The play-in race

[LeBowen]

Latest comments from Mitch and the players made it obvious we're done with tanking and will try to make the playoffs this year.
To get there, we need to get to the play-in first.

https://i.imgur.com/x1jVqcH.png

Unpredictable season so far, most supposed contenders aren't where they expected to be.
Spurs have played the least games and have just 1 more loss than #8 Mavs. Obviously those extra games have to be won, but schedule from now on isn't that bad.

https://i.imgur.com/1ezRvdq.png

Last season #10 seed Warriors had 46 wins, I don't think we can go 24-10 the rest of the way, 20 wins should be the minimum.
Hopefully we can get 22, could be enough to make the play-in.

https://i.imgur.com/sQbnjoG.png

Out of all the play-in competitors, Spurs have the easiest schedule on paper, realistically it's just Mavs and Suns with a more difficult schedule than Spurs/Warriors/Kings/Minnesota that are all within .01 of each other.
It's also worth to mention that Spurs played the least home games of his bunch.
Hopefully we can go on a run (5 winstreak anyone?) after RRT and gain some serious momentum.

We'll see how the deadline goes, but right now it feels like Spurs have the most positive atmosphere out of any of these teams.
Clippers are coming back to their expected level, they'll need nephew to step up.
Timberwolves are having a disappointing and are somewhat treadmilling, but they're the best team out of this bunch.
Mavs are a dumpster fire and despite their roster's quality on paper, it will be one of the most toxic envorinments in NBA history and they could completely crumble. We'll need to win both of our March matchups against them.
Kings are Kings, able to beat anyone or lose in even worse fashion.
Suns look to be in the worst shape, failed to make singificant moves and they don't look like they care.
Warriors made a lateral move that will bring a positive shock, but that's a roster on life support.

Spurs need to have a better record than 2 of these 6 teams in order to make the play-in.
Is it doable? Obviously. Will we be able to pull it off with Mitch at the helm? I'm not sure.

[z0sa]

It's going to be tough, and it feels too early to call because of the GSW and Mavs trades. Mavs especially are essentially a new basketball team in terms of philosophy, which could either bode well (if AD can be relatively healthy) or drop them out of the play-in picture altogether if they are unable to make the new lineups cohesive.

Of the teams making big trades that are play-in level (IE not Lakers), Spurs definitely have the most form-fitting move. I see us climbing, the Kings falling, the Suns continuing to treadmill and the jury still being out for a while on Mavs and Warriors. My gut says we make it based on strength of schedule, but the variables are still too many for my brain to make a definitive prediction.

That 2nd to last game vs Phoenix could be momentous.

[RC_Drunkford]

Would be nice to make the playoffs and play the Rockets in the first round. That‘s a team where we could make the series competitive.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

We need to stop choking big leads gonna be very tough to make it unless we close our games better. Hard to trust the outside shooting with this team

[Arguendo]

Definitely going to be tough, this next 10 game stretch will probably determine it. Spurs have 4 games they absolutely should win (Char, NO 2x, Wash), 3 maybe toss-ups (Orl, Phx, Det), 3 tough wins on the road (Bos, Hou, Mem). Very possible they go 7-3 and are sitting at 29-29 with 24 to play, 7+ of those against the worst teams in the league and 9 against teams currently right around .500, but Dallas/GS/Orl should play better moving forward than they've played so far.

Opening night, I thought it'd take 45+ wins for play-in, now 43 seems likely, 41 possible because none of the top 12 teams in West are tanking, GS/SA/LA just got a lot stronger and Dallas will play better with AD than w/o Luka the past 6 wks.

I'm hopeful not just because the schedule, but because the Spurs have collapsed in 3/4 quarter several times games since starting 18-16 (Den +11 OT, Bulls +17 4th q, Mem +26 & + 40 2nd halves) plus games against Mia and LAC that Fox would've impacted. Like, we definitely lose last night w/o Fox as Wemby was about to collapse from exhaustion.

At this point I think 19-15 finish is reasonable, get to .500 and compete for play-in. There's 11 games we should win on paper, about 13 toss-ups where we'll often have 2 of the 3 best players on the court, and about 10 tough games. But we get Hou and Mem after having Fox for 3+ weeks, so those look more winnable.

And if Fox lifts Vassell and Co the way it looked last night 21 wins is very possible and 43 wins very likely gets us in the play-in.

[Mr. Body]

Compete as hard as you can, try to get to 500, and get to the play in if possible. I won't cry if not, the future is getting set.

[Arguendo]

Also, Spurs are now a very attractive FA destination for buy-out guys, especially compared to last week.
I decent C or stretch big get cuts, this may look like a great situation to step into. If not for this season, then for next. Get your role on a future contender with need before someone else takes that role.

[scott]

Live look inside of the Spurs locker room


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-hDl6OALv4

[Spurminator]

It's hard to see us outperforming many of those teams above us, barring a significant injury to a top player.

Sac got slightly worse IMO, and you'd have to hope the Dallas trade turns into a disaster. Maybe PHX trades Durant and they drop out.

I just want to be in the hunt and playing meaningful games in March. Making the play-in would be gravy.

[Splits]

https://i.ibb.co/spj2SnCP/image.png

[ffadicted]

God the west is fuckin stacked. People hate on Butler but man got his bag and he always shows up big in important games when he's paid.
Same with AD, obviously worst trade of all time but it won't make them worse immediately to miss the playoffs.

Even if the Suns implode and the Fox/Lavine trade goes terribly for the kings, we still need to outperform two of a Butler/Steph golden state, an AD/Kyrie mavs, or the very solid Timberwolves team. Even Portland is going ham right now.

If I was a betting man I wouldn't throw down on our chances, but god I'll watch every game praying. I'd love for Vic to get a small taste of playoff basketball this early in his career.

[Arguendo]

It's hard to see us outperforming many of those teams above us, barring a significant injury to a top player.

Sac got slightly worse IMO, and you'd have to hope the Dallas trade turns into a disaster. Maybe PHX trades Durant and they drop out.

I just want to be in the hunt and playing meaningful games in March. Making the play-in would be gravy.

We are only 1 game back in loss column, I can definitely see us outperforming the Kings. Could totally see Suns losing interest and dropping a couple games they shouldn't.
AD is due for a injury and Mav's went into a tail-spin after getting Kyrie (but obvi very different double PG situ), and Draymond and Butler has a fight schedule just TBD on date.

Spurs take the next 3 against Cha, Orl, and Was and its a 5-team battle for 3 spots, with 4 teams integrating new All-Stars (Kings with no PG) and a potentially unhappy 36y/o KD whose not realistically playing for anything this yr and may be due an injury himself.
Spurs, Mavs, GS with be very motivated and have something to prove, not sure the Kings and Suns will be particularly motivated.

This is gonna be fun, but we need that 4-game win streak to kick it off.

[Arguendo]

People hate on Butler but man got his bag and he always shows up big in important games when he's paid.
Same with AD, obviously worst trade of all time but it won't make them worse immediately to miss the playoffs.

Even if the Suns implode and the Fox/Lavine trade goes terribly for the kings, we still need to outperform two of a Butler/Steph golden state, an AD/Kyrie mavs, or the very solid Timberwolves team. Even Portland is going ham right now.

I think Butler will fit very nicely in GS if him and Draymond don't turn toxic, but I think they'll have a shared goal.
But if the Suns and Kings implode, for just play under .500 from here, we have a great chance. We're only 1 loss back, just can't lose any winnable games.
We don't need 3 teams to fall, just 2 or only 1 if GS doesn't turn it around.

Also, Kings just added Jake LaRavia, he should help their spacing and so that's not ideal

[rascal]

I expect the Spurs to make the play-In barring an injury to Wemby or Fox.

[thOOdee]

I'm willing to bet 18-20 wins will do it. I can't see suns, warriors, kings safely winning close to around 22 games.

[couchman]

Kings and Suns are dropping.
Spurs and Warriors (and Blazers!?!!) are ascending.

There’s a clear path to the play-in.

[skin27]

Kings and Suns are dropping.
Spurs and Warriors (and Blazers!?!!) are ascending.

There’s a clear path to the play-in.

suns didnt lose durant so they’re not going to drop drastically.

[Knoxxx]

Fox is injured already and when did league rules allow teams to admit they are losing on purpose?

[spursistan]

Nice breakdown LeBowen (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=54457) . I think the Spurs will probably fall short at the end for two reasons:


(a) Too many dumb losses on the board (Jazz at home. Really? 26 point choke at Clippers and, most costly, going 0-4 against the royally mediocre Chicago & Miami. Can’t expect to make up those 4 winnable games against tougher Western Conf teams)


(b) The Spurs were simply unlucky to not face a bunch of teams when they had their star players out injured for extended period of time while our direct competition did and benefited multiple times in the win-loss column as a result (Magic, Dallas, Philly in particular)


It is still doable, but it will a require a winning-streak of some sort (= or > 6 games) along the way—something this team hasn’t done in ages.

[skin27]

Nice breakdown LeBowen (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=54457) . I think the Spurs will probably fall short at the end for two reasons:


(a) Too many dumb losses on the board (Jazz at home. Really? 26 point choke at Clippers and, most costly, going 0-4 against the royally mediocre Chicago & Miami. Can’t expect to make up those 4 winnable games against tougher Western Conf teams)


(b) The Spurs were simply unlucky to not face a bunch of teams when they had their star players out injured for extended period of time while our direct competition did and benefited multiple times in the win-loss column as a result (Magic, Dallas, Philly in particular)


It is still doable, but it will a require a winning-streak of some sort (= or > 6 games) along the way—something this team hasn’t done in ages.

agree, like i said so many times we need atleast 5 game winning streak to make the playoffs. Sometimes this team just play dumb aginst mediocre teams lose a winnable game.Let see how it goes with fox in the lineup.

[100%duncan]

Wouldn't it be funny if those 2 chicago losses came back to bite us in the ass? This is a close a race as it gets. As many other have mentioned, there are the must win games against bad and very bad teams that we simply cannot afford to fumble. The good thing is that the games against the better teams are mostly after the ASB. Hopefully this gives the team more time to gel, get their reps in etc.

[RC_Drunkford]

the bad thing is we are starting Fox and CP3. And we still don't have a back up center.

[Arguendo]

Mo Bamba to the resuce!

[spursistan]

Kings L Warriors L :tu


26 in the loss column. Same as the Spurs. It is definitely time to make our play-in push here.

[skin27]

When did the last time this team goes on a 5 game winning streak? 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 season? Lmao

[Guru of Nothing]

LFG! Three games in the next four days vs Hornet, Magic, and Wizards. All very winnable (Orlando on a 2-8 streak). If we win these, we're at 25-26 heading to Boston before the all-star break. Here's to being 26-26 coming out of the Rodeo Road Trip. If we hit this mark, we'll darn near have the play-in locked in.

Can't wait to see how Wemby performs in his first playoff series (or play-in game).

[RC_Drunkford]

When did the last time this team goes on a 5 game winning streak? 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 season? Lmao

2019

[skin27]

2019
2018-2019 or 2019-2020?

[skin27]

LFG! Three games in the next four days vs Hornet, Magic, and Wizards. All very winnable (Orlando on a 2-8 streak). If we win these, we're at 25-26 heading to Boston before the all-star break. Here's to being 26-26 coming out of the Rodeo Road Trip. If we hit this mark, we'll darn near have the play-in locked in.

Can't wait to see how Wemby performs in his first playoff series (or play-in game).
Only problem is they dont play 21 year old wemby on bac to back which is stupid.

[couchman]

suns didnt lose durant so they’re not going to drop drastically.

Agreed but the constant trade rumors and then the total lack of positive changes has to hurt morale in that locker room.
I expect them to play a little worse from here on out compared to what they have done so far.

[LeBowen]

Suns have the most difficult schedule and are a dysfunctional team.
KD won't care much if they'll make the playoffs since they're not getting anywhere this year.

Spurs play the Suns two more times. Win those games and we'll surely finish above them.

[KingKev]

Let’s fking go. So many teams and players I’d love to send home packing in that playoff seeding quest. How did Jimmy Butler go from workhorse and culture guy to being an absolute FASSI.

[R. DeMurre]

It'll be interesting to watch what happens to Dallas. A starting five of Kyrie, Klay, PJ, AD, and Gafford, with a bench of Christie, Exum, Dinwiddie, and Naji Marshall is a very solid team, and Lively will likely be back before the last month of the season. I think these guys will be playing with a major chip on their shoulder, as they did last night beating the Celtics. The trade hurt them long term no doubt, but right now they're a pretty good team.

[RC_Drunkford]

Only problem is they dont play 21 year old wemby on bac to back which is stupid.

sheesh you just made me look that up. It was in the 2018/19 season. from Feb 27, 2019 to March 18, 2019 we had a 9 game winning streak. That's the last time we won 5 in a row in the past 6(!!!!!!) years.

Only Popovich the GOAT can accomplish that :lol

[scott]

Only problem is they dont play 21 year old wemby on bac to back which is stupid.

Yes they do. He's missed three back to back games this season:

Nov 16 v DAL (when he was legitimately injured the night before and missed the next 3 games)
Dec 6 v SAC (when he was legitimately injured and missed the game before also)
Nov 1 v MIA (when he was sick, and is still clearly sick)

He played in all our other B2B games on 10/31, 11/7, 11/27, and 1/4

[TD 21]

It'll be interesting to watch what happens to Dallas. A starting five of Kyrie, Klay, PJ, AD, and Gafford, with a bench of Christie, Exum, Dinwiddie, and Naji Marshall is a very solid team, and Lively will likely be back before the last month of the season. I think these guys will be playing with a major chip on their shoulder, as they did last night beating the Celtics. The trade hurt them long term no doubt, but right now they're a pretty good team.

Too retro, though with Lively II out a while, they can get to more modern lineups. The problem is, either way the lack of shot creation/play making will do them in.

As much as I dislike the Mavericks and Thompson, I wouldn't mind seeing them do well because of the undue disrespect towards Davis.

Even though he was the best player in the '20 playoffs, this is his chance to both prove he can still play his preferred 4 and be the clear best player on a contender.

[Extra Stout]

Spurs still have too many holes in their lineup to have too much confidence in their making the play-in. Vassell is one of the worst starters in the league and gets crazy usage for such a bad players. Barnes is just average — nice to have him as a veteran, but let’s be real. Keldon Johnson is one of the dozen or so worst players in the league receiving consistent minutes and somehow makes the players around him worse. Sochan is a non-shooter. Champagnie is a nice story, but still just average. They don’t have a backup center.

When they’ve stacked the lineup to where Johnson and Vassell don’t have roles anymore, that will be the indicator that they have arrived. Not yet.

[timtonymanu]

Yeah great fucking start losing to a now 13 win team

[goliath]

Can’t lose games like that if you want to compete for the play in

[scott]

We're now 1-3 in February.

We need to come out of this month with 8 games to go. We need to at least go 7-5 in February (but probably 8-4) to stay in contention for the play in. With that said, I'll be happy with just a competitive push down the stretch to make it like the Rockets had last year. End the season with positive momentum, have a good offseason, and come back next year like the Rockets this year.

[100%duncan]

This is as over as the ROY race

[ffadicted]

Ya let’s lock this thread, we ain’t sniffing play in if we can’t beat the fuckin hornets lmao

[SpursBills]

Honestly, I don't care if we make the play-in at this point. Yeah, it'd be nice, but at the very least these last couple of weeks have shown me all I need to see:

1. Spurs got Fox
2. Castle's the real deal, his synergy with Fox can be awesome, and he has the work ethic and touch to improve his shooting
3. Brian Wright may or may not be a fantastic GM, but he's comfortably above average

That's it, that's all I need to see for the rest of the season, it's a strong enough base to build on for the next several years. Keldon is bad, but he would've been traded for Fox if Dejounte hadn't torn his Achilles, so it shows that Wright recognizes he needs to go. The only question is whether Wright also recognizes that Vassell doesn't fit on this team at 27 million a year and can get decent value for him in the offseason - ideally picks and/or high level role players.

[Pauleta14]

Ya let’s lock this thread, we ain’t sniffing play in if we can’t beat the fuckin hornets lmao

At this point it's clearly better if we don't qualify. Not sure if being embarrassed with this roster would be a great experienced for Wemby (and us).

[LeBowen]

https://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

[ace3g]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GjT-4OXXIAA9zwN?format=png&name=small

[scott]

vincecarteritsover.gif

[RC_Drunkford]

We‘re a 0.300 team since 2025 started

[weeks]

https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExcnlqMGtsYWQ3am94cmRmbnNpOHhtbXo za3RkY2U3Mno3Y3FkcHl6cyZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfY nlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/ejDxbDaxZZkeQmr0yu/giphy.gif

[skin27]

This team is so dumb to lose 2 winnable games!! OMG

[hater]

I would not be surprised if this team loses to the Wizards

Lol playoffs :lmao

[NASpurs]

The play in race thread turned into the lottery odds thread :lol

[TXstbobcat]

I get the feeling that once the spurs are out of the play in race they will go on a win streak to fuck up their lottery odds.

[spursistan]

Something gotta give here, coaching or personnel? Because Chauncey Billups with that Blazers roster has no business finishing with better record than a team with generational talent and a All-star caliber player.

https://x.com/PaulGarciaNBA/status/1888415243744772474

[Raven]

shockingly, it is still not over.

[scott]

Something gotta give here, coaching or personnel? Because Chauncey Billups with that Blazers roster has no business finishing with better record than a team with generational talent and a All-star caliber player.

https://x.com/PaulGarciaNBA/status/1888415243744772474

Everyone was laughing at Scoot and Amen for being labelled as high quality consolation prizes after Wemby, but Amen has proven just that and Scoot has been pretty good the last month as well.

In other oddball new around the league tonight... NOP is up 14 on SAC in the second half and UTA is up 13 on LAC in the 2nd Q

[onechance87]

Something gotta give here, coaching or personnel? Because Chauncey Billups with that Blazers roster has no business finishing with better record than a team with generational talent and a All-star caliber player.

https://x.com/PaulGarciaNBA/status/1888415243744772474

coaching obviously....mitch has been doing worst lately with his rotations.Tho i approve of not playing wesley and branham.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

We fucking suck

[baseline bum]

This really should be a 40 win team with this roster. Heads need to roll if this team can't even get into the damn play-in.

[RC_Drunkford]

This really should be a 40 win team with this roster. Heads need to roll if this team can't even get into the damn play-in.

heads don't roll here. This team has been losing for over half a decade, there won't be any changes.

[Bill_Brasky]

:lmao play in. These clowns can't beat tanking lottery teams, fuckin talmbout the play in.

[TheBallsbreakers]

Disappointing stretch, for sure. But there's still a chance, albeit very, very slim.
Wemby has to play better, Fox has to play better, and Castle has to start in place of Paul, or at least play more than he is.

[z0sa]

With Mitch “Down 1, let’s run the clock out” Johnson at the helm, nah I just don’t see it.

[Ice009]

We're now 1-3 in February.

We need to come out of this month with 8 games to go. We need to at least go 7-5 in February (but probably 8-4) to stay in contention for the play in. With that said, I'll be happy with just a competitive push down the stretch to make it like the Rockets had last year. End the season with positive momentum, have a good offseason, and come back next year like the Rockets this year.

Since the Spurs have now played 50 games total, I had a quick look/skim at 10 game stretches from the start of the season and this is the breakdown of wins and losses per 10 games:

4-6
7-3
4-6
4-6
3-7

Apart from that one ten game stretch (games 11-20), Spurs haven't been a very good team all season. You take out that 7W-3L stretch, Spurs are a bottom 4-5 team in the league.

I really wanted them to make the playoffs, but they're getting worse and worse. Sure, some of these games are close and they could have won, but they didn't and I don't know if it's worth blowing their draft position winning a few more games. Unless they go on a huge run, not even the play-in is looking like a real possibility to even slip into 10th.
They really should be looking at getting into the top 4 of the draft as they've played like a bottom 4 team for the majority of the season. Hurts me to say this as I don't like losing games. I don't think Victor is going to be a major drawcard if he keeps playing like this to bring in free agents to SA. If he was in LA, maybe, but SA, I don't think his current play is going to bring anyone major here. They're going to have to get a couple more good picks in the draft. I'm not an advocate for tanking, though, so I'm not sure what they should do.



Something gotta give here, coaching or personnel? Because Chauncey Billups with that Blazers roster has no business finishing with better record than a team with generational talent and a All-star caliber player.

https://x.com/PaulGarciaNBA/status/1888415243744772474

Billups said (I think it was during his hall of fame speech) just like when he was a player, he's going to work and work and work at it until he becomes a great coach. He sounded very determined. When I heard him say that, I thought Portland's going to be alright once they get a good team as I believed everything he said. I think he'll show he's just as good of a coach as he was as a player. He sounded vary determined to not fail and succeed as a coach.

[Leetonidas]

Zero chance this bum team makes the play in this season

[RC_Drunkford]

doesn't help that our new starting line up has a net rating of -20 cause Mitch can't bench CP3

[z0sa]

doesn't help that our new starting line up has a net rating of -20 cause Mitch can't bench CP3

Since the small market Spurs have to start CP3 in order to keep their standing among potential player targets, we're all but cooked tbh.

[skin27]

Just 5-6 game winning streak and we’re in the play in

[z0sa]

Just 5-6 game winning streak and we’re in the play in

The problem with stringing together wins is you can't have a coach who thinks running out the clock down 1 is the play.

[RC_Drunkford]

Just 5-6 game winning streak and we’re in the play in

you do realize we didn't have a 5 game winning streak since 2019 right?

[ambchang]

With the roster we have the spurs should be a 35-40 win team even when coasting. There are so many issues with the play calling and lineups that it’s just infuriating. It’s at a point where the team seems to be finding ways to lose even when there are no reasons to.

The player development had been dreadful. Look at a player like amen Thompson, Brandon Miller, and such. They have shown real growth in their games where as our players have all regressed significantly. Even the basic stuff. Wemby is now purely getting by on talent alone but there really hasn’t been anything added to his game. Perhaps my expectations are out of whack but I thought he’d be a top 5 player by this point but he has gotten worse. What the heck is going on?

[TD 21]

This really should be a 40 win team with this roster. Heads need to roll if this team can't even get into the damn play-in.

You mean prorated post Fox trade?

Even then, factoring in the politics that player a significant role in rotational decisions and the lack of two-way players with size, I don't see it.

[baseline bum]

You mean prorated post Fox trade?

Even then, factoring in the politics that player a significant role in rotational decisions and the lack of two-way players with size, I don't see it.

No I mean they should finish this season with 40+ wins. Take those two Charlotte and Orlando games that should have been Ws and they'd only need to finish the season 16-16 to get there. Though with the talent on this roster now finishing anything worse than 18-14 in these last 32 should be considered unacceptable too. Though probably gotta go say 20-12 to make the playin so maybe they pull a Dallas and tank the end of the season for draft position.

[LeBowen]

maybe they pull a Dallas and tank the end of the season for draft position.

There would be nothing more hillarious than sitting supposedly good players yet again only for scrub to outperform them like last season. :lol
Wemby surely won't sit until he gets to 65 games for DPOY, needs 21 more with 32 games left.
They'll probably shut it down in the final few weeks if we're not in the play-in race.

Also, look at it this way, Spurs with their current level of play weren't getting anywhere even with wins in past two games.
For them to be competitive in the play-in some major changes will need to happen.
Maybe these losses will be the trigger for those changes. Won't happen, but still.

[rascal]

With the roster we have the spurs should be a 35-40 win team even when coasting. There are so many issues with the play calling and lineups that it’s just infuriating. It’s at a point where the team seems to be finding ways to lose even when there are no reasons to.

The player development had been dreadful. Look at a player like amen Thompson, Brandon Miller, and such. They have shown real growth in their games where as our players have all regressed significantly. Even the basic stuff. Wemby is now purely getting by on talent alone but there really hasn’t been anything added to his game. Perhaps my expectations are out of whack but I thought he’d be a top 5 player by this point but he has gotten worse. What the heck is going on?

Thompson and Miller were top 4 picks. Those guys have higher ceilings than Sochan, Keldon, Vassell, Branham and Wesley. The Spurs top 4 picks have been playing well.

[skin27]

Thompson and Miller were top 4 picks. Those guys have higher ceilings than Sochan, Keldon, Vassell, Branham and Wesley. The Spurs top 4 picks have been playing well.
Wemby isnt playing well right now to be fair.

[skin27]

you do realize we didn't have a 5 game winning streak since 2019 right?
This team can win 5 straight. We just need to hope for a 5 straight fluke wins.

[ambchang]

Thompson and Miller were top 4 picks. Those guys have higher ceilings than Sochan, Keldon, Vassell, Branham and Wesley. The Spurs top 4 picks have been playing well.

Sure but they improved. Dyson Daniels improved. The issue I have is that Vassell is playing worse and worse, Branham didn’t show any improvement, Wesley showed some promise then never played again, sochan started off the year great with a cutter and rebounder role and for some reason he’s now standing at the three point line. I’m not sure why the coaching staff not only don’t position these players in a position to succeed, they are actively moving to them positions to fail. It makes absolutely no sense.

[rascal]

Sure but they improved. Dyson Daniels improved. The issue I have is that Vassell is playing worse and worse, Branham didn’t show any improvement, Wesley showed some promise then never played again, sochan started off the year great with a cutter and rebounder role and for some reason he’s now standing at the three point line. I’m not sure why the coaching staff not only don’t position these players in a position to succeed, they are actively moving to them positions to fail. It makes absolutely no sense.

Dyson Daniels wasn't getting as much playing time in NO. He's gone from 22 min/gm last year to now 33/min a game.

Shooting %'s are close to the same last year to this year just a % point or two better this year. He has a bigger role in Atlanta.

[ambchang]

Dyson Daniels wasn't getting as much playing time in NO. He's gone from 22 min/gm last year to now 33/min a game.

Shooting %'s are close to the same last year to this year just a % point or two better this year. He has a bigger role in Atlanta.

So you are in agreement with the FO about the progress of our young players? I am not exactly sure where your stance is.

[z0sa]

Vassell just dropped 25 on 70% shooting or something. Also played decently on defense. He's had 2 good games out of 3 in his new role as the #3 guy on offense. He was even nailing 3s and honestly, has looked really comfortable with a PG who threatens the paint even when that PG isn't actually scoring well.

Vassell is doing just fine right now in the Fox era. Obviously, I'm holding back judgment as the sample size is excruciatingly small but he's not the problem right now.

[cd98]

We are better off not getting in the play-in and improving lottery odds.

[rascal]

So you are in agreement with the FO about the progress of our young players? I am not exactly sure where your stance is.

My stance is the players aren't very good in the first place and this place expected huge improvements from most everyone.

It doesn't work that way especially with lower ceiling players like Branham and Wesley drafted in the 20s and even Sochan is limited in his abilities. People now blame the front office because they aren't seeing big improvements.

I said all along not every player is going to improve especially players with lower ceilings

[ambchang]

My stance is the players aren't very good in the first place and this place expected huge improvements from most everyone.

It doesn't work that way especially with lower ceiling players like Branham and Wesley drafted in the 20s and even Sochan is limited in his abilities. People now blame the front office because they aren't seeing big improvements.

I said all along not every player is going to improve especially players with lower ceilings

It is a problem when most of the players regressed after seeing improvements. It’s an even bigger issue when they are continuously moved away from the roles they had success in or whenever they showed improvements.

Sochan was playing great to start the year then he was taken away from his role as a cutter. Then it was champaigne. I used to be able to say champaigne was only young guy who showed improvement and is having a good year. I can’t even say that anymore.