Grades: Spurs @ Clippers - Nov. 4, 2024

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-spurs-clippers-2025-game-7/

[Vince Carter's ankle]

Brickbanyama wants to win 22 games again

[sananspursfan21]

Sochan was a pretty big reason our guys blew out the first quarter. It went a little too good to expect the pace to continue, but an aggressive Wemby and a healthy Sochan probably get the win still.

The most maddening part is that this game didn’t feel out of control until about 6 minutes left. Sure, Clippers came back but our guys seemed collected for quite awhile

[Raven]

think this game made sochan's career tbh, there should be no more questions about his importance for the next few years.

[RC_Drunkford]

very disappointing loss tbh, especially after the hot start. We scored 40 point in the first quarter and then proceed to score a total of 64 in the next 3 combined. As good as Wemby is on D, he made plenty boneheaded mistakes. On the 3 that got the Clippers the lead he could've easily contested the shot, but instead casually runs to the middle of the paint and let's the shooter knock down an open 3. On a CP3 pick & roll Wemby instead of diving to the rim, just runs into Chris Paul. On a Clippers miss Wemby just watches the ball and Clippers get the board to save it from going out of bounds. And I don't have a clue why he thought he can throw an alley-oop to Mamu while he was in the post that resulted into a turnover.

Not having Jeremy down the line certainly didn't help, but this was easily winnable.

[MultiTroll]

Did a double take on the 40-14 1st qtr.
Unless Clippers did something otherworldly and you did not state as such timvp.....
That is auto F for Mitch Johnson. When combined with as you mentioned trying to milk old man starters for that many minutes. Leaving Branham in.

I like how you see Collins realistically. Lot of Collins Haters on SpursTalk just don't get that he is a backup PF thrust into a starting C role too often.

[scott]

Haven’t seen enough discussion about Zubac’s NINE offensive rebounds in the first half that were instrumental in fueling LAC’s comeback early. I don’t know if most of those occurred with Wemby or Zach on the floor, but it bugs the shit out of me that it happened while we have a big man sitting on the bench who DREB rate rates among the league’s elites.

Why, after multiple years, we still manage to leave WIDE OPEN three point shooters ALL THE DAMN TIME baffles me.

What do these guys do in practice?

[LeBowen]

Haven’t seen enough discussion about Zubac’s NINE offensive rebounds in the first half that were instrumental in fueling LAC’s comeback early. I don’t know if most of those occurred with Wemby or Zach on the floor, but it bugs the shit out of me that it happened while we have a big man sitting on the bench who DREB rate rates among the league’s elites.

Why, after multiple years, we still manage to leave WIDE OPEN three point shooters ALL THE DAMN TIME baffles me.

What do these guys do in practice?

They had 16 total and like half were when our guys either started leaking out early or were just ball watching. Just horrible.
Our biggest issue is Collins, he's just useless on both ends of the floor. We could live with him being an awful defender if he generated some offense like he did in his first season with us.
This version of Collins needs to be traded asap, even if we give up a pick, he's that horrible.

[RC_Drunkford]

Jeremy was out, he's our best rebounder

[z0sa]

This team doesn’t have enough talent to be missing both Vassell and Sochan. Sucks to lose after a 26 point lead, still.

Wemby must, must!! punish guards in the post. It’s ludicrous at this point. Someone in the coaching staff balls up and do some coaching pls

[TDomination]

Sochan has been playing with fire and its been contagious.
Meaning, high energy pulling rebounds away from the opponent, attacking the basket, etc.

He's all of a sudden become the player we've been wanting. Hopefully his injury is not too serious.

[John B]

Well that was disappointing. Sochan brings so much motor and defense that it’s the complete opposite when he’s not on the floor. Agree that they would’ve won had Sochan didn’t get hurt. But Mitch should’ve known to put a guy on Powell coz that guy single-handedly brought the Clippers back. I thought Castle’s defense was commendable, but it shows that they are still thin at defensive 3. Wemby with a missed triple-double and all. Oh well hopefully they learn to keep the pedal on the floor and next time they make a better job keeping the lead to close.

[baseline bum]

There is no way Wemby deserves a B for last night's game. Dude just let the Clippers throw smalls on him all night and kept bailing them out by either playing hot potato with the ball and immediately passing it any time he got the ball in the post or he'd drift out to the three point line for a catch and shoot three which you might as well just chalk up as a turnover with how poorly he shoots them. timvp is there something mechanically wrong that makes Victor such a terrible shooter on catch and shoot threes? He shot 28% on them last year despite being elite at shooting pullup threes off the dribble so can't just say small sample size. Really miss Chip Engelland who would probably have Vic shooting 35-40% on catch and shoot threes.

[LeBowen]

There is no way Wemby deserves a B for last night's game. Dude just let the Clippers throw smalls on him all night and kept bailing them out by either playing hot potato with the ball and immediately passing it any time he got the ball in the post or he'd drift out to the three point line for a catch and shoot three which you might as well just chalk up as a turnover with how poorly he shoots them. timvp (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=8) is there something mechanically wrong that makes Victor such a terrible shooter on catch and shoot threes? He shot 28% on them last year despite being elite at shooting pullup threes off the dribble so can't just say small sample size. Really miss Chip Engelland who would probably have Vic shooting 35-40% on catch and shoot threes.

Last year he said he's way more comfortable shooting them off the dribble since his arms are so long. That's probably why he chucks all those shots early in the clock.

[DAF86]

What a shitty ass loss, just when one could start thinking this team might be decent.

[z0sa]

There is no way Wemby deserves a B for last night's game. Dude just let the Clippers throw smalls on him all night and kept bailing them out by either playing hot potato with the ball and immediately passing it any time he got the ball in the post or he'd drift out to the three point line for a catch and shoot three which you might as well just chalk up as a turnover with how poorly he shoots them. timvp is there something mechanically wrong that makes Victor such a terrible shooter on catch and shoot threes? He shot 28% on them last year despite being elite at shooting pullup threes off the dribble so can't just say small sample size. Really miss Chip Engelland who would probably have Vic shooting 35-40% on catch and shoot threes.

Yeah, Chip is sorely missed rn.

I agree that a B is too high. Maybe a C+ at best. When we needed buckets, he couldn't provide, and that's the standard he should be graded upon, in my opinion.

[Strategic]

Thanks for the grades. Spurs losing their best defensive hustler in the 2nd quarter really hurt. I’ve tried to stay out of the Victor discussions because of how green he is. It’s an odd analogy, but he seems fearless protecting the lane on defense and at the same time feckless about working the lane on offense. He needs a bunch of coaching

[Mugen]

Wemby just has zero shot creation right now tbh. Combine that with probably the worst collective shooting in the league, you get an absolute dogshit offense against any competent defense.

[John B]

I wouldn’t fuss over too much on Wemby not making the 3’s right now. It’s frustrating but they are making him shoot as much to get better, and it’s repetition and getting comfortable out there. He has good form. He’s just gonna get better. He’s the type of player who really works on his craft and he’s bought in on the strategy. It’s 7 games into the season. Besides Devin coming back should just open him more. I’m not worried.

[ambchang]

Wemby just has zero shot creation right now tbh. Combine that with probably the worst collective shooting in the league, you get an absolute dogshit offense against any competent defense.

I think the idea that Spurs are a terrible shooting team need to stop, sure they aren't great, clearly below league average even, but to say they are the worst collecting shooting int he league is a bit much.

With Wemby, the Spurs are 19th in the league in 3PA, 28th in 3PM (That's bad, yes), and 28th in %. However, Wemby launches and missed most of those threes. if you were to remove Wemby's numbers, the Spurs are shooting 33.33% from 3, good enough for 24th in the league. Still bad, but not the worst.

But yes, the offence is terrible.

[LeBowen]

I think the idea that Spurs are a terrible shooting team need to stop, sure they aren't great, clearly below league average even, but to say they are the worst collecting shooting int he league is a bit much.

As I wrote before the season opener.

Elite shooters:
none

Good shooters:
Devin, Barnes, Champagnie, CP3
These 4 are reliable and should take more than just completely wide open threes.
Devin is obviously yet to play, meaning that we have 0 reliable shooters off the bench.

Questionable/streaky shooters:
Wemby, Keldon, Mamu, Tre, Branham
There are games where it looks like some of these players figured it out, but most games it's just painful to watch.

Non-shooters:
Castle, Jeremy, Wesley, Collins, Bassey, Sidy
Not much to say, if the opposing team is daring you to shoot, you're a non-shooter for all intents and purposes.
Three of them play big mintues, a third of our rotation consists of non-shooters.

The only two players on the roster who have shooter's movements and warrant shooting actions called for them are Devin and Champagnie.
That just can't work in modern NBA, especially when one is injured.

[spurraider21]

Wemby just has zero shot creation right now tbh. Combine that with probably the worst collective shooting in the league, you get an absolute dogshit offense against any competent defense.
the only times he creates at this point are when people bite at his pump fakes (which is why he has to keep shooting away)

last year we saw him create plenty with his back to the basket. even without a complicated move, he would just take two long strides sweeping across the lane and scoop it in or somethin like that. they've gotten away from that this year so far. really think they need to change his role depending on how teams guard him. yes, perimeter wemby looks good when defending by lumbering centers. but when teams throw wings at him, really need to have him punish that mismatch

[paperboy77]

Haven’t seen enough discussion about Zubac’s NINE offensive rebounds in the first half that were instrumental in fueling LAC’s comeback early. I don’t know if most of those occurred with Wemby or Zach on the floor, but it bugs the shit out of me that it happened while we have a big man sitting on the bench who DREB rate rates among the league’s elites.

Why, after multiple years, we still manage to leave WIDE OPEN three point shooters ALL THE DAMN TIME baffles me.

What do these guys do in practice?

Who is this elite rebounder? Zubac pretty damn good.

[RC_Drunkford]

the only times he creates at this point are when people bite at his pump fakes (which is why he has to keep shooting away)

last year we saw him create plenty with his back to the basket. even without a complicated move, he would just take two long strides sweeping across the lane and scoop it in or somethin like that. they've gotten away from that this year so far. really think they need to change his role depending on how teams guard him. yes, perimeter wemby looks good when defending by lumbering centers. but when teams throw wings at him, really need to have him punish that mismatch

last year he was mostly guarded by centers and was able to get by them with his dribble moves. That doesn‘t work on wings, cause they will just steal the ball. He did have some good post ups against bigs though, which makes me wonder why he’s not able to do it against smaller players

[Chomag]

This is what a team looks like when they are not being coached

[J_Paco]

I don't know if it's feasible, but Victor needs to get in contact with Dirk's old trainer/coach/mentor and work on a fadeaway in the post (plus playing against smaller defenders).

He isn't nearly as efficient or polished, but seems like Victor has a lot of similarities to Dirk on the offensive end.

[scott]

Who is this elite rebounder? Zubac pretty damn good.

Bassey’s DREB rate last year rated like 98% percentile in the league

[BackHome]

How many games did he play last year?

[exstatic]

How many games did he play last year?

For his career, every time he’s on defense, and a shot is missed, amongst 10 potential rebounders on the court, he gets slightly more than 1 in 4 balls. If everyone were equal rebounders, he’d get 1 in 10, so yeah, that’s pretty elite.

[jeebus]

I don't know if it's feasible, but Victor needs to get in contact with Dirk's old trainer/coach/mentor and work on a fadeaway in the post (plus playing against smaller defenders).

He isn't nearly as efficient or polished, but seems like Victor has a lot of similarities to Dirk on the offensive end.
He already did, over a year ago.

https://spurswire.usatoday.com/lists/san-antonio-spurs-victor-wembanyama-change-basketball-again-dirk-nowitzki-trainer-holger-geschwindner/

[J_Paco]

He already did, over a year ago.

https://spurswire.usatoday.com/lists/san-antonio-spurs-victor-wembanyama-change-basketball-again-dirk-nowitzki-trainer-holger-geschwindner/

Damn, did realize this. Well, he needs to get in the lab with him over the Summer. He hasn't had too much time lately to working on his game in the off-season, IMO, and that's what will unlock his offensive potential.