Game Thread: Spurs @ Celtics -- Wed. 1/17/2024 - 6:30pm CST

[BatManu20]

Wemby vs. Porzingis tonight. And we get to watch D-White own our guards. What a treat. Let's get it.


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[Joseph Kony]

Last I saw, White/Porzingis/Holiday are all questionable. Barlow listed as questionable as well

wouldn't be surprised if they rest them considering they're at home and will dominate the Spurs most likely no matter who plays

[spurraider21]

heres' to wemby exceeding his minutes limit, causing pop to decide to rest him on friday and let him play on the saturday portion of the b2b

[BatManu20]

Last I saw, White/Porzingis/Holiday are all questionable. Barlow listed as questionable as well

wouldn't be surprised if they rest them considering they're at home and will dominate the Spurs most likely no matter who plays

Looked on Twitter earlier and didn't see anything. Def wouldn't mind Porzingis and White being out though.

[BatManu20]

Celtics are 19-0 at home this season. Fully expect an L, but would be nice to ruin that undefeated home record for 'em if they sit some of their starters.

[thiste]

So technically we're still on pace for a 50 wins season. Let's enjoy it while we can! :p

[spurraider21]

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[LeBowen]

Sti a no contest, tbh.

[manufan10]

Anyone catch those two old men failing at a handshake during the pregame show right now? I hope it was planned. :lol

[timtonymanu]

Trap game but watch Vassell and Keldon go 2-22 combined again.

[Leetonidas]

Celtics have a tendency to play down to their opponents. But we'll probably still lose by 40 :lol

[r0drig0lac]

Wemby x C's

[TekXX]

When Wemby finally figures out what the hell he can do in the paint the league better watch out.

[TekXX]

Yea Sochan don't battle Wemby for the ball.

[Pauleta14]

Sochan and Champagnie AS USUAL battling for Victor's rebounds...

[LeBowen]

Can't have anyone play pnr defense alone.
Drop coverage is just dumb against that team, Wemby (and Barlow) need to steup further up and not allow open threes.

[Kurgan]

Yea Sochan don't battle Wemby for the ball.

Imagine how much of a better rebounder Sochan would be if he put that same effort into battling the opposing teams for rebounds instead of his own teammates

[thiste]

Why is Tre taking threes now? He's awful at it

[Tyronn Lue]

Is Victor still on restricted minutes? :lol

[CorrectCrusader]

Oh hey! The website is back. Good evening guys

[Barfunk]

Wemby on pace for 20 minutes! Heck yeah!

[CGD]

Really like the Celtic announcers.

[thiste]

Is Victor still on restricted minutes? :lol

Till the end of the season

[Tyronn Lue]

:lmao this fucking coach is clueless

[LeBowen]

Offense looking like 5 random fans were selected to play.

[Leetonidas]

Osman/McNugget/Branham lineup :lmao :lmao

[Leetonidas]

:lmao Tre just keeps firing from three

[BatManu20]

Raptors currently up 47-18 on Miami lol

[R. DeMurre]

Celtic announcers said the Spurs have good spacing on offense, and then one of them mentioned defense and the others just laughed... unfortunately, a pretty accurate analysis.

[Brazil]

Wemby only spurs on double digit scoring :lol

[Leetonidas]

Celtics love chucking threes and Spurs love giving up wide open threes

[Frenchfred]

again getting killed on the threes.

[BatManu20]

Sochan is killin’ me

[Tyronn Lue]

Raptors currently up 47-18 on Miami lol
https://i.imgur.com/RLuUt1S.jpg

[TekXX]

If only we had talented players.

[CorrectCrusader]

Boston fucking hates us lmao hitting everything

[z0sa]

This team blows, especially Vassell. He's way too streaky and doesn't have any go-to move other than shoot over the top of defenders, 4th option at best.

[Devi8or]

Vassell on a milk carton so far

[td4mvp2k]

ffs this team sucks... spurs better start putting winning pieces around wemby or he's out of here

[thiste]

Tre makes a three !

[Frenchfred]

ffs this team sucks... spurs better start putting winning pieces around wemby or he's out of here

yep

[r0drig0lac]

defense totally impotent and the offense is a mess.

[thiste]

Celtics don't even have to challenge Wemby on defense, they're making all their threes

[BatManu20]

Vassell on a milk carton so far

He tends to do that a lot tbh.

[Kurgan]

This team blows, especially Vassell. He's way too streaky and doesn't have any go-to move other than shoot over the top of defenders, 4th option at best.

Only Brian Wright would give a 4th option talent a $150 million contract

[CorrectCrusader]

Branham needs to go to the gleague

[BatManu20]

Every time Branham shoots, I already know it’s not going in. Not a great feeling.

[CGD]

Jaylen Brown still does some dumb shit

[BatManu20]

Branham just air-balled a WIDE open 3 lmao :lol. Get this dude off the team tbh. He needs to be in the G-League tbh.

[Frenchfred]

Celtics 13/19 at the 3-point line. At some point you would think that the Spurs would start defending the three

[onechance87]

branham has no buisness getting more mins over wesley

[Devi8or]

Every time Branham shoots, I already know it’s not going in. Not a great feeling.

It's crazy how bad his misses are too, like not even close

[Kurgan]

Branham needs to go to the gleague

He's a less athletic Lonnie. Let his current contract expire and move on. Work on developing Wesley. He sucks but at least he has defensive upside.

[mudd]

Can’t hit the side of a barn!

[z0sa]

Branham needs to go to the gleague

I'd just cut him. He's trash, no physical tools, no hustle, low release that is easily contested by defenders - definition of a bust and just a bad pick in general.

[TekXX]

LOL i mean we knew this would happen still sucks

[thiste]

They're not just sucking, they're making fools of themselves

[TekXX]

I thought Bonner was from New Hampshire

[Frenchfred]

when you think that Vassel is going to start earning 30 millions next year, that sucks. I really hope he gets his act together because he is going to eat a lot of the cap space that could be used on another player

[CorrectCrusader]

I'd just cut him. He's trash, no physical tools, no hustle, low release that is easily contested by defenders - definition of a bust and just a bad pick in general.

I'm not cutting a 2nd year player lol

[Tyronn Lue]

You can find this caliber of a team at some YMCA in Philly any day of the week. Minus the obvious big guy.

[Tyronn Lue]

I'm not cutting a 2nd year player lol
This is a terrible position. If you haven't shown signs in year 2 already you should be in the developmental league, not playing in the NBA. Sending him to the G league is likely equal to waiving or cutting him, since I doubt he gets another look anytime soon.

[Frenchfred]

I'm not cutting a 2nd year player lol

agreed, he'll make only 3 millions next year and after it's a team option. So keep him another year and if he doesn't work out, don't exercise his option.

[z0sa]

I'm not cutting a 2nd year player lol

I know, that's probably the "right" take, but the only NBA-level game he's ever shown I can see if his mid-range. a short guard with a low release who excels at hitting mid range jumpers and nothing else seems futureless in the NBA, jmo

[spurraider21]

agreed, he'll make only 3 millions next year and after it's a team option. So keep him another year and if he doesn't work out, don't exercise his option.
his 4th year option has to be exercised before the start of his 3rd season

[spurraider21]

finally a defensive play by wemby

[spurraider21]

for a guy who doesnt get to the rim that much, vassell's finishing in traffic, through contact, etc, is pretty good

[spurraider21]

really good D by champ on that iso possession. but then maybe wemby shouldnt just be trying to go coast to coast dribbling between 4 defenders. he's really been off today, despite the nice scoring numbers

[Frenchfred]

his 4th year option has to be exercised before the start of his 3rd season

then he only has until the end of the year to show what he can do.

[Cardinal]

Fairly low effort/poor focus game from Wemby tbh

[z0sa]

How did it take 30something games for Tre Jones to start? :lol

[spurraider21]

How did it take 30something games for Tre Jones to start? :lol
because thats how long it took for branham to get hurt

[z0sa]

Fucking finally, Vassell. Show you're the number 2 guy on this team for the foreseeable future, that's all a fan can ask for.

[BatManu20]

How did it take 30something games for Tre Jones to start? :lol


“He wasn’t over himself” :pop:

[z0sa]

because thats how long it took for branham to get hurt

:lmao :pop:

[Dex]

What the hell has happened to Vassell? Dude has been trash the last few games unless he happens to get a wide-open layup

[z0sa]

Love Champagnie's rebounding in this game. He can be a long-career 3 and D guy for Spurs and/or other teams if he gets more consistent on the defensive end.

[Spurs Homer]

Holee fuck branham back

[emanueldavidginobili]

Keldon is a shell of himself, dude hit his ceiling before 24 lmao.

[Dex]

Keldon crying on the sideline trying to sell a foul instead of getting back in the play to play defense, then immediately runs up the floor like everything is fine.

I am pretty much over this dude.

[onechance87]

branham is destroying this team by himself

[Spurs Brazil]

Branham in the game = Celtics run

[SpurSpike]

Keldons been elbowed in the face by Tatum twice now with no offensive foul called.

[spurraider21]

Keldon crying on the sideline trying to sell a foul instead of getting back in the play to play defense, then immediately runs up the floor like everything is fine.

I am pretty much over this dude.
easily could have prevented the offensive board too

[z0sa]

lol another offensive foul uncalled on Tatum. I am quickly becoming a hater.

[spurraider21]

finally tatum gets called for something

got the foul call, but i dno if i like wemby throwing it up backwards two handed like that :lol... if he cant comfortably guide the ball, just come down and go right back up off of two feet

[gilmor2002]

lol another offensive foul uncalled on Tatum. I am quickly becoming a hater.

I never like the way he played. Super drama queen

[spurraider21]

why the fuck is branham doubling off of pritchard to help wemby against a driver... e\asdkfljd;s

[CorrectCrusader]

Keldons been elbowed in the face by Tatum twice now with no offensive foul called.

He also got away with a nasty pushoff early against Sochan.

[Barfunk]

Striking Distance starring Bruce Willis

[Thomas82]

It's crazy to see Wemby with 23 points and just 4 rebounds. No blocks or steals either.

[z0sa]

finally tatum gets called for something

got the foul call, but i dno if i like wemby throwing it up backwards two handed like that :lol... if he cant comfortably guide the ball, just come down and go right back up off of two feet

I think the reason is the new rule about oops not being called shooting fouls. I think Pop and co told him to just throw it up, but overall yeah I agree.

[Spurs Homer]

I cant decide which is worse…

having branham on the floor

having vassell on the floor

[kjhip1]

why the fuck is branham doubling off of pritchard to help wemby against a driver... e\asdkfljd;s

Literally was shaking my head when I saw him go towards basket to help. Horrible IQ to leave the guy who is burning you on 3s.

[thiste]

So, we've won how many third quarters in a row now? I think 7 or 8? That's a welcome change from early in the season.

[Thomas82]

Till the end of the season

I hope not.

[Spurs Homer]

Refs aint gonna let the celts lose tonite

[z0sa]

So, we've won how many third quarters in a row now? I think 7 or 8? That's a welcome change from early in the season.

Yeah, it's a "step" but in this game, it's one of those one step forward after having taken 4 steps back. But, definitely showing an adjustment.

[z0sa]

I never like the way he played. Super drama queen

frfr. he's been throwing bows all night but gets pissed when he gets a little of his own medicine.

[Spurs Homer]

Vassell ignoring vw

[Frenchfred]

this team really needs three point shooters, 6-28 tonight

[Spurs Homer]

Now vassell passes

[spurraider21]

Literally was shaking my head when I saw him go towards basket to help. Horrible IQ to leave the guy who is burning you on 3s.
as if branham was going to deter a shot in the paint :lol

defender was willing to challenge wemby, but branham? no, must pass

[CorrectCrusader]

These announcers are annoying as fuck.

[scott]

Wemby is the personification of the old Emmitt Smith quote: a diamond surrounded by trash

[emanueldavidginobili]

And to think the Celtics are without Porzingis and White lol

[BatManu20]

Sochan bro… please

[TekXX]

God forbid Pop challenge a push off by the Celtics down 24 points

[Frenchfred]

And to think the Celtics are without Porzingis and White lol

all their players can shoot three as opposed to us. The Spurs team is not constructed for today's game

[thiste]

Nice dunk shouldve been an AND 1.

[z0sa]

SUUUUUPEEEERRRRR off topic, but man I wish we'd have played the Celtics back in the 2008-2012 era in at least one finals. Especially 08 if Manu wouldn't have been injured.

[Spurs Homer]

Bullshit minutes restriction

[TekXX]

Bullshit minutes restriction

We're not winning many games with this G league squad so i'm ok sitting him if it keeps him healthy.

[thiste]

Yeah, it's a "step" but in this game, it's one of those one step forward after having taken 4 steps back. But, definitely showing an adjustment.

Seven straight 3rd quarter wins, just checked. Not much but considering we were getting literally killed in 3rd quarters before...

[z0sa]

Bullshit minutes restriction

Hard to argue with the Spurs' medical team, but as a healthcare worker myself, he passes the eye test hardcore. Reeks of a coaching/FO rather than medical personnel decision, but obviously won't ever know for sure what the real deal is there.

[z0sa]

Seven straight 3rd quarter wins, just checked. Not much but considering we were getting literally killed in 3rd quarters before...

100%

I'm really proud we've kept games much closer, it's made watching these semi-blowouts much more palatable.

That said, it all goes back to tre Jones starting IMHO. Pop could have made the adjustment 10-15 games in when Sochan wasn't working out at PG and we were losing over and over.

[spurraider21]

Hard to argue with the Spurs' medical team, but as a healthcare worker myself, he passes the eye test hardcore. Reeks of a coaching/FO rather than medical personnel decision, but obviously won't ever know for sure what the real deal is there.
no other sports medical staff on the planet orders mutliple MRIs for a rolled ankle and keeps a player on a restriction who is not reporting any soreness or swelling

[TekXX]

Anyone else confused why Pop has Mamu so far down the bench considering the fuckups from the players in front of him?

[spurraider21]

nice drive and kick by blake, mamu couldnt nail the open corner 3

barlow always almost looks like a good player

[Dex]

no other sports medical staff on the planet orders mutliple MRIs for a rolled ankle and keeps a player on a restriction who is not reporting any soreness or swelling

It's called stealth tanking. Try to get Wemby his stats and flowers without winning too many games

[Mugen]

7/34 from 3 :lol

[SouthernFryd]

Blow it up.

Blow it all up and start from scratch. Fire everyone but Wemby. Fire all the players. Fire all the Coaches. Fire all the Front Office staff. Fire the GM, Brian...twice. Fire everyone.

Let Wemby choose the next coach and players. And I flat out guarantee you, we'd be 3x as good as we are today. Hell, you can't get much worse, so why not?

Blow it all to smithereens and start over.

[spurraider21]

just a bad, sloppy game. obviously boston, even without white/porzingis, is better than these spurs, so i wasnt expecting a win.

but wemby seems disaffected for much of the game. played 26 minutes, but put up only 1 stock and had as many turnovers as rebounds.

sochan tried but couldnt hit a shot and made some bad decisions while driving

vassell was again, invisible, except for the 3rd quarter when he was putting his head down and making plays at the rim or getting to the line (7/8 from the stripe). he has to be more assertive throughout the game, and his 3-ball is dead for some reason

thought Tre and Julian did reasonably well, given they were matched up against Holiday and Tatum. i think jones was too quick to pull the trigger on 3's. i get that he has to take some when the defense dictates it, but he seemed to settle for them earlier than he had to

keldon looked like he didnt want to be out there

osman/mcdermott looked lethargic. i have a lot of issues with branham, but at least he tried on offense :lol, more than anybody else on the bench can say

barlow efforted and hit a 3, but he just looks like he's 1-2 inches shorter than he needs to be. i know he's still very young and raw, but i cant remember the last time i saw a player always almost* make a play

[z0sa]

just a bad, sloppy game. obviously boston, even without white/porzingis, is better than these spurs, so i wasnt expecting a win.

but wemby seems disaffected for much of the game. played 26 minutes, but put up only 1 stock and had as many turnovers as rebounds.

sochan tried but couldnt hit a shot and made some bad decisions while driving

vassell was again, invisible, except for the 3rd quarter when he was putting his head down and making plays at the rim or getting to the line (7/8 from the stripe). he has to be more assertive throughout the game, and his 3-ball is dead for some reason

thought Tre and Julian did reasonably well, given they were matched up against Holiday and Tatum. i think jones was too quick to pull the trigger on 3's. i get that he has to take some when the defense dictates it, but he seemed to settle for them earlier than he had to

keldon looked like he didnt want to be out there

osman/mcdermott looked lethargic. i have a lot of issues with branham, but at least he tried on offense :lol, more than anybody else on the bench can say

barlow efforted and hit a 3, but he just looks like he's 1-2 inches shorter than he needs to be. i know he's still very young and raw, but i cant remember the last time i saw a player always almost* make a play

I was gonna respond exactly this to your first post abouit Barlow

He could have been a great roleplayer if he was 6'11 or so, he looks about 6'8 out there even with shoes.

[spurraider21]

victor is also still learning how to make things easier for teammates. there was one transition possession where sochan had the ball and was pushing up the court, and vic was running the lane next to him. then victor kinda pulled back to head back to the 3 point line and left sochan without a running mate down the lane. i dont know that sochan realized where wemby was, but then he went up and got smothered by kornet.

vic had to keep running the lane and make him available for a dump off for an easy dunk, or at least keep kornet attached to him to free up the shot for sochan

yes in the moment i was thinking, why didnt sochan pass out of that, but tbh victor made the mistake there by peeling back instead of continuing to push toward the rim

[Dex]

Blow it up.

Blow it all up and start from scratch. Fire everyone but Wemby. Fire all the players. Fire all the Coaches. Fire all the Front Office staff. Fire the GM, Brian...twice. Fire everyone.

Let Wemby choose the next coach and players. And I flat out guarantee you, we'd be 3x as good as we are today. Hell, you can't get much worse, so why not?

Blow it all to smithereens and start over.

I think you should try to be a little more dramatic.

[LakerHater]

Man, I aint even rootin for Spurs wins anymore!
Im rootin for Wembanyama's stats!

[z0sa]

It's called stealth tanking. Try to get Wemby his stats and flowers without winning too many games

At this point, I'm becoming more and more a fan of this "stealth" tank. That said, I feel we could have been much, much better this season.

[spurraider21]

At this point, I'm becoming more and more a fan of this "stealth" tank. That said, I feel we could have been much, much better this season.
thats just another way of saying "im coping with how the season is going"

[z0sa]

thats just another way of saying "im coping with how the season is going"

:lol pretty much

[poopbox]

There are plenty of games to cliff jump on but the celtics aren't one of them. They are real legit championship team with a real legit coaching staff.

Nice to see the spurs start winning the 3rd quarters by losing the 1st and 2nd quarters so bad. Real 5-d chess stuff right there by Pop.

[Frenchfred]

At this point, I'm becoming more and more a fan of this "stealth" tank. That said, I feel we could have been much, much better this season.

If Sochan would play at the same level as last year and Vassel would play like he just earned a 150-million dollar contract, they would be a lot better. The rest of the team is either bad or play within their limitations (Jones for example).

[Dex]

At this point, I'm becoming more and more a fan of this "stealth" tank. That said, I feel we could have been much, much better this season.

I agree, but the results are what they are. We aren't going to make the play-in, so might as well maximize draft odds.

At this point, there isn't much point in piling up wins other than just keeping morale up (mostly for Wemby's sake).

If we can get him RoY or an All-Star nod, that is the goal.

Frankly, everyone else on this roster is expendable...and I mean EVERYONE.

[SouthernFryd]

I ain't joking when I say "Blow it all up." We can only get better. Seriously.

And Wemby can stay at my house till the destruction is over. I make great crepes and Have 9' ceilings. We can talk about possible new French coaches...I even parlez vous francais. Pop Est nul. We'd have a lot to parlez about.

[SPURt]

I ain't joking when I say "Blow it all up." We can only get better. Seriously.

And Wemby can stay at my house till the destruction is over. I make great crepes and Have 9' ceilings. We can talk about possible new French coaches...I even parlez vous francais. Pop Est nul. We'd have a lot to parlez about.
Aren’t the Spurs standing in the crater post blowup?

[itzsoweezee]

There are plenty of games to cliff jump on but the celtics aren't one of them. They are real legit championship team with a real legit coaching staff.

Nice to see the spurs start winning the 3rd quarters by losing the 1st and 2nd quarters so bad. Real 5-d chess stuff right there by Pop.

Yeah, Celtics are just a much better team. Nothing to get worked up over. The game went about as expected.

[Chomag]

At this point, I'm becoming more and more a fan of this "stealth" tank. That said, I feel we could have been much, much better this season.

I kind of wish it was stealth tanking, but unfortunately I think this team is just that bad.

[poopbox]

I kind of wish it was stealth tanking, but unfortunately I think this team is just that bad.

Yeah this team just sucks, which is concerning, because we are probably going to have to legit swap out 80% of this roster over the next 3 years to put a real contending team around Victor, and we got to do it with a GM who has never put together a contending team before.

[Splits]

I even parlez vous francais.

lol no you don't or you wouldn't have typed "do you speak french?" while using the formal form of "you" to top it off

[ambchang]

The spurs have dozens of picks, quite a few likely to be high picks. In five years this place will be fretting over having too much talent and having to give some away for picks because we are out of cap room.

[ambchang]

I ain't joking when I say "Blow it all up." We can only get better. Seriously.

And Wemby can stay at my house till the destruction is over. I make great crepes and Have 9' ceilings. We can talk about possible new French coaches...I even parlez vous francais. Pop Est nul. We'd have a lot to parlez about.

P.S. we should be together too…
The teas gone cold and I’m wondering why …..

[mudd]

Like Termine and Johnson said on their Sirius show yesterday . They agree that pop is a top 5 coach of all time, but not this year. They agree with most spurs fans that he and the front office suck and are doing a disservice to Wemby. They say the spurs should get a young coach that will grow with Wemby’s development. Pop ain’t going to be coaching during his best years. Pop should step aside and get out of the way. Jmho!

[RC_Drunkford]

Pop will never do that before he wins another ring with Wemby. His ego is too big.