Game Thread: Spurs (3-7) at Thunder (6-4) November 14, 2023 | 6:30 P.M. CT

[SAGirl]

Spurs have a pass this year because they got Wemby. They are going to get another lottery pick and will draft the best point guard in next year's draft. If they wanted to win this year, just needed to sign 3 or 4 veterans. There were guys available to win in free agency if that was the goal. Plainly they want to suck, get a low draft pick, see what they got and then trade players/picks to upgrade the roster next year.

Seems like maybe this is what they had in mind particularly because they have all those picks from Murray and White trades and they want to do some light OKC inspired team building. Spurs haven’t been an ace drafting though. Wemby draft was obvious… they need to hit on others as well.

[BacktoBasics]

Again, I'm not saying they part with their '24 first rounder for a PG. Even the "not a lot out there" is miles better than what the Spurs currently have at the position. ing trash ass Killian Hayes would be a massive upgrade for this team and you could probably get him for a top 55 protected pick

This Point Sochan experiment has been so f'n bad and detrimental that Jeremy getting hurt for a long period of time would probably be a net positive both for him and the club's outlook tbh. Anything to keep him from running the offense and f'n over everybody else on the team including himself.

I don’t think you can get Hayes for a top 55 protected pick. He’s starting over Ivey at this point. So let’s be realistic if we’re going to play “the sky is falling” games. I don’t think 2 second round picks gets him either.

With that said I’m in no way against obtaining a pg for the right price.

[SAGirl]

Nobody is expecting to win. We just want compe ive games and the team not playing like the worst pick-up basketball team of all-time. We want some semblence of organization and designed plays. Losing by 40 pts every game takes its toll on a fanbase and the players. This is beyond pathetic and shouldn't be acceptable at all.

The worst part is that all of this is self inflected harm by our HoF coach. I seriously think any other coach on the NBA (and not in the NBA too) could have this group of players playing way better than this.

I remember the process Philly went on a losing streak where they were getting absolutely whacked. It wasn’t that they were losing. It’s that it was by wide margins, IIRC they lost for something like 50 points to a Boban spurs… remember that. Probably no one on that team turned out to be an NBA caliber player with the exception of a minor roleplayer like Nerlens Noel. It doesn’t bode well for the Spurs if they don’t right the ship somewhat. Their players get devalued, and the reality is that they probably have several not NBA quality players getting heavy minutes in the team.., food for thought.

or the coaching is simply that bad. …

[John B]

Westbrick get the pass for holding the forte during last playoffs when Nephew and Playoff Pee were injured. Also, Clippers started strong with Westbrick in the lineup before the Harden trade.

And now we look at Harden's history...changing 4 teams in the last 4 years? Obviously he is the problem.

And someone here even considered he’ll be a fit in this young team

[Ditty]

I want to see how this team looks with Keldon off the bench imo. If we are going to continue to baby Wemby's minutes at least keep him off the floor when Wemby is out there with the first player off the bench. Not the biggest Tre Jones fan but he needs to play around 35 minutes a game as your starting PG.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

What a astrophe.

[John B]

First Wemby has a bullseye on his back being a generational prospect, an alien and teams are targeting him. On top of a 22 win team from last year who was designed to tank to get a high pick. And Pop experimenting on a PG, the most crucial position in setting plays and pace, plus the youngest thus inexperienced team. Everything is going against the Spurs

[DAF86]

This is such a disingenuous take. He’s not blatantly sabotaging his team. With that said I don’t like the experiment either but it’s not like we’re 30 games in. One thing that I wouldn’t want to see is us tossing assets around aimlessly trying to fill the pg void with questionable trades.

If I had to take a pragmatic guess I’d say they’ll look hard at the trade landscape closer to the deadline as things become more workable the closer you get to the deadline.

Even adding an all star probably wouldn’t propel us deep into the playoffs so it makes little sense to plug holes with secondary players simply to make things more aesthetically pleasing to people like you.

We’re not ringing this year. So let’s not leverage the house out of the gate by making desperation trades.

I never talked about trades, tbh. I agree that I wouldn't give up any kind of asset for a stopgap at PG. I just think Pop could do a much better work with the pieces he does have.

[Jordan Jackson]

Spurs really need to update their draft profile. Minus Wemby - they keep drafting these one dimensional analog players. No athleticism, ball handling, speed, shooting. The NBA evolved they should join.
Also the overall inep ude and awfulness of his teammates seems to be rubbing off on Wemby. He’s trying to be a team player and fit in but yikes.

Weird tweet from Don Harris who never criticizes the Spurs. Seem to point a finger at KJ, Devin and Jeremy for poor passes or lack there of passes/lobs to Wemby in the post. Pop going to need to establish a pecking order bc I’m not sure everyone has bought in to the fact that this is ultimately Wemby’s team.

[Chinook]

Puts in perspective what Becky, Messina and the other veteran coaches he had were doing, probably some heavy lifting in terms of schemes…. I haven’t watched for the past couple years bc I am not subscribing to NBA league pass to watch a bad spurs team lead a tankathon but this season they are showing on national tv so I am finally watching them again.

It’s fairly obvious they don’t have a talented guard that they can play off of. I know they had hopes with Primo, but b4 taking “IT” out he didn’t seem like that guy to me either.

They need a talented guard like the desert needs water, but besides that, and specially if you don’t have that, you at least need an offensive system.. problem is that those are built around stars and Spurs don’t have one. Wemby can already do some things really well but he’s too light to dominate specially if you don’t look for him early, as soon as he grabs position… meaning you have to look for him all the time and only if he’s doubled pass to whoever is open… seems easy to say, but alas… I don’t know offensively what actions they are running.

Howdy SAG, como te va?

Yep, I was really surprised that Pop didn't attack the PG position in the draft or free agency. Obviously they were going to pick Wemby at 1, but I really wanted them to be aggressive with their assets to snag another PG in the first. I wanted them to play the PG market, though I wasn't big on trading for an old guard like Paul or Lillard or even Lowry. Someone like Payne made a fair bit of sense in my mind, and I was interested when they got him. That Pop didn't seem to give him or most of the traded-for vets a chance during camp feels irresponsible to me. The Spurs didn't need those seconds badly enough to settle for dead money over talent.

I feel like given where the Spurs are that it would make more sense for them to be looking at PG prospects to cycle through rather than starting a bad fit there and locking the position. Have Jones start, don't have a 15th man and sign free agents or d-leaguers to see if any figure it out. Carlik Jones is an interesting guy who washed out in Chicago but has some skills the Spurs might need. I really liked Alondes Williams during his draft. , SJR is on the team but is playing with the Toros for some reason. Why PATFO seems to have approached the PG position like it was settled is definitely the biggest mystery of the roster right now.

[BillMc]

No Riga Time no win....

[HemisfairArena]

I guess no one remembers Wemby saying he wants to win immediately,,,,he's only on a 4 year deal and if you think this dude sticks around after 4 years with a subpar team,,,youre crazy. Every big market in America is gonna come for this dude at the end of his rookie contract and the Spurs having losing seasons is gonna cause this kid to leave. , Duncan almost left for Orlando and he already won a le in San Antonio,,,,

[JeffDuncan]

I don’t think Wemby signed up to be the featured clown in a Vaudeville comedy show, either.

It’s one thing to have a talent deficiency, but it’s something else entirely for the whole team to be incompetent at playing the game of basketball.

The Spurs have a coaching problem.

[tim_duncan_fan]

Monday's game is gonna be a movie:

Friday the 13th

[HemisfairArena]

Yep,,,you gotta make upgrades now,,,trade those picks and get the ball rollin',,,,,you gotta bring in some guys that are proven and Wemby can see a light at the end of the tunnel. You cant waste a year waiting for next years draft in hopes that it pans out when this monster is only on a 4 year deal. That leaves you only 3 years to build a contender and has pop shown he can do that since Duncan left?,,,,the proof's in the puddin',,,,swing for the fences now or risk the consequences of losing Wemby,,,

[Splits]

Clippers are 3-7 but have a positive point differential thanks to the Spurs

[MannyIsGod]

Honestly if this were any other coach than Pop, I wouldn't feel confident they'd survive the season. I'm even starting to suspect that Pop "steps down" within the next year. There just isn't a single thing you can point to him doing well right now. The scheme sucks, the game plans suck, the chemistry sucks. Pop doesn't deserve to keep his job right now, even though he will have it as long as he wants it.

10000000000%

I've never been critical of Pop before but this is just putrid.

[Barfunk]

I don't care what the "Pop to a fault" people think, you cannot allow these embarrassing losses to continue and expect everything to be hunky dory. Just my opinion. Every Prime-time game thus far we have laid an egg. The league rewarded us with said games and we have been dropping the ball. It DOES matter. Edit: My bad, not every Prime-Time game thus far.

[Barfunk]

I guess no one remembers Wemby saying he wants to win immediately,,,,he's only on a 4 year deal and if you think this dude sticks around after 4 years with a subpar team,,,youre crazy. Every big market in America is gonna come for this dude at the end of his rookie contract and the Spurs having losing seasons is gonna cause this kid to leave. , Duncan almost left for Orlando and he already won a le in San Antonio,,,,

Unfortunately, this er is right here.

[objective]

Even if they did get an upgrade at point guard, would he be under orders to facility the Zach Collins show?

"He has some nasty!" - Pop after every time someone has zero respect for Collins and treats him like a nobody and clowns him

What is it with Pop and 'nasty'?

The first time he brought it out they proceeded to get humiliated in 4 straight games by an immature OKC team

[HemisfairArena]

Spurs should have made the trade for Damian Lillard,,,they had the draft capital to pull it off,,,,he's got another 3-4 years of high productivity and that is Wembys length of contract,,,,you gotta give Wemby some studs or hes gone,,,,plain and simple. You gotta take chances and gut the farm for some proven players,,,,whats the point of having all these draft picks if youre gonna lose your generational player while the team sucks waiting for the picks and the youth to grow? The Spurs had enough to grab Lilliard and another stud player,,,,but its not their style to do that and they will have to live with the consequences when Wemby leaves,,,just look at the Lakers gutting their future for Anthony Davis to appease LeBron,,,,resulted in a le,,,,

[Atl Spur]

10000000000%

I've never been critical of Pop before but this is just putrid.

Okc’s current coach says hi! Check out his last three years….. people lie numbers don’t!

[Vince Carter's ankle]

Spurs should have made the trade for Damian Lillard,,,they had the draft capital to pull it off,,,,he's got another 3-4 years of high productivity and that is Wembys length of contract,,,,you gotta give Wemby some studs or hes gone,,,,plain and simple. You gotta take chances and gut the farm for some proven players,,,,whats the point of having all these draft picks if youre gonna lose your generational player while the team sucks waiting for the picks and the youth to grow? The Spurs had enough to grab Lilliard and another stud player,,,,but its not their style to do that and they will have to live with the consequences when Wemby leaves,,,just look at the Lakers gutting their future for Anthony Davis to appease LeBron,,,,resulted in a le,,,,

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Pop has lost the plot completely.

[tbdog]

Spurs should have made the trade for Damian Lillard,,,they had the draft capital to pull it off,,,,he's got another 3-4 years of high productivity and that is Wembys length of contract,,,,you gotta give Wemby some studs or hes gone,,,,plain and simple. You gotta take chances and gut the farm for some proven players,,,,whats the point of having all these draft picks if youre gonna lose your generational player while the team sucks waiting for the picks and the youth to grow? The Spurs had enough to grab Lilliard and another stud player,,,,but its not their style to do that and they will have to live with the consequences when Wemby leaves,,,just look at the Lakers gutting their future for Anthony Davis to appease LeBron,,,,resulted in a le,,,,

Gee, man. You don't blow your load until Wemby is ready.