DeFrozen Ball DEFINITELY ISN'T winning basketball

I can understand Pop trying to mold Demar into something but it is now obvious that all the playoff disappearing acts were not just because he was in Toronto. Demar has a very valuable role on the team as currently contructed, scorer. He can get his own shot and that is very important on a team with few players that can but one thing has become PAINFULLY obvious...Demar is NOT a closer. At the end of the game, the Spurs need another game plan because Demar is not made for the pressures of a late game situation. The Spurs either need to go "beautiful game" at the end of games, give it to Rudy who has the closer gene or find a way to get it to LMA, any of those three options seemed better than trying to make Derozan something he isn't. There is no shame in it, every player isn't a closer. DeRozan is no more of a closer than Patty is deserving of a roster spot. I believe both those facts wholeheartedly.

I never get why to close out games and half’s its always give it to DeMar and get out the way. They do something that they don’t do all game long in the most important time of the game. I understand if you have Kobe or KD to close out a game going iso, but we have nothing close to that. I rather take my chances with LA taking a shot than iso DeMar.

Derrick white should be the closer. Run a pick and roll with him and LMA.

I also don't get the whole "get outta the way" iso for Demar. It's like the GSW game winner is giving him too much confidence.

But let me back up a little here. We shouldve never been in a close game like this or like the Cleveland game. Our defense blows every other possession.

This reminds me of when we beat Kawhi back in December and we were on a roll. It's like everyone takes their foot off the gas and coasts bc they think they can. It's like we can never be given nice things..

Odd having a Spurs team be like that.

He needs to fucking attack. His little runners are actually really reliable, he's a good finisher at the rim, and if defenses collapse on him he's shown he's more than capable of finding the open man. It's when he settles for his fadeaways that he sucks--especially right now that his shot is broke af.

Aldridge sucks too when he just settles for soft, turnaround fadeaways. It's no different for DD. That's why I haven't completely given up on him, the dude can play he just needs a little guidance, tbh.

Just run a set play at the end. It's not that hard. For some reason we can run plays to find open shooters for 45 minutes of the game, and then at the end we ISO Demar and expect him to create. I think it's on the coaches more than DDR. We don't have an end of game player who we can just hand the ball of to and let go at it...or at least we shouldn't depend on DeRozan to do that every game. 2005 Ginobili isn't here anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones

Just run a set play at the end. It's not that hard. For some reason we can run plays to find open shooters for 45 minutes of the game, and then at the end we ISO Demar and expect him to create. I think it's on the coaches more than DDR. We don't have an end of game player who we can just hand the ball of to and let go at it...or at least we shouldn't depend on DeRozan to do that every game. 2005 Ginobili isn't here anymore.

---

i agree with the exception of the last possession of the game. the iso or single high screen play is the only reliable way to milk the clock and still get off a decent shot. set plays could get disrupted a bit easier, and maybe earlier in the game you can afford to swing the ball around 2-3-4 times after breaking the defense down to find a wide open shooter, but in the last possession of the game you have be able to dictate the exact 1-2 second stretch you get your shot off, regardless of the defense's efforts

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spurraider21

i agree with the exception of the last possession of the game. the iso or single high screen play is the only reliable way to milk the clock and still get off a decent shot. set plays could get disrupted a bit easier, and maybe earlier in the game you can afford to swing the ball around 2-3-4 times after breaking the defense down to find a wide open shooter, but in the last possession of the game you have be able to dictate the exact 1-2 second stretch you get your shot off, regardless of the defense's efforts

---

Last shot's tough, you're right. DDR has made some weird end of game decisions lately with the ball in his hands. Passing off to guys when he has an open shot, settling for a long jumper when he has space to take it to the hole. It's mind-boggling for a guy that usually thrives late in games.

Maybe Rudy should take that last shot, or dump it in to LMA.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by $pursDynasty

I can understand Pop trying to mold Demar into something but it is now obvious that all the playoff disappearing acts were not just because he was in Toronto. Demar has a very valuable role on the team as currently contructed, scorer. He can get his own shot and that is very important on a team with few players that can but one thing has become PAINFULLY obvious...Demar is NOT a closer. At the end of the game, the Spurs need another game plan because Demar is not made for the pressures of a late game situation. The Spurs either need to go "beautiful game" at the end of games, give it to Rudy who has the closer gene or find a way to get it to LMA, any of those three options seemed better than trying to make Derozan something he isn't. There is no shame in it, every player isn't a closer. DeRozan is no more of a closer than Patty is deserving of a roster spot. I believe both those facts wholeheartedly.

---

Holding for the playoffs. Qe will run strong Derrick white and LMA pick and rolls. Lots of Poeltl and Bertans. Less Mills I think for now.

that airball from midrange in the 4th was classic DeFrozan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones

Just run a set play at the end. It's not that hard. For some reason we can run plays to find open shooters for 45 minutes of the game, and then at the end we ISO Demar and expect him to create. I think it's on the coaches more than DDR. We don't have an end of game player who we can just hand the ball of to and let go at it...or at least we shouldn't depend on DeRozan to do that every game. 2005 Ginobili isn't here anymore.

---

Agreed. If sets are so bad, then ISO the whole game. But sets are good and efficient, so you run them on your most important possession.
Better a shot in rythm with the defender in your face than a 18-ft fadeaway with zero chance of rebounding it.

Pop is not giving up on him, same thing he didn’t give up on Aldridge two years ago. How many D-League players Pop and his stuff have carved an NBA career? I say brick it now, get it out of his system. Demar has a great attitude and if his coach believes in him, he would work harder not to fail him. Funny how many hofer coaches we have in ST :lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FkLA

He needs to fucking attack. His little runners are actually really reliable, he's a good finisher at the rim, and if defenses collapse on him he's shown he's more than capable of finding the open man. It's when he settles for his fadeaways that he sucks--especially right now that his shot is broke af.

Aldridge sucks too when he just settles for soft, turnaround fadeaways. It's no different for DD. That's why I haven't completely given up on him, the dude can play he just needs a little guidance, tbh.

---

he is already a veteran and had all the necessary guidance (three seasons playing with Pop), it lacks to him motor and intensity, he is the anti-westbrook (one of them miss for excess, and the other for lack)

It's weird because we have a winning record. So maybe it is winning basketball.

DDR is almost 30 and has been in the NBA for a decade. He’s not learning jack at this point. He is what he is.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by r0drig0lac

he is already a veteran and had all the necessary guidance (three seasons playing with Pop), it lacks to him motor and intensity, he is the anti-westbrook (one of them miss for excess, and the other for lack)

---

Did you mean three quarters of a season under Pop? That isn't enough of a sample size to give up on him. Especially since they didn't havent even had him for an entire offseason yet. Yeah, he's almost 30 but most organizations aren't the Spurs. Look what they have done for Rudy who was considered a cancerous blackhole most of his career. Or Boris who was disinterested and out of shape. Or for LMA who was considered soft and a defensive liability before he came here. None of them were spring chickens when they joined the Spurs.

The dude is obviously talented and skilled, 21-6-6 is solid af. He won't ever be Nephew or a Top 3 guy, but he can be better than what he's been with the righ tutelage, imo.

DeMar will surprise people in the playoffs imo

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DPG21920

DeMar will surprise people in the playoffs imo

---

I believe he's going to step up his game. I think we'll see a lot of Spurs play a lot more motivated in the post season.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ed Helicopter Jones

I believe he's going to step up his game. I think we'll see a lot of Spurs play a lot more motivated in the post season.

---

I just think a lot of the end of game failures are luck + coachable. He got pretty good penetration a few times and a few of those shots will fall over time. Besides that, on the others there is plenty of film and a great coach to help him break things down.

Just my two cents.

And I’m not saying SA will bear Gs or anything like that. Just saying if it gets to crunch time I would expect better decisions from DeRozan.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by FkLA

Did you mean three quarters of a season under Pop? That isn't enough of a sample size to give up on him. Especially since they didn't havent even had him for an entire offseason yet. Yeah, he's almost 30 but most organizations aren't the Spurs. Look what they have done for Rudy who was considered a cancerous blackhole most of his career. Or Boris who was disinterested and out of shape. Or for LMA who was considered soft and a defensive liability before he came here. None of them were spring chickens when they joined the Spurs.

The dude is obviously talented and skilled, 21-6-6 is solid af. He won't ever be Nephew or a Top 3 guy, but he can be better than what he's been with the righ tutelage, imo.

---

my bad, I thought you were talking about Aldridge, Demar's problem in my opinion, it's clearly mental (because your basketball qi, which is already average, decreases even more in the final moments of the games).


about Rudy, I was already wanting him going to the spurs when he was still considered a black hole in spurstalk, and that's one of the reasons why I believe a guy like Stanley Johnson would work well with the Spurs, what these guys do in other franchises is completely irrelevant.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by r0drig0lac

about Rudy, I was already wanting him going to the spurs when he was still considered a black hole in spurstalk, and that's one of the reasons why I believe a guy like Stanley Johnson would work well with the Spurs, what these guys do in other franchises is completely irrelevant.

---

Interesting take, but he wold play instead of whom? Dejounte? Because that's is position, he is too skinny to play small forward, as you can see in Detroit he is all the time overpowered by other stronger bodies. He can't shoot, so he can't play with Murray. What you are talking about is character, that can change in the right environment (I know nothing about his attitude), but after 4 years you don't become a different player or a different body.

But you obviosly know more about him than I do. I appreciate some out of the box thinking, who knows he might sign with SA eventually.

Don't blame DeRozan at all. He's not calling his own number and the garbage ISO plays. Popovich is.

It's weird because he was the best player on the roster in Toronto and they had a winning record the last 5 years he played on the team, the last 4 being 50+ plus wins. So DeFrozen Ball is definitely winning basket. I mean, is he the best player on a championship team? No, but you could say that about every player in this league except like 4 or 5 guys.

:lmao He was never the best player on the Raptors. It was always Lowry and their success was mostly attributable to him + the bench, as well as being in the East.

Pop absolutely deserves blame. He's clearly let him do whatever he wants, from abandoning the 3 to continuing to resort to a steady diet of low percentage shots, particularly in crunch time.

He clearly made a conscious decision that between the Aldridge fiasco and scumbag saga, they couldn't afford another star or in his case, perceived star, being unhappy.

OK, let me restate DeRozan can mightily contribute to a win, I just don't trust him down a point or two, even up a point in the closing minutes. He is not clutch but he can get to the ft line like a poorman's James Harden during a majority of the game just not closing out games, he'll even quarters

White as we've seen here and the thunder ot wins, needs to be our closer. Derozan is good for quarters 1-3

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TD 21

:lmao He was never the best player on the Raptors. It was always Lowry and their success was mostly attributable to him + the bench, as well as being in the East.

Pop absolutely deserves blame. He's clearly let him do whatever he wants, from abandoning the 3 to continuing to resort to a steady diet of low percentage shots, particularly in crunch time.

He clearly made a conscious decision that between the Aldridge fiasco and scumbag saga, they couldn't afford another star or in his case, perceived star, being unhappy.

---

Absolutely. Pop is walking on eggshells in his own locker room.

Thanks to mentally weak modern players. Hell remember how butt hurt nephew 's camp was after Manu and Tony's comments last year. Can't think of one mentally tough player in the league right now. Name one that could handle the level of tough love Pop would give to Timmay and Tony?

I like DeMar; he's a very good player when he's aggressive and asserts himself. Shown to be a very good playmaker. However, his effort doesn't seem to be consistent and he's just a bad fit on this team. His salary is also ludacris. Ideally, I'd like the Spurs to ship Demar, Mills/Forbes + picks for a legit starting 3 and backup 1. Build around White, LMA and Murray. Hopefully, LW4 gets some consistent minutes next year so we can see his upside. I'm still high on him because he was injured to start the season. People forget Derrick was injured too. Give him healthy offseason to prepare as starter, I think he takes a quantum leap next season.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John B

Pop is not giving up on him, same thing he didn’t give up on Aldridge two years ago. How many D-League players Pop and his stuff have carved an NBA career? I say brick it now, get it out of his system. Demar has a great attitude and if his coach believes in him, he would work harder not to fail him. Funny how many hofer coaches we have in ST :lol

---

Finally some sensible opinions.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by John B

Pop is not giving up on him, same thing he didn’t give up on Aldridge two years ago. How many D-League players Pop and his stuff have carved an NBA career? I say brick it now, get it out of his system. Demar has a great attitude and if his coach believes in him, he would work harder not to fail him. Funny how many hofer coaches we have in ST :lol

---

He hasn't given up on Forbes or Mills either but that doesn't mean he shouldn't. Demar's track record speaks for itself. Pop needs to man up and own the loss. His goto motto When you can't say something nice about a player is to talk about things that can't be measured by performance and statistics like heart, positive attitude, good listener and smiles a lot. The Spurs shouldn't be paying a guy 28M/year because he has good intentions.

definitely wanna ship him out.

Thank god he fouled out...

It is pretty remarkable despite losing their starting pg the week before the regular season, then lose his 2nd string pg a few days after and yet we were just recently contending for a 4/5 spot in the most competitive pool of west teams and actually the whole NBA. Lots of talent now that this sport has been one of the most popular in a time when viral bball prodigies and top notch training has been at work since grade school. Spurs stay consistent always has their papers to turn in to the ballot every season and makes their best run and better than most every single year still continuing a winning tradition with enough effectiveness to build upon their current successes with young talent and in a very classy manner. This season has had ups and downs but the story is not over for the Spurs this year. I can't wait to see what unfolds and how it does. Glad we have such a kind and caring staff that makes sure to put their employees and community first, especially when it started with Robinson. Hope Demar fully embraces it and wants to keep building more for us. That's all we can ask for:

Season	TEAM	AGE	GP	GS	MIN	PTS	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF
2018-19	SAS	29	73	73	35.2	21.6	8.3	17.4	47.9	0.1	0.6	15.9	4.8	5.8	83.2	0.7	5.4	6.1	6.2	1.1	0.5	2.6	2.3

DeRozan has gotten better as the season has went on. Especially on defense as he is giving more effort and actually being in places he is supposed to be.

Trading him for ancillary parts is a perfect way to be lottery bound next season. Him, Gay and White are the only guys who are able to create their on or generate others shots on a regular basis. Rudy is a free agent next season and White is okay at it. It's not easy to find guys who can do what DeRozan does as effectively as he does it. He generates fouls, shoots at a decent % from the field and line, sets up others and doesn't turn the ball over a lot.

I will say he presses a bit at the end of tight games but some of it is due to still learning his teammates and actually having more of a ball handling load than he is used to. Hopefully next season he will not have to do it as much as he has this season with the continued emergence of White and Murray

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by D-Robinson 50 fan

DeRozan has gotten better as the season has went on. Especially on defense as he is giving more effort and actually being in places he is supposed to be.

Trading him for ancillary parts is a perfect way to be lottery bound next season. Him, Gay and White are the only guys who are able to create their on or generate others shots on a regular basis. Rudy is a free agent next season and White is okay at it. It's not easy to find guys who can do what DeRozan does as effectively as he does it. He generates fouls, shoots at a decent % from the field and line, sets up others and doesn't turn the ball over a lot.

I will say he presses a bit at the end of tight games but some of it is due to still learning his teammates and actually having more of a ball handling load than he is used to. Hopefully next season he will not have to do it as much as he has this season with the continued emergence of White and Murray

---

He’s a hard-worker and I don’t doubt he would be working in the off season with the coaching staff to get better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by D-Robinson 50 fan

DeRozan has gotten better as the season has went on. Especially on defense as he is giving more effort and actually being in places he is supposed to be.

Trading him for ancillary parts is a perfect way to be lottery bound next season. Him, Gay and White are the only guys who are able to create their on or generate others shots on a regular basis. Rudy is a free agent next season and White is okay at it. It's not easy to find guys who can do what DeRozan does as effectively as he does it. He generates fouls, shoots at a decent % from the field and line, sets up others and doesn't turn the ball over a lot.

I will say he presses a bit at the end of tight games but some of it is due to still learning his teammates and actually having more of a ball handling load than he is used to. Hopefully next season he will not have to do it as much as he has this season with the continued emergence of White and Murray

---

Lottery bound? Clippers made the playoffs with zero big names

The mentality of ppl on here is why teams stay mediocre for years... DDR and LMA aren't good players to have on ur team if ur goal is a ring... Trade for decent role players

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by D-Robinson 50 fan

DeRozan has gotten better as the season has went on. Especially on defense as he is giving more effort and actually being in places he is supposed to be.

---

What? You can't be serious.

His attitude is a cancer, and we can see it on the floor. He keeps getting the ball, his stats, the last shot, it is beyond comprehension: then nobody cares anymore. And rightly so, since he keeps losing games. He is Melo without Melo's game.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by duncan2k5

Lottery bound? Clippers made the playoffs with zero big names

---

I never said anything about big names. I said it wouldn't be wise to trade the teams best offensive creator. The Clippers had Tobias Harris, Gallinari, Lou Williams, and to a lesser degree Shai Gilous-Alexander. When they traded Harris they still had guys who could create offense for themselves and others and they are also a solid defensive team which we are not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by monty4329

What? You can't be serious.

His attitude is a cancer, and we can see it on the floor. He keeps getting the ball, his stats, the last shot, it is beyond comprehension: then nobody cares anymore. And rightly so, since he keeps losing games. He is Melo without Melo's game.

---

You can tell DeRozan plays the game with his heart on his sleeve. He can definitely let not getting a call in his favor effect him a bit but I've never seen him actually quit.

Carmelo Anthony's issue is the fact that he was never a good defender and is used to getting a certain amount of shots to get going. He has to realize he isn't that player anymore and accept a role to better his teams chances of winning. I've never heard of Anthony being a bad teammate or causing issues in the locker room and he seems to be loved by most of the players in the league.

If Carmelo just went to the right squad who needed bench scoring, tighten up his outside jumper and worked a bit harder on defense he would be a solid bench veteran for a young team.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by D-Robinson 50 fan

You can tell DeRozan plays the game with his heart on his sleeve. He can definitely let not getting a call in his favor effect him a bit but I've never seen him actually quit.

---

I wish DeRozan would quit so we can actually win games

Considering DD's mental health issues, this has been a great season for him IMO..he got traded from a franchise he loved and the only team he had ever played for, he could have mailed it in, but he didn't..

No need for hate, he has given his all to this team..