Grades: Spurs @ Clippers - Oct. 29, 2023

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/2023-spurs-clippers-grades-3/

:music

[spursparker9]

I think Wemby is average 4 TO per game thus far. He has to cut down on those face up between-the-leg dribble move.

[pookenstein]

Ugly game, but not unexpected against a team filled with good vets. Hopefully the guys learn from the lesson.

[Fireball]

Thanks for the grades ... this was worse than losing to them 138-100 which happened last season. Oh boy.

my 3-7 take for the first ten games may have been a bit pessimistic at first, but now I think it will happen.

[HankChinaski]

I missed the game. One of the flaws being stuck on a night shift. Was going to watch the replay of it but after watching highlights and reading grades I don't think I would take much from it other than seeing how they respond next game.

[z0sa]

Wemby’s handles are a bit on the shaky side here at the NBA level. He can definitely get it done, but he needs to slow down a half step at this level. Sounds counter intuitive, but his TOs are definitely problematic to begin. He’s got plenty of work to do there - thank God it is a long season and he is only 19 to boot.

Vassell needs to be more assertive early, definitely. Ot should be he and Wemby trading off to get at least one of them cooking.

Osman is looking like a majorly underrated steal. His savvy is going to be sorely needed this season.

[stnick2261]

I heard on the radio after the game that the Spurs' average age is 22 and a half and the Clippers average age is 31 and a half. That's 45 more years of experience on the court at any time. This certainly was an experience I hope the young guys remember for a long time.

[onechance87]

You know our team is bad if osman is our third best player....

[JeffDuncan]

We should be kind to the elderly, of course, but that doesn’t mean closing our eyes to reality. The head coach is responsible for preparing the team to play.

Pop gets an F for this one.

[onechance87]

We should be kind to the elderly, of course, but that doesn’t mean closing our eyes to reality. The head coach is responsible for preparing the team to play.

Pop gets an F for this one.

our players are just bad......cant pass the ball ..These guys are so inconstient at shooting....We cant rebound either....pop is just
letting them play trying to figure them out....And what we are figuring out is our team is bad

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

The need for a decent facilitator, other than Trey, was pretty evident in this game. Against good teams we'll need a point guard. Spurs will need to identify one for the first and second units if Wemby is going to develop. The right point guard makes all the difference to feed the superstar. Just ask Karl Malone.

[spurraider21]

The need for a decent facilitator, other than Trey, was pretty evident in this game. Against good teams we'll need a point guard. Spurs will need to identify one for the first and second units if Wemby is going to develop. The right point guard makes all the difference to feed the superstar. Just ask Karl Malone.
A lot of people here have been saying that Tre is a good backup point guard and we simply lack a starter. Some thought Sochan could be that starter. It’s pretty clear he’s not close. In which case we probably should just start Tre and are back at square one at the position we saw ourselves last year, where a backup caliber player is forced to start and we don’t really have a good backup behind him.

last year we had a lot of branham at point because we lacked options. Wesley still isn’t close. Sochan doesn’t seem close. So back to Graham as the backup?

and even if we draft one next year who’s to say they will be ready to be a day 1 starter?

i was hoping we’d have been a lot more aggressive in the draft so that even if the one we took needed a year, we’d at least be there next year

[rascal]

The need for a decent facilitator, other than Trey, was pretty evident in this game. Against good teams we'll need a point guard. Spurs will need to identify one for the first and second units if Wemby is going to develop. The right point guard makes all the difference to feed the superstar. Just ask Karl Malone.

Many in here knew that but the Spurs didn't address that problem in the off season.

[palangi]

Jones or Graham need to start at the PG. sochan can go back to being a wing at the 3 spot. And Johnson comes off the bench in a Ginobli type role

[John B]

It was an ugly game. 25 TO’s against a veteran team with 3 future HOFErs will not do it. Is it too soon to abandon the Sochan experiment? I think so. This year is not about winning games, but to get these guys hone their skills while Wemby gets NBA strong. And not only Wemby but the entire team on their respective roles, and most specially Sochan. There’s going to be a lot of ugly games, but it’s a bitter truth that there’s a ton of work left to be done. But if they use last night as learning experience and work to improve, we should see a better team as the season progress. There would be ups and down (plenty of down), but enjoy the roller coaster ride. Keep pounding the rock!

[spurraider21]

It’s not that i expected a win. But they weren’t even competing, and that’s what’s disheartening. Kawhi and George being shotmakers, i can live with losing to that. When healthy that’s as nasty a tandem as there is in the league.

also just exposed the overall level of talent on the roster. Just hoping for internal improvement as a strategy to get better has always been a fools errand.

[itzsoweezee]

The Clippers are really good when kawhi is healthy (probably the second best team in the west). I’m not worried about a rookie turning the ball over. The other guys, however, have to be much better. I don’t think pop is putting Sochan in position to succeed. It seems to be driven by a desire to keep keldon in the starting lineup, which is the wrong decision IMO

[RC_Drunkford]

The starting line up will change once one of the starters gets injured. Then Pop will figure it out. We've seen this movie before with Pau Gasol, Bryn Forbes and a lot of other guys. Pop will play this line up until he is forced to change it

[ambchang]

_R4kLQ-WPKQ

[MultiTroll]

We should be kind to the elderly, of course, but that doesn’t mean closing our eyes to reality. The head coach is responsible for preparing the team to play.

Pop gets an F for this one.
:lol
Sacred Cow no can do.

For the Sniffers who claim President of All Things Spurs had been carefully planning for years for Wama:
"In fact, when we did get him, I was on a flight to Italy. Like, the club wondered, why would do that? Seriously. What was I going to do? Jump in the [NBA lottery] machine, then move the ping pong balls…
"But there wasn't much I could do. I was asleep. My son-in-law nudged me, woke me up and said, 'Hey, you guys got the first pick.' I said, 'Oh, that's good.' After that, I started watching film and seeing who he was.”
Gregg Popovich was asleep on a plane to Italy when Spurs won Wembanyama lottery (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba/gregg-popovich-was-asleep-on-a-plane-to-italy-when-spurs-won-wembanyama-lottery/ar-AA1j5O9Y)

[Chinook]

This is also why I thought Payne would get a legit chance to make the roster. It's crazy the team didn't take the need for a PG seriously. I just wonder what Pop was seeing in practices that made him think this was going to work.

[TekXX]

The starting line up will change once one of the starters gets injured. Then Pop will figure it out. We've seen this movie before with Pau Gasol, Bryn Forbes and a lot of other guys. Pop will play this line up until he is forced to change it

Pop knows it's bad but yea he's so stubborn he needs to wait until he has the excuse to make the change.

[scott]

Bassey has consistently been one of our better players this season while Collins has struggled to contain opposing centers. I am not suggesting that Bassey start over Collins, but I would hope to see him some few more minutes. Rather than Doug or Cedi playing the backup 4 so much, I’d be interested in some Collins/Bassey minutes with Collins at the 4 to give more minutes to Bass without necessarily taking from Collins. Also interested in getting some Wemby/Collins/Bassey minutes at some point.

[rascal]

This is also why I thought Payne would get a legit chance to make the roster. It's crazy the team didn't take the need for a PG seriously. I just wonder what Pop was seeing in practices that made him think this was going to work.

Looks to be a soft tank of a season for that top 5 pick.

[polandprzem]

Well that was not Rockets

VIctor same things. Bad D, no desire. No desire to crash boards. Turnover machine. Bad %.


Spurs looked like an amateur team. They are in slow process learning basketball... Too many players looks lost out there.

[rjv]

don't know if Pop's "they quite playing" comment was more pointed towards specific players (i.e., Sochan) than to the team in general.

[sammy]

Spurs need a point guard PERIOD! Sochan should not be running as PG since that is not his position! WTH Spurs, are you too cheap to get a good PG! This was horrible last night, nothing but turnovers! Everyone going for their shot instead of finding the open man!

[sammy]

Why don't we have any veterans on this team! They would help alot!

[spurraider21]

This is also why I thought Payne would get a legit chance to make the roster. It's crazy the team didn't take the need for a PG seriously. I just wonder what Pop was seeing in practices that made him think this was going to work.
considering the defenses they were practicing against, could be anything

[jjspur]

I've said this before, Pop is coaching like its last year. Come on, we have a few new better players than we had last year, plus our "vets" have a years worth of experience. Leave the experimenting for practice and put in our best line ups for the real games. It sucks that we still lose games by 40 points, I thought that was so last years no defense team - guess not. I'm changing our win total from the first ten games from 4 to 2. We have a long long way to go.

[polandprzem]

When it comes to knowing system and feel comfortable playing the Spurs are way behind other teams. This is by design though and this is whole new team. It's not indication how the Spurs gonna do in the 2nd half of a season.. Tbh that zone was just a practice... 3-2 pretty sneaky but having Victor there it might have a sense.

[spurs10]

Don't think I can watch again, but there were times when Sochan was not trying too hard to get the ball to Wemby.

[The Truth #6]

Hopefully no one bet the house on the over.

[KobesAchilles]

I’m not a fan of people saying winning isn’t important, it’s the process. Not only is that not true but the process itself is flawed. Bc Sochan needs to learn how to play alongside Wemby if he’s going to have a future with this team. And him being out defacto PG doesn’t help him accomplish this goal. His process is all kinds of fucked up and that’s on bad coaching

[RC_Drunkford]

When it comes to knowing system and feel comfortable playing the Spurs are way behind other teams. This is by design though and this is whole new team. It's not indication how the Spurs gonna do in the 2nd half of a season.. Tbh that zone was just a practice... 3-2 pretty sneaky but having Victor there it might have a sense.

13 of the 15 guys on the roster were here last season

[JeffDuncan]

Don't think I can watch again, but there were times when Sochan was not trying too hard to get the ball to Wemby.


Sochan doesn’t trust himself to make difficult passes. (Rightly so, I’d say.) For an example, look at the first offensive possession against the Clippers. Wemby, right in front of Sochan, makes a move to the basket. It calls for a high pass, over the top. It’s not an easy pass but there are players who can do it. The Spurs may not have scored there, since Leonard spotted it instantly and tangled with Wemby, but a pass should at least have gotten a foul on Leonard. However, no pass.

We’re not the only ones who know Sochan isn’t a point guard. He knows it too. It affects him. He’s a pro who’s being paid millions so he’ll keep trying, but it’s safe to say he is not happy with what he’s been given to do. It isn’t Wemby that’s bothering him, it’s his own situation.

[poopbox]

Sochan doesn’t trust himself to make difficult passes. (Rightly so, I’d say.) For an example, look at the first offensive possession against the Clippers. Wemby, right in front of Sochan, makes a move to the basket. It calls for a high pass, over the top. It’s not an easy pass but there are players who can do it. The Spurs may not have scored there, since Leonard spotted it instantly and tangled with Wemby, but a pass should at least have gotten a foul on Leonard. However, no pass.

We’re not the only ones who know Sochan isn’t a point guard. He knows it too. It affects him. He’s a pro who’s being paid millions so he’ll keep trying, but it’s safe to say he is not happy with what he’s been given to do. It isn’t Wemby that’s bothering him, it’s his own situation.

He's only in the situation because of Wemby, who took his "spot" in the starting lineup.

[Chomag]

Pop is ruining Shochan's growth as a player with this shoehorning him in as a PG. Him having 0 points in 22 minutes for a second year player is pretty telling and is going to burn him out . He is not a point guard, just stop this nonsense and let him be the player he is or else I can see him becoming disgruntled very quickly.