San Antonio Spurs '23-'24: Hoops, Hype, Hair Dye

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Is sochan a regular ball handler? He had some terrible self inflicted moments. And his FT shot…wat?

GG

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

47 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Is sochan a regular ball handler? He had some terrible self inflicted moments. And his FT shot…wat?

GG

It's an experiment. Mostly a failed one, but they're letting him run point and see what happens. And what happens is a lot turnovers and bad possessions. 

1 hour ago, Kermit said:

The line-up with Vic as the 5 is the tits. 

Agreed. They need to surround him with a bunch of smaller dudes who run around like crazy and make the defense move, and then let Victor slide in when the defense is off balance and deliver the kill shot. They are really stagnant on offense with Collins next to him. I don't know how much of that is Sochan running point or just poor off the ball movement. Pretty much everything runs better with Jones at point. 

[Kermit 3156]

I figure they let Sochan play pg for the year, draft a pg, move Sochan back to sf with new skills, ?, and profit.

[Pam Cummings 9644]

Yeah, when it was early in the game, there were 2 possessions in a row where Sochan was bringing the ball up the court and inexplicably spazzed out, like he tried to pass the ball to a guy that wasnt looking and ended up traveling. I'm gonna say he is not a PG and should have a different role that fits his skill set.

[Michael Knight 12981]

We're not very good... yet

[Kermit 3156]

Victor, you’re awesome. Stop biting on fakes from mere mortals. Thanks.

[Pam Cummings 9644]

We're never gonna win again, are we?

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

How do you say bad shot selection in French?

[Radical Larry 28628]

Le bad shot selection

[Kermit 3156]

Mauvaise sélection de tirs. 

[Radical Larry 28628]

Mauvaise sélection de tirs. 

Yeah I guess that works too.

[Kermit 3156]

I fucking hate Keldon’s game sometimes. Well, most times. Dude, you’re an ancillary player who needs to focus on defense, distributions, and rebounds. You are not ever going to be the focus on offense for a winning team. Pass the fucking ball.

[hornfan785 556]

Wemby definitely needs to bulk up a bit. He gets pushed out of the paint so easily and the Heat did a great job of denying him the ball. Obviously our guys need to look for him more often and be stronger with their passes to him, but he's just getting pushed around too easily.

This team really looks lost at times. It's frustrating, but expected, I guess.

[ztejas 43464]

On 10/18/2023 at 9:59 PM, ztejas said:

I don't like KJ and I wish we'd move on from him. I don't think he impacts the modern game positively on either end of the court. 

I kind of worry that Pop is getting a little old and letting the game pass him by in certain respects. He clearly loves KJ. I think the Pop of 15 years ago would have shipped his ass already. 

I fuckin told y'all before the season even started. 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

He's a role player that has played the last couple of seasons on a bad team where he's gotten to be the man. Plus he got that undeserved Olympic bid. I'm sure the ego is strong. I still think he can figure it out but he's got too understand his place in pecking order. And like the rest of the team, he's still young. Plus losing skews the pecking order too. 

I'm honestly more frustrated with Wemby forcing out of rhythm threes with 20 seconds on the clock. It's one thing to let him figure shit out but a bad shot is a bad shot. Get your ass into the paint or play from the high post. 

[ztejas 43464]

38 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

He's a role player that has played the last couple of seasons on a bad team where he's gotten to be the man. Plus he got that undeserved Olympic bid. I'm sure the ego is strong. I still think he can figure it out but he's got too understand his place in pecking order. And like the rest of the team, he's still young. Plus losing skews the pecking order too. 

I'm honestly more frustrated with Wemby forcing out of rhythm threes with 20 seconds on the clock. It's one thing to let him figure shit out but a bad shot is a bad shot. Get your ass into the paint or play from the high post. 

I mean maybe both of these things are a Pop issue. I agree that the Wemby 3 pointers are ridiculous at this point. I also think that Keldon needs to be playing for a different team. 

Eventually we're going to need to find a new coach and/or GM. I haven't seen enough yet to suggest that that needs to happen soon - but at some point we need to generate some forward momentum. There is a fuck-ton of talent between Sochan, Wemby and Vassell. I mean those three have the potential to be absolute fucking studs together. 

The fact that we have a very average, 5th year NBA player taking touches away from those 3 in the clutch doesn't bode well for our future and frankly it has to stop. 

I like Pop. I like Keldon. They need to get the fuck out of the way and let the future happen. 

[TommysTinyTowels 787]

8 hours ago, ztejas said:

I mean maybe both of these things are a Pop issue.

That's correct.

Real question: Are we still tanking?

 

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

2 hours ago, TommysTinyTowels said:

That's correct.

Real question: Are we still tanking?

 

I don't think so. But they certainly are treating each game as a learning laboratory vs doing everything they can to win. Pop has always done this in the regular season, even when they were the among best teams in the league. They were just good enough to keep winning anyway in spite of the tinkering. 

It's the right move it's just tough to watch at times. 

[UpperWestside 6169]

This is somewhat Spurs related. Last night I was on FaceTime and “talking” to my year and a half old nephew. My mom had him in front of the TV watching the Spurs. He knows how to say ball and he seems interested in watching it on TV. 
 

My response to my mom who was watching him was “Well gotta go out now and get Eli a Magic Johnson jersey!” Honestly I hope he just enjoys the sport and plays when he gets older. Kinda cool for him that I’ll tell him one day his first exposure to the sport was watching a guy who is going to revolutionize how basketball is played.

[kingkoopa6 8357]

Expose em young haha 🤘🏼

[Hate 20108]

Yes, you do. Here is mine from when he was about a year old, maybe younger. He’s 15 now and still a Spurs fan.

[Hate 20108]

I just tuned in…holy shit that court is horrible. It looks like they are playing in some CGI game simulation.

[Hate 20108]

Wemby didn’t touch the ball once that possession. What a stupid team this is.

[hornfan785 556]

Man, we suck.

[chainsaw 9869]

Pop needs to have "the talk" with everyone who isn't a rookie. They need to realize that they will never, ever be stars in this league or have anything close to Wemby's talent.Pop needs to have "the talk" with everyone who isn't a rookie. They need to realize that they will never, ever be stars in this league or have anything close to Wemby's talent.

[Gut Wagon 8079]

One of the worst passing teams I've ever seen. Truly inept. 

[Hate 20108]

How many 30 pt deficits have we already had this year? More than the previous 30 years combined?

[hornfan785 556]

Lol, we're so bad they cut away to a different game.

[Pam Cummings 9644]

 

Apparently Sochan tried to murder Chet?

[Newdoc 3448]

Spurs with another potential lottery pick for 2024 playing this way.

[Kermit 3156]

This is one of the worst NBA teams I’ve ever seen. They play stupid as hell, without any heart, and they make the same stupid mistakes over and over again. I doubt they win another game at this point. The best thing they can do for my entertainment is get in a brawl, but they’d probably fuck that up too. Oh well, I’m here for 82 games of this shit. 

[kingkoopa6 8357]

We poop. 

[Hate 20108]

This is worse than the 20-62 team from 1997. They aren’t smart with the ball, they take terrible shots, they play horrible defense, and they flat out ignore their best player. This is Pop’s worst coaching job and it’s not even close.

[kingkoopa6 8357]

I watched that until about 3 mins left. That hurts. 
 

when Wemby went down and grabbed his head. I was like damn, not like this 

[kingkoopa6 8357]

Pop not even trying, I don’t see any coaching and yelling any nasty 

Pop like a grandparent. All nice and spoily ( is that a word? )

[Kermit 3156]

1 minute ago, Hate said:

This is worse than the 20-62 team from 1997. They aren’t smart with the ball, they take terrible shots, they play horrible defense, and they flat out ignore their best player. This is Pop’s worst coaching job and it’s not even close.

That motherfucker is fat, drunk, and happy. Dude has the Jimbo contract.

[Michael Knight 12981]

8 minutes ago, Newdoc said:

Spurs with another potential lottery pick for 2024 playing this way.

we can draft another French guy

[gofuckyourself 8312]

Good news is opponents were averaging 124 pts against coming in.

So...defense is improving.

[chainsaw 9869]

8 minutes ago, kingkoopa6 said:

Pop not even trying, I don’t see any coaching and yelling any nasty 

Pop like a grandparent. All nice and spoily ( is that a word? )

That reminds me, did anything ever come of the Primo lawsuit in terms of whether Pop knew?

[Kermit 3156]

6 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

That reminds me, did anything ever come of the Primo lawsuit in terms of whether Pop knew?

No. Buzzbee went out of his way to make sure everyone knew that Pop knew jackshit.

[Pam Cummings 9644]

It's really hard to watch us just turn the ball over repeatedly. Not gonna win much doing that. Our offense is pure trash.....i'd love to get a star PG.

 

Important for me to keep reminding myself that it's November.....it is still so early. I'd simply like to see us get better as the season goes on. I don't think the ceiling is very high, but god damn you can clean a lot of this stuff up and we'd be at least respectable.

[miguelito 11266]

13 hours ago, Hate said:

I just tuned in…holy shit that court is horrible. It looks like they are playing in some CGI game simulation.

Agreed.  That court - and the quality of play - made that hard to watch. 

[Kermit 3156]

1 hour ago, Pam Cummings said:

It's really hard to watch us just turn the ball over repeatedly. Not gonna win much doing that. Our offense is pure trash.....i'd love to get a star PG.

 

Important for me to keep reminding myself that it's November.....it is still so early. I'd simply like to see us get better as the season goes on. I don't think the ceiling is very high, but god damn you can clean a lot of this stuff up and we'd be at least respectable.

Yes. If I watch one more of these motherfuckers throw a goddamn bounce pass to a literal giant, I’m going to kick a puppy. It’s pretty sad when Devonte Graham, who hadn’t played a lick all season, comes into the game and instantly knows where to pass the ball. I wish his teammates old follow suit. Throw the ball up.

[Pam Cummings 9644]

15 minutes ago, Kermit said:

Yes. If I watch one more of these motherfuckers throw a goddamn bounce pass to a literal giant, I’m going to kick a puppy. It’s pretty sad when Devonte Graham, who hadn’t played a lick all season, comes into the game and instantly knows where to pass the ball. I wish his teammates old follow suit. Throw the ball up.

Dude. Watching Wemby run the floor and knowing he is wide open if we simply provide a good outlet pass. And whoever rebounds the ball doesnt even fucking look up. They dont even fucking try. Infuriating.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18550]

So... 3-8 on a 6 game losing streak, with some horrific beatdowns sprinkled in around some terrible blown leads. What the fuck are we looking at here? 

At some point the Sochan PG experiment and the letting Wemby figure himself out and do whatever the fuck he wants experiment is going to be counter productive. There's a line between letting guys fail and learn on the job, and completely destroying their confidence. Are they going to cross it? For better or worse, the front office and Pop are under zero job pressure, so they won't sacrifice any long term gains for short term success. But at what point do you say enough is enough, and start looking more at the near term? Are you actually stunting their development?

By the same token, there's the very real but still disappointing possibility that they are going into a full blown tank again. I have a hard time believing it in what looks to be a fairly weak draft, but they may be going down that road. If you get too far out of the playoff/play-in mix this early in the season in a conference that is this competitive and deep, the tanking decision might very well get made for you.

I think what's most disappointing so far is the lack of competitiveness and effort. You play hard and lose to a more talented and experienced team in crunch time, so be it. But take the lesson with you and get better. These 35+ point beatdowns can't be good for anyone, and certainly not for a fanbase that's accustomed to winning but has been taking nothing but lumps for the past 4 years.

I know, I know.... patience. But patience sucks.

[Gut Wagon 8079]

Wonder if TV execs are really going to stay with all these national telecasts of a team too dim to let its one budding megastar shine? We're already getting cutaways to more competitive games. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Gut Wagon

[chainsaw 9869]

I feel like maybe the game has passed Pop by somewhat. He's a great motivator but the strategy and plays aren't working

[Hate 20108]

It doesn’t seem as if there are any plays. They play playground basketball right now. There is no real “leader” on the floor. The players seem too stupid to throw the ball very high and let Wemby go get it. They can’t play at a frantic pace, but don’t do anything to slow the game down. I’m really having a difficult time finding anything positive to say about this team other than the future seems bright with Wemby.

[Gut Wagon 8079]

6 minutes ago, Hate said:

It doesn’t seem as if there are any plays. They play playground basketball right now. There is no real “leader” on the floor. The players seem too stupid to throw the ball very high and let Wemby go get it. They can’t play at a frantic pace, but don’t do anything to slow the game down. I’m really having a difficult time finding anything positive to say about this team other than the future seems bright with Wemby.

Even in this new era of "positionless" basketball, it's almost as though teams still need point guards.  

[chainsaw 9869]

Wemby is starting hot. Let's see if he can be consistent in the four quarters.