Spurs fans are turning on Gregg Popovich over Victor Wembanyama 'mismanagement' (Article)

[playblair]

What mismanagement?

Getting another top 10 talent to pair with wemby is the right move. Only one way to pick that range and you know it.

And if it works out SA is reloaded with deep young talent, financial flexibility, and future draft capital- the official stated goal.

More like stupid Spurs fans mismanaging their expectations. Pop gunning for postseason contention with rookie wemby would be actual mismanagement.

Wemby isnt ready yet, say Dame would resent carrying a young inexperienced team and likely falling short and then blowing our cap flexibility in the future with his albatross contract structure, wemby would get confidence issues falling short and some vets plus wemby and a tank does for us now and plus 5 wins wouldn't be worth the potential cost on ping pong balls nor would assuage our thirst for lasting, meaningful wins. and did someone say rivers and CP3 LOL

brian wright has missed one every pick as the spurs & pistons gm.........the scenario u laid out only works if u have a sam presti running ur front office......not a diversity quota hire........

[KobesAchilles]

It's the downside of drafting a huge prospect. There are a bunch of ty player-fans running around trying to sew as much division as possible in order to put their guy on a pedestal. Pop obviously deserves a lot of push-back, but Victor is having a pretty successful rookie year, and folks who think he's going to come and be like Duncan can't handle Wemby's rawness. They have to believe it's the result of some special incompetence or malice on everyone else's part. Sean Elliott is right there among them. Dude played with two rookie first-overall picks who were physically mature and far more actualized for NBA compe ion, and he just assumes Wemby is in the same place.

Nobody expected him to be rookie Duncan. That’s just a lie and an ad hominem. Although to counter your point about rookie DRob (who you constantly say was ready from the jump) DRob himself has said in multiple interviews that he hadn’t payed basketball in 2 years and knew nothing about basketball when he came into the league. The dude was coached by Navy, he had no good coaching to show him how to play. DRob was an extremely raw talent that Brown taught how to play basketball. It’s why DRob had him at his hall of fame ceremony. And you saying otherwise is weird to me.

I will say they are mishandling Wemby. You keep bringing up the fact that Wemby is 19. Well how old is Vassell? And Sochan? Are they 10 year vets or something? Bc I thought Sochan was 20. And same with Vassell. The whole team is young. So wtf does Wembys age have to do with anything? We know he’s flawed. No . Nobody is saying he isn’t.
But can we run so gotdamn plays for him? Seriously is it that hard to screen and roll and throw a lob to the guy. Luka does it 4 times a game with his 19 year old rookie. Can we set up some easy baskets for him? Call me old fashioned but I believe it shouldn’t be that hard to get him the ball in the spots he likes.

Also explain in what universe should Vassell be shooting more than Wemby? I need that explained to me. Bc he isn’t being doubled. And how can Sochan not ever get him involved in the offense? how come nobody in the starting line up can get him involved.

The only player fan I see are you. You have somehow tied yourself to Sochan and Vassell and KJ and just say well Wemby is raw. What can they do? How are they supposed to help him? He’s 19. Sure everyone else is 21 but he’s 19. We can’t run the offense through our best player. Sure literally every successful franchise ever in the history of the nba has won by doing that. But he’s 19 and raw. It would be bad for us to that. After all we have won 4 games this year, imagine if Wemby shot 50 times! Oh the horror of it all. Allowing our franchise player to get the ball a lot. Your takes can’t be taken serious at this point my man.

[TimmyBuckets]

Keep this up and this re ed fanbase is gonna live out their worst nightmare and push Wemby out.

[Chinook]

Nobody expected him to be rookie Duncan. That’s just a lie and an ad hominem.

Stop, I'm not playing ty FuzzyLumpkins games. I'm not chasing you debating this kind of minutia when it comes to semantics or fallacies. Back when I was in college, I was all about that (and folks on this board probably remembers when I used to have those types of arguments for days). But it's a waste of time now.

Although to counter your point about rookie DRob (who you constantly say was ready from the jump) DRob himself has said in multiple interviews that he hadn’t payed basketball in 2 years and knew nothing about basketball when he came into the league.

Robinson might have not "felt" ready, but he was physically mature and was able to do what was needed of him from his first game. It doesn't matter if he needed to be coached or not. He wasn't running around like a chicken with his head cut off. It's like how Tim thought he sucked in his first SL game even though he was actually pretty good.

DRob was an extremely raw talent that Brown taught how to play basketball. It’s why DRob had him at his hall of fame ceremony. And you saying otherwise is weird to me.

Whether Brown taught him how to play basketball or not is pointless, because he knew how to play from his very first game. That doesn't mean that he was a post-up specialist from his first game. There were probably a lot of nuances that took years to pick up. That's not what determines if a player is "ready to be fed". Maybe David knew from Navy how to stand at the dunker spot and when to move to get the ball. Maybe it was taught to him during the off-season by Brown. Maybe it was instinctual. That's not a distinction that matters. What matters is that he, even as a first-overall pick phenom who was going to a struggling franchise, fit into an offense and played off others rather than constantly calling for the ball and turning it over trying to do too much.

The whole conversation about Robinson has been twisted in an attempt to disagree with whatever I said. The rawer Robinson was, the more it proves the point I was making, which is that treating Wemby the way he is being treated, rather than reigning him in and giving him structure, is hurting him, and that deferring to him like he's a star in his prime doesn't make sense. Robinson came up as an example of the Spurs supposedly forcing the ball to. My reply to that was that Robinson was much more refined in his ability to fit on an NBA court and understood better how to get points. You jumped in to say, "You're a liar, Robinson felt like he didn't know how to play basketball until Larry taught him." But all that shows is how much more perspective Robinson has. Even a David who "didn't know how to play basketball" still knew how to play in the NBA more than Wemby does now. As I said before, that's actually reasonable given their age difference and the more complex league Victor is trying to learn.

I will say they are mishandling Wemby. You keep bringing up the fact that Wemby is 19. Well how old is Vassell? And Sochan? Are they 10 year vets or something? Bc I thought Sochan was 20. And same with Vassell. The whole team is young. So wtf does Wembys age have to do with anything? We know he’s flawed. No . Nobody is saying he isn’t.
But can we run so gotdamn plays for him? Seriously is it that hard to screen and roll and throw a lob to the guy. Luka does it 4 times a game with his 19 year old rookie. Can we set up some easy baskets for him? Call me old fashioned but I believe it shouldn’t be that hard to get him the ball in the spots he likes.

These paragraphs I guess show you don't actually read the posts you respond to? I've been a huge proponent in the Spurs running plays for Wemby this whole season. I don't think it's a stretch to say I'm the single most vociferous poster when it comes to that. But running plays is a two-way street. Wemby has to actually do his part in those plays, and far too often he breaks plays off trying to get open. We've talked about Victor constantly slipping screens and running to the paint while calling for the ball rather than doing is job and getting the ball-handler open. Yes, some of those plays are going to result in other players scoring, but if he learns to do his job, the defense will actually get put into conflict, which will result in much easier looks for him. It's like that play where Sochan didn't make a hard pass to Wemby and instead kicked it out to Osman, and Cedi drove, pulled Wemby's man and dished it to Victor for an easy look. Those are the kinds of looks he should be getting, but instead he's running around making bad seals and calling for the ball while three or four defenders are standing there waiting.

Also explain in what universe should Vassell be shooting more than Wemby? I need that explained to me. Bc he isn’t being doubled. And how can Sochan not ever get him involved in the offense? how come nobody in the starting line up can get him involved.

Vassell can get his own shot. No, Devin doesn't actually get more FGA than Victor, and Wemby's USG% dwarfs everyone else's. But even if that were the case, it's easier and often times more necessary for him to take those shots. Victor can't even dribble against an engaged defense. He needs to be set up, which for all the reasons I've been talking about, isn't happening right now. Victor is playing center right now and doesn't have an NBA-level skill-set for the position. There's a lot of critical development that he needs to have that goes beyond scoring. The reality though is that a lot of player's efforts are directly tied to their scoring attempts, so the Spurs are going to have to take a balanced approached. They aren't doing that now.

The only player fan I see are you. You have somehow tied yourself to Sochan and Vassell and KJ and just say well Wemby is raw

This ain't it, man. No, I'm not a player-fan of everyone else on the team. That's just trying to rubber-glue your way out of the situation. You're seeing this as a "sides" thing and assuming that I'm being anti-Wemby and that being anti-Wemby makes a person pro-Wemby's enemies. It's ridiculous.

What can they do? How are they supposed to help him? He’s 19.

Yes. Everyone would be helped by the team functioning well, which would be much easier if they had a coach who was interested in actually coaching.

We can’t run the offense through our best player

Why would they run their offense through a player who doesn't know how to play NBA offense? Why not let him learn while not being the focal point? David didn't lead his team in touches as a rookie. It's not because he "didn't know how to play" either. Dude was amazing as a rookie, like OMFG amazing like legit probably the best rookie season ever good. But the Spurs still didn't run the offense through him. David went on to be a man that basically did everything for his team and at his peak absolutely dominated the ball. That was him at his peak as 28-year-old. The gap between what Robinson was and what Wemby is lightyears long. , Wemby can grow into a superstar and still not be as good a prime David was. Dude was just unreal.

But he’s 19 and raw. It would be bad for us to that. After all we have won 4 games this year, imagine if Wemby shot 50 times! Oh the horror of it all. Allowing our franchise player to get the ball a lot. Your takes can’t be taken serious at this point my man.

You keep waffling between being insulted that I suggested some fans would be happy with Wemby taking an obscene number of shots and acting like I'm silly for not wanting that. It's lame, man. The only way you can try to make your point is to compare Wemby to guys who are much better than him right now and who are much further along in their careers. It's indicative of the player-fandom that's clouding your judgement. It's like how you thought it was silly that Haliburton is getting superstar touches or how in this post you suggested that Wemby is anywhere near rookie Robinson (who in case you didn't know was better than rookie Duncan, not worse). You're subs uting what you want him to be with what he is, and when you run into situations where the reality has limitations, you look for reasons to blame others players. Dude is 19, and he does need help. He needs structure and instruction. He doesn't need more touches or for everyone to pass him the ball in any situation.

Dude needs to be coached like an elite prospect and not catered to like an established superstar. I know the difference between those things, but I don't think you do.

[Chinook]

All top prospects are 19 year olds these days, which means that whatever top pick we get is just going to bring in another guy who needs years to develop, with no semblance of a real NBA team around him.

As I posted here, Wemby is the only "Generational Talent" since the lottery was created to fail to make his team better, either by number of wins or win %, and that is even being generous on what we consider a "Generational Talent".

Think about that for a moment. The most touted prospect in 20 years... and not only is the team worse, it is considerably worse. The main cast has remained the same and we have put out a mockery of professional basketball. We even have a worse +/- that the team who may legitimately threaten the worst season of all time (who are notably on a strategy seemingly similar to ours, with two top 5 picks following their #1 overall pick, and headed straight towards another... how exciting).

There is no other way to describe this than a dereliction of management, as intentional as it may be.

I don't know Wemby, but he seems like the kind of guy who will be loyal to those who are loyal to him. I don't think he would describe the management of team to date as what is best for Wemby.

Spurs right now remind me of Williams F1 Racing... a team with a great history is basically just a joke at this point.

The Spurs shouldn't tank beyond this year. I do think going for one more high pick is fine, but they need to get a vet creator in the worse way. That they used up their cap space on Vassell and Collins endangers that.

I wonder what it would take to get Clarkson from Utah? Dude's a solid piece that might be aging out of Utah long term. He's on a good extension and is flexible about what role he plays. The team could bring him in to help the young PG they draft while he plays off the bench.

[vy65]

It's the downside of drafting a huge prospect. There are a bunch of ty player-fans running around trying to sew as much division as possible in order to put their guy on a pedestal. Pop obviously deserves a lot of push-back, but Victor is having a pretty successful rookie year, and folks who think he's going to come and be like Duncan can't handle Wemby's rawness. They have to believe it's the result of some special incompetence or malice on everyone else's part. Sean Elliott is right there among them. Dude played with two rookie first-overall picks who were physically mature and far more actualized for NBA compe ion, and he just assumes Wemby is in the same place.

I mean, no. This is the same myopia from most the fan base … and ignores the elephant in the room: why would Wemby stay after the malpractice demonstrated by the front office. I can stipulate to all the faults you’ve identified with Wemby’s game - and that still would be irrelevant in terms of how utterly incompetent the FO has been in preparing and executing the first year of a generational talent’s career.

There are two givens that are incontrovertible: 1) Wemby projects to be a potential all time great; 2) the spurs had its previous franchise player flee for greener pastures.

These are the only two facts that matter. Wemby warrants immediately cultivating a winning culture (regardless of whether results are immediately obtained) and the FO, coaching staff, and team have utterly failed him in that regard.

To that end, Victor has not had a successful rookie campaign. Losing 17 or whatever it was is definitionally not successful. Much of the brunt of how terrible this team has been has been occluded by Detroit. If you take that out, you’d have a different focus on how terrible we’ve been this year. Vic has been demonstrably frustrated with his middling teammates. That’s a horrible sign. The team has actually regressed despite adding the best prospect of the past 20 years. That’s not” success” by any definition of the term. You have a coach who’s employed an incompressibly incompetent defense that allows a three point oriented league to shoot open three pointers. Again, there’s no definition of success that encapsulates what’s been going on.

There’s simply no excuse for how poorly the team has been prepared for, much less executed, year one of wemby. It’s been historically bad — and it didn’t need to be. Simple moves like keeping Cam Payne, giving up on the Sochan PG experiment early on, moving Keldon to the bench, etc could have been done, but weren’t.

The ultimate thing, that no one seems to be discussing, is this: this franchise doesn’t have the leeway it had 15-20 years ago. It needed to be much better prepared for this season, and in the most incompetent manner, was not. Given the nature of the modern NBA, it’s more probable than not that a generational talent whose first year was set on fire for absolutely no good reason will bolt. This franchise has already shown a proclivity to have that happen. So, no, Wemby’s first year cannot be called successful in any meaningful sense of the term.

[vy65]

The Spurs shouldn't tank beyond this year. I do think going for one more high pick is fine, but they need to get a vet creator in the worse way. That they used up their cap space on Vassell and Collins endangers that.

I wonder what it would take to get Clarkson from Utah? Dude's a solid piece that might be aging out of Utah long term. He's on a good extension and is flexible about what role he plays. The team could bring him in to help the young PG they draft while he plays off the bench.

This is the whole point: they shouldn’t have ranked this year. We’re not in a market like LA or NYC, much less HOU. There’s no good reason to set a year of a prospect who’s career could be limited (due to physique constraints) on fire to “see what they have” with players that had been on the roster for 1-3 years already. The franchise doesn’t have any luxury of time, and acting like it does is the surefire way to ensure Wemby leaves.

Even assuming picks 1 and 7 come out way, those new rookies are going to require the same acclimation process we’re saying Wemby needs. That isn’t going to do us any favors in keeping Wemby. There’s just no strategy with this front office at all, and the fan base needs to stop acting like we have time that we don’t.

[scott]

The Spurs shouldn't tank beyond this year. I do think going for one more high pick is fine, but they need to get a vet creator in the worse way. That they used up their cap space on Vassell and Collins endangers that.

I wonder what it would take to get Clarkson from Utah? Dude's a solid piece that might be aging out of Utah long term. He's on a good extension and is flexible about what role he plays. The team could bring him in to help the young PG they draft while he plays off the bench.

Though I still think we are mishandling this first year of Wemby (I think it's possible to get a top 5 pick without this level of embarrassment and have a more productive tank season in terms of the development of the youth, we've all discussed this at length here and I think most agree, so no need to debate that again here) - I'm generally okay with another tank this year for a high pick, if it turns out that way. But even the most ardent of sniffers told us we were done tanking after we got Wemby, as there was "no one worth tanking for". Yet, here we are, and the next two seasons do in fact have players "worth tanking for" in Flagg and Boozer. I don't want to see this FO get addicted to the tank ("if we just had ONE more top talent to add to the roster...") at the expense of actual progress - because that's how we lose Wemby.

So, all in all, I don't think there is too much disagreement on that overall strategy, it's just the tactics that rub folks (like me) the wrong way and actually make me question whether the Spurs are on the same strategy at all, or on some other long-tank strategy beyond this season. If that comes to be, there will be the sniffers who come out and start threads about how that is genius too, and we can have this same debate all over again. But at least we have on record some of the folks saying the tank should stop this year. I'm just afraid many of these players won't be able to transition from losers to winners when the time comes (thus why I say everyone other than Wemby is easily replaceable).

[scott]

I mean, no. This is the same myopia from most the fan base … and ignores the elephant in the room: why would Wemby stay after the malpractice demonstrated by the front office. I can stipulate to all the faults you’ve identified with Wemby’s game - and that still would be irrelevant in terms of how utterly incompetent the FO has been in preparing and executing the first year of a generational talent’s career.

There are two givens that are incontrovertible: 1) Wemby projects to be a potential all time great; 2) the spurs had its previous franchise player flee for greener pastures.

These are the only two facts that matter. Wemby warrants immediately cultivating a winning culture (regardless of whether results are immediately obtained) and the FO, coaching staff, and team have utterly failed him in that regard.

To that end, Victor has not had a successful rookie campaign. Losing 17 or whatever it was is definitionally not successful. Much of the brunt of how terrible this team has been has been occluded by Detroit. If you take that out, you’d have a different focus on how terrible we’ve been this year. Vic has been demonstrably frustrated with his middling teammates. That’s a horrible sign. The team has actually regressed despite adding the best prospect of the past 20 years. That’s not” success” by any definition of the term. You have a coach who’s employed an incompressibly incompetent defense that allows a three point oriented league to shoot open three pointers. Again, there’s no definition of success that encapsulates what’s been going on.

There’s simply no excuse for how poorly the team has been prepared for, much less executed, year one of wemby. It’s been historically bad — and it didn’t need to be. Simple moves like keeping Cam Payne, giving up on the Sochan PG experiment early on, moving Keldon to the bench, etc could have been done, but weren’t.

The ultimate thing, that no one seems to be discussing, is this: this franchise doesn’t have the leeway it had 15-20 years ago. It needed to be much better prepared for this season, and in the most incompetent manner, was not. Given the nature of the modern NBA, it’s more probable than not that a generational talent whose first year was set on fire for absolutely no good reason will bolt. This franchise has already shown a proclivity to have that happen. So, no, Wemby’s first year cannot be called successful in any meaningful sense of the term.

Quoting merely to say, great post and excellent summation.

[scott]

This is the whole point: they shouldn’t have ranked this year. We’re not in a market like LA or NYC, much less HOU. There’s no good reason to set a year of a prospect who’s career could be limited (due to physique constraints) on fire to “see what they have” with players that had been on the roster for 1-3 years already. The franchise doesn’t have any luxury of time, and acting like it does is the surefire way to ensure Wemby leaves.

Even assuming picks 1 and 7 come out way, those new rookies are going to require the same acclimation process we’re saying Wemby needs. That isn’t going to do us any favors in keeping Wemby. There’s just no strategy with this front office at all, and the fan base needs to stop acting like we have time that we don’t.

Another banger. In the best case scenario (picks #1 and #7), we will still REQUIRE the front office drastically shake up this roster with veteran presence around them. The last thing we need is Wemby, plus two more talented 19 year olds to be surrounded by and learn from this group of losers. For that reason, I'd much rather trade away that TOR pick (and other assets it necessary) for a more proven veteran commodity.

I do like the Jordan Clarkson idea, I think he'd be an ideal vet for this team, and a hometown boy to boot.

[CorrectCrusader]

I mean, no. This is the same myopia from most the fan base … and ignores the elephant in the room: why would Wemby stay after the malpractice demonstrated by the front office. I can stipulate to all the faults you’ve identified with Wemby’s game - and that still would be irrelevant in terms of how utterly incompetent the FO has been in preparing and executing the first year of a generational talent’s career.

There are two givens that are incontrovertible: 1) Wemby projects to be a potential all time great; 2) the spurs had its previous franchise player flee for greener pastures.

These are the only two facts that matter. Wemby warrants immediately cultivating a winning culture (regardless of whether results are immediately obtained) and the FO, coaching staff, and team have utterly failed him in that regard.

To that end, Victor has not had a successful rookie campaign. Losing 17 or whatever it was is definitionally not successful. Much of the brunt of how terrible this team has been has been occluded by Detroit. If you take that out, you’d have a different focus on how terrible we’ve been this year. Vic has been demonstrably frustrated with his middling teammates. That’s a horrible sign. The team has actually regressed despite adding the best prospect of the past 20 years. That’s not” success” by any definition of the term. You have a coach who’s employed an incompressibly incompetent defense that allows a three point oriented league to shoot open three pointers. Again, there’s no definition of success that encapsulates what’s been going on.

There’s simply no excuse for how poorly the team has been prepared for, much less executed, year one of wemby. It’s been historically bad — and it didn’t need to be. Simple moves like keeping Cam Payne, giving up on the Sochan PG experiment early on, moving Keldon to the bench, etc could have been done, but weren’t.

The ultimate thing, that no one seems to be discussing, is this: this franchise doesn’t have the leeway it had 15-20 years ago. It needed to be much better prepared for this season, and in the most incompetent manner, was not. Given the nature of the modern NBA, it’s more probable than not that a generational talent whose first year was set on fire for absolutely no good reason will bolt. This franchise has already shown a proclivity to have that happen. So, no, Wemby’s first year cannot be called successful in any meaningful sense of the term.

Mic drop

[tbdog]

I wonder what embid first years were like. Wasn't Simmons drafted the season after and was listed out for the season?

[Mal]

Young team, playing good basketball - should win from time to time. Bad team loses consistently

[Obstructed_View]

I wonder what embid first years were like. Wasn't Simmons drafted the season after and was listed out for the season?

Embiid didn't play his first two years due to injury.

[Extra Stout]

Taking Sean Elliott to task for just not being able to comprehend Pop’s brilliance is an underrated all-time sniffer take.

[Dex]

I mean I don't really know what is to be gleamed from letting Victor "figure it out" and "observe" him playing because he was always going to do what 19 year old 1st overall picks do, have a few good games some amazing highlights and be mostly inefficient.

Purposely not playing him with a point guard is dumb and purposely playing him with a power forward who is failing horribly at being a point guard is downright ing stupid.

It's becoming apparent that Sochan might possibly be one of the worst passers on the team so I think we can safely say the experiment failed. Some people just don't have that in their game, and giving him more reps doesn't seem to be working.

[Obstructed_View]

It's becoming apparent that Sochan might possibly be one of the worst passers on the team so I think we can safely say the experiment failed. Some people just don't have that in their game, and giving him more reps doesn't seem to be working.

Don't forget he literally can't dribble the ball and he is the worst shooter of all time.

[rjv]

ST would have imploded if the spurs had gone and wasted their cap space on the likes of a van vleet and cp3 and damian were never going to come here. there was very little the spurs could actually do to dramatically improve this roster. at best, the spurs would have been what the rockets currently are. what we see on the floor now is the result of a liquidation sale that resulted in securing a great asset in Wemby. i don't think the entire roster is junk but there are players on this team that shouldn't be starting or considered the 2nd and 3rd options. vegas was right about this team. it's bad. what none of us know is exactly what the front office tells Wemby. the Spurs aren't going to announce their future plans to anyone but there's a pretty decent chance that they keep their best player in the loop.

[Pauleta14]

The worst part of Sochan's game is that is stops dribling before knowing who to pass the ball. Ends up being pressure and 90% of the time a bad pass

It happens almost everytime...

Sorry for his fans but that's a clear sign of low IQ even more than lack of skill

Just listening to him is enough to see the guy is limited intellectually

[z0sa]

The worst part of Sochan's game is that is stops dribling before knowing who to pass the ball. Ends up being pressure and 90% of the time a bad pass

It happens almost everytime...

Sorry for his fans but that's a clear sign of low IQ even more than lack of skill

Just listening to him is enough to see the guy is limited intellectually

I strongly disagree he has any intellectual problems. He just is 20 and never WANTED to play PG. His basketball dream is setting screens, streaking for highlight dunks and backing down smaller defenders then scoring over them, if one had to guess. Nowhere in his skillset was anyone or should anyone expect a pass first PG.

[poopbox]

It's becoming apparent that Sochan might possibly be one of the worst passers on the team so I think we can safely say the experiment failed. Some people just don't have that in their game, and giving him more reps doesn't seem to be working.

Part of the reason why the anti sniffers crew thinks Pop is a moron is...it never should have been tried in the first place. Sochan CLEARLY never displayed any type of talent or skill that would lead one to believe he could play far away from the basket and make high level passes to other players that would result in points, so why would Pop even try it to start with? It was something that anyone who watched Sochan play for 10 games new was going to be a disaster, and it was, so what exactly was the point? Sochan is just right back to the point he started at when he was drafted as a rookie. Nothing was gained by him "being a point guard" and everything was lost. His confidence was destroyed, he became a laughing stock on social media, his numbers declined, and now people question if he is actually any good at basketball at all. Why would a head coach put a player through that?

[itzsoweezee]

ST would have imploded if the spurs had gone and wasted their cap space on the likes of a van vleet and cp3 and damian were never going to come here. there was very little the spurs could actually do to dramatically improve this roster. at best, the spurs would have been what the rockets currently are. what we see on the floor now is the result of a liquidation sale that resulted in securing a great asset in Wemby. i don't think the entire roster is junk but there are players on this team that shouldn't be starting or considered the 2nd and 3rd options. vegas was right about this team. it's bad. what none of us know is exactly what the front office tells Wemby. the Spurs aren't going to announce their future plans to anyone but there's a pretty decent chance that they keep their best player in the loop.

The spurs didn’t need stars. However, what they did need were competent vets that could teach these young guys how to be professional basketball players. Instead, they chose dysfunction and incompetence. Why? No one knows. Sniffers are guessing that somehow, by putting these young players in these dysfunctional situations, they will magically become competent professionals. This thinking is so dumb, I can’t believe anyone would proclaim it publicly

[Pauleta14]

I strongly disagree he has any intellectual problems. He just is 20 and never WANTED to play PG. His basketball dream is setting screens, streaking for highlight dunks and backing down smaller defenders then scoring over them, if one had to guess. Nowhere in his skillset was anyone or should anyone expect a pass first PG.

I strongly disagree as well

you can learn a lot from anyone by just observing their reactions to diff situations.
The ex I gave about him stopping his dribble before knowing what to do speaks volumes bc it’s not just a cple instances, it’s almost all the freaking time!!!
his emotional intelligence seems fragile too as he’s shown many time.

im not saying he’s a moron, just that he’s not a high IQ guy and his game is more based on reactions than reflexion and anticipations. It’s not the sign of a clever man…

high energy role player ok but never a starter unless specific matchups

[Mugen]

Any 2024 top 5 pick possibly will need an adjustment period too unless it's a finished product

24-25 season might look a lot like this one so get ready

You front runners might wanna just check back in 3 seasons

I hope so because that means Wemby and his team is going to push your precious FO out. BWrong can go back to valeting cars and the old man can finally get a nice window seat in a retirement home

[rjv]

The spurs didn’t need stars. However, what they did need were competent vets that could teach these young guys how to be professional basketball players. Instead, they chose dysfunction and incompetence. Why? No one knows. Sniffers are guessing that somehow, by putting these young players in these dysfunctional situations, they will magically become competent professionals. This thinking is so dumb, I can’t believe anyone would proclaim it publicly

need and market are two entirely en ies. i have no problem with the argument that the spurs could have used such players but that begs the question as to what players would have fit this bill who would have 1) wanted to be here and 2) been available.