Grades: Spurs vs. Timberwolves - Nov. 2, 2024

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/grades-spu...s-2025-game-6/

[Mr. Body]

Minnesota might have been tired, alright, but this is still a great win. A totally different team from the Utah game.

I liked the looks they were giving Wembanyama, moving him around, getting different picks for him. He still does the little kid "Imma just launch a 3 now" thing, which needs to go away.

Sochan has moved to the next level. He was jamming Edwards pretty well, not easy to do. Two games in a row with fantastic chase-down blocks.

Barnes and Paul are melting into the team now. They seem to now know where they're needed and to fit in and their presence is huge. Barnes had a couple big baskets on broken plays. With Paul, well, there's no one better at calming things down. He's so assured.

Looking forward to seeing how the season goes for Castle. Lot of good things here, plus solid defense, and room to grow.

[tbdog]

Sochan is playing as a powerful power forward who is also capable of defending superstars like Anthony Edwards out on the perimeter. That’s an impressive array skills on display.

In year 3 of his career.

[Fireball]

Good to see Wemby being more energetic again. Spurs defense looks really better this season ... good overall team effort against Minny.

Thanks for the grades!

[mystargtr34]

In year 3 of his career.

And not long 21 yo.

Biggest thing for Jeremy is consistency. His first 2 years he’d have these games where he puts up 15-8-3 with great defense and you think he could easily be a Diaw or Draymond-lite then he’ll string together a bunch of 2 point 1-7 FG games where it looks like he’s never played basketball before.

Hopefully that consistency comes with experience and development but it’s no guarantee.

[Dhbsr555]

And not long 21 yo.

Biggest thing for Jeremy is consistency. His first 2 years he’d have these games where he puts up 15-8-3 with great defense and you think he could easily be a Diaw or Draymond-lite then he’ll string together a bunch of 2 point 1-7 FG games where it looks like he’s never played basketball before.

I think a big part of it is cp3 hes a game changer
Hopefully that consistency comes with experience and development but it’s no guarantee.

[tbdog]

And not long 21 yo.

Biggest thing for Jeremy is consistency. His first 2 years he’d have these games where he puts up 15-8-3 with great defense and you think he could easily be a Diaw or Draymond-lite then he’ll string together a bunch of 2 point 1-7 FG games where it looks like he’s never played basketball before.

Hopefully that consistency comes with experience and development but it’s no guarantee.

It was worse than that. Some games he was a non factor. No defense stats or boards.

[RC_Drunkford]

Like I said in the game thread this was probably the best Spurs game execution wise of the past 3 years. We won every quarter except the 4th (which we lost by 2 cause the Wolves scored instead of letting the clock run out), played very composed, ran sets and got contributions from everybody. I liked that Mitch Johnson never played Sochan and Castle together and didn't play Wesley, which means we never had more than 1 non-shooter on the court at all times. Our defense seems legit and we are heavily outrebounding teams. The team should look even better once Devin is back, although I fear Pop going back to his "let's play 3 non-shooters at the same time" idiocy.

[Dex]

It was worse than that. Some games he was a non factor. No defense stats or boards.

It's still early in the season so I'm not counting any chickens yet, but maybe he is finally putting it together.

As I have said in other threads, Sochan has surprisingly been the most consistent Spur in terms of impact in this young season.

His game isn't pretty...but it's working.

[Raven]

thought keldon making the shots he's supposed to make, and paul's pick and roll bonanza were the key to this excellent game.

[exstatic]

thought keldon making the shots he's supposed to make, and paul's pick and roll bonanza were the key to this excellent game.

We FINALLY ING DECIDED to attack the other side of the mismatch. Keldon has to be this aggressive every time they try to hide their big while guarding Wemby with a wing or big guard. Medium Body just pretty much ate Gobert’s lunch.

[LeBowen]

We FINALLY ING DECIDED to attack the other side of the mismatch. Keldon has to be this aggressive every time they try to hide their big while guarding Wemby with a wing or big guard. Medium Body just pretty much ate Gobert’s lunch.

Agreed.
When we actually get to playoff team level, we should be able to run every non-elite big off the floor.
Last night Wolves sat Gobert and tried Randle/Reid duo.

Same goes for our lineups. If there's not a legit C on the floor when Wemby sits, we should be playing Mamu and not Collins.
I'd even try Barnes/Jeremy duo.

[Pauleta14]

And not long 21 yo.

Biggest thing for Jeremy is consistency. His first 2 years he’d have these games where he puts up 15-8-3 with great defense and you think he could easily be a Diaw or Draymond-lite then he’ll string together a bunch of 2 point 1-7 FG games where it looks like he’s never played basketball before.

Hopefully that consistency comes with experience and development but it’s no guarantee.

Thx

Good to see some are still capable of having nuanced pov.

[Davidicus]

Team defense showed out this game. Best I’ve seen in a while. Everyone was hustling, rotating, and fighting for it. Really enjoyable to watch.

Interested to see if CP3 and Keldon can continue their individual momentum here, or if that was just a “good game.”

Get well soon Pop!

[John B]

I enjoyed that game a lot. It’s watching CP3 dishing assists, directing people and just being a general, and our young squad took advantage especially Sochan. Slowly but surely the guys are playing smart basketball, moving with a purpose. Wemby with his face on the basket also allowed Sochan and Keldon to attack the rim. If Wemby can continue to become better effective at the perimeter, while people like Champ can drain the outside shots, we can see a better picture of their iden y. It’s playing to the strength of the team as a whole. Pop is a genius at maximizing the composition of his personnel, and the roles are starting to be defined. It’s a matter of mastering those roles to the “T” . It’s 6 games into the season, and already it’s starting to click. CP3 and Barnes are big part of anchoring that. It’s just going to get better when Devin comes back. If they can continue to master that I think there’s a good chance this team gets to the play-in.

[Ice009]

The Spurs really need Chris Paul and to a lesser extend Harrison Barnes as they're both stabilizing the team. Not sure what they'd do without them. Hopefully CP3 stays for the rest of this season. I'd even want him back next season if he's to finish the season healthy and playing well. Not sure if he wants to go to a contender mid-season, though?

[Dejounte]

The Spurs really need Chris Paul and to a lesser extend Harrison Barnes as they're both stabilizing the team. Not sure what they'd do without them. Hopefully CP3 stays for the rest of this season. I'd even want him back next season if he's to finish the season healthy and playing well. Not sure if he wants to go to a contender mid-season, though?

People underestimate the value of relationships and at this stage of Paul’s career, I think he’d feel he’d make a lasting impact on guys he’s teaching right now than pursue selfish ambitions. Anyways, if you look around the league there aren’t really many contenders that would be suited for his services. Keep in mind he’d have to start from scratch anywhere and it also involves a team telling their backup PG, “hey, we have CP taking your spot” after working hard all season long. If a contender’s starting PG becomes injured indefinitely, then maybe? But even then I just don’t think CP’s desires are there anymore. Like the guy said… he just wants to play.

[Mr. Body]

I forgot to mention Keldon. This role is great for him, coming in like a bowling ball, and he was very aggressive attacking Gobert. If it works, nice change of pace.

The hidden story of the season so far is that the Spurs are really limiting teams on the scoreboard. Some graphic showed that for four games straight the Spurs have held opponents below 30 points in three out of four quarters. Even against OKC they were limiting them. Keeping this up and raising the offense will make a tough opponent for a lot of teams to face.

[jeebus]

Branham running the point was a mouth breather move, but luckily he saw that and put Castle in there to run the point. It wasn't like Tre Jones in there but Castle could still get the ball over the line and make the first pass without turning it over, unlike Gary Neal I mean Branham.

[RC_Drunkford]

I hope CP3 can teach Vassell to run pick & rolls like that. He would be a monster if he could.

[exstatic]

Branham running the point was a mouth breather move, but luckily he saw that and put Castle in there to run the point. It wasn't like Tre Jones in there but Castle could still get the ball over the line and make the first pass without turning it over, unlike Gary Neal I mean Branham.

People here tend to be way too hard on him this year. He’s a bucket off the bench. That being said, he should NEVER bring the ball up the court.

[Dejounte]

Branham’s problem is he doesn’t know how to stay engaged 100% of the time. He’d make the sloppiest play from time to time. It’s the kind of style that loses you games in the playoffs. What makes it worse is his body language after those plays.

[Mugen]

Been calling for some action that ends with Vic getting the ball in the paint, glad we finally saw some of that tbh. Sets are still taking too long to get into but I think that improves as time goes on.

That Point Branham BS probably caused us a 4-10 pt swing so hopefully we never, ever see that again.

Liking the defense thus far, I think improvement there is real. Love Steph getting a chance to D up Ant Man. If he can just throw the ball into the ocean, I can see his career taking off tbh.

[Mugen]

Hopefully BWrong is working the phones after that Keldon game tbh. We won't see another one like it for another month at least

[baseline bum]

Haven't seen these pinpoint passes CP3 was throwing last night since Manu retired. Damn makes me hope Paul sticks around another 2-3 years.