The overlooked stat

[kxs783kms]

Interesting to see that amid all of the really bad losing and play on the court, the Spurs are the 3rd best team in assists. I think at one point, they were 1st. I know that there's the impression that they play selfish ball but that stat says otherwise. Outside of our defense being horrible and lack of being able to hit 3's, I think the foundation of the "beautiful game" is being taught right before our eyes. All of this with an inexperienced PG out there most of the time. We all know ball movement is the most important part to a successful offense, we just have to find guys who can hit the shot and also finish at the rim. At the same time, this is probably why we have a high turnover rate because sometimes they over pass but that's due to these units not having a long time of playing together and learning and knowing each other tendencies. I'm not worried about the record. We're going to lose A LOT this year lol. But I will be paying attention to this.

[weebo]

Interesting to see that amid all of the really bad losing and play on the court, the Spurs are the 3rd best team in assists. I think at one point, they were 1st. I know that there's the impression that they play selfish ball but that stat says otherwise. Outside of our defense being horrible and lack of being able to hit 3's, I think the foundation of the "beautiful game" is being taught right before our eyes. All of this with an unexperienced PG out there most of the time. We all know ball movement is the most important part to a successful offense, we just have to find guys who can hit the shot and also finish at the rim. At the same time, this is probably why we have a high turnover rate because sometimes they over pass but that's due to these units not having a long time of playing together and learning and knowing each other tendencies. I'm not worried about the record. We're going to lose A LOT this year lol. But I will be paying attention to this.

But Doc Rivers or Marc “ there goes that bad man” Jackson should be coaching the Spurs …

[RC_Drunkford]

Interesting to see that amid all of the really bad losing and play on the court, the Spurs are the 3rd best team in assists. I think at one point, they were 1st. I know that there's the impression that they play selfish ball but that stat says otherwise. Outside of our defense being horrible and lack of being able to hit 3's, I think the foundation of the "beautiful game" is being taught right before our eyes. All of this with an unexperienced PG out there most of the time. We all know ball movement is the most important part to a successful offense, we just have to find guys who can hit the shot and also finish at the rim. At the same time, this is probably why we have a high turnover rate because sometimes they over pass but that's due to these units not having a long time of playing together and learning and knowing each other tendencies. I'm not worried about the record. We're going to lose A LOT this year lol. But I will be paying attention to this.

they were also last year. It's like this is the only thing Pop is teaching them.

[Chinook]

And yet despite the fact that they pass a ton and get a ton of assists folks still think the guys are too selfish to pass and are physically unable to throw a ball when they are inclined to try.

[poopbox]

All assist are not created equal. We only have the ones we do because we don't have a star player to break down a defense, thus their is no other way for them to get a shot up.

[Chinook]

All assist are not created equal. We only have the ones we do because we don't have a star player to break down a defense, thus their is no other way for them to get a shot up.

This is entirely true. That's a talent issue. That they have so many assists despite that is a testament to their willingness to pass.

[Pauleta14]

It's just that less individual talent = rely more on collective plays

They just don't have the choice, they're not good enough to create their own plays efficiently

[Pauleta14]

Not sure Sochan or Tre were accused of being selfish...

Just to not have the skills for the position

[CapitalEmm]

I think this stat is more of a red herring.


We have a lot of chuckers that throw up the ball as soon as they get it whether it’s a good shot or not. This leads to terrible offense, but has the side effect of artificially inflating the assist count. Most of Keldons and Devin’s shots are contested shots that happened to be assisted.

[z0sa]

I do agree, this is the one good sign that Pop isn't completely useless. And probably the main reason Pop is still arrogant AF, if I had to guess.

He's got a good case for "The SystemTM works. I need better/more developed players and we'll be contending again."

[Poolboy5623]

Well as a team they have to pass the ball. They don't really have any scorers that can attack the basket and get their own shot. When they try, its quite ugly. However they don't really have any individuals. I believe Tre Jones leads the team in assist average and Sochan is 2nd (ranked around 50th)? That's not good.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

I do agree, this is the one good sign that Pop isn't completely useless. And probably the main reason Pop is still arrogant AF, if I had to guess.

He's got a good case for "The SystemTM works. I need better/more developed players and we'll be contending again."

Agree. And good post OP.

I guess we can’t snap our fingers and build out a roster, but the Spurs did a decent job of that before Robinson’s rookie season. They added Terry Cummings, who was still a great PF, and Rod Strickland. The brought on a couple of older, experienced centers to mentor Robinson in Caldwell Jones and Uwe Blab (and obviously we also drafted Sean). I know there were other additions I’m not thinking of right now.

Granted, later the Spurs let David flounder with an inferior roster, but at least the team didn’t put him on an island that first season with the same shitty roster from the year before.

When I see Pop out there showing Wemby how to post up, I’m like damn, isn’t there anyone else they could bring in for that?

It feels like the team didn’t plan to win Wemby and so now they can’t shift out of the 5 year rebuild plan, but they need to….now.

[spurraider21]

When you aimlessly dribble handoff and pick and roll until there’s 6 on the clock and pass to someone who happens to hit a bailout shot leading to an assist it’s not really that impressive.

[Obstructed_View]

They try very hard, and they share the ball well in spurts. I've never gotten the impression that anyone plays selfish ball. Vic takes shots he shouldn't sometimes because he doesn't get enough touches. I have never thought that was intentional. I think Tre calls his own number a bit too often but he's one of the best passers in the team and has good court vision.

They are massively inconsistent, and there isn't a good sense of who plays well together, so you have feast or famine from the lineups. I also think Mamu and Dom are rotting away on the bench.

[kxs783kms]

All assist are not created equal. We only have the ones we do because we don't have a star player to break down a defense, thus their is no other way for them to get a shot up.

I think that's the exact thing Pop is trying to build. Historically, outside of Parker and Manu, we never really had a superstar player who could break down a defense 1on1. (*Kawhi was getting there but unfortunately he wasn't here long enough to see it pan out.*) We always won with ball movement and hitting the open 3's.

[kxs783kms]

I do agree, this is the one good sign that Pop isn't completely useless. And probably the main reason Pop is still arrogant AF, if I had to guess.

He's got a good case for "The SystemTM works. I need better/more developed players and we'll be contending again."

I agree 100%. If we had the players to hit these shots that they are getting, our record would look much different right now. Our problem is that when the opposing team starts to make their comeback, we don't have a consistent shooter who can get us points when Vassell is off. Wemby will get there eventually but he's not there yet.

[Bruno]

It feels like the team didn’t plan to win Wemby and so now they can’t shift out of the 5 year rebuild plan, but they need to….now.

Yep, it feels like that. Even for the worst team in the league, odds of not getting Wembanyama were 86%. Not getting him was the most likely scenario, I can't really blame Spurs to follow the odds.

The Dejounte Murray trade was the most obvious sign on how long term Spurs rebuilding plan was. Spurs traded a 26 years old all star PG only for picks with the most interesting ones being after 2025. Right now, Spurs have no players coming from that trade.

Spurs will need to speed up that rebuilding plan. Tanking this year is fine but it should be the last one.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Yep, it feels like that. Even for the worst team in the league, odds of not getting Wembanyama were 86%. Not getting him was the most likely scenario, I can't really blame Spurs to follow the odds.

The Dejounte Murray trade was the most obvious sign on how long term Spurs rebuilding plan was. Spurs traded a 26 years old all star PG only for picks with the most interesting ones being after 2025. Right now, Spurs have no players coming from that trade.

Spurs will need to speed up that rebuilding plan. Tanking this year is fine but it should be the last one.

:tu