Grades: Spurs vs. Suns - Mar. 25, 2024

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/2024-spurs-suns-72-grades/

[Spursfanfromafar]

Sadly Branham is playing his way out of the Spurs rotation and maybe the squad itself next year. Advanced stats show that he is rhe worst player in the league in terms of earned wins (only journeyman supreme Ish Smith gives him competition). Extremely disappointed.

[TDMVPDPOY]

vassell...he needs to stop chucking up stupid "unbalance" shots on the dribble or jumping sideway jumpers...that last quarter was a bitch to watch him chucking stupid 3s

[Proxy]

https://preview.redd.it/923bkzwjelqc1.jpeg?auto=webp&478c7148

[John B]

Way to respond after getting pounded the other night, and without their best player. As mentioned before, Wemby needs to find himself in this team, not a popular take :lol. Sometimes Wemby’s impatient and just starts chucking 3’s. As great as Wemby is, and he will get plenty of chances to score, he needs to find ways to involve his team… cue for Pauleta to spew his ramblings that Wemby is basically faultless, and the team should just dump him the ball at the post every time…

I like that Wesley continues to increase his field goal attempts. Sure he missed a layup or two, but he has earned his minutes through hard-nosed defense. He’s a competitor and I trust that he will continue to work hard in the off-season on finishing in the rim, and knocking them shots, tightening those handles more. He’s so fast, he reminds me of TP flying down like a one-man fast break. He’s a gym rat like Dejounte, but much humble and just lets his game do the talking. I really like this kid.

It was nice to see Collins playing well. He’s another player who doesn’t give up. Sure he gets beat on defense, but he just picks himself up and gets in the mix again. He’s not a quitter. He’s a great passer for someone his size. Sadly I think he’s best at backup big. He needs consistency though, cause he could help eventually solidify that bench scoring with Keldon and Tre.

Sochan is an opportunistic scorer. He is a glue-guy who can be a Swiss-army knife. It’s nice if he could knock down open 3’s consistently like Bowen did, but more with his ability to push the ball and find open man. Another guy who likes to compete. He’s far from being a finished product. I’m excited to see what he’ll become as a bball player, because he likes to keep adding to his game.

Vassel, I don’t mind him shooting the ball. He’s an offensive-minded player, someone like Bradley Beal. And Wemby needs someone to take some pressure off him. I think Vassell will eventually learn to switch it on and off like Manu did, knowing when to score and when to try to involve his teammates. It takes time playing together more.

Sadly, as much as these guys are competitors, Malaki is trending the opposite. The worst player that Pop hates the most, being lazy. Malaki has all the skills but lacks the heart. I don’t want him to be like Lyle or worse Samanic. I think he’s a good kid, but he doesn’t show a lot of hunger in his game, a “nonchalant.” I keep reminded of the Summer tryout with Wesley outplaying him. It doesn’t surprise me. Still, I wish him the best before it’s too late for Pop to continue giving him chances.

Great win.

[Pauleta14]

I'm living rent free in our head John B :lol

"Wemby needs to find himself in this team" might be the most hillarious take of the season! Thx for that :lol

[tbdog]

We beat the Suns 3-1.

[jjspur]

I'm stunned that we have beaten Phoenix 3 times this year,. I would have thought that we would beat the injury riddled, barely above G-League squad grizzlies and lose to Phoenix, but hey a win is a win wherever we can get it.

[sananspursfan21]

Every “good” team has that one miserable team they just can’t seem to overtake. It’s a lot of fun being that for Durant :lol

[John B]

I'm living rent free in our head John B :lol

"Wemby needs to find himself in this team" might be the most hillarious take of the season! Thx for that :lol

Wtf… but just dump to Wemby in the post (but be sure it’s early) and let the other 4 players watch him play. Genius! :lol:lmao:lmao

[spurraider21]

Chinook on his way to explain why the spurs are better without wemby

https://media.tenor.com/7tkNTBC9RFUAAAAM/vince-mcmahon.gif

[Mugen]

:lol Suns

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Teams play the Spurs a lot harder when Wemby is on the court. That’s a huge part of why last year’s team notched more wins. You really can’t compare team performance with and without him…particularly win/loss record.

[rjv]

branham is flat-lining again

[ambchang]

I said it at the beginning of the year, and it is it is very difficult to play with Wemby, especially on offence because:
1) Nobody is like him, and it takes time to adjust. Depsite what people thing, most NBA plays are set plays, and while some players have better vision than others, they generally know where their teammates should be. With Wemby, there are so many options and he routinely makes plays when there are none. His teammates just don't know what is going on most of the time because he makes the impossible possible, and nobody expects things. There are simply too many options and variables for the teammates to process, and these are not particularly experienced players; and
2) He is huge! He takes up half the side inside the 3 point line, and spacing becomes difficult to navigate, especially for young inexperienced players who aren't good shooters.

After watching him a few times, even on defence it is difficult to play with him. Really, where are you supposed to be? Should I double? Should I stay home? i thought my teammate got beat, but I didn't have to cut because Wemby is there, but i am not used to this so by the time they react, they are out of position.

Which is why I am at least a bit disappointed with the coaching this year. It's almost a year, there should be a few simple plays that they should always go to. I am a feeling the plays are too complex, and coupled with the presence of Wemby, most of the team doens't know what to do.

[spurraider21]

I said it at the beginning of the year, and it is it is very difficult to play with Wemby, especially on offence because:
1) Nobody is like him, and it takes time to adjust. Depsite what people thing, most NBA plays are set plays, and while some players have better vision than others, they generally know where their teammates should be. With Wemby, there are so many options and he routinely makes plays when there are none. His teammates just don't know what is going on most of the time because he makes the impossible possible, and nobody expects things. There are simply too many options and variables for the teammates to process, and these are not particularly experienced players; and
2) He is huge! He takes up half the side inside the 3 point line, and spacing becomes difficult to navigate, especially for young inexperienced players who aren't good shooters.

After watching him a few times, even on defence it is difficult to play with him. Really, where are you supposed to be? Should I double? Should I stay home? i thought my teammate got beat, but I didn't have to cut because Wemby is there, but i am not used to this so by the time they react, they are out of position.

Which is why I am at least a bit disappointed with the coaching this year. It's almost a year, there should be a few simple plays that they should always go to. I am a feeling the plays are too complex, and coupled with the presence of Wemby, most of the team doens't know what to do.
i agree that he's probably tough to figure out how to play with offensively. sometimes teams are cross-matching and his best play is just to move inside and put his hand up and wait for the ball. sometimes he wants the ball at the top of the arc and wants to iso against a center and needs quite a bit of room to operate. sometimes he runs pick and roll as the ball handler. sometimes he's the roll man and needs the alley open. sometimes he's going to pop and someone else has to occupy the lane. its tough. but he's also a very willing passer which helps in all those situations, but he kind of just does too many things

you can pull up highlights of his 4-5 best offensive games and they all probably look completely different as far as what's getting him those points. he doesnt have a true "go-to" arsenal yet other than pull up 3's

defensively, i really disagree that he's hard to play with. its just a matter of player understanding proper rotations, helping the helper (ie dont let wembys man get a free putback dunk because wemby had to go contest a shot). so many times instead of putting a body on wemby's man, they'll just collapse and double the ball for no good reason. and i promise you, there does not need to be a single still shot of the defense where all 5 guys have a foot in the paint. i promise.

[Pauleta14]

Wtf… but just dump to Wemby in the post (but be sure it’s early) and let the other 4 players watch him play. Genius! :lol:lmao:lmao

You didn’t think much before answering did you? :lol


too dites to chose between so many emojis??


again thx for the laugh tho, the concept of Wemby being the problem and needing to « find his place » among those amazing teammates is hilarious for real :lol

[Pauleta14]

Chinook (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=37557) on his way to explain why the spurs are better without wemby

https://media.tenor.com/7tkNTBC9RFUAAAAM/vince-mcmahon.gif

In his usual passive aggressive way :lol

[Pauleta14]

I said it at the beginning of the year, and it is it is very difficult to play with Wemby, especially on offence because:
1) Nobody is like him, and it takes time to adjust. Depsite what people thing, most NBA plays are set plays, and while some players have better vision than others, they generally know where their teammates should be. With Wemby, there are so many options and he routinely makes plays when there are none. His teammates just don't know what is going on most of the time because he makes the impossible possible, and nobody expects things. There are simply too many options and variables for the teammates to process, and these are not particularly experienced players; and
2) He is huge! He takes up half the side inside the 3 point line, and spacing becomes difficult to navigate, especially for young inexperienced players who aren't good shooters.

After watching him a few times, even on defence it is difficult to play with him. Really, where are you supposed to be? Should I double? Should I stay home? i thought my teammate got beat, but I didn't have to cut because Wemby is there, but i am not used to this so by the time they react, they are out of position.

Which is why I am at least a bit disappointed with the coaching this year. It's almost a year, there should be a few simple plays that they should always go to. I am a feeling the plays are too complex, and coupled with the presence of Wemby, most of the team doens't know what to do.

True Wemby isn’t the easiest to adapt to at once but come one now let’s put some perspective …

it’s been +60 games and some like Devin clearly improved while others like Tre or Sochan have gotten worse!

Tre was Victor’s most reliable passer and won the starting spot bc of it, got comfortable and now is using Vic to open his lanes and score more than he looks for him :lol

Tre is down to ~1.3assits/games to Vic, if u count games with multiple assists it means a lot of games with none…

How can you get worse at something with more playing time?

too many excuses when every time they play through Victor he’s a willing passer and makes it fluid. Have u all lost you memory??

[TDomination]

Every “good” team has that one miserable team they just can’t seem to overtake. It’s a lot of fun being that for Durant :lol
Yep so true

i remember the early Timmy spurs seemed to always had trouble with the bucks. For some reason they had the spurs number early on Tim’s career

[Seventyniner]

Yep so true

i remember the early Timmy spurs seemed to always had trouble with the bucks. For some reason they had the spurs number early on Tim’s career

The Lakers, when they were good, constantly losing to the Bobcats always amused me.

[playbonner15]

Pop rolling with Wesley for extra minutes was also a game-changer.

Im surprised Pop was willing to play Wesley more. His defense and energy contributed to the win