Mitch Cumsteen

Speaking for someone who showers every morning in the shadow of a ceramic crab roughly the size of VW bug, perhaps we shouldn't be so hasty about this one.

He probably had one of those four hour erection issues after that Iowa poll came out on Saturday /nocloakroom They are being very tight lipped about all of this. Hope it's not serious and he's back soon.

Best win of the early season, with the caveat that it was a rough back to back for the wolves. Still, this team continues to play hard on defense and if they take care of the ball like they did last night, they are going to be in a lot of games. Fucking Chris Paul man. 15 and 13 with 1 turnover. I’m not sure how he’s doing it at his age but he was fantastic. And Sochan is evolving into a very unique piece as a chaos agent, instigator, garbage man, defender, and occasional playmaker. The archetype for him was always Draymond with some bounce. When the spurs start winning, he’s going to be one of the most reviled players in the league.

Vic was plus 43 last night and had really good chemistry with CP3, who was +37. That dickhead had 19, 10 and 7, with 1 TO while shooting 8-13 from the field and 3-7 from distance. Not bad for a 39 year old on the second night of a back to back. Also kudos to Utah for finally picking a lane and leaning all the way into the tank. They've been in purgatory since the Mitchell and Gobert trades, and then they saw that there was a white guy at the top of the 2025 draft and just said fuck it all let's see if we can go 0-82. And double kudos to Lauri Markkannan for cashing in that paycheck while probably missing 70 games this year with injuries such as dandruff and gingivitis. Best gig, ever.

I'm trying not kneejerk. It's only four games, all against playoff-ish level teams. The competition needs to be considered when looking at all of this. And they desperately miss Vassell. It's disappointing that Wemby has struggled so much. He was on such a crazy trajectory toward the end of last season and he seemed pretty fucking okay in the Olympics. But this is a regression when everyone was expecting a leap, small sample size notwithstanding. And they for sure aren't doing him any favors with the actions they run. But for fuck's sake, he's got a foot on Brooks and Caruso and they are pushing him out to the three point line. He can't let that happen. Aside from that, I think there have been some bright spots. Just a few observations, good and bad: They are playing better team defense. They are taking some lumps at the three point line, but the effort is much better. Sochan is doing work. He's probably never going to be any outside threat, but he's averaging 18.5 and 9, and they aren't running anything for him. He's getting all of that through hustle and being in the right place at the right time. He's also playing great individual defense. It's not an accident that SGA was 7/20 and only got to the line twice last night. He's been the brightest spot so far by far. Barnes has been better than I thought. Just being a mediocre three point threat is enough to make him one of the more valuable pieces on the roster. Chris Paul is getting by strictly on his smarts because he looks washed physically. Watch how quickly he gives up the ball when he gets pressured in the backcourt. He wants nothing to do with dribbling up the court when he's being hounded by some athletic freak 20 years his junior. Not that I blame him. He's also turning it over at a alarming rate for a guy who is supposed to be the stabilizing force. But the turnovers are an epidemic at this point, teamwide. They are averaging 19 per game. It's ridiculous. It goes without saying, but in a league where the best teams are shooting it from beyond the arc 40+ times per game, this team is woefully lacking shooters. Branham may be the worst player in the league, but the fucker is shooting 58% from three so far. I'm sure he will regress to the mean and be 0-8 against Utah tonight, but they desperately need someone to spread the floor even if he can't play defense worth a shit. I still love Castle. And I love how the lineup with he and Wesley play defense. But it's tough to put those guys out there together when they don't need to be guarded outside of 15 feet. They go under every screen. I don't understand what's wrong with Castle's shot. The form looks good, it just seems like he rushes it. I say fuck it and let him launch 5 threes a game until he starts making them or it completely destroys his confidence.

Wemby stinking up the joint tonight. He hasn’t looked right at any point this season.

And they’re wide fucking open. Like shooting in an empty gym.

I’m no expert but this team might need to improve its outside shooting.

In fairness, it doesn't have anything at all about Mama, or trains, or trucks, or prison, or gettin' drunk.

It's easier access when you can't get off the floor. Sometimes you gotta think ahead.

Looked pretty good on that step back that he launched from South Dakota.

When she was making Oz promise to let her die with dignity, I was kinda hoping he would just do it then and put us all out of our misery.

Who didn't love Teri Garr? For some reason, I always think about her in First Born, which was in heavy rotation in the early days of cable. Peter Weller as the coke dealing driving abusive boyfriend. Also featuring Corey Haim, Sarah Jessica Parker and Robert Downey Jr. The movie is a weird family drama that goes completely off the rails in the third act. The movie makes no sense, but she was great in it. And Letterman. She was always great on Letterman. RIP.

They lost that game in the first half. You can't turn it over like that and expect to win. It doesn't help when they do dumb shit down the stretch, but they put themselves in a terrible hole. Wemby hasn't figured out that Dillon Brooks has no business guarding him. I'm not sure why they aren't setting back picks for him coming across the lane or doing more shit to free him up. It's ridiculous. He should be shitting on him every time down the floor. Frustrating.

His had a great night but Houston is hunting him every possession on defense. They’re going to have to pull him.

Castle closing out the game was great to see. It took Pop all of one game (and maybe a Tre Jones injury) to figure out that he’s one of their five best players. He is getting the rookie treatment from the refs but still shining. He’s going to be so good. Also, as much I dislike having to root for Chris Paul, at least I don’t have to pretend Dillon Brooks isn’t the biggest piece of shit in the league. And fwiw, CP’s play toward the end of the game maybe was the difference between winning and losing last night.

Those games were just the best, and Al Sturchio and the Sound of the Spurs were in the middle of it. The game ops and production were so bush league and organic, and always puro San Antonio. The interplay between the band and the baseline bums made the whole atmosphere. How could you not fall in love when Al and the band started cranking out Volver, and they shined a spotlight on some drunk vato slow dancing with a lone star as if the beer was his dancing partner. Nobody owned “charge” on a trumpet like Al. Somewhere in heaven he and the boys are cranking out his ode to Larry Kenon to the tune of Bad Leroy Brown. “Bad, bad Mr. K. Baddest man in the NBA. Badder than old Swen Nater. Meaner than a swap alligator.” RIP Al. Thanks for the memories.

They really have looked a lot better, small sample size notwithstanding. They were running some actions with LeBron as a screener that I can’t remember seeing before. It’s not exactly rocket surgery, but he’s so big and so smart, I can’t believe we haven’t seen it more in his career.

Update: I just drove by the house and there were about 6 pickup trucks outside, the front door was wide open, all the lights were on and there were law enforcement officers in the driveway. I’m no Barnaby Jones, but I’m assuming they were scouring the place for more evidence.

I, for one, don't appreciate this reverse jinxing shit. Please revise accordingly.

I don't expect him to address any of this stuff in his weekly press conference. Nobody does that. But how fucking hard is it to say, "Unfortunately, I can't comment on any specifics regarding an ongoing police investigation," instead of slithering off the stage like a worm. I don't know how much of that is on Franklin or on their SID, but they handled that really, really poorly.

Still better than Malaki Branham.

Vic had a bad night. He looked very out of sorts. They aren’t winning many games when he plays like that. Castle needs starters minutes now. He’s so impactful on defense and he can get to rim and the line. i thought Dallas was really physical. They pushed the spurs around. And they got way too many open looks. They have really put a nice roster around Doncic after fucking around for the first few years of his career. But I can’t stand how the style of play has evolved league wide into teams playing 5 out and jacking 40 threes a game. It’s just not fun to watch.