Learning the Nuances of Basketball

[Mr. Body]

Starting this thread to distract from the Primo mess. I'm excited about this team.

Basketball isn't just putting the ball in the basket and stopping the other guy. Of course there's a lot of stuff in between.

One thing that struck me last night vs. the Bulls -- both Sochan and Wesley bit on jump fakes and fouled DeRozan on jump shots. This is natural, DDR has great fakes that make even good defenders bite. Wesley fouled him later when he bit again. I don't think it was bad defense, just over aggressive.

But Sochan didn't fall for it a second time. DeRozan scored over him, because he's DeRozan, but Jeremy made sure he didn't crowd him too much and stayed vertical whenever he switched.

[Dejounte]

There was a play when he played suffocating defense on DeMar that DeMar had to pass out. Been a while since we had a player who made star level offensive players do that.

[ducks]

Better then I expected so far

[mookie2001]

Sochan is the complete opposite of Samanic. Omg

Refreshing to see some energy and excitement

[poopbox]

Sochan has a shockingly high bbiq for a rookie. His is even higher than Devin's was his rookie year, and Devin has been a great help defender from the literal first second he stepped on the court.

Some players just have "it", and Sochan is definitely one of those players. Here's hoping he doesn't have an uncle and can keep his penis in his pants like a normal human tbh.

[objective]

I've been surprised by Sochan's open court speed. I thought he had quick feet in short spaces, but also thought he was kind of heavy and didn't expect so many sprinting fast break scores.

Does he look skinnier than he was at Baylor to anyone else?

[MannyIsGod]

Sochan is incredibly smart. He knows where to position himself well almost all the time which seems insane for a 19 year old.

This kid may turn out to be like Draymond wihout being a headcase.

[timvp]

Great thread. Thanks.

Funny exchange from last night after Sochan fouled DeRozan on his patented pump fake after picking up his dribble:

Josh Richardson: No!!!!! Jeremy!! No!!!!

DeRozan: Y'all should have warned him

Pop: We been f***ing warning him since shootaround :lol

DeRozan: :lol

[R. DeMurre]

Sochan's such a good basketball player. I'd place him on a trajectory between Scottie Pippen and Draymond-- the extremely rare player who might switch from defending a point guard in one quarter to then being a small ball center in the next. He's thicker than Pip and more streamlined than Draymond, and I think he has the potential to bring all of the best attributes of both, which is endless versatility and great D. I love that the Spurs are starting to get back to being a serious defensive team.

[Harry Callahan]

Super impressed by Sochan. Good things going forward for him.

[BackHome]

I see Sochan as a combination of Green and Diaw when he cleans up his shooting technique and can hit the 3 ball at a decent clip

[exstatic]

Starting this thread to distract from the Primo mess. I'm excited about this team.

Basketball isn't just putting the ball in the basket and stopping the other guy. Of course there's a lot of stuff in between.

One thing that struck me last night vs. the Bulls -- both Sochan and Wesley bit on jump fakes and fouled DeRozan on jump shots. This is natural, DDR has great fakes that make even good defenders bite. Wesley fouled him later when he bit again. I don't think it was bad defense, just over aggressive.

But Sochan didn't fall for it a second time. DeRozan scored over him, because he's DeRozan, but Jeremy made sure he didn't crowd him too much and stayed vertical whenever he switched.

If you just don’t bite on the midrange pump fake, he doesn’t get the And1s and is even less efficient. Get a hand up, and let him shoot that garbage.

[exstatic]

Sochan is incredibly smart. He knows where to position himself well almost all the time which seems insane for a 19 year old.

This kid may turn out to be like Draymond wihout being a headcase.

And we got him at 19 YO, not 22.

[exstatic]

Sochan's such a good basketball player. I'd place him on a trajectory between Scottie Pippen and Draymond-- the extremely rare player who might switch from defending a point guard in one quarter to then being a small ball center in the next. He's thicker than Pip and more streamlined than Draymond, and I think he has the potential to bring all of the best attributes of both, which is endless versatility and great D. I love that the Spurs are starting to get back to being a serious defensive team.

It’s funny, and that’s what the eye test says, but SA’s Drtg is 118, 25th in the NBA.

[Mugen]

Great thread IMO

https://media.tenor.com/77IJQlU8tG0AAAAC/weenie-the-office.gif

[R. DeMurre]

It’s funny, and that’s what the eye test says, but SA’s Drtg is 118, 25th in the NBA.


I meant getting back to a serious defensive team in terms of drafting defenders like Sochan & Vassell. There are still a lot of defensive holes to plug, especially with McDermott getting so many minutes.

[R. DeMurre]

And besides, the sample size is too small to matter... the Celtics are currently ranked 26th in Drtg, and everyone knows that's not an accurate stat.

[TD 21]

Sochan's such a good basketball player. I'd place him on a trajectory between Scottie Pippen and Draymond-- the extremely rare player who might switch from defending a point guard in one quarter to then being a small ball center in the next. He's thicker than Pip and more streamlined than Draymond, and I think he has the potential to bring all of the best attributes of both, which is endless versatility and great D. I love that the Spurs are starting to get back to being a serious defensive team.

Sochan won't be able to credibly play small ball C, the same way Gordon and Simmons can't as none possess the length and/or girth to protect the rim and defensive rebound even if they're spared having to bang in the post vs the obvious names.


And besides, the sample size is too small to matter... the Celtics are currently ranked 26th in Drtg, and everyone knows that's not an accurate stat.

Primarily due to R. Williams being out.

:lmao At the media getting sucked into giving Smart the award because he whined about big man bias (which is ironic, because they're the ones constantly discriminated against and/or taken for granted).

[mystargtr34]

It’s funny, and that’s what the eye test says, but SA’s Drtg is 118, 25th in the NBA.

The starting lineup of Jak-Sochan-Keldon-Vassell-Tre has a DRTG of 102.9 which is elite (49 minutes played). The next most used lineup is with Richardson in place of Vassell and the DRTG is around 120 (24 minutes). The rest of the lineups are under 10 minutes so the sample size is small but the bench unit has been extremely poor defensively, which the eye tests checks out. Guys like McDermott and Primo had/have atrocious defensive metrics.

[R. DeMurre]

Sochan won't be able to credibly play small ball C, the same way Gordon and Simmons can't as none possess the length and/or girth to protect the rim and defensive rebound even if they're spared having to bang in the post vs the obvious names.



Primarily due to R. Williams being out.

:lmao At the media getting sucked into giving Smart the award because he whined about big man bias (which is ironic, because they're the ones constantly discriminated against and/or taken for granted).


I think there will definitely be opportunities for Sochan to play center in specific match ups-- situations where guys like Larry Nance Jr, Siakam, Christian Wood, or Al Horford are manning their teams' center spots. But, yeah, I don't see it as his main defensive position.

[Ocotillo]

I was thinking the other day, Sochan will likely be the first Spur in quite some time to make the all rookie team. Banchero will probably end up getting ROY because of being higher profile and his numbers will be good and in the end, he will probably earn it too.

Now I am wondering with the possibility of Wesley getting more playing time, can he grow enough to also be considered?

[Ocotillo]

I went to the google machine and the last Spur to make it was 11/12, Leonard 1st team and the year before that none other than Gary Neal 2nd team in 10/11.

[TD 21]

I think there will definitely be opportunities for Sochan to play center in specific match ups-- situations where guys like Larry Nance Jr, Siakam, Christian Wood, or Al Horford are manning their teams' center spots. But, yeah, I don't see it as his main defensive position.


Sochan won't be able to credibly play small ball C

[scott]

This team is a lot of fun to watch for these exact reasons. Great thread. With Josh out tonight wondering if we get to see our first look at Bran.

With Sochan out, is Bassey available or should we expect extended KBD time (was thinking Roby/Collins at the 4 might leave some minutes for Bassey)

[exstatic]

This team is a lot of fun to watch for these exact reasons. Great thread. With Josh out tonight wondering if we get to see our first look at Bran.

With Sochan out, is Bassey available or should we expect extended KBD time (was thinking Roby/Collins at the 4 might leave some minutes for Bassey)

Both 2 ways were ruled out w/ gleague team.