Game Thread: Spurs (24-31) @ Pelicans (14-43) -- Tue. 2/25/2025 -- 7:00pm CST (3:00am Riga; 3:00pm Hawaii)

[BatManu20]

The Tank continues. Need another L today. Hopefully Castle bounces back with a good game though. Let's get it.

1894417079614546209

[BatManu20]

1894178353046749375

[scott]

Blake looks terrified holding that baby Croc, whereas Mamu and Bismack look like "this is just shit you do in third world countries"

[Ocotillo]

Just was thinking I may as well start the game thread but BatManu20 steps up and does a better job than I would have. ;)

[BatManu20]

Just was thinking I may as well start the game thread but BatManu20 steps up and does a better job than I would have. ;)

https://media.tenor.com/GvIwjeDhUcUAAAAM/justin-timberlake-oh-stop-it.gif

[BatManu20]

Blake looks terrified holding that baby Croc, whereas Mamu and Bismack look like "this is just shit you do in third world countries"

Bismack thinking he just caught dinner tbh.

[Ice009]

Blake looks terrified holding that baby Croc, whereas Mamu and Bismack look like "this is just shit you do in third world countries"

He does a tiny bit. I'm used to watching Steve Irwin (when he wast still alive :( ) wrestle around with much, much bigger ones.

[NASpurs]

We should get Amuseddaysleeper's cursed self to start these game threads and put this tank into overdrive.

[BatManu20]

NOLA is apparently gridlocked due to Mardi Gras parades. Might be an empty arena tonight.

1894518016013935084

[BatManu20]

1894444866706268651

[RC_Drunkford]

Wasn’t nobody coming to the arena anyway to watch trash vs. garbage

[cutewizard]

Tank for Flagg, hehehe

[PhantomDashCam]

Feel bad for your boy C-Bass Scott.
He may not be a panacea but would certainly help make this game mare palatable.

Rooting for Vassell to turn his play around. It begins tonight. Book it!!

[scott]

Feel bad for your boy C-Bass Scott.
He may not be a panacea but would certainly help make this game mare palatable.

Rooting for Vassell to turn his play around. It begins tonight. Book it!!

Yeah, I'm afraid Bassey's knees don't want him to be an NBA player. Unless he comes back from this latest soreness and closes out the season strong, I'm afraid this may be the end of his NBA career.

[Strategic]

C’mon Good guys.

[scott]

During the pre-game they played some comments that Zion had about CP3... I think this is the first time I've ever heard Zion in an interview... a lot more likeable than I would have imagined.

[Ice009]

Yeah, I'm afraid Bassey's knees don't want him to be an NBA player. Unless he comes back from this latest soreness and closes out the season strong, I'm afraid this may be the end of his NBA career.

I hope he can get past his injury issues and play in the NBA, but if he can't stay in the NBA, do you think a different league where they play less games per week would help him get on the court more, or do you think that won't make a difference unless he gets over his knee issues completely?

[Amuseddaysleeper]

We should get Amuseddaysleeper's cursed self to start these game threads and put this tank into overdrive.

I had a rough draft of the game thread setup for the first game after the ASB :smokin

[scott]

I hope he can get past his injury issues and play in the NBA, but if he can't stay in the NBA, do you think a different league where they play less games per week would help him get on the court more, or do you think that won't make a difference unless he gets over his knee issues completely?

I'll be honest, I don't know much about other pro leagues so I couldn't say.

[Strategic]

Wow look at the empty seats. Should have given away tickets.

[LeBowen]

Good starting lineup adjustment by Mitch considering their size.

[scott]

Wow look at the empty seats. Should have given away tickets.

Saw something about Mardi Gras parades being moved from last night to tonight and it's really fucked up traffic in NO

[NASpurs]

I had a rough draft of the game thread setup for the first game after the ASB :smokin

Don't be shy bro, we need your superpowers.

[scott]

Good starting lineup adjustment by Mitch considering their size.

:lol

[scott]

Bismack eruption game

[Slippy]

Man Dfox on the on PnR is money.

Biyombo getting fed.

[Ice009]

Good starting lineup adjustment by Mitch considering their size.

Alright, I just saw the starting 5. I don't think I'll watch this. What a shockingly bad coaching decision. Mitch is getting worse and worse. No adjustments, no nothing. "They just didn't hit shots" is his only move answer to anything.

[scott]

Swipa! Spurs continue to rack up the steals.

[poopbox]

Fox and Paul ignoring Devin on offense...consequently we have scored damn near every time down :lol

[Spurs Brazil]

Good start. Biyombo is playing well

[LeBowen]

:lol

You thought I was joking, but Mitch's masterful move to have Devin instead of CP3 on Olynyk is paying off.

[Strategic]

Time to run the equalizer’s in

[scott]

You thought I was joking, but Mitch's masterful move to have Devin instead of CP3 on Olynyk is paying off.

Devin spent the last time out wondering "how can I impact this game"... immediately goes out and commits an unnecessary foul, pushing Bruce Brown out of bounds :lol

[poopbox]

Devin :lmao

[Dex]

Vassell is so bad :cry

[scott]

TMIII doing his best Evan impression this series though, I presume to help us quickly get over any inkling of wanting him LeBowen (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=54457)

[LeBowen]

TMIII doing his best Evan impression this series though, I presume to help us quickly get over any inkling of wanting him LeBowen (https://www.spurstalk.com/forums/member.php?u=54457)

Lowering his trade value on purpose, tbh.

[scott]

Mitch with a solid adjustment to this lead we've built though, inserting the Friendship Brigade

[onechance87]

wow vassell is bad

[poopbox]

Scrub crew stinking up the joint already

[scott]

Playing in a lineup with Kelvin/Sochan/Champ/Mamu certainly will be good for Castle's development... right?

[poopbox]

Sochan dear lord :lmao

[scott]

Some legitimately terrible basketball by both teams the last 4 minutes or so... sheesh

[poopbox]

This is one of the worst lineups I have ever seen. I think they made 2 shots the last 5 minutes of the game and one of them was a wide open Keldon 3

[onechance87]

castle gotta be better at running the offense

[Slippy]

D Fox is stud.

Biyombo fitting in well.

Hopefully bench unit can continue the great start.
0
Jeremy at centre means soft middle & no rebounds Would rather coach goes with Bassy

[Obstructed_View]

Is there a better opposing crew to be calling a game than Joel Myers and AD? I love both of those guys.

[poopbox]

Sochan blocked Zion so somebody on this site is going to talk about how he should be dpoy

[Slippy]

wow vassell is bad

His shot is way off. Had been for the last month. It looks broken tbh

[scott]

Steph's 3ball looks so good sometimes... and other times it looks like it could kill a few birds. So strange how inconsistent it is in that regard

[Obstructed_View]

Steph's 3ball looks so good sometimes... and other times it looks like it could kill a few birds. So strange how inconsistent it is in that regard
But he almost always shoots it with authority when it's in the flow of the game. I don't worry about his jumper like I do almost all of his teammates.

[Slippy]

Atleast this 2nd unit keeping the clamps on pelicans still.

Just need to score

[scott]

I wish he had Olynyk, or even this Matkovic guy, as our backup C all year.

[Obstructed_View]

That should have been a backcourt violation on CP.

Lol AD: 'it's all ball!'. Replay clearly shows it's a foul.

[Obstructed_View]

In what universe is that not a foul? Apparently in the modern NBA universe.

[Obstructed_View]

If that's a loose ball foul, then it should be a successful challenge. Stupid NBA.

[scott]

Sochan doing a good job moving off the ball tonight

[poopbox]

Spurs only up 11 after the pelicans have played some of the worst ball you will see all year

[Slippy]

Coach subbing in Mamu for Jeremy.

Hoping he hasn't gone away from. Biyombo. He was a presence when in

[scott]

CP3 and Fox have no chemistry with each other. Good thing Mitch is investing playing time on building it, will pay huge dividends when CP3 is retired

[poopbox]

Why has Bismack not been back in

[poopbox]

Devin just dribbled aimlessly for around 14 second and gave it to Barnes with 6 seconds left on the clock

[onechance87]

vassell is worthless

[scott]

Why has Bismack not been back in

Wondering if Mitch forgot he was on the team

[slick'81]

Mitch Johnson hopefully looking at his letter of resignation

[LakerHater]

Is Bizmac hurt??
For no rim protection.

[onechance87]

Why has Bismack not been back in

obvious soft tanking...Alot of mitch rotation timings are so bad.Its gotta be on purpose.

[cutewizard]

tank tank tank

[LakerHater]

Can't take care of the fuckn ball

[cutewizard]

what is needed to entice Coach Hurly here????????

[Slippy]

Biymabo dif all good things for the mins played.

No show in 2nd. Spurs have no defense in middle or rebounds

[scott]

S-Tier level tanking this quarter

[slick'81]

Tank on!!!!

[onechance87]

vassell lol no heart

[Dex]

Vassell 1/7 in the first half and still acts surprised every time his shot doesn't go in

If this dude is on the team next year, he better be getting the Branham treatment. I don't care how much he is getting paid

[Strategic]

Gave it up.

[Spurs Brazil]

Vassell has the free pass to make a bunch of mistakes, Castle made a couple and is back to the bench. Mitch Johnson is damn bad

[LeBowen]

The best outcome for Devin would be if someone hit him with a car, forcing him to retire. Spurs would get disabled player cap relief and he'd still get paid in full.

[mystargtr34]

The best outcome for Devin would be if someone hit him with a car, forcing him to retire. Spurs would get disabled player cap relief and he'd still get paid in full.

Have you got a car I can borrow ?

[Slippy]

The silver lining to Devs struggles with shooting.

It's never been this bad. Surely only way is up. Lol

Awful finish. Coach young making sure pels got back into gsme with the lineups

[Spurs Brazil]

Paul 18 minutes
Vassell 15 minutes
Castle 9 minutes

[Slippy]

Vassell 1/7 in the first half and still acts surprised every time his shot doesn't go in

If this dude is on the team next year, he better be getting the Branham treatment. I don't care how much he is getting paid

Like fans spurs are invested in Vassell.

Riding the pine won't help his trade value if he doesn't have a role on team. Reckon spurs like me hoping he snaps of out this slump.

[mystargtr34]

Any Spurs fan rooting for a Spurs win should take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror.

[onechance87]

Paul 18 minutes
Vassell 15 minutes
Castle 9 minutes

to be fair castle wasint playing good.Just sloppy on both ends

[dokdok]

wtf happened to vassell. Dude is laying bricks

[baseline bum]

And here we are, Vassell is a negative trade asset now just like Keldon became when they held onto him too long.

[scott]

Front row seats completely barren of fans. I kind of wanted NOP to get Flagg, but not if they're not going to support the team. Tank4Wemby Spurs still sold out the Alamodome

[scott]

Fox been pretty bad offensively this trip. Still putting in the work with steals, but the shot has been bad.

Vassell looks like he read SpursTalk at halftime

[Strategic]

Yeah I don’t say anything about rebounding anymore.

[Leetonidas]

This teams inability to grab a god damn rebound is so fucking infuriating

[Strategic]

Shows the state of Spurs front line when I think Bismack should get a contract. Need to run some cold water over my head.

[Slippy]

Tank lineup not working. Haha

Keldon & Mamu in early. Spurs keeping this lead

[LakerHater]

No castle in the 3rd?

[scott]

Mitch forgot about Sochan and Castle now... :lol

Does homie just forget that substitutions are his job?

[Slippy]

Yeah I don’t say anything about rebounding anymore.

Rebounding is an afterthought when it comes to this spurs team.

Even when Victor plays.

[Strategic]

Champ lookin like Danny Green on that fast break.

[ginobilized]

Vintage Vassell with his patented 180 degree spin pass to a halfcouft turnover

Some tough love for Castle. This ain't right.

[Strategic]

Mitch forgot about Sochan and Castle now... :lol

Does homie just forget that substitutions are his job? Castle riding the pine is part of the soft tank.

[Leetonidas]

This team is so bad at taking advantage of fast breaks. Absolutely no clue how to run a 2 on 1. It's maddening how often they dont score in those situations

[Strategic]

Murphy getting those 250 baseline fans pumped up.

[onechance87]

mamu gotta be better my guy

[Spurs Brazil]

Paul is back and still no Castle :lol

This coach is a joke.

[slick'81]

Id definitely rather be waiting for mardi gras then watch this bs

[CGD]

Where's Castle? Hurt?

[slick'81]

Where's Castle? Hurt?

getting over himself and the allstar weekend high

[Leetonidas]

Seriously fuck Mitch the Bitch

[scott]

Kelvin and Sochan end of quarter play :lol

Completely boneheaded

[onechance87]

just terrible

[ginobilized]

Maybe I'm projecting my own childhood onto the Spurs, but, not playing Castle seems like punishment. So inexplicable unless he's been getting specific instructions and isn't delivering.
To follow up his ASG weekend with this is beyond anything I've seen.

[LeBowen]

Mitch is actively ruining this team and it's not like they need his help.

[Strategic]

Of all the people to throw the ball to to with3 seconds left, it’s Jeremy. Mitch, KJ and Jeremy should all 3 get sent to the locker room.

[Ice009]

By the way, why has TP been at the games? Has he been with the team on this road trip?

[slick'81]

Castle in!!

[onechance87]

i understand castle had a bad first half.But so did vassell,Yet hes still getting playtime.Our coach gotta stop with these mind games.

[Strategic]

Looks like Castle will get the first 5 minutes of the 4th before he gets retired for the evening.

[scott]

By the way, why has TP been at the games? Has he been with the team on this road trip?

Negotiating Wemby's buyout to get him back to France

[onechance87]

nah castle playing soft rn

[Larry O]

I can see the Pels winning this game, too, and getting a beatdown in H-town tomorrow, TBH.

[slick'81]

Castle looks uninterested asf

[BackHome]

Our 32 year old Vet Barnes is our leading scorer man this team needs serious upgrades

[slick'81]

Fat boy getting hungry

[bbarry]

I'm confused on how the Spurs look so good in the first quarter or so of the game and then it just turns to shit.

[Leetonidas]

This team is a fucking embarrassment

[PhantomDashCam]

So much ball watching. No box outs. Serious lack of bball fundamentals on display.

[scott]

https://i.imgur.com/XG1oHnJ.jpeg

[LeBowen]

It's amazing that we still haven't moved past Jeremy being allowed to dribble into the packed paint.

[poopbox]

I'm confused on how the Spurs look so good in the first quarter or so of the game and then it just turns to shit.

Pelicans were just playing bad.

[ginobilized]

No way TP would want to coach, he's too smart for that.

Did Castle piss off the friendship squad or something?

[ginobilized]

Less than 4 mins for Castle, wtf?

[Strategic]

I was wrong, Castle got less than 4 minutes in the 4th.

[onechance87]

not suprised castle got benched.He deserved it this time.

[slick'81]

Dont blame castle for not giving a flying shit

[slick'81]

Lol vasseline

[slick'81]

Olynyk looking like rocky dennis

[LeBowen]

not suprised castle got benched.He deserved it this time.

If everyone else had the same treatment, it would be fine.
Like this it's disgusting.

[onechance87]

Dont blame castle for not giving a flying shit

well he hasint really proven shit to be not giving a shit.If he plays with no effort,He should be benched.

[slick'81]

Vassel says f that tank

[scott]

Devin has had the best half of basketball we've seen out of him in a while. Fox needs to be better offensively.

[PhantomDashCam]

Fox and his fingers got me thinking of Happy Gilmore…

https://i.makeagif.com/media/7-02-2015/FbvPY6.gif

[onechance87]

If everyone else had the same treatment, it would be fine.
Like this it's disgusting.

well branam and wesley got benched for good.We dont want castle to pick up bad habbits,Especially not giving effort.
No excuse for not trying hard.

[vander]

I have bad feeling that whatever the Spurs pay deaaron Fox is going to be way too much

[slick'81]

Fox looks extraordinarily ordinary

[onechance87]

fox gotta be better my guy

[Spurs Brazil]

Castle will finish with 12 minutes and Paul with more than 30.

I really really hope the Spurs don’t choose Johnson as the next coach. It’d kill the Wemby era

[scott]

I'm gonna go total Fox apologist and say that Fox understands the Tank Assignment

[cd98]

We need to lose early and often at this point. Bench anyone that is capable of getting us a W.

[slick'81]

Castle will finish with 12 minutes and Paul with more than 30.

I really really hope the Spurs don’t choose Johnson as the next coach. It’d kill the Wemby era

no way spurs are that stupid

[ginobilized]

What a weird team, little to no identity. Momentum squashing lineups, horrible transition D, weak rebounding, no offensive purpose.
Not enjoyable to watch lately.

[slick'81]

This one is about ova

[slick'81]

Poor foxx

[Spurs Brazil]

Wemby should be in the MVP conversation. Winning 23 games with this players and that coach is unbelievable

[Leetonidas]

Why do we have Chris Paul again?

[scott]

The Tank Rolls On!

[slick'81]

Nice L guys

[slick'81]

Need to pass portland

[LeBowen]

I can't decide what has been better.
Lineups, gameplan or the execution. Another Mitch masterclass.

If everyone plays bad, then it's on the fucking coaching.
Even Castle and Fox have been dragged down by these losers.

Good for the tank, though.

[Slippy]

DFox offensively for tonights game OMG. Buying the tank i hope

[baseline bum]

Castle gets less than twelve minutes. Fuck this coach.

[Uriel]

:lma

[sananspursfan21]

Castle with less than 12 minutes. Nice.

[scott]

DFox offensively for tonights game OMG. Buying the tank i hope

Yeah these last two games... no bueno. Coincides with the arrival of my Fox jersey. The jinx is undefeated.

[sananspursfan21]

Castle gets less than twelve minutes. Fuck this coach.

Great minds rightly gripe alike.

[Strategic]

Spurs three biggest fan draws are Pop, Wemby and Castle. Two of them can’t be available and the other one is benched.

[Uriel]

How does a team with Zion, McCollum, Dejounte, Herb Jones, and Alvarado have a worse record than us? :lol

[Larry O]

Alrighty then... A loss today, but tomorrow? The Spurs are going to get run out the gym by the Rocketts, LOL...

[BatManu20]

Good L, but Castle only playing 12 minutes again is disgusting. Mitch is a terrorist. How the fuck has Brian not picked up the phone and asked him what the fuck he's doing..? Is it intentional..? It literally doesn't make any sense. This is coaching malpractice.

[objective]

2027 pick owned by Kings from SA = most valuable pick asset in NBA if Wemby doesn't play 72 game a year

Roster and coaching among worst in millennium

Too frustrating to watch even as a tank team. Jamie Feick is rolling over in his grave.

[Spursfanfromafar]

Good loss. Let's keep playing Vassell, Keldon, Sochan and Paul. Our great tank commanders. Shut Fox for the season and let Castle chuck.

[objective]

Castle gets less than twelve minutes. Fuck this coach.

Mitch is trying to make me look smart for liking Reed Sheppard more :lol:

[Ice009]

2027 pick owned by Kings from SA = most valuable pick asset in NBA if Wemby doesn't play 72 game a year

Roster and coaching among worst in millennium

Too frustrating to watch even as a tank team. Jamie Feick is rolling over in his grave.

Do they have a pick swap with the Spurs, or did they get the Spurs pick outright? I can't remember.

Anyway, I'm not commenting on the Castle situation anymore. I don't have the energy. Castle isn't looking good anymore either. Not sure why. If it's Victor going out, or if it's because of his minutes, not sure why, but he's now looking pretty bad.

[Frenchfred]

people, we are tanking, take a deep breath. This season is over for us, I'm actually hoping that they are using Fox's bad shooting to shut him down and have him get his surgery.

Portland just passed us. We have the 9th worst record now, our chance at a top4 pick went from 13.9% to 20.3%. Number 7 is achievable.

[TekXX]

Lol year 3 of tanking. Nothing is going to change with whoever we draft at 8th or 9th. It's time for Wright to shed all the bums on this team.

[Ice009]

people, we are tanking, take a deep breath. This season is over for us, I'm actually hoping that they are using Fox's bad shooting to shut him down and have him get his surgery.

Portland just passed us. We have the 9th worst record now, our chance at a top4 pick went from 13.9% to 20.3%. Number 7 is achievable.

Yeah, fair enough. I'm trying not to get worked up about the games or Stephon not playing much now. I was OK with losing if the team played hard and players that looked like they'd have a bright future got more minutes. Steph is not looking too good anymore and I'm not sure what the deal is.
Tonight he didn't look like he even deserved the minutes, but why is he now looking so bad.

As for the draft odds, are you saying the Spurs could reach 7th? If so, what odds would that give? So with the Spurs currently in 9th, the top 4 pick chances have gone up a decent amount looking at those numbers you posted.


Lol year 3 of tanking. Nothing is going to change with whoever we draft at 8th or 9th. It's time for Wright to shed all the bums on this team.

How is shedding all the "bums" on the team going to improve the the team if we still draft 8th or 9th like you've just mentioned?

How do you propose they improve?

[Mugen]

Missed the game. Did Castle get hurt? Otherwise, what the fuck is he doing playing 11 mins? :lol

[Jordan Jackson]

I expect Vassell to play better now that the games are meaningless.

Castle has hit the rookie wall. Or the Spurs have sucked the joy out of him. Probably a bit of both.

[scott]

Missed the game. Did Castle get hurt? Otherwise, what the fuck is he doing playing 11 mins? :lol

Welcome to the Mitching Hour, where wins become losses and development turns into disappointment

[SPURt]

No Wemby is a tough watch, lawd. My wish was the others would start figuring it out with CP3, but I’ve already found myself needing to use my wish hand to catch the over flow of shit in the other.

[Frenchfred]

Yeah, fair enough. I'm trying not to get worked up about the games or Stephon not playing much now. I was OK with losing if the team played hard and players that looked like they'd have a bright future got more minutes. Steph is not looking too good anymore and I'm not sure what the deal is.
Tonight he didn't look like he even deserved the minutes, but why is he now looking so bad.

As for the draft odds, are you saying the Spurs could reach 7th? If so, what odds would that give? So with the Spurs currently in 9th, the top 4 pick chances have gone up a decent amount looking at those numbers you posted.



How is shedding all the "bums" on the team going to improve the the team if we still draft 8th or 9th like you've just mentioned?

How do you propose they improve?

if we have the 7th worst record, chance of getting a top4 is 32% and 1st pick 7.5%. As comparison, the worst team has 52.1% and 14% respectively. Now if Atlanta could go down, that would give us additional chances

[Slippy]

I expect Vassell to play better now that the games are meaningless.

Castle has hit the rookie wall. Or the Spurs have sucked the joy out of him. Probably a bit of both.

The games have been meaningless for awhile. Atleast since all star break. I would say the slump is still continuing . Ya he got a few drives in the 2nd half of last nights game. ... but that shot of his still looks off. Constantly fading or leaning even when open. Not as high release anymore compared to previous seasons.

[z0sa]

:lol Castle, 11 minutes.

Fire Mitch Johnson. I don't want to hear any crap about Pop, either. He's not coming back. Get someone who's going to develop our ace instead of sitting him.

[Obstructed_View]

When you spend years destroying the heart of your team with tanking and mismanagement, how do you expect them to compete? No Spurs team in the last several years has been the best version of itself. It's even more disheartening to trade away the high picks you tanked for only to continue to hamstring your team for more future lottery picks.

No focus on the present. No development, no desire to win, no accountability.

I guess benching your young future all star to watch a 40 year old stat pad in double digit losses is appropriate since its overseen by a placeholder assistant guiding the team to the occasional win that gets credited to a hospitalized septuagenarian.

[LeBowen]

It wasn't just Castle, Jeremy also got fucked over by Mitch's incompetence.
I love hating on Jeremy, but he had a very good game.
Was our best Zion defender, rolled hard to the rim, 12/9/2 with 2 blocks in just 19 minutes.
But no, forget about matchups against a team with size advantage, we need to respect CP0's corpse.

Mamu played more than Castle and he didn't do shit. As much as everyone loves Mamu, there's nothing in there. He'll never be a legit rotation piece.

Devin was 1-7 with 0 rebounds and 1 assist in the first half and yet he was allowed to play himself back into the game. Why is Castle's treatment different?

Mitch's carrot and stick approach would be valid if he wasn't holding Castle to under 20 minutes even when he was dominating.