Legit Dilemma III: Fox incoming. CP3 vs Castle for starter spot. Do you think Mitch dares to bench CP3's old ass or to hinder Castle's growth?

[Splits]

I already have multiple times. He's an atrocious defender at this stage and he hero modes with the ball in his hands.. Lots of talent for sure and i don't have a problem with his shooting, but there is a reason why we have been loosing so much, and it is castle.

LOOSING

You are a loser.
The Spurs have been losing.
Your wife's pussy is loose.
She's ing another guy, which is why her pussy is loosing.

[Arguendo]

You guys are trying to have a logical conversation with a person who said "Devin is pretty darn good, consistently" and "Devin is a legit #2 and Keldon is a legit #3". They didn't say these things last year or even this past summer... these are things they typed within the last few weeks.
Save your time.

Thanks for the heads up, I'm mostly a lurker and don't pay that much attention to user names hahahah

[slick'81]

Speaking of cp3

[Knoxxx]

Has OP not watched a single Spurs game since Jan 13, whereby Castle is averaging 18 PPG!?!

[cutewizard]

Castle should start, continue his development

We reward CP3 as Playing Assistant Coach now......

[Arguendo]

I have seen the light and agree with Lebowen, Spurm and Kony

Fox/CP3
Castle/Vassell
Champ/Johnson
Barnes/Sochan
Wemby/Rebounding big or Bassey

Think I've been swayed on this too. This SL surrounds Fox+Castle with 3 of our 4 best shooters, provides better D and balance, and let's CP3 limit and lift DV/KJ/Sochan. That bench is actually a really great fit together with Paul orchestrating, CP3 & Vassell can hit the 3, Vassell & KJ can drive and push, Sochan/Bassey or C to be named better can board and clean up. D will be bad, but CP3 halts the pace for the 10ish min that lineup will play together.

That said, I'd rather CP3 be happy with his role given he came here and hugely accelerated our development, that's what the Spurs do, and that philosophy landed us Paul (got Graham to play ball which got us a 2nd, got Barnes to waive his kicker, so many examples- that just 2024 offseason- it pays to be the franchise that does right by its players), so if he's happier playing the first 5-7mpg with the starters it really doesn't matter, I'd still expect him to play 10ish min per with this lineup, just a matter of when in-game.

[scott]

Speaking of cp3

Even if Giannis did come available like some folks are hoping... I don't think he's coming here

[heyheymymy]

Think I've been swayed on this too. This SL surrounds Fox+Castle with 3 of our 4 best shooters, provides better D and balance, and let's CP3 limit and lift DV/KJ/Sochan. That bench is actually a really great fit together with Paul orchestrating, CP3 & Vassell can hit the 3, Vassell & KJ can drive and push, Sochan/Bassey or C to be named better can board and clean up. D will be bad, but CP3 halts the pace for the 10ish min that lineup will play together.

That said, I'd rather CP3 be happy with his role given he came here and hugely accelerated our development, that's what the Spurs do, and that philosophy landed us Paul (got Graham to play ball which got us a 2nd, got Barnes to waive his kicker, so many examples- that just 2024 offseason- it pays to be the franchise that does right by its players), so if he's happier playing the first 5-7mpg with the starters it really doesn't matter, I'd still expect him to play 10ish min per with this lineup, just a matter of when in-game.

Solid assessment and I agree. Appreciate your thoughts here.

And yeah, maybe we do start with CP3/Fox/Castle for the first shift and like I think scott said, pull CP3 quick and slide Fox down to PG with Castle and Champ while still keeping the initial Barnes/Wemby front court for a bit. Where is Chinook or scott with those minutes tables to show how to stagger subs utions.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Frankly, he should bench Sochan who has been playing like ass.

CP3 / Fox / Castle / Barnes / Wemby

Stagger minutes with Fox/Castle off the bench, with KJ / Vassell / Sochan / Bassey


I know that makes for a terribly small lineup, but we still have Wemby and Jeremy is doing more harm than good right now

We also can't expect Fox to come in Day 1 and understand the system or players around him, so having CP3 to run the show will be necessary imo

I’ll have what he’s having.

This is the right game plan. Paul can run the offense better than anyone else on the team. Let him start with Fox and sub freely. Castle can start at the three and then shift over.

Folks seem to quickly forget how terrible this team looked last year without a point guard. CP3 Deserves a little more respect.

[Knoxxx]

Fox is a PG yall are tripping balls. Fox off the bench more nonsense.

[rankingtear]

CP3 already playing with the second unit more lately it is probably him. He has no legs anymore compared to the first few months.

[Arguendo]

Fox is a PG yall are tripping balls. Fox off the bench more nonsense.

Huh? I guess you misread the question: Paul or Castle?

But the thread seems to be 99% Paul vs Vassell (or Champ) in SL- with Fox/Castle/Barnes/Wemby

I don't think a single person has suggested Fox off the bench
Maybe your thinking "Stagger minutes with Fox/Castle off the bench, with KJ / Vassell / Sochan / Bassey" but that still had Fox/Castle in the SL, talking about how to stagger minutes with bench guys.

[Slippy]

Ypu gotta bench Chris. Doesn't make sense at all to keep him as a starter.

You can tell Chris is showing signs of his age going by last months play. Keep him fresh and healthy . If spurs make playsoffs he could be a huge x factor off the bench.

Also don't stifle Steph Castles development . Its trending the right way since going back to start

[scott]

Here's kind of what I'm thinking. You could increase Jeremy's minutes by giving him some time at the 5 against small lineups.

as I was about to post this I realized I left out Champ, which I don't actually want to do, but I'll go ahead and post it anyway. We're one Vassell or Keldon too heavy and it kind of just s everything up.

[scott]

What I'd actually prefer if we could clear out one of Vassell or Keldon (everyone knows my preference, but I'll do one of each) would be one of these two (left is with Devin, right is with Keldon)

[Arguendo]

Thanks scott!
That's pretty damn close to what I was thinking. With injuries/off-nights, I think most stay fairly close to their current avgs losing a min or 3, with Sochan getting 5+ of those C minutes w/Keldon at the 4, and Castle getting a deserved bump.
But this makes a great case to move Keldon plus 52 2nds for Herb Jones. Log-jam solved. Go do it BWright!

[jiggy_55]

Honestly if I'm CP3, I'm the veteran here and I would be the one to go to the coach and tell him start Fox and Castle and I'll come off the bench. Knowing coach won't have the balls to do that from day 1. Not sure CP3's pride would allow him to do this, but it is the right thing to do in my opinion. Let the young guys go and gel together and he will still probably play a good 25mpg a night anyway down from his season average of 29. He gets all of Tre Jones minutes and splits his time on the court mostly between sharing the court with Castle and Fox.

I doubt he wants to be traded unless there's a big chance for him with a major contender which I don't personally see happening, I feel he enjoys it here and has been a happy Spur so far and should be looking forward to staying here another year or so and trying to mentor and win with this group and with the addition of Fox we should be a much improved team, if not this season then next season definitely.

[onechance87]

bench vassell untill he starts playing good.

[Raven]

Not having a proper backup big, Vassell's big time regression, low iq Keldon, and Castle going through rookie struggles are all reasons why we are racking up losses. Even Wemby had a rough January which cost us some games. Throwing this entirely on Castle is a bit excessive. , our best stretch this season (mid/late November) Castle was playing more minutes than he is now.

That being said, for a guy who was expected to make his mark on the defensive end first and foremost it has been a rough go. He bites on fakes and feints for too often, no discipline in that area. The best defensive players move their feet and stay between man and basket which is another thing he often fails to do (even with Wemby in the paint its bad outcomes to let your man get by). He has the physical tools to be a good, sturdy and versatile defender but we have only seen flashes of it at best.

i'm not, it gets misunderstood, because since he's new, i tend to speak more about him than other guys. It's just more interesting, that's all. I think Castle has everything to be a great pg defender, but when in the first quarter about 30ish points from the opposition are scored in your face, it's safe to say you're not quite there yet..

[heyheymymy]

Great way to visualize it. Thank you for the tables, scott. Appreciate your time throwing that together. Actually noticing some pretty good positional balance since the Fox trade. Just need a bonafide backup big situation.

[spursparker9]

Just to share.

Castle's really remind of Nephew based on his talking tone

[Ice009]

I watched that video earlier, but thanks for posting it. He smiles a lot more than Kawhi. I think he's similar to Kawhi in that they both live and breathe basketball. You might be right about the talking tone. I do think they both have personality (I always thought that Kawhi doesn't open up unless he knows you), but since I don't know either of them at all, I can't say if one is easier to talk to than the other, or if one has more personality than the other. Stephon seems a lot more approachable, though.
Having said that, I like Steph's personality. He comes off as having a huge passion for basketball and also being an easy going/good guy. Hopefully Stephon and De'Aaron and also Victor mesh well on and off the court.

[spursparker9]

Mitch...

Saw the post game interview where a reporter asked if this will be the future starting lineup and he acknowledged.

I knew he don't dare to bench CP3.