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If you have been in any kind of mentorship in the workplace, you’d know mentors only have time for 1-2 persons to devote themselves to.
It seems the coaches are using Steph as the 1s if not 2nd option no matter the lineup when compared to last year when the season began.
Wpuld prefer him to start over Chris but that's progress for me. The coaches are seeing what we all see
If you have been in any kind of mentorship in the workplace, you’d know mentors only have time for 1-2 persons to devote themselves to.
I like all 3 options here. Option 2 is the one I'd go with because Castle is stronger and closer to a 3 than Vassell. I'm not sure why Devin is even playing as a 3, he's a clear 2.
Patience is key here, but, it is frustrating nonetheless to keep playing guys out of their natural positions for huge portions of the season. Adding a serviceable 3 and 4 will get us in the play-in race or beyond next season. It will be interesting to see which way it goes.
Here's a wildcard Option 4. Shelve Fox and get his surgery done so he can heal up in time for training camp. Move Castle into the starting lineup with CP3. This honors the Pop's sacred trust and gets our boy Castle back as a starter.
Call me crazy, but I don't think our players aren't compe ive, it's just that compe iveness gets you only so far if most lineups are dyfunctional.
Our roster is severely limited with very few players who can do more than one thing on a good level.
Shooting, playmaking, defense (rebounding included for wing positions). How many players outside of Wemby are a positive in 2/3 of those categories?
The league has really evolved over the past years and players who can do just one thing aren't a thing anymore in the playoffs.
Whether it be great shooters who can't defend or great defenders who can't shoot.
Having an elite rim protector is a cherry on top, but wings are as equally as important in modern NBA. That's why Rockets are having a great season despite having no rim protection whatsoever.
It's not about effort if the team is always fighting losing battles with awful lineups, rotations and defensive schemes.
Not to mention that most of them wouldn't be playing any minutes for serious le contenders.
There’s some thought that they’ll shut Fox down for the surgery so he can be back for training camp. Would you buy a soft tank in that case?You don't play Wemby the entire 4th quarter if you are trying to "soft tank", tbh.
Do you really think the Spurs traded for Fox and are making him play on a surgery needing injury to "soft tank"?
Has there been talk of shutting him down?
The soft tank would start then, not now and all these games we lost.
Lol how convenient.
I don’t mind having castle come off the bench now that he’s playing well in that role, what I have problems is is that he’s playing like 20 mins a game, wth is that? He’s playing awesome, he’s your rookie who is likely going to be a main part of your future, so play him accordingly. Put him on the floor for 30 mins a game, play him with fox, play him with CP, play him without another PG, he will be in those scenarios. I don’t care, just let him play with wemby because that’s your 1-2.
That’s the other thing, cp3 is like freaking my age. Why are you sitting your future for him? It’s like having Anthony Davis and not play wemby. Is he your future? Well if he is then play him. Show him the team is committed to him. Instead you play cp3, Harrison Barnes, who are nice vets, but most definitely not your future, and Vassell, who’s like, I don’t even know. Show some actual direction and vision.
Guys, is it true the rumor that Coach Mitch shall try different combinations after the All Star break?
It should be a crime for how little playing time he is getting
There was a little blurb that the staff was going to re-evaluate the rotation during the break.
Overall that video is pretty lame because it builds on the false hope that this Spurs team is a contender this year. We have to play .600 ball the rest of the season to get to .500. That might not even get us into the play-in, as of today it would not be enough (GS/SAC .509). We have big problems in the front court that are not going to be addressed this season. Most of our rotation players have not been playing like playoff caliber rotation players.
Castle is averaging 19.0 PPG on 24.8 minutes the last 5 games. He is getting a solid audition as a primary 1 v 1 attacker and looked great doing it. We really don't need to see much more, and playing him a lot more could be better in the win-loss column but bad for our draft position.
Time to do some alternating lineups that include some of our end of bench guys. Give them a last chance audition to make the roster for next season.
I don't care if they bench CP3 or Vassell. Castle needs to start and play 30 minutes a night.
Stop it. The Spurs need to go for wins. If by the last month of the reg season, they are out of the picture, then you can tank properly, but for now, play to win. It's what's better for the development of Wemby and Castle and the chemestry they need to build with Fox.
That’s legit 24 days away, 11 more days in Feb and 13 days in march. I remember in the run up to the Fox trade that if he waits until the end of the regular season, he might miss time next season. Not sure if that was training camp, preseason, or regular season, but I don’t even want him missing open gym runs, let alone any of that. It would be a perfectly legit reason to shut him down after a familiarization period of a few weeks with Wemby.
Here’s 3 reasons I won’t stop: Flagg, Harper, Bailey.
I couldn't find anywhere that it was reported how long Fox's recovery is expected to take, but if I have faith in anything about the Spurs - is that they'll not delay things play Fox in meaningless games that jeopardize next season if we're out of the play-in race. Fox's pinky injury is listed as a "dislocated pinky" in Tom Osborn articles where he talks about it requiring surgery, but I've also heard reports where Fox has mentioned ligament damage. Either way, I'm losing no sleep over the possibility of Fox missing camp or the start of the season... and if he does miss time at the start of next season because we decided some meaningless end of season games were more important, then we have problems bigger than Fox's pinky.
I don't want to tank but I don't want the Spurs to use the veterans to win. Let Fox, Vassell, Castle, Sochan, Wemby start...play more minutes and figure out what they need to improve on to win. If they can't win, doesn't matter ....it will help our lottery position. If they do win, they get into the play in and they gain more experience to perform in playoff like situations. But the key is for the core, as it stands, to play together and grow and learn together. The spacing will be cluttered, and the shooting might be bad..but the defense will be top notch and Fox and Wemby can cook on either ends. Rest CP3 and Barnes as much as they can. Play them in a veteran second unit - CP3, Johnson, Champs, Barnes and Biyombo/Mamu/ Bassey.
In a similar vein, I'd like to see Vassell moved to the 6th man role so he can spend the rest of the season auditioning for that role. He makes no sense as a 4th option in the starting lineup, where he'll be asked to play out of position and get hunted on defense, so let's just cut to the chase and play him as the 6th man which honestly is really his only hope at being a productive member of this team going forward.
I would prefer that if we have a Vassell replacement ready for the SL. As serviceable as Champs has been, he isn't that guy for me. I would tell Vassell to look at the next 30 games as an audition for a role in the next Spurs core. Live up to it but if you can't, no more guaranteed SL for you or maybe even you become trade fodder. So, hit your open threes and attack the weak side defense whenever you can, make the smart pass and maximise your help defense and don't be a traffic cone one-on-one. As disappointing as his season has been so far and as maddeningly inconsistent it has been, I don't think Vassell is a lost cause as yet. He can be the Brent Barry in 2005 or Danny Green from 2012 to 2018 for us going forward. Will he be overpaid? Maybe.
If Vassell flops and there is a possibility that he does, it only helps us maximise our odds for a Top pick in the draft. And get a four (floor stretching, defensive minded PF) and a SG in a draft with an abundance of that talent at the top. And then use Vassell and Keldon (who IS a lost cause) plus Barnes for a good third banana to Wemby and Fox. That's my plan.
IDK, seems like you're putting Devin's future on him being something he's not (4th option off the ball offensive player, solid defender) which is just doomed to fail instead of getting a chance to thrive at the thing he might be really good at (6th man, 1st option with the bench unit). And if Devin fails at being that 4th option 3&D wing (which I think he probably will), you've probably done nothing than figured out what you probably already knew and destroyed Devin's trade value in the process.
I understand your POV on wanting something better for the SL before making that move, but I actually think that's the role Champ would be best in (where he'd actually be the 5th option behind Barnes). Yes, we can and should look to upgrade Champ in the offseason, but as far as archetype goes, Champ fits pretty perfectly, IMO.
We have the 3rd banana already. He's about to win ROY.If Vassell flops and there is a possibility that he does, it only helps us maximise our odds for a Top pick in the draft. And get a four (floor stretching, defensive minded PF) and a SG in a draft with an abundance of that talent at the top. And then use Vassell and Keldon (who IS a lost cause) plus Barnes for a good third banana to Wemby and Fox. That's my plan.
Aah yes. You are right. Castle is getting there but he is still a jump shot away from being a third banana on a contender. And so he will remain a high level starter until he gets there. And I am very optimistic he will get there not long after.
Also, I feel Vassell being tried out in the Manu role is something that the Spurs should work out only after next season. The reason why I say this is that Vassell has been net negative outside the lineups featuring Wemby, CP3 and Castle. He isn't a microwave scorer like Lou Williams or an elite P and R creator/scorer like Manu (in the extreme versions). He has to stay in his lane of being a good three point shooter and a decent finisher against a scrambled defense and a solid help defender when surrounded with on ball talent. That is a better way of maximizing his potential and his play. Considering this, his salary might be overpay, for sure. But with the cap going up, % wise it won't hurt much until the Spurs need a trade if they have to loosen their purse strings for Wemby..which is still 2 years away, right?
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