Grades: Spurs vs. Pelicans - Dec. 17, 2023

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/2023-spurs-pelicans-grades-25/

1.

[HankChinaski]

Didn't get a chance to watch the game tonight but when I saw the 4th scoreboard on my phone....yeesh. Quite the turd nugget the laid on the court tonight.

I'm curious as to why you think the current roster isn't able to feed Wemby easier or why more plays aren't being called for him?

It really feels like when I have watched the games the players don't really know the pecking order or what they should be attempting to exploit. Is this the players issue or coaching or both?

[spursparker9]

The Pelicans were raining 3s all game long. Guess it was just that kind of game.

:lol for both games against Pelicans, can see that Zion is not even trying hard. Seems like he is only using 60% of his real strength.

[John B]

I was expecting a loss but I was hoping it would be competitive. Spurs have to face it. The Spurs are tanking. Pop went to coach hard against the old rival Lakers. I think he wanted that win not only to stop the 18 straight losses, but against the Lakers. But now it’s back to tanking. The Pelicans getting hot at 3 pointers just made it a worst final score.

[sananspursfan21]

Watched til about middle 3rd. It’s crazy cuz it didn’t look like they were playing excessively out of character. They were just doing what they do, which is pretty terrifying. You were watching the lead just build and build and all of a sudden they’re down by 25. Like a frog getting boiled. I wonder if they’re communicating to Wemby that it won’t always be like this…

[Spurs Homer]

Didn't get a chance to watch the game tonight but when I saw the 4th scoreboard on my phone....yeesh. Quite the turd nugget the laid on the court tonight.

I'm curious as to why you think the current roster isn't able to feed Wemby easier or why more plays aren't being called for him?

It really feels like when I have watched the games the players don't really know the pecking order or what they should be attempting to exploit. Is this the players issue or coaching or both?

Because every spurs player - NOT - named victor - is a fucking moron...

vw sets screen on vassells man - vw rolls to basket with his hand raised -
vassell dribbles away from vw with his BACK TURNED and dribbles for 5 seconds until 2-3 defenders converge on vw -
vassell shoots a 40 foot clank

vw creates a turnover and runs the court pointing up -
spurs moron teammate grabs the ball runs up the court and dribbles into traffic ignoring vw- and then eventually passes it to collins who turns it over

over and over and over and over again - while Pop watches with a dazed look on his face possibly wondering if a pinot or maybe a nice Reisling is appropriate to send to kawhi after the game...


:pctoss

[Extra Stout]

I remember when the Spurs were good at player development.

[MultiTroll]

"he could have had a huge game if his teammates didn’t routinely miss him when he was wide open."

Clearly on the coach.

F easily.

[wildbill2u]

Did I miss something? Did we lose a particularly valuable player from last year's bad team? We add a generational player, and the team looks worse than last year? I'd like to think we are tanking but the team seems to be going backward on their own.

[z0sa]

Everyone but Wemby deserves F. Utter trash team and coaching, all of them should be gotten rid of/traded immediately. I’d rather G Leaguers who understand to get Wemby the ball for 30 shots than literally anyone on this team. Maybe Tre can stay, that would be it.

[lefty]

Ruining TP's jersey night with a L?

Hell yeah :bobo

[baseline bum]

https://www.spurstalk.com/2023-spurs-pelicans-grades-25/

1.

So how close is Sochan to being a lost cause? What does he do even competently besides FT shooting? I don't know how anyone considers him anything but a horrific defender when his defensive FG% allowed is bottom third in the league and on par with guys like Trae Young and Domatas Sabonis. Starting to think the PG experiment was just Pop trying to shoehorn Sochan into the starting lineup with a hail mary.

[baseline bum]

I remember when the Spurs were good at player development.

Three 2022 first round picks, looking like three straights busts. :pctoss

[baseline bum]

I was expecting a loss but I was hoping it would be competitive. Spurs have to face it. The Spurs are tanking. Pop went to coach hard against the old rival Lakers. I think he wanted that win not only to stop the 18 straight losses, but against the Lakers. But now it’s back to tanking. The Pelicans getting hot at 3 pointers just made it a worst final score.

The roster is trash. I hope outside of Victor none of it is still here in 3 years outside of maybe Vassell. I would say two but Collins' extension rules that out.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

According to some, Pop's grand plan this whole time is to lose. So I think this stinker deserves an "A".

[KobesAchilles]

I thought Pop coached his ass off. It was just one of those games where the Pels hit 3s and we missed ours. Pop can't shoot for our guys. The gameplan overall was solid and to lose against a very good Pels team is nothing to be mad about. Besides we aren't trying to win games anyways. It doesn't matter if you get blownout or lose by 30, it's all about the process of us getting better. And we are clearly headed in the right direction

[spurraider21]

:lmao pop trying to explain away a 40 point loss as "they just made shots and we didnt, nothing to see here" :lmao

[rjv]

not a good sign when the most consistent spur so far this season, besides wemby, has been osman.

[NASpurs]

I thought Pop coached his ass off. It was just one of those games where the Pels hit 3s and we missed ours. Pop can't shoot for our guys. The gameplan overall was solid and to lose against a very good Pels team is nothing to be mad about. Besides we aren't trying to win games anyways. It doesn't matter if you get blownout or lose by 30, it's all about the process of us getting better. And we are clearly headed in the right direction

"we aren't trying to win games"

Then why was the team celebrating the Lakers win? I doubt it's because they beat the INST Cup Champions :lol

[KobesAchilles]

"we aren't trying to win games"

Then why was the team celebrating the Lakers win? I doubt it's because they beat the INST Cup Champions :lol
We aren't trying to lose 18 in a row. But we have clearly made strides as a team. Losing to the Pelicans doesn't change that. Pop made some gambles before the season started. And these gambles are long run bets. Now he might lose all his bets. But he isn't betting game to game. He made end of the year bets.

Pop's bets:
Sochan learning how to be a playmaker so he can still be a starter on our team going forward
Victor learning go to perimeter moves
Vassell taking the next step to be a bucket getter
Collins and Osman to calm our young team down
Jones to be a steady hand for 25 minutes a game because as of now that's all he can handle
And that KJ/Branham/Wesley belong on the team.

The Spurs have a buncha one year contracts and moveable pieces. Pop knows this. But he needs all the questions answered before he plans for next year. Half of this team will be gone next year. Pop knows what he is doing

[Extra Stout]

Three 2022 first round picks, looking like three straights busts. :pctoss
I completely expect Sochan to blossom into a glue-guy utility forward on his next team.

I also expect Malaki Branham to develop into a contributor after he leaves San Antonio.

Blake Wesley is a lost cause.

Pop enjoys “developing” players and “watching them grow.” Left unstated is whether he’s actually good at that anymore, or whether he’s even talking about basketball when he says that.

[Tyronn Lue]

We aren't trying to lose 18 in a row. But we have clearly made strides as a team. Losing to the Pelicans doesn't change that. Pop made some gambles before the season started. And these gambles are long run bets. Now he might lose all his bets. But he isn't betting game to game. He made end of the year bets.

Pop's bets:
Sochan learning how to be a playmaker so he can still be a starter on our team going forward
Victor learning go to perimeter moves
Vassell taking the next step to be a bucket getter
Collins and Osman to calm our young team down
Jones to be a steady hand for 25 minutes a game because as of now that's all he can handle
And that KJ/Branham/Wesley belong on the team.

The Spurs have a buncha one year contracts and moveable pieces. Pop knows this. But he needs all the questions answered before he plans for next year. Half of this team will be gone next year. Pop knows what he is doing
Either the goal is to win or it's not. I haven't seen anyone on the team state the goal other than the customary "working to improve at both ends of the floor" canned speeches from all the players and the coach. I wouldn't spend an entire 2K NBA season developing a MyCareer guy who I didn't build properly from the onset. That should be the benchmark, would my MyCareer season look like this? I wonder if Pop has even considered that. Someone should ask.

[polandprzem]

Spurs D is just as bad as it can be.
I was criticizing Wemby for his bad D but he got better. Other then that all team is a bunch of noobies that just met and do not know how to play with each other.

Either Pop doing some experiments and trows this season as the previous one or they just suck so much.

There is no desire and there is no leader on that team. With that you can't find identity.


I like quality sports. Watching Spurs is not fun at all. Frickin bad basketball.

[KobesAchilles]

Either the goal is to win or it's not. I haven't seen anyone on the team state the goal other than the customary "working to improve at both ends of the floor" canned speeches from all the players and the coach. I wouldn't spend an entire 2K NBA season developing a MyCareer guy who I didn't build properly from the onset. That should be the benchmark, would my MyCareer season look like this? I wonder if Pop has even considered that. Someone should ask.
On my career you are just in charge of your dumbass. You don't have to replace half the roster and scout and make any tough decisions. The goal is to improve on small stuff that will help us win next year

[Tyronn Lue]

On my career you are just in charge of your dumbass. You don't have to replace half the roster and scout and make any tough decisions. The goal is to improve on small stuff that will help us win next year
I wasn't serious.

[Doe]

Three 2022 first round picks, looking like three straights busts. :pctoss

Fuck, I had erased Wesley being a first round pick from my mind. Damn it.