SPURS GAME DAY! RRT EDITION GAME 51: SPURS AT HEAT, 7-2-2024, 6:30PM (CT)

[G R E Y]

KELDON EXCELLENT MAN D ON ROSIER! DIDN'T BITE ON FAKES, MOVED HIS FEET, PREVENTED A DRIVE, CONTESTED THE SHOT VERY WELL. Some fine fine defending.

[G R E Y]

BREAKING: Branham makes the extra pass for an open Devin 3.

[G R E Y]

And now Branham rewarded with a pass to him for a right corner 3.

See? Team first works!

[G R E Y]

3RD Q: SPURS 77 HEAT 78

End of Q details.

Zach had Keldon cutting across the key but missed him with the pass. We TOd it.

We won that Q 26-25 on the strength of some team-first spurts.

On the strength of Wemby getting a double double this Q.

On the strength of passing more than dribbling, moving more than watching, hustling more.

Get physical. Get focused. Get buckets.

[G R E Y]

Tre, man, come on. Wemby great cross court pass, and Tre wastes the shot clock with ... over-dribbling.

[G R E Y]

Tre has gone from missing 3s to missing FTs.

At least the drives are still good.

[G R E Y]

Branham TO - gets poked from behind, raises arms up to refs as they go the other way for a transition basket LMAO

Back to riding pine for you, Branham!

[G R E Y]

Hey we were just leading and now down by 9.

[G R E Y]

We have 8 points with 6:46 left.

We did so well to not have this brutal dip and now it's come at the worst time.

[G R E Y]

Tre and Devin work to set up... a Tre corner 3 - miss. Should really be the other way around.

Before that, Sochan left corner 3 miss.

After that, Tre had Wemby hand up inside but Devin got the ball on the other side for another 3 miss LMAO

Brilliant. Guys. PASS TO THE TALLEST GUY ON THE COURT WITH HIS HAND UP.

[G R E Y]

We have TEN points with 3:23 left...

[G R E Y]

Pop puts in the subs with over 3 minutes to go. We have a travel game tomorrow...

[G R E Y]

NOW Tre makes a 3, ok.

[G R E Y]

We now have Blake, Branham, Cedi, Julian, and Mamu in.

Of course now Julian makes a 3. No pressure.

[G R E Y]

Branham late full court press, chases a guy, fouls him.

[G R E Y]

10-0 run by the subs!

[G R E Y]

SPURS 104 HEAT 116

There’s always that one Q. We stayed with a contender to within one point through three Qs but it did feel like our opponent was underperforming, even as we didn’t play our best either. We did push them but when the push back came, we had neither the experience nor the cohesiveness to execute sets automatically. You could see and learn how these types of teams operate - not expend energy, execute a game plan, run their go-to plays for their go-to players that get FTs, and on D, zone in on key players, and play zone to both keep us off kilter and again save energy. It’s something we can implement in our own back-to-backs.

We’re no strangers to using zone D but the energy efficiency on both ends is a good lesson. We lost the 4TH Q 38-27, but the final 17 points came from the subs who came in with the game well out of hand, down 17, with around three minutes left. The subs – Blake, Branham, Cedi, Julian, Mamu – did a good job pushing the pace, spreading the floor, making shots.

I assume we haven’t turned completely stupid the last three games or so. So there must be method to the madness that is Wemby barely getting any shot opportunities in the 4TH. Wemby played six minutes in the final Q yet had only ONE shot attempt. He was our lone double double with efficient 18 (7-13, 3-5 from 3, 1-3FTs), along with 13 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and 3 TOs. Not the cleanest game, and with three days off it looks like the rhythm disruption affected Wemby.

Team-wise we took 23FGAs in the 4TH, and 15 of them were by the bench unit. The starters managed eight shots, then. We made 9 shots, 5 of which were assisted. We also managed 3TOs, 2 steals, 1 block, 10 boards (3 on O).

I liked Devin’s aggression – he showed a good driving and scoring creativity package. I liked how he fought over screens to stay with his man. I liked how he switched well. I can see his frustration when we don’t run things how we’re supposed to yet he keeps pushing through. I like his full court pass to Wemby – that was a thing of beauty, combining head up, quick reaction, and pin point accuracy.

Keldon was inefficient but showed some terrific defensive tenacity – staying with his man, moving his feet, preventing drives, keeping him in front, contesting. He led the bench with 6 boards, 3 on O.

Twins Doug (1-3 in 10 minutes) and Cedi did their off-ball moving and sniping, with Cedi playing more than twice as many minutes and also contributing more off ball, making 3-7, 2-4 from 3, and grabbing 5 boards.

Blake was a blur and in his 15 minutes of play he ran around screens, provided full court press, got a tied for team high (with Tre) 6 assists. I really like his finds of teammates in this game; Branham actually made an extra pass and balanced it with contested shots in the paint, because why not? Played only 6 minutes.

Zach made 3-6, 0-1 from 3, 2-2FTs with 4 boards, 3 assists. His efficiently, if not really floor spreading in practice, is creeping up. Defensively he is a shell of himself. No rim protection, no bounce, too much space given up sagging in the paint. We usually have bigs sag, but why no move to contest? I forgot he re-signed this off-season and is going to be on a $17M+ starting next season. And here I though he was playing with the pressure of having to earn a contract.

In 19 minutes, Julian (2-7) and in 29 minutes Sochan (3-7) combined for not enough on O again. When they’re off, they’re really off. We need higher efficiency from Julian. At least Sochan has scorching games efficiency-wise. Julian did grab 5 boards (3 on O), 3 assists, and 2 steals, so he was productive in other areas of the game as was Sochan who also grabbed 5 boards, dished 3 assists, and had 1 steal.

Tre and Devin each played 32 minutes and were both efficient and contributing on both ends. They each scored 19 (Tre on 7-11, 2-4 from 3, 3-5FTs; Devin on 8-18, 1-6 from 3, 2-2FTs). Tre led us with 6 assists and grabbed 2 boards, and Devin had a more all around contribution with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal. Tre’s shot profile was almost exclusively paint and 3s. It’s an interesting switch. This season Tre’s shot selection is about 70/30 for 2s/3s which is up from last season’s closer to 80/20 for 2s/3s. He made 50% of his 3s in this game, but his 3s efficiency is just as poor this season. He’s taking fewer shots per game, so the number of 3s attempts is the same, but yeah, even if Tre’s finishing much better at the rim, more confident and crafty, he has to find a way to get the 3s efficiency up.

Devin is at about 55/45 on 2s/3s but the 2s are evenly distributed among all the 2s distances and efficient at most except for the 16ft-arc where he averages 37.6%. Long 2s, not a great shot. One of Devin’s best middy shots is actually at the elbow, but he missed three mid-range attempts, including at both elbows, making two middies closer to the baseline. His shot profile is more balanced among paint, non-paint, and arc shots, but it’s good he’s taking more attempts at the rim. We do need him to do more of that. He’s very good at it and the downhill energy generates all the more of it. When he puts his mind to it, Devin is easily our second best player.

We had 6TOs at the half, 11 by the end of the 3RD, and finished with 14TOs which cost us 19 points (we were -6 in the category). OOF. Combine that with 7 missed FTs (10-17) and that 12-point deficit was in our hands to keep closer. Despite the waning 4TH Q, that in itself is encouraging. We can do better in the things we can control.

[G R E Y]

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