SPURS GAME DAY! RRT EDITION GAME 52: SPURS AT MAGIC, 8-2-2024, 6PM (CT)

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We have 12 points with just over 4 minutes left in the 4TH...

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Blake drive, baseline pass to right corner Devin 3. Sweet.

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Bad overdribble by Blake and bad read. Had an open Keldon at the arc, overdribbled, and passed to right corner for a Branham 3 miss.

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We follow that suckitude up with a Branham inbounds pass that gets stolen from behind for a bucket against. *sigh*

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Branham patiently runs a nice P&R with Zach for a Zach push shot 2. Nice. They have some chemistry.

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4TH Q: SPURS 111 MAGIC 127

Three things stood out in this game: Wemby’s fatigue; Devin’s takeover; Keldon’s disappearance.

We’ve been carefully monitoring Wemby after every game, carefully abiding by designated game minutes, carefully spacing rest. Up until very recently, we’ve been able to stave off the dreaded rookie wall, but it looks like it’s finally here. Wemby’s previous frustrations about limiting his court time have given way to understanding their necessity from experience.

It’s very unusual to see Wemby shot clock TO it or shoot an airball. The focus and energy struggles culminated in a team-high 5TOs. Yet he still managed 15 points on 6-12, 2-4 from 3, 1-1FT, with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks. He sets such a ridiculously high standard that if this were any other rookie it would be a great game. And in a lot of ways it was. He still provided two-way impact and shot it efficiently. But he also got bodied around by a big, strong team, got banged on every possession, on every fight for block or paint space. Add that this is the second of a back-to-back, a travel one to boot, well, welcome to the Rodeo Road Trip, rookie!

Details like inbounds mistakes that lead to TOs and buckets against as well as more broadly end of Q attention which in the 2ND Q cost us a 19-4 run against in the last four minutes or so is where teams ahead of us in development show lessons for us.

Really it was that 14-point deficit in the 2ND Q that was the deciding factor. The other three we lost by 3 points each and won one by 4. That was the 3RD Q in which Devin went nuclear. I knew Devin had more in him, but I didn’t know he had *this* in him. Well then. Statement made. Message received. A reminder that Devin and Tre combined for 0 points in the first half. Devin poured in 23 points on 9-9, 2-2 from 3, 3-3FTs. He also grabbed 2 boards, dished 2 assists, and got 1 steal. He fought through screens, hunted his man on D, contested well. It was a remarkable two-way performance, leadership by example, putting the team on his back, providing a slipstream behind which the rest of the team scored 18 points en route to a 41-37 edge.

Devin drove relentlessly, finished creatively, combining his strength and vision and touch and mindset. Six of his 9FGAs were in the paint, and three of those were in the restricted area. He made his lone non-paint middy in addition to the two 3s, operating all down the middle and on the right, basically a 4-5 o’clock pie piece section of the court that Devin absolutely owned. It was the best he’s looked in his entire NBA career. He led us with 30 on 11-18, 3-7 from 3, 5-6FTs in 35 minutes – all team highs.

His back court partner, Tre, came back to finish with 10 on 3-8, 0-2 from 3, 4-4FTs, 1 O board, starter high 6 assists, game high 3 steals. He made good with his constant movement but was affected by fatigue with some weak passes and forced dribbles through too tight seams between two defenders for a TO and points against. His handles have improved and he can get himself out of trouble with them as well as break down defenses. Also perhaps a factor of fatigue, he’s 3-14 from 3 so far this month. It is his lowest efficiency month from 3 this season. He defies the form of good FT shooter being a good indicator of improving from 3 and it’s trending the wrong way.

We need to make more of our chances by the more seasoned players considering Julian (8 on 2-4, 1-3 from 3, 3-3FTs, 5 boards – 1 on O, 2 assists in 21 minutes) and Sochan (9 on 4-5, 1-4 from 3, 2 boards, 1 assist as well as showing the requisite **** you we need when things get chippy in 28 minutes) once again had to be pulled along on O. They’re our second youngest and experienced starters. For both, this is the second lowest month in terms of efficiency since October. The size and 3 and D profile from both is something we hope they keep growing into (as well as expanding their versatility) but we have to live with the growing pains right now. Their handles, reads, and finishes all need speed and refinement.

Like the starting group, we had three Spurs from teh bench unit in double figures led by Zach in a welcomed efficient game with 12 on 5-6, 0-1 from 3, 2-2FTs to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. One of his better O games, even if on D his sagging and lack of contesting are issues. He has some nice P&R chemistry with Branham, the two guys mostly maligned for their play, which is fitting and welcome.

Branham struggled. Again. 1-5, 0-3 from 3, 3 boards, 3 assists (good), 1 steal, and finished -5 like Zach. He did fight through screens better, and he did fight to prevent an easy basket at the rim, and he did make a nice dish to Wemby for a dunk after the steal. But he also made a brutal defensive error of the low effort kind that resulted in Pop yelling at him and he was the inbounder on the TO and basket against. He also chose to be the end point of passing with some shots that were not of the optimal team-first kind. There’s spreading your wings and trying things, and there’s tunnel vision. He’s been a bit better since getting benched, and still got minutes and played better after Pop lit into him, but if he’s not scoring, he has to have other aspects of his game that keep him on the court.

This is something that Blake has gone down to Austin to learn and apply with the big club. He led us with 7 assists and scored an efficient 10 points on 4-5, 1-2 from 3, along with 2 boards (1 on O), and 1 steal. His speed, press, tenacity, and energy were all factors once again, and that he made shots from various distances, at the rim, elbow, and arc, is an encouraging sign.

Playing back-to-backs is challenging for everyone, and even though younger legs bounce back moe quickly, it looks like Keldon was in All-Star Break mode for these last two games. He went from 7 points on 30% efficiency last game to 12 points on 5-12, 2-7 from 3, with 4 boards and 1 assist in 24 minutes this game. Eleven of his last 22FGAs have been from the arc and he’s made 2. The inefficiency as well as the shot selection are troubling and indicators of a passive game from one of the players we rely most on to bring energy. He was 2-4 in the paint (blocked on his two misses) and all other shots were well outside (one mid range J which he made, the rest were from the arc). Given that he’s one of the few who can bully through opponents on drives, settling for outside shots is not what we need from him, nor is overdribbling when we need the ball to keep moving. Just an unfocused performance, reverting to his play from a couple of years ago when he was learning to involve others more. But he knows better now and we need him to do better.

The bench unit was rounded out with Cedi, missing his twin, and in 15 minutes he chipped in 1-2 from 3, 1 board, 1 steal. Perhaps because we were now without our top 3s shooter Doug who had just been traded that Keldon felt the need to increase his 3s. We still put up 35 attempts, just shy of our 11th ranked 36.5 attempts per game. But we made only 11 for 31.4%, keeping our season efficieny dead last from the arc. And it was compounded by allowing 16-27 from 3. We rank 24th with averaging 13.6 3s allowed per game. In general, the five extra 3s against nearly cover the 16-point deficit of the outcome. But the efficiency against hurt us there as well as the 58-52 PITP against. We got imposed upon not just with their physicality but in taking up of our spaces as a result; of our 14 steals, 11 were on their steals. We could have used the zone D earlier to save energy like we had is used on us last game.

But really you could tell that we were chasing our opponents throughout the game, especially with that one Q again which we got imposed on (or let up on, whichever) and that was more than enough. We never led, but we also never gave up. I loved how Devin fought and what he showed with it, and I appreciate how we kept it close in the other Qs, especially on a back-to-back. Our patterns are instructive about how to we respond and how we need to. The quest for the 48-minute effort continues.

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