Game Thread: Spurs @ OKC -- Sun. (12/3) - 6:00/C (2:00am Riga Time)

[Hoops Czar]

Pop played the entire deep bench for the entire second half. Danny, Patty and Pau made appearances for the first half, then in the second half they didn't. Kyle got injured really bad, sprained a knee and it didn't look good and Joff almost decapitated a finger.

Pop was left with I think 7 guys.
Dijon ended up playing 40 minutes.

For a coach who is so keen on rest he really outdid himself in this one. I was really pleasantly surprised by the play of rook White, first game back from an injury and he played really well. I do see some of Danny on him, he's got good hands for blocks and steals, very good.
this is what Pop did:

Pop has no problem benching Murray for Summer League when he desperately needs development and the games mean but, he has no problem playing him 40 minutes in a meaningful regular season game. Joke coach!

[SAGirl]

Exactly. I'm sick and tired of this asshole getting a free pass and people not only laughing off his shtick, but giving him credit when they play a compe ive game in spite of him. He's making $11M a year and seemingly intentionally trying to sabotage his own team. Before the apologists respond, I'm not even talking about resting players. No matter who is playing, it should go without saying that he should always be coaching to win. Some of the match-ups and lack of play calls tonight, particularly on the 2nd to last offensive possession, were embarrassing.

So is the roster construction. 2 players who can credibly play center and arguably 8 guards, 1 of which who can somewhat create and he's near 40 in terms of mileage and coming off of a debilitating injury. Ridiculous.

I do consider this game a low point in Pop's recent track.

The players competed really hard. I bet glory goes to POp that they even were this close to win it, but it was a battle out there and yes, he didn't provide guidance to Murray at the end or take a time out or try to win that game.

It is like a teaching experience I am thinking but it's irresponsible. It definitely was despite everything a game they could have won.

I don't think they will lose tomorrow personally but if they do, this will indeed bite the team in the arse.

[SAGirl]

Pop has no problem benching Murray for Summer League when he desperately needs development and the games mean but, he has no problem playing him 40 minutes in a meaningful regular season game. Joke coach!

well I never even knew why Murray was benched in summer league, he needed as much experience as the team could spare them and the summer league is a development opportunity nothing else. I think he might have been involved in trade talks... otherwise that didn't make sense.

[SAGirl]

That’s true. Just that Pistons are a mystery team with nothing to lose, although they’ve fallen back to earth as of late. OKC being a bad matchup for the Spurs seems to be a thing of the past, even if OKC figures it out. They match up horribly with the Spurs now.

Paul George is no KD and Ibaka >> Melo in the OKC system.

not only that, they miss Kanter... he was a monster offensive rebounder and OKC chucks up a lot of shots plus Westbrooks' reckless drives do collapse defenses leaving those bigs to feast. Kanter was a Spur killer while he was in OKC.

[bklynspursfan]

That’s true. Just that Pistons are a mystery team with nothing to lose, although they’ve fallen back to earth as of late. OKC being a bad matchup for the Spurs seems to be a thing of the past, even if OKC figures it out. They match up horribly with the Spurs now.

Paul George is no KD and Ibaka >> Melo in the OKC system.

So true, I fear OKC so much less these days.. we had a crazy comeback win without TP/Kawhi, and almost won with 5 rotation guys out Pau/DG/Patty playing 1 half.

Pistons are a question mark that's for sure, never know which team will show up. If we show up, it shouldn't matter

[bklynspursfan]

I do consider this game a low point in Pop's recent track.

The players competed really hard. I bet glory goes to POp that they even were this close to win it, but it was a battle out there and yes, he didn't provide guidance to Murray at the end or take a time out or try to win that game.

It is like a teaching experience I am thinking but it's irresponsible. It definitely was despite everything a game they could have won.

I don't think they will lose tomorrow personally but if they do, this will indeed bite the team in the arse.

Curious why you think it's irresponsible? What better way to prep these guys then to give them valuable , meaningful NBA minutes?

I know you're all for the young guys getting time, meaningful minutes mean much more than garbage time.

[DAF86]

What does Pop putting Mills/Green/Pau do? I get people here view every single game as win or die, but do u guys seriously not understand planning for the future and allowing guys to grow?

What the would it do for some of those guys who played hard to be subbed out for guys who would be cold/rusty and maaaaybe win that game?

How would it look if they come in and things get worse? Give these guys the experience and exposure and hope for the best next time this scenario comes around. (Note for the overreactors here, this scenario will happen again)

I.E : Anderson was likely better this season due to the exposure/experience he had when Kawhi went out in the playoffs, even if it was 4 games. This stuff matters

What does putting Green/Mills/Pau do? Well, maybe winning the game; but most important of all giving the guys on the court a ing breather for a couple of minutes. I'm sure the experience would have been pretty much the same with 4 or 5 minutes of rest. Actually, it might have been even better because they could have played the last minutes of the game with more energy.

[bklynspursfan]

What does putting Green/Mills/Pau do? Well, maybe winning the game; but most important of all giving the guys on the court a ing breather for a couple of minutes. I'm sure the experience would have been pretty much the same with 4 or 5 minutes of rest. Actually, it might have been even better because they could have played the last minutes of the game with more energy.

Did it seem to you they needed a rest, or just play better? Cause I saw a number of stupid turnovers that all the rest in the world wouldn't have solved. All the energy wouldn't have kept Adams off the boards either, Pau dam sure wasn't gonna change that.

Defense Was ok, they scored 36 2nd half points and 14 in the 4th. It was winnable with that unit, but they made some mistakes that they can now learn from. Murray especially

[DAF86]

Did it seem to you they needed a rest, or just play better? Cause I saw a number of stupid turnovers that all the rest in the world wouldn't have solved. All the energy wouldn't have kept Adams off the boards either, Pau dam sure wasn't gonna change that.

Defense Was ok, they scored 36 2nd half points and 14 in the 4th. It was winnable with that unit, but they made some mistakes that they can now learn from. Murray especially

So playing Pau, our biggest guy, instead of going with Bertans as center, when Lauvergne had to sit, wouldn't have helped with rebounding?

And yeah, folks need to rest. You don't have to be a ing genius to realize that playing guys for 24 straight minutes isn't a winning strategy, tbh.

[bklynspursfan]

So playing Pau, our biggest guy, instead of going with Bertans as center, when Lauvergne had to sit, wouldn't have helped with rebounding?

And yeah, folks need to rest. You don't have to be a ing genius to realize that playing guys for 24 straight minutes isn't a winning strategy, tbh.

Pretty sure no one played 24 mins straight..

And yea, Adams is a mobile physical guy. Bringing in Pau after Joff fouled out would've made him look slower than he already does.

[BillMc]

Davis with 5 blocks in 29 minutes.

[DAF86]

Pretty sure no one played 24 mins straight..

And yea, Adams is a mobile physical guy. Bringing in Pau after Joff fouled out would've made him look slower than he already does.

If they didn't play 24 straight, they played 20 or 19. Either way, you will be more gassed than usual to finish the game.

And I don't care how slow you think Gasol would look. Having him oit there would have helped the Spurs rebounding a lot more than running with Bertans as center, tbh.

Seriously son, there's no need to justify every little ing thing.

[Hoops Czar]

If they didn't play 24 straight, they played 20 or 19. Either way, you will be more gassed than usual to finish the game.

And I don't care how slow you think Gasol would look. Having him oit there would have helped the Spurs rebounding a lot more than running with Bertans as center, tbh.

Seriously son, there's no need to justify every little ing thing.

Pop didn't even think it was important to play Duncan in game 6 of the NBA finals when a single rebound wins the ship. The guy is overrated as .

[bklynspursfan]

If they didn't play 24 straight, they played 20 or 19. Either way, you will be more gassed than usual to finish the game.

And I don't care how slow you think Gasol would look. Having him oit there would have helped the Spurs rebounding a lot more than running with Bertans as center, tbh.

Seriously son, there's no need to justify every little ing thing.

Seriously sport, there's no need to after every little decision or non-decision you think would make the team better.

Like tonight literally has no bearings in the big picture.

Small sacrifices for the end result

[Spurtacular]

KGB Pop waving the white flag in OKC. Not unexpected.

[kuato]

It was a good game, i don't know why there is people mad about this loss.

[DAF86]

Seriously sport, there's no need to after every little decision or non-decision you think would make the team better.

Like tonight literally has no bearings in the big picture.

Small sacrifices for the end result

Thing is I don't about every little thing, in fact I'm mostly a positive poster. You on the other hand are a joke of a poster whose shtick is to justify every single Spurs/Pop's decision no matter what. You are just as bad as the trolls that complain about everything, tbh.

[SAGirl]

Did it seem to you they needed a rest, or just play better? Cause I saw a number of stupid turnovers that all the rest in the world wouldn't have solved. All the energy wouldn't have kept Adams off the boards either, Pau dam sure wasn't gonna change that.

Defense Was ok, they scored 36 2nd half points and 14 in the 4th. It was winnable with that unit, but they made some mistakes that they can now learn from. Murray especially

Exhaustion compromises decision making as well as nit having sufficient veteran players to help out. It's basic common sense. Not even the tank team's put team a out there without a veteran or 2.

I know the trolls smell blood but the run started with Kyle in the game. If he doesn't go out or Joff doesn't foul out that's another couple of legs. It can't be helped they were out of the game for different reasons but clearly a 5 man rotation is crazy.

Murray made mistakes of judgement which maybe with a little veteran help don't happen. It's all speculation but I don't think the guys were set up to succeed. Rather I was wishing that game was over quickly with no more injuries bc guys played too many minutes compared to what they are used to. Frankly I was wishing no one else got hurt the entire 4th Q.

[SAGirl]

It was a good game, i don't know why there is people mad about this loss.

I m only upset that Kyle got hurt personally
This was a scheduled loss but guys got njured trying to win this game for Pop and the ones on the floor competed very hard. Tough loss considering.

[bklynspursfan]

Thing is I don't about every little thing, in fact I'm mostly a positive poster. You on the other hand are a joke of a poster whose shtick is to justify every single Spurs/Pop's decision no matter what. You are just as bad as the trolls that complain about everything, tbh.

Your first reaction tonight is to about coulda shoulda wouldas...Pop sucks, wtf was he thinking, etc...

My reaction is realizing the fact that the guys who played , played their asses off , and had a chance to win despite multiple okc runs and ty reffing.

You're far from a 'mostly postivie poster', that's BS. Everytime I see you post it's ing about some decision you think would've made more sense.

But sure, I'm as bad as the trolls. Keep complaining and being miserable tbh

[raybies]

Great game tonight. I admit too that I would've like Pop to put Pau or Green in to win this game cause it was very winnable but dam the experience these kids got in the end was huge. Pop's not stupid. He knew what he was doing and I'm sure had very valid reasons, like not calling a play in particular. It's clear he had a plan and he stuck to it. i applaud him for that. He's not like the rest of the sellouts out there in this world....

It's funny cause before the game people were saying scheduled loss etc and because we had a chance to win people start blaming LMAO. Look at the players that had big games, none of them were Danny, Pau, or Patty etc. What were they gonna do?? Lead us to victory LoL These kids did what kids do, they made mistakes. Better this loss on the kids then Danny, Pau, and Patty, cause they are gonna get better. That's some meaty motivation. The old guys are already set in their ways. They know why they lost. Don't need them taking the blame. The kids will take it on themselves and get better. And desire and want to do better and get better. Masterful coaching tbh

Spurfan still playing checkers...

Pop we trust

[raybies]

Thing is I don't about every little thing, in fact I'm mostly a positive poster. You on the other hand are a joke of a poster whose shtick is to justify every single Spurs/Pop's decision no matter what. You are just as bad as the trolls that complain about everything, tbh.

postive poster lmao

[NASpurs]

I m only upset that Kyle got hurt personally
This was a scheduled loss but guys got njured trying to win this game for Pop and the ones on the floor competed very hard. Tough loss considering.

What? No way. Pistons are a better team than OKC and on the second leg of a B2B. Tomorrow's game would had been a scheduled loss while this one was there for the picking, and I'm not even playing the hindsight game. Seems more of a manufactured loss than anything else.

[raybies]

Exhaustion compromises decision making as well as nit having sufficient veteran players to help out. It's basic common sense. Not even the tank team's put team a out there without a veteran or 2.

I know the trolls smell blood but the run started with Kyle in the game. If he doesn't go out or Joff doesn't foul out that's another couple of legs. It can't be helped they were out of the game for different reasons but clearly a 5 man rotation is crazy.

Murray made mistakes of judgement which maybe with a little veteran help don't happen. It's all speculation but I don't think the guys were set up to succeed. Rather I was wishing that game was over quickly with no more injuries bc guys played too many minutes compared to what they are used to. Frankly I was wishing no one else got hurt the entire 4th Q.

We should be talking about DJ's pull up vinny, with Adams on him. He could of easily got to the rim or collapsed the defense, but he settled. And Pop then proceeded to take his PG duties from him. Another thing, I would of like to see Paul kick it to Bertans for the three at the end. I was screaming to my friend for him to pass it. He was looking to pass it and took it because. But people want to point fingers at Pop when the kids inexperience is what lost the game, which is the same inexperience that he is trying rectify by giving them experience.

[raybies]

and if being a fan is a troll now then fu** it, I'll be the first troll in history to say I'm a troll.