last draft).

Blake still doesn't look to others as much as he should as a PG, still takes shots early in the clock, but his ball control, handling with speed, and man D are noticeably better. He looks like has the foundations of a niche at least on D. His footwork and effort to fight over screens, arms out, staying with his man was noticeably better. He understands what to do on the D end.

Malaki is a D problem. Gets blown by, makes mistakes with the ball, takes early clock shots, so if he's a D liability, going 1-5, 0-3 from 3 isn't going to solidify his case for sixth man (that has already been taken over by Keldon) let alone a starter. We sought to help Keldon in giving up the ball and learning to facilitate; we tried it with Sochan (the hope is there is going to be enough info into these foundations to reap the rewards that we have with Keldon); we put Malaki in as the PG to help him see the court and grow his game while giving up the ball as well. Just find a better balance with scoring and finding others. He did find Dom in a pick and pop and some cutters, but the ingrained chuck habit is there. I have no issue with shots within our good to great system. Like with Sochan who was the final beneficiary of our terrific passing and took some C&S 3s, Branham's shots in those contexts are one we live with, make or miss. But he's in this in-between point where scoring versus G-Leaguers is too easy and he's still rushing and making mistakes we have to live with. I just hope it's not as a starter given his huge D deficiencies (even taking into consideration the broad strokes that +/- stat is, he was a team worst -20 in 15 minutes).

Today Pop gave more Malaki minutes next to Blake which I hope will be a bench tandem going forward. They combined for 2-7, 0-4 from 3, so we are going to really need them to both be more efficient and find ways to contribute in other areas. In continuing to find fits, their chemistry is important to develop.

I love what Dom brings. He's worked hard to get some minutes and is making an impact. With Zach out, we went to Dom as the back up C, not his usual position. It was tough with Wemby in early foul trouble and on the restriction in PT, Dom has been getting reps in Austin, and putting more of his game together with the big club. Better footwork, strong D and rim protection, more consistent finishing and shots. He chipped in 6 points on 3-5, grabbed 6 boards (2 on O), and contributed all around with 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block as well in 22 minutes. This is the most minutes he's played in any game all season, and his second consecutive game with stats all across the board. He's playing within himself on O, showing better form and confidence in his shots, while leading with his calling card, mobile, smart D. It was a tough assignment for him today. Proud of how he fought.

Cedi was warmly welcomed by former teammates and fans alike. I was happy for his good output in his return, contributing 9 on 4-7, 1-4 from 3, 6 boards (2 on O), 1 assist, 1 steal. He's a terrific passer, has sound fundamentals, and is a steady locker room presence. Physical drives through contact (and no calls hhhrrrmph), and taking 3s, a paint and arc shot profile, making the most of his strengths on O and setting up others well. Great glue player, good size, puts team first.

We've been playing better as a team despite some individual tendencies we have to grow into and some out of. The 2ND Qs now look to be the one in which our play dips. Another -10 in points with too many TOs, but we had 11 overall (+5, and below our 26th rank of 15.1 per game average) and +4 in points off them. We had two 30+ point Qs and scored above our 26th ranked 111.3PPG average.

We allowed some end of Q shots, but we also went on a 11-0 run to finish the game. I loved our fight back, loved how we stayed with it despite the opponent climbing back from a deficit, how we fought back from a deficit of our own. We'd previously wilt and watch these deficits grow as if on autopilot, so we are figuring some more ways to get stops and score. There is a gap between the longer serving players and the second year ones, and it's one we've been trying to narrow. It's a work in progress. But there IS progress even with fighting hard versus two quality opponents and coming up just short.

We tend to overhelp and with too many players in the paint, leave 3s shooters open (still), and we really need to bloody box out better. But we are also showing glimpses of more complete two-way games, of better team play, of some D effort, and some better O togetherness. We're just on the cusp. This is the time to push through all the more.

Proud of our fight.

GSG