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He's adjusting to his new role. This should not be surprising. Have fun wringing your hands.
I was replying to the other poster saying “he’s already better.”
In fact, he is not.
He's adjusting to his new role. This should not be surprising. Have fun wringing your hands.
With ur logic, every player would be better and develop in any role they're placed in... So if they wanted to make Duncan a PG, all they needed to do was play him there for a couple years
If you work at something, you will get better. This goes doubly for younger folk like those in their early twenties. That has nothing to do with someone's ceiling, floor, or rate of return. I advise looking into the learning curve.
Anyone who thinks there's so much as a remote chance of him being able to competently fill his current role long term or that it's in the plans, is delusional.
The bigger issue is the Spurs continuing to not value shooting in their draft picks and their failure to develop it period.
We're now in season 9 of this era and they've yet to have a primary ball handler with a modern skillset or a core that can adequately space the floor.
Your point about shooting is wrong. This team has plenty of shooting, but it's missing it at the most important position. The problem is that Tre and Sochan are the two who can't shoot (other than Bassey), and they're being asked to be the primary ballhandler. If your primary ballhandler can't shoot, it makes it hard to screen for them. Tre started the year making threes when people went under, but he's really struggled shooting the past two games. Sochan has never demonstrated an ability to shoot off the dribble.
hard to watch because of the narrator's braces/retainers... but the video does a good job showing what its trying to show
he simply doesnt cause the defense to go into recovery mode. he doesnt create openings. even when he drives toward the rim, defenses arent scared enough about his finishing ability to double or even slightly rotate toward him. as a result, the 4 other guys still have defenders right on them. unless a defender just outright falls asleep and loses his man, there's nobody really open for a quick pass-shot
so you have a guy who has solid passing ability but doesnt really have openings to make those solid passes because those opportunities simply arent being created. at least not with any degree of consistency that is needed to run a competent offense
you end up having him dribble the ball for a few seconds, and then he kinda just has to pass the ball out and have somebody else create a shot for themselves. at which point you wonder what the purpose of those last 5-6 seconds was
its kinda cruel to jeremy as its putting him in a position to fail, and not in a subtle way. but its also unfair to the rest of the unit. its like trying to evaluate WRs when your QB is tim tebow
Last edited by spurraider21; 11-08-2023 at 01:32 PM.
so here's a look at the game this year where he got a number of assists
on the first assist, grayson allen isnt drawn toward sochan. he simply falls asleep for a half second ball-watching and devin makes a cut. this wasnt an opportunity created by sochan causing the defense to react
the second look is caused by devin booker falling down from the screen, not from sochan influencing the defense
the third assist is clean, but a center picking and popping for 3 against nurkic is probably going to get those looks pretty consistently
and the last one is nice off-ball action between collins and mcdermott, not from sochan drawing the defense. but still, the defense being scrambled as a result of the off-ball action gives sochan a nice target, and he's a good passer who can make those plays. but he needs the opportunities to be created, he's simply not the one generating them
I've been using the term "bending the defense" for a few years to describe what the Spurs have been missing since Parker got old. I've wanted multiple players with the ability to bend a defense through driving over the years. That was what I was hoping Lonnie would. It's why I was a big fan of Kira Lewis coming out of the draft. I don't know that you need to be fast to do that. I think you can use size and skill to "score through" defenders rather than getting around them. That's why I think it might be important to acquire an offensive star in free agency or through trade rather than hoping to draft one. They need a guy who's already a star rather than hoping they know how to build one. It's a shame that the current league has discouraged iso scorers. There was a time when there were a number of those guys in the league. Now DeRozan might be the only one. Hopefully there is a player who can who what DeRozan can do well while not being a no-D/no-3 guy.
I really do think starting Graham over Branham would help the first unit. It would be a partial pivot away from having Sochan at PG while actually having a guy whose skills compliment the rest of the players on the court. Starting Malaki makes sense in the context of trying to develop guys. But you develop around a foundation, and the Spurs don't have a foundation because they've been so keen to get rid of it.
This is why the Spurs have to play through Wemby in the post, cause that's where the D collapses. It's just Pop doesn't emphasize it at all
I literally alluded to this specific issue.
They don't have "plenty of shooting". Of the current extended core, who comprise either drafted or players acquired in the developmental stage (starters + Jones and Branham), only Vassell is a floor spacer. Opposing defenses will live with the others and flat out encourage it from Sochan and Jones.
Ironically, the front office either not putting a premium on drafting shooting or believing their own hype with regards to developing it, is that they were seemingly prioritizing defense, yet they can't do that either.
Jeremy definitely doesn't blow past people with his dribble. Only thing I can think of is he would have to sort of back his player into the post and create double teams or space that way and then kick back out. I suppose sort of like Andre Miller, but that's not a great comp.
Does Doncic blow by people? If you don’t have the burst, you use hesitation and chance of pace.
Not the same. Doncic can shoot (especially the step back 3). Just the thought of that alone allows him to get by people who are afraid of it. Sochan can’t shoot so he doesn’t have that affect on the defense.
Someone like Andre Miller would work better for your example. But his basketball IQ was much higher than what Sochan has displayed.
He’s actually a career 34% 3 point shooter, below league average. I’d put a hand up, but I’d never do a hard contest. That’s how he gets to the rim. He can fill up on those step back 3s.
Really liked Sochan's game tonight. Was aggressive and took the shots he had to take. Good game for the youngin.
On the website The Ringer, Kevin O'Connor posted an article today led "Everybody Needs to Chill Out About Wemby," where among other things he says "spurs fans are engaged in a civil war about whether Jeremy Sochan should be playing point guard."
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2023/11/9/23953741/victor-wembanyama-san-antonio-spurs-madison-square-garden
Why cant Sochan just muscle his way to the hoop with Jalen Brunson on him. If baffles my why he doesn't put his head down and power drive to the cup like Keldon against much smaller defenders. Once smaller defenders have to respect his drive he can really start breaking down defenses with some regularity. Just start playing bully ball with these small PG's. Not everything has to skillful when you have a significant size advantage.
Brunson drew 3 charges last night. Putting your head down and bullying your way to the rim is a recipe for an offensive foul.
Right, per the ESPN crew, he lead the league last year in charges drawn. He's the Derek Fisher of today's game.
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