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He did
Certainly less than 90/5.
Sochan is a rare archetype, like a classic rim-roller center (defense/rebounding specialist while being a cutter/rim-roller on offense) but defends wings and guards and is a better connector than most who play that role. That gives lineups that include him upside because he does things most players can't, but it also makes him more difficult to build around because you need a shooting big next to him. Wemby certainly fits that bill, which is why I think Sochan is a better fit in the starting lineup than off the bench. The defensive potential of Fox/Castle/3-and-D SF/Sochan/Wemby is huge.
If the Spurs do land Naz Reid, Sochan could be the first big off the bench and can play alongside either Wemby or Reid. That's probably the ideal bench scenario for him. I guess if I have to give a number it would be something like 70/5. That's a starting salary of $12M, or about 7% of the cap. I think he would rather test the market than take that, though.
I still want the fifth year because in cap % terms, the 5th year will always be cheaper than the 4th if the cap keeps going up 10% a year, and that will be his age 27 season which should be the best year of his career to that point, and perhaps ever.
He did
Better offensive mindset last night with 11 attempts.
id like to keep sochan around but his contract should be in line with a good bench player and not solid starter
have to acknowledge that a lot is being asked of him. defend bigs, defend smalls. rebound. score down low as a cutter and via pick and roll. fix the 3 point shot. a year after being thrown into a PG spot he had no experience with. he at least has a great at ude about it and manages to be a force for good more often than not. tbh, one thing that hasnt really shown up much this year which was one of his posiitve attributes in the draft was his passing ability (i thought he could fit into the draymond role due to that). there's still plenty of room for him to improve especially with age and naturally getting stronger as part of that
and when this season ends for the spurs, he will still be 21 years old.
Ultimately I think the main polarized views of sochan comes from his extremes in offence and defence. He is a bad offensive player intodays nba due to his inability and, more damming, unwillingness to shoot. But he does have some redeeming qualities as he is a decent ball handler and passer for someone his size, and he is a very good rim roller.
On the other hand he is an at least above average perimeter defender and excellent offensive rebounder. That combination is quite rare and is a useful trait. His interior defense is suspect due to his size and athleticism, but overall he is a good, versatile defender. He defends PGs 17.2% of the time and centre 10.7% of the time. For someone who is primarily a forward (d sf and PF about 27% of the time) this is really impressive stuff.
I believe there are redeeming qualities to his offensive game even though there has to be massive improvements in a few areas (shooting being the obvious one, but also some form of creation off the dribble).
To say that all five players on the floor had to be shooter is simply untrue. Cason Wallace, Caruso, Jaylin Williams, hartenstein arent great shooters and they play comparatively heavy minutes for the thunder. At least one and many times more than one of them are on the floor together.
More t, Marcus smart for the grizzlies. Amen, FVV, sengun, Eason, more for Houston. Westbrook and Watson for Denver. Jarrett Allen, wade and mobley (low volume) for the cavs. Giannis, kuzma, KPJ for the bucks. The list goes on. To blame the offensive woes of the spurs on sochan not being able to shoot is lazy, sure he’s not helping but I still maintain the biggest issue is that the coaching staff has failed to design a workable offense with the parts we have.
Ultimately it just depends on what we value and I’m still a defense first guy. Sochan is a team player and plays with a lot of toughness, doesn’t complain and do whatever is asked of him to do. He has his warts but it’s just magnified with the terrible system.
For the record I think it’s not just sochan, but everyone is under performing due to the game plan. Wemby with his skills should be easily a top 5 player in the league already, instead he’s not playing to that high stratosphere (I’d say too 10 before the blood clot) because the game plan sucks.
I think the bolded parts are matter distilled down to the most important points. Rare doesn't always mean useful, and at some point it may just be easier to find a useful, less rare archetype than trying to fit the rest of the puzzle pieces that best activate Sochan.
Wemby is also a rare, and a little more difficult to build around... but he's good enough to be a centerpiece that you build around. Sochan is not, so at some point the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
I was big on Eason and didn't think his personality was an issue at all. He played hard and on instinct. Of course the experts here knew better. The guy was kind of a dork in a Spurs way iirc. Actually I wanted Sochan and Eason.
imo rare players are a multiplier on coaching. With bad coaching they will be worse than a more vanilla archetype, but with good coaching they can transcend.
So I guess my support of signing Sochan to a MLE-sized extension is also predicated on the Spurs having at least above-average coaching, which certainly isn't a given.
Spurs coaching sucks big time and not only this year. Just look at Collins and Tre blossoming at Chicago. Suddenly with a semi competent game plan they look like borderline all stars.
They’re allowed to take whatever shots they want on an obviously tanking team. Don’t overthink this.
It doesn't change the fact that Mitch sucks.
Wait, I’ve been reliably informed by posters here that Sochan doesn’t play good defense.
He got blown by some wife beater on the hornets for a game winner. He’s overrated.
Hornets game was lost by a kick out three pointer, as Esteban Castillo got caught ball watching. It was the wife beater who hit the shot, though, so you got that right.
Yeah, a two would've only tied it, so that was clearly the game plan (to let them shoot a contested 2/layup, anything but a 3).
If he could just develop an outside shot........
Sochans perimeter defense passes the eye test and backs up the numbers in the video. It’s on the inside against big physical 4’s where he is overmatched due to a lack of strength. I’ve been saying Sochans best position is as a 3 where his combination of plus size and plus foot speed/lateral quickness is an advantage and he’s guarding the best player 1 through 3 and occasionally 1 through 4 depending on the matchup.
If the Spurs fill the starting 4 position with a shooting big like Naz Reid or Rasheer Fleming I wouldn’t mind giving Sochan a run as the starting 3 next to Fox and Castle. Spacing will be an issue so it may be too big of a trade off but the Spurs could also bring Castle off the bench and slot in a shooter at the starting 2 like a Kon Kernipple.
Having Sochan guarding the opponents best player from the tip is a big advantage as opposed to guys getting in a groove being guarded by Evan or Barnes.
Last edited by mystargtr34; 03-17-2025 at 08:11 AM.
Sochan definitely has his positives, as stated already, the coaching/systems/game plans seem incomprehensible at times.
I, like virtually everyone on this forum, do feel that his role would be clarified greatly by adding a Naz Reid type along with a strong 3&D wing. Socahan is a great connective piece of a really good to great team, but, not one you build around, nor, give up the farm for.
Random thought, I sometimes wonder if it's like a CIA Pop technique to use ty game plans on purpose to make the team follow orders, get over themselves and overcome adversity. Like they need to earn the right to better coaching. Kind of the basketball version of Glengarry Glenross.
Sochan has been rated by EPM very highly this year. He was among the top 8 defenders till Wemby was around and once our main guy was shut down for the season, Sochan became less effective even if his numbers remained elite on defense.
Sochan, Castle and Wemby are our defensive calling cards. They just need to find a way to play together. Wemby is mostly complete and is malleable enough. But Sochan needs to develop his shooting while Castle also needs to do that apart from honing his off-ball defense. Paired with someone like Cam Johnson plus Fox being the orchestrator.. a healthy Spurs team can near contention. We can also be set if we luck into someone like Flagg.
His weakest point on D, is his decision making when to double and when to switch. Personally I think spurs should ditch their switch everything mantra and use sochan as a lockdown man defender.
I was a bit shocked just now to see Sochans 3 point % is up to .342 for the year albeit on only 1.6 attempts per game. But he’s gone from .246 his rookie year to .308 his second year and now to .342 his third but attempts have dropped this year.
Interesting development though. Even the eye test on the 3 point shooting looks a bit better over the last 2 months he’s lost that weird hitch catapult he was doing at the start of te season.
I like Sochan in the Jaden McDaniels, Toumani Camara, OG Anunoby, Herb Jones, Dyson Daniels role. Follow the best scorer around like a glove from the opening tip.
Of course the biggest swing skill is the shooting.
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