Grades: Spurs at Lakers - Nov. 20, 2022

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/spurs-lakers-grades-18/

Oy vey.

[slick'81]

Poor spurs

[siraulo23]

Ive watched all games this season except for these two LA games

i picked the right games to skip it looks like

[daslicer]

This season is really going to be unwatchable. It's obvious the Spurs are down with the tank. I'm not going to knock them for it, but my mentality is I will definitely be turning the game off every time they are down by 20 or more.

[slick'81]

This season is really going to be unwatchable. It's obvious the Spurs are down with the tank. I'm not going to knock them for it, but my mentality is I definitely turning the game off every time they are down by 20 or more.


how many games have we lost this season by 20+?

[daslicer]

how many games have we lost this season by 20+?

6 games so far.

[slick'81]

Lonnie looking pretty good in la

[Ice009]

Lonnie looking pretty good in la

Yes he is. I never gave up on him most of the time he was here. I was still willing to give him a chance, but around 3/4 of the way through last season, I gave up on him. Maybe I gave up on him a little too soon.

[KingKev]

Injuries aside these blowouts are encouraging. Hard work and a system can only take you so far when your rotation has has Spurs talkers like you and I. Nothing changes till we get a few potential cornerstones and KJ/Vassell will suddenly look like rock solid 3rd/4th options.

[ambchang]

timvp what’s the word on the infighting? That sounds concerning.

[CGD]

I know that this is a young team, but this compressed stretch has also been brutal.

[tbdog]

timvp what’s the word on the infighting? That sounds concerning.

I read it as, if the losing and soft play continues, then in fighting begins.

[Ice009]

timvp what’s the word on the infighting? That sounds concerning.

I just read that and it's a bit concerning. Not sure what is going on there.

[playbonner15]

timvp (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=8) what’s the word on the infighting? That sounds concerning.
I interpret it as something that might happen because of all the losses

[Chinook]

I didn't even know there was a game last night until checking ESPN this morning to see if there was a game today. It looks like the Spurs are already seeing the results of a losing culture. They can clearly win some games when they're healthy and firing on all cylinders, but a lot of that is smoke and mirrors if things aren't going well. I don't think the young guys are taking to losing well, and I don't think they should give a shit about the Spurs drafting a guy. Some of them may lose their jobs or not get as big of contracts if this is how the rest of the year goes. For them, that matters way more than if the Spurs happen to win the lottery. Of course, it's not like the Spurs are forcing them to lose games, and I'm not sure they'd be winning these games with Murray, but it's hard not to have the tension rise when the players know they have a good team in them but haven't seen it for weeks.

[InRareForm]

Turnovers , no defense , airballs. Just awful

[jjspur]

All these big losses have a few things in common but the most obvious is that a starter is usually out. With what little talent we have, a missing starter makes a difference. It also doesn't help that some of the starters that are there have really really bad games like historically bad games. I was thinking the spurs could easily win 25-30 games with this lineup but now I'm thinking more like 15 - 20 games. Its going to be a long season. Losing is one thing, but losing by 20 plus points is another.

[Vince Carter's ankle]

Injuries aside these blowouts are encouraging. Hard work and a system can only take you so far when your rotation has has Spurs talkers like you and I. Nothing changes till we get a few potential cornerstones and KJ/Vassell will suddenly look like rock solid 3rd/4th options.
A couple more years of tanking?

[Chomag]

I get that we don't have a good team but I am a bit baffled by how bad the Spurs defense is when most of our players are advertised as being good defenders.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Welp they have crashed back to reality after their 5-2 start, 1-10 since then. They have the worst point differential in the entire league and are dead last in defense

[emanueldavidginobili]

ClOfj2uuD89

[KobesAchilles]

I don’t mind tanking. But you can’t lose by 30 to a 3 win team :lol

[The Truth #6]

Hasta luego Beautiful Game. Hopefully next year.

I think the hype team for the ATT center is going to need to cook up some interesting gimmicks to get people to attend these noble disasters.

$3 beer for upper deck seats?
VIP room with bottle service and lap dances?
Autograph sessions with remaining Bruise Brothers?

[R. DeMurre]

Now that opposing teams are focusing in on Keldon as the Spurs' #1 scoring option, he's definitely hitting a rough patch in terms of efficiency. His numbers across the board are worse for November than they were for October. Watching how he adjusts as the season progresses will be interesting.

Perceptions & realities can change fast in the NBA, especially for the 25 & under group. Guys like Brandon Ingram and Lauri Markkanen (both 25) have taken impressive leaps into the category of impactful stars after being seen in the past as more of empty stat types. With 20% of the NBA season in the bag, the oft-maligned and mocked 20 year old from OKC-- Aleksej Pokusevski-- owns a better 2pt% and better 3pt% than Keldon... how many would have taken that bet?

[Vince Carter's ankle]

ClMM9N8JbG2

[KingKev]

A couple more years of tanking?

Call it what you want but so many of these guys will look so much better with a possible cornerstone on the offensive end.

We need to be developing from a higher base. That isn’t a knock on our guys, just a reality. In my mind this is an organic bottoming out versus outright tanking but we are here now atleast i’m fine with it.

[NASpurs]

ClOfj2uuD89

So getting Westbrook would actually be an improvement?

Gotta stay strong and have tank commander Tre lead us to a top three pick.

[Atl Spur]

This is what it takes to secure a top pick……sacrifice is usually painful but bearable if you keep your eyes on the prize:) GSG

[BillMc]

Glad I missed the last two.

[wildbill2u]

ClOfj2uuD89

Those who live by the floater, die by the floater. I still contend it is one of the most difficult shots in BB because it is often delivered at speed going into the basket area but the requirement to ease up and "float" the ball is counterintuitive to the motion of going to the basket. There IS a lot of difference between the finger roll and the floater although the delivery motion of the two shots look alike in some regard.

[Maddog]

Those who live by the floater, die by the floater. I still contend it is one of the most difficult shots in BB because it is often delivered at speed going into the basket area but the requirement to ease up and "float" the ball is counterintuitive to the motion of going to the basket. There IS a lot of difference between the finger roll and the floater although the delivery motion of the two shots look alike in some regard.

I agree 100%
TP9 should get a lot of credit for what he was able to do.
I take it as a positive he's getting in the paint. IF he cam master it may have something

[scott]

While many on this website scoff at the idea, I'm concerned at the long-term impact these blowouts will have on San Antonio to continue to have a basketball team. I saw on Social Media this morning the Spurs are having a 50% off sale on tickets for Black Friday. That is insane, but we've seen by the attendance numbers how badly they are struggling to get butts in the seats.

The Spurs better hope the land Wemby and can have the kind of record turnaround seasons they saw after picking David and Timmy, I'm not sure SS&E will be able to withstand a prolonged tank and the attendance woes that come with it. San Antonio has clearly become a spoiled, front-runner town and will have no one to blame but themselves.

[baseline bum]

Lonnie looking pretty good in la


Yes he is. I never gave up on him most of the time he was here. I was still willing to give him a chance, but around 3/4 of the way through last season, I gave up on him. Maybe I gave up on him a little too soon.

Meh putting up stats on a loser. It'll be good for his next contract though, bad for whoever signs him to that next deal.

[TD 21]

San Antonio has clearly become a spoiled, front-runner town and will have no one to blame but themselves.

Either that or they witnessed a combination of their franchise getting screwed out of anything resembling commensurate value for their superstar, tons of unique blunders from the front office and bad luck and decided to stop spending their money on the most irrelevant franchise in the league.

[Texas eye]

While many on this website scoff at the idea, I'm concerned at the long-term impact these blowouts will have on San Antonio to continue to have a basketball team. I saw on Social Media this morning the Spurs are having a 50% off sale on tickets for Black Friday. That is insane, but we've seen by the attendance numbers how badly they are struggling to get butts in the seats.

The Spurs better hope the land Wemby and can have the kind of record turnaround seasons they saw after picking David and Timmy, I'm not sure SS&E will be able to withstand a prolonged tank and the attendance woes that come with it. San Antonio has clearly become a spoiled, front-runner town and will have no one to blame but themselves.

If the team plays like they did in both LA games this season is going to set low turnout records. That was embarrassing.

[RC_Drunkford]

this is great. I stopped watching games a while ago. I think the team can get a bottom 3 record and surpass the Magic and Hornets in the race for the best draft odds. There's still a lot more losing to be done, once the Spurs are 6-18 they'd be right on track. For everybody complaining about attendance, I been saying way back they should've tanked during Covid when there weren't any fans allowed in the arena anyway. That would've been the right move from a financial perspective, but Pop had to get the record so here we are.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Eek.

[emanueldavidginobili]

Hall left after his sophomore year wth I thought for sure he was a 4 year college kid. Probably should have stayed.

[daslicer]

this is great. I stopped watching games a while ago. I think the team can get a bottom 3 record and surpass the Magic and Hornets in the race for the best draft odds. There's still a lot more losing to be done, once the Spurs are 6-18 they'd be right on track. For everybody complaining about attendance, I been saying way back they should've tanked during Covid when there weren't any fans allowed in the arena anyway. That would've been the right move from a financial perspective, but Pop had to get the record so here we are.

Pop set back the rebuilding process by 4 years by not gutting this team way back in 2018 when Kawhi wanted out. I said back then they should have started tanking instead of being a middling team competing to get into the playoffs. Pop's ego wouldn't allow it since he wanted the coaching record.

[Seventyniner]

Pop set back the rebuilding process by 4 years by not gutting this team way back in 2018 when Kawhi wanted out. I said back then they should have started tanking instead of being a middling team competing to get into the playoffs. Pop's ego wouldn't allow it since he wanted the coaching record.

Hard disagree. If the record was so important to Pop he wouldn't have stuck around for this season. Hindsight is 20/20 too.

[daslicer]

Hard disagree. If the record was so important to Pop he wouldn't have stuck around for this season. Hindsight is 20/20 too.

The record was very important to him hence him not wanting to tank until this year. He's sticking around because he has no life outside of basketball. I'm convinced he will coach until his body won't allow him to coach anymore.

[Chinook]

Personally I'm happy Pop got the record and wouldn't prefer for them to be "farther along in the tank" in exchange for it. There's no guarantee that the team would be any closer to competing had they tanked starting with the Leonard trade. There are good players they could've picked in the intervening drafts, but they also picked guys like Lonnie, Samanic, Vassell, and Primo with middle-firsts we don't know if the eventual stars were high on their list. If they had tanked but drafted poorly, imagine the absolute free fall the franchise would be in now. Folks are losing their will after a quarter of the season. Imagine a streak 16 times as long as we've seen so far with no end in sight.

[Seventyniner]

The record was very important to him hence him not wanting to tank until this year. He's sticking around because he has no life outside of basketball. I'm convinced he will coach until his body won't allow him to coach anymore.

I don't understand. Even terrible teams will win 17-20 games per year. If he was always planning on coaching until the wheels fell off then why hurry to get the record?

There's also the implicit assumption that the Spurs would be a better team with a brighter future now if they had tanked in 2018. That's certainly possible but nowhere near guaranteed. Several other teams sucked then and continue to suck now.

[daslicer]

I don't understand. Even terrible teams will win 17-20 games per year. If he was always planning on coaching until the wheels fell off then why hurry to get the record?

There's also the implicit assumption that the Spurs would be a better team with a brighter future now if they had tanked in 2018. That's certainly possible but nowhere near guaranteed. Several other teams sucked then and continue to suck now.

I would say because when you are older you have a sense of your mortality. You don't know how much time you have left and hence him trying to get the record as soon as possible.