Game Thread: Spurs vs Nuggets - Dec 9, 2021 - 7:30pm CT

[XDT76]

KBD is not supposed to dribble coast to coast as a PF. But what he’s supposed to do as a PF, rebound, defend bigs and the paint, occasional 3’s is better than Keldon at 4 imo. It ultimately makes Jakob stay with his man.

He should at least be able to do a fast break when there is no defender between him and the rim. At least a blocked or missed lay-up.

[Dejounte]

Not being sarcastic here, I love how Murray can be 1 asst and 2 rebounds from a triple double and he just played okay.

it’s become expected of him. He scores 20 and it doesn’t feel like it. We expect more now. That’s a good thing.

i remember when Timmy would have a “meh” games but yet he would end up with 24pts 14 rebounds 4 blocks or something like that. Obviously he’s not at his level but his consistency has been good

murray is becoming a consistent player, I feel like we can expect certain things from him every night.

Yeah, it’s absurd to say he had an OK game with that statline, but I watched the game and he was kinda iffy for three quarters. In the third quarter, I saw him make stupid turnovers I had not seen from him all season. There was also a 3 point attempt or two where I felt it was bad timing. He can and has done better than games like last night. In the fourth he was pretty clutch with some steals and layups, so that bumped him up from being bad. I can be objective about Murray when I know he has games that are good and games that are bad, unlike a certain idiot here who thinks all of his good games are counting stats.

[Dejounte]

[TDomination]

He should at least be able to do a fast break when there is no defender between him and the rim. At least a blocked or missed lay-up.

[TDomination]

who quoted this?

[Mr. Body]

who quoted this?

Dejounte quoted this.

[Dejounte]

Michael Malone

[Uriel]

Hit the nail on the head.

[slick'81]

Hit the nail on the head.

well hes the hc of the nuggets ,so yea

[heyheymymy]

Anyone notice that huge OREB tap out from Tre Jones deep in the paint that led to the AST on a 3?

[heyheymymy]

Also, pretty sharp game from Eubanks which we don't always get to say lol.

Finally showed that range he was working on

[heyheymymy]

Also lol at Primo getting like :37 playing time

[rjv]

Not being sarcastic here, I love how Murray can be 1 asst and 2 rebounds from a triple double and he just played okay.

it’s become expected of him. He scores 20 and it doesn’t feel like it. We expect more now. That’s a good thing.

i remember when Timmy would have a “meh” games but yet he would end up with 24pts 14 rebounds 4 blocks or something like that. Obviously he’s not at his level but his consistency has been good

murray is becoming a consistent player, I feel like we can expect certain things from him every night.

funny that i read this because this is exactly what i was thinking last night as the game reached the 4th quarter; murray was not doing much that stood out but he suddenly had this solid stat line and this is exactly what TD would do so frequently that some NBA players referred to him as a "silent assassin" in that they would think they had duncan under control only to realize that he was filling the stat sheet. not saying that DJ is TD, of course, but it does appear that dejountae has reached a point where his stats are becoming routinely solid. and i will also add that he is starting to look more confident in the last minutes of ball games.

[TDomination]

Dejounte quoted this.

lol touché

[emanueldavidginobili]

More on Manu helping Lonnie.

[Dejounte]

Don’t look now but DJ is shooting a whopping 44.8% from the 3 pt line out of 29 attempts in December. I’m sure if I dig into more games from late November that number will remain high. He’s trending up with his 3 point shooting.

[GAustex]

IIRC Forbes did not see the court in the second half. That helped

[Dejounte]

Don’t look now but DJ is shooting a whopping 44.8% from the 3 pt line out of 29 attempts in December. I’m sure if I dig into more games from late November that number will remain high. He’s trending up with his 3 point shooting.

By the way, he had a total of 80 FGs in December so that 29 3PA is over a third of his shot attempts before people think he doesn’t shoot enough 3’s. That’s over 34% of his shots, meaning every 1 of 3 shot attempts, he shoots a 3.

tagging my guy Sugus so that he may someday be a believer

[SPURt]

https://streamable.com/1axjbq

What did I just see? That’s real? Lawd have mercy

[Sugus]

Yes, Lonnie

So it was one good game, then bad, then good

I dont mind if hes bad the next game

Just no more good, bad, bad, bad, bad, good, bad, bad…

If there's anyone that can turn Lonnie around, it's Manu, for sure... Especially on that aspect of his game, the driving, learning to take contact and be comfortable with it, and so many other intangibles. That's some great coaching for Lonnie to get, for a change.

I wouldn't expect the inconsistency to stop soon, though... It takes time for players to learn new habits and un-learn old ones. Might even take until the off-season for him to be able to properly work on his game - at which point, it could/probably will be too late for his time as a Spur, sadly.

[KobesAchilles]

By the way, he had a total of 80 FGs in December so that 29 3PA is over a third of his shot attempts before people think he doesn’t shoot enough 3’s. That’s over 34% of his shots, meaning every 1 of 3 shot attempts, he shoots a 3.

tagging my guy Sugus so that he may someday be a believer

This is what turned me into a believer. He has reached the stage where he is now taking stupid 3 pointers. That's fantastic progress bc last year he wouldn't even shoot wide open ones. I said in the Simmons thread that DJ had been on fire from the 3 point line in recent games. He has also upped his attempts like you said. This is HUGE for his progress bc it opens up the entire court to him. His development this season has been amazing. he is a totally different player right now than he was in Oct.

[Sugus]

KBD is not supposed to dribble coast to coast as a PF. But what he’s supposed to do as a PF, rebound, defend bigs and the paint, occasional 3’s is better than Keldon at 4 imo. It ultimately makes Jakob stay with his man.

Exactly this. It's amazing how suddenly solid the Spurs' defense is once Jakob doesn't have to constantly get out of position to guard the opposing PFs, isn't it? And yesterday, Aaron Gordon ate us alive in the minutes KBD wasn't on the court matching him, whilst Jokic on the other hand (who everyone was predicting would "light Jakob up"...) had a very pedestrian game by his standards.

It's plain as day to see Keldon doesn't cut it as a PF, on either end, but especially so on defense. He doesn't only lack the size to defend the position; he lacks the strength, the positioning ability, the rebounding and boxing out instincts, the help defense rotating instincts. He's simply not a PF, or at least not a starting one, and it hurts the Spurs every game he pretends to be one. A difficult conundrum for the Spurs to be sure, given how relatively good he is on offense, and being a fan favorite, and a Gold medalist, but he's just not a PF, and the Spurs can't depend on KBD every game neither.

[Seventyniner]

By the way, he had a total of 80 FGs in December so that 29 3PA is over a third of his shot attempts before people think he doesn’t shoot enough 3’s. That’s over 34% of his shots, meaning every 1 of 3 shot attempts, he shoots a 3.

tagging my guy Sugus so that he may someday be a believer

Yup, 3PAr (% of FG attempts that are threes) is the important thing imo. Murray is at 0.239 for the season which doesn't cut it in today's NBA (league average is 0.402 and the Spurs' last-place average is 0.317), but 29/80 is 0.363 which is much closer to where he needs to be. Good catch on those stats.

It also shows that his Oct/Nov 3PAr was dismally low: 0.210 (72/343). Progress!

[John B]

Exactly this. It's amazing how suddenly solid the Spurs' defense is once Jakob doesn't have to constantly get out of position to guard the opposing PFs, isn't it? And yesterday, Aaron Gordon ate us alive in the minutes KBD wasn't on the court matching him, whilst Jokic on the other hand (who everyone was predicting would "light Jakob up"...) had a very pedestrian game by his standards.

It's plain as day to see Keldon doesn't cut it as a PF, on either end, but especially so on defense. He doesn't only lack the size to defend the position; he lacks the strength, the positioning ability, the rebounding and boxing out instincts, the help defense rotating instincts. He's simply not a PF, or at least not a starting one, and it hurts the Spurs every game he pretends to be one. A difficult conundrum for the Spurs to be sure, given how relatively good he is on offense, and being a fan favorite, and a Gold medalist, but he's just not a PF, and the Spurs can't depend on KBD every game neither.

I hate to admit it, but I agree with you . It does make a big difference for Poeltl to have a long PF to help rebound, boxout, deflect layups that often times Keldon is just too small for. I love Keldon, but KBD compliments Poeltl better as the starting PF and last night shows a glimpse of that.

[rjv]

This is what turned me into a believer. He has reached the stage where he is now taking stupid 3 pointers. That's fantastic progress bc last year he wouldn't even shoot wide open ones. I said in the Simmons thread that DJ had been on fire from the 3 point line in recent games. He has also upped his attempts like you said. This is HUGE for his progress bc it opens up the entire court to him. His development this season has been amazing. he is a totally different player right now than he was in Oct.

yeah. he even took one from well beyond the three-point line last night (and nailed it, too). DJ has to be a serious contender for the MIP player award so far this season.