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Dang. I thought it was OK. ty game from Victor. Thought we kept it to a good game until they started hitting all those 3s at the end. Garbage squad tried to make a comeback. Probably the best shooting we'll see from Branham all year.
Wemby has no active direction. It's just throw him out there and hope he "develops." Into who? Who is he modeling his game after, streetballers? His best move vs Mavs was in the low post with an up and under, and absolutely no one should be surprised. He will be best in the post areas. I see more David in him than Timmy, so maybe around the top of the key. Expecting to be 7'5 and beat yours and the rest of the opposing team off the dribble from 2 feet behind the 3point simply is not going to work unless his 3point shot vastly improves in consistency.
If it was my call, I'd be getting him at the top of the key a la Dirk/DRob with some mid-low post stuff sprinkled in. Be a spot up or one dribble pull up (since he does tend to shoot slightly better dribbling into 3s) 3point shooter. Force them to double you in the middle of the floor which will open up everything, even for our very questionable shooters outside of 1-2 guys.
Dang. I thought it was OK. ty game from Victor. Thought we kept it to a good game until they started hitting all those 3s at the end. Garbage squad tried to make a comeback. Probably the best shooting we'll see from Branham all year.
Absolutely agree, the Coaching Staff should dust off some old tapes from Dirk. To my untrained eyes I think Victor wants to model his game after KD's.
I dont see why not: A lineup of Castle + Vassell + JC + Sochan + Wemby sounds pretty nice especially if Castle can find his 3PT shot
This is easily the worst post I have ever seen and we should shut down the entire forum for allowing it to be posted.
The concept of a 7'5 KD does appeal to me. KD wasn't a great shooter very early in his career, either. Only thing is, Wemby has a lot more physical presence than KD. I'm not saying he couldn't be a 30 point scorer who primarily does it from the outside, but it seems like that'd be under-utilizing his length and athleticism.
thanks for the reasonable take amid the sea of the usual ST hyperbole and overreaction. no vassell, a bad game from Wemby, a team that had the rest equivalent to having flown into dallas in the early A.M. and playing a team that could easily get back to the conference finals will likely give you the same result ten times out of ten.
spot on with the summary of sochan's game. one minute he was helpful and the next moment he was hurtful. he reminded me of a kid on a Y team that just has one gear and just can't seem to slow it down. KJ on the other hand, is the kid that just doesn't want to pass the ball to anyone else and winds up taking crappy shots instead.
more so than the salary itself, its that he has said that part of the reason he chose SAS is the opportunity to start/play more than he did with GSW. and the spurs are counting on him to be a good leader/mentor for the club. benching him for a rookie despite his stated desire to play could only cause things to sour. if he was some long timer spur who had to pass the baton and take a seat on the bench it would be different (like TP becoming a reserve for Murray). but thats not the situation here.
i like that sochan really embraces physicality and loves to bang in the paint. he's become a stronger finisher down low. but still, im concerned that he is pretty undersized for that role on offense. yes, other players 6'8 or below have thrived in paint/bruiser roles, but they were either much stronger than sochan (z-bo types) or also just much more athletic to get above the rim (aaron gordon).
sochan seems like a bit of a tweener where defensively he's a perimeter man to man defender and offensively he's kind of a junk-ball 4.
Makes a lot of sense. I agree that starting CP3 is the move then if he's going to be upset about being promised one role then relegated to another. Appreciate the context.
In a vacuum, though, I'd still rather Castle starting
i think he can get there, but he will grow into the role.Makes a lot of sense. I agree that starting CP3 is the move then if he's going to be upset about being promised one role then relegated to another. Appreciate the context.
In a vacuum, though, I'd still rather Castle starting
i think the ideal path is more and more of his minutes to come at Tre's expense. when vassell returns, and if we stick to a 9 man rotation (meaning at least one of the starters is still on the floor), a typical bench unit could look something like:
Castle - Champagnie - Keldon - Barnes/Sochan - Collins
or
Castle - Vassell - Champagnie - Keldon - Collins
either of those lineups would allow him to play alongside an adequate amount of shooters to give him passing options. and if he thrives in that role and continues to show he is worthy of more playing time as we approach the deadline, it could be a situation where paul is moved.
there has been speculation that paul's deal was at a pretty specific salary which would make him a trade candidate to a contender. he makes enough where a contender can send over an MLE type player for him, and also not too high where he becomes ineligible to be signed by teams above the apron in the event he is bought out.
Spurs will suck until the Front Office doesn't.
I don't see that happening anytime soon.
On a positive note, I don't need to watch Spurs games anymore. I'll be still watching Basketball, just not as much Spurs. They are painful to watch anyway. I'll see Wemby on CNN.
Oh, and somebody please explain to me how Champagnie went from worst to best in 1 offseason. I've seen people improve in an offseason...but this was something else.
It is a tad troubling that Champ might be the best thing we have out of 3 years of “development” but he he is looking pretty good out there.
Things I liked:
1. Champ continuing his fine play. He's going to be a strong bench performer this year.
2. Wemby and Sochan chemistry. Sochan is cutting to the open spot whenever Wemby has the ball below the free throw line and Wemby is looking for him.
3. Barnes will be a steadying influence on the team this year. Much needed.
4. Castle continues to show huge potential. His minutes will need to increase as the year progresses.
5. Zollins overall play. His defense was improved from last year.
Things I hope to see:
1. CP3 directing Wemby to the best spots more. Wemby is so much more effective as a finisher.
2. Castle's 3pt shot development. Fingers crossed.
3. Mamu getting more than garbage minutes. I think his play whenever he gets a chance has earned him more PT.
3.
It's 2024. Shooting is the most important aspect of the game now, whether someone likes to admit it or not.
Champagnie is our only natural shooter. You know, type of player who's a threat of the ball and moves into right positions. Until Devin is back, that is.
Everyone else is just a stationary shooter who gets helped off and takes wide open shots.
When you're the only player on the team who's good at something, you look better than you actually are.
Having a player like Champagnie is good for any team, but he looks so good only because our spacing is horrible.
Then the bench comes on and we're back to 1984 spacing.
Last night our bench had 99:14 minutes combined, including garbage time.
3/9 from 3pt.
8 of them played at least 6 minutes each and took 9 3pt shots combined.
That just can't work in 2024.
Champagnie was 4/8 from 3pt.
The rest of the starters? 5/19.
Even if we exclude Wemby's awful night, it's still 4/11 between 3 of them. Nowhere near enough volume.
It's been like 5 years now and we're still a horrible shooting team. Can't get anywhere with this spacing.
Castle need consistent minutes at the PG spot. That's where his future is in the NBA.
Paul being a 39 years old injury prone players complicate everything. He makes Tre useless when healthy but Tre will be badly needed when Paul will be out. Managing the PG spot for pop while keeping Paul and Jones happy and while allowing Castle to grow will be a challenge this season.
Theres 2 things that disappointed me with Wemby:
1) Screening. He is still setting such weak and ineffective screens. That is just focus and effort and attention to detail and playing for others. That can be fixed and should be.
2) As productive as he was his rookie year, his offensive game is still raw overall. Im ok with that and just speaks to his talent that he can put up numbers with that being the case. However, in games like last night, he cannot be a guy with little to no impact on the game if his shot isnt falling. He still should be dominating defense and setting screens and crashing boards and getting to line etc…I didnt like that he couldn’t find a way to truly make a legit impact last night to his defensive standards due to his offense being off.
Of course I dont think that will always be the case, but Im watching those two things because screening was an issue last year and I know his offense is still very much a work in progress so I want to see him having star impact on defense even on off offensive nights.
If Pop had some balls, I think the best rotation would actually look like this:
Castle/CP3
Vassell/Branham
Julian/Keldon
Barnes/Sochan
Wemby/Bassey
I hate having to elevate Branham to backup SG, but if Castle is going to be a PG, then we literally have no other options. I guess you could slide Tre or Blake in for some minute there, but I don't like the midget backcourt with CP3 and Tre and Blake would result in a huge drop off in shooting.
I like having Barnes in the starting 5 as a steady vet presence if CP3 is on the bench.
Of course... Pop would never do this "out of respect" to CP3.
Since that's the case, I'd just run a primary 3-man guard rotation of CP3/Castle/Devin with Tre and Blake picking up the scraps.
I dont see any reason to prioritize Barnes over Sochan tbh….but overall ya agree we won’t see Pop do that to CP3. Maybe post ASB if Castle really shines? But I cant imagine before then without an injury to CP40
But then again, CP is a great way to soft tank which honestly? Not that mad at.
theres an avenue to have a 10 man rotation that starts Barnes and excludes Branham anyway, it just requires Mamu being the reserve 4
Paul/Castle
Vassell/Champagnie
Barnes/Keldon
Sochan/Mamu
Vic/Collins (or Bassey... but det Zollins contract)
or even a 9 man rotation where each of Barnes/Keldon play some time at PF alongside Vassell/Champagnie at the wings
also, while i was pleased with Branham being out of the rotation, it also kind of reinforces how silly it was to pick up his 4th year option. picking him up means not only do you feel quite strongly that you want him on the roster next year (which is a weird position to take for someone out of the rotation at the start of year 3), but also that you think he would cost more than 5mil to bring back in the open market.
i dont see who is offering 5 mil for branham
My only problem with this rotation is that I think it shorts Castle and Champ of minutes that they should be getting.
Anytime you have an opportunity to create dead money in the future, you have to take it
Not so much about prioritizing Barnes over Sochan as it is just making sure you have one competent vet on the floor at all times.
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