Game Thread: Spurs @ Nuggets — Oct. 22, 2021 - 8:00pm CT

[Sugus]

I agree with all of this. If DJM has a consistent 3 point shot, he'd be pretty damn amazing and it is 100% the biggest flaw in his game, IMO. Its unlikely that he makes a step to become a 40% 3P shooter ever, but if dude can just hit 33% consistently then it would be a huge benefit. Then again, who's breaking down the defense to get him open 3s on this team? That right there is part of the problem.

Yeah, the team is definitely missing that secondary creator that warps the defense and gets DJ off-the-ball, catch-n-shoot 3pt opportunities. I think Primo, with his shooting gravity and passing ability, could become that guy someday, but he's clearly not there yet. OTOH, though, you absolutely can't rely on C&S opportunities as the main ingredient for your 3pt shooting arsenal as a starting PG in '21. You have to be able to score them in a variety of ways, if only to keep the defense honest in a PnR.

I said it last year and it's looking to be true this year, as well: no playoff defense is going over screens on a Dejounte PnR, and it will be the death of him in due time if he doesn't work on it. I know, I know, no playoffs in near sight, so why worry about it, right? If only it worked like that...

[MannyIsGod]

He simply is an easy target for folks who are hyper focused on things he doesn’t do as great as their ideal version of what a PG is in their mind, ignoring all the other good things he does and things he’s improved upon.

There's definitely things to be critical about but people act like he's the reason they're losing. DJM is a huge part of why they held this team to 102. I keep hoping he takes another step forward, but this might just be what he is and honestly he's an amazing value for his contract but he's not capable of carrying the team offensively. Hopefully someone else on this team takes up that mantle.

If Derrick White was viewed the same way DJM was people would be far more critical of him but man that dude gets kid gloves comparatively around here.

[Biggems]

Jokic is insane

[Dejounte]

Small point, but what wtf is going on with Young? He's probably wondering if he should give a or not. "Am I staying or are you trading me?" No Thad, out of respect for you, we're waiting until you get so annoyed you complain, and then we either buy you out or trade you for a player with a disabling injury.

His wife is going OFF on Twitter about his DNP the other night. She hates the Spurs right now.

[Kurgan]

closer game than i thought... notable flaws were

- murray's decision making
- vassell/walker/mcdermott have to be more impactful with their outside shooting

I give leeway to Vassell and Walker as they're both still on their rookie contracts(although time is running out for Lonnie). What's McNugget's excuse? Spurs gave him 42 million this summer.

[Sugus]

If he wasn’t the root cause in your mind, then why is nearly 100% of your 22 posts in this game thread complaining about his play? There was a more obvious issue tonight with the team (shooting) yet I don’t see any mention of that.

I'm really curious whether that's a figure of speech, or if you really counted Mnky's posts on the thread one by one

[Seventyniner]

His wife is going OFF on Twitter about his DNP the other night. She hates the Spurs right now.

Damn, I didn't know that. I doubt the Spurs get much more than a protected 2nd at this point, or maybe some out-of-favor younger player that would just take minutes from the rest of the team.

[Dejounte]

I'm really curious whether that's a figure of speech, or if you really counted Mnky's posts on the thread one by one

If you click the post count on the thread, you’ll see each member’s post total.

[tbdog]

Pops rotation was vastly different to the Orlando game. He played white and Johnson a lot of minutes. I really think he should have given walker more minutes and played young when jokic was not on the court with the second unit.

[Sugus]

If you click the post count on the thread, you’ll see each member’s post total.

TIL, thanks! But also, it answers my question that you actually manually searched his post count, that's hilarious

[daslicer]

Even with that, we were right there. I just want more fearlessness on offense. More of the guys at least pretending to pose a threat would have been the difference for us, but no one was willing to attack.

I don't take much out of this game being close. During the Duncan era we saw it happen a bunch of times where a bad team was able to hang close with the Spurs for the whole entire game only for Duncan to finished them off in the final 2-3 minutes of the game. With that being said the Spurs had a great effort but when you are going up against a superstar like Jokic you really have no room for error. You have to play a perfect game to win.

[Dex]

Pops rotation was vastly different to the Orlando game. He played white and Johnson a lot of minutes. I really think he should have given walker more minutes and played young when jokic was not on the court with the second unit.

Pretty sure Pop is still trying to figure it out himself.

It’s only game 2, and yes…he is human like all of us and doesn’t always have all the right answers.

[Kurgan]

Damn, I didn't know that. I doubt the Spurs get much more than a protected 2nd at this point, or maybe some out-of-favor younger player that would just take minutes from the rest of the team.

Spurs will not get anything. They're probably going to "do right by him" and waive him so he can join a contender

[Dejounte]

Bryn or McDermott making a shot. Lonnie playing like he did in game 1. Devin playing with more confidence. Thaddeus NOT throwing up that stupid mid range shot giving the Nuggets momentum to go on a 5-0 run. Any of these would have changed the game’s result.

[widowmaker]

Oh its definitely expected

sure is. Timmy isn’t in the paint anymore our bigs right now dont have that kind of foot work.

[The Truth #6]

I don't know, I think a lot of good teams will mail it in against us, and if we play solid D, and some shots drop, we pull away with victories in games like this.

[Mnky]

If he wasn’t the root cause in your mind, then why is nearly 100% of your 22 posts in this game thread complaining about his play? There was a more obvious issue tonight with the team (shooting) yet I don’t see any mention of that.

I even say he's not the root cause and you're still trying to push that narrative because you don't really have an argument. You're just trying to create one. That was never the argument, no matter how much you attempt to spin it.. I talk about him the most for an obvious reason. He had the ball in his hands the whole night. Not going to mention the guys in the corner watching him dribble from one end of the court to the other...

You admit the same thing I pointed out, he needs to make better decisions.
That's all that was. People are just being sensitive.

Go ahead and look up all my posts. I'm a big DJ fan. I was one of a couple of posters stoked when we drafted him. I was against trading him. He's "the guy" now. He deserves to shoulder the blame as the leader. He has shown he can play better than he did tonight. Against arguably one of the top teams in the NBA, you want to see your guy show up. He has played major NBA minutes.

Not sure why spurstalk is so addicted to drama.

[XDT76]

Who else we gonna play tonight with Eubanks and Poetel in foul trouble?

Landale? At least he has the size and length to maybe bother Jokic's shot, rebound and some rim protection.

[Mnky]

TIL, thanks! But also, it answers my question that you actually manually searched his post count, that's hilarious

Some of these dudes spend way too much time chasing clout.

[Mnky]

His wife is going OFF on Twitter about his DNP the other night. She hates the Spurs right now.

I saw that. Honestly surprised Pop played him after all that drama.

[HankChinaski]

Murray wants to be the guy.

He is not the guy.

I still like what he is providing game to game.

This team needs to continue to play a selfless style of basketball and we had moments where the ball was moving extremely well. This roster just needs more minutes together. This game was a great exercise in playing against a tough defense it will help them sort out the discrepency on the offensive end of the court in future situations.

[Dejounte]

I even say he's not the root cause and you're still trying to push that narrative because you don't really have an argument. You're just trying to create one. That was never the argument, no matter how much you attempt to spin it.. I talk about him the most for an obvious reason. He had the ball in his hands the whole night. Not going to mention the guys in the corner watching him dribble from one end of the court to the other...

You admit the same thing I pointed out, he needs to make better decisions.
That's all that was. People are just being sensitive.

Go ahead and look up all my posts. I'm a big DJ fan. I was one of a couple of posters stoked when we drafted him. I was against trading him. He's "the guy" now. He deserves to shoulder the blame as the leader. He has shown he can play better than he did tonight. Against arguably one of the top teams in the NBA, you want to see your guy show up. He has played major NBA minutes.

Not sure why spurstalk is so addicted to drama.

Relax, dude. I’m really not going at you as much as you think I am.

anyway, here you go:

https://twitter.com/jeffgspurszone/s...868347395?s=21

IMO, you may differ in opinion but if this game is an example of Dejounte’s floor, then it really isn’t bad.

[spurraider21]

TIL, thanks! But also, it answers my question that you actually manually searched his post count, that's hilarious

manually implies that he went page by page and charted them tho

[HankChinaski]

manually implies that he went page by page and charted them tho

He is putting in the work. Kind of admirable.

[rudwick]

Bryn or McDermott making a shot. Lonnie playing like he did in game 1. Devin playing with more confidence. Thaddeus NOT throwing up that stupid mid range shot giving the Nuggets momentum to go on a 5-0 run. Any of these would have changed the game’s result.

I agree. Losing by 6 at Denver is not a bad result. Denver outscored them by 9 on 3-ptrs. If they make a couple more of their shots it’s a toss-up. Keep practicing those 3s.