21 Random Thoughts Heading Into the 2021-22 Season

[mo7888]

I think I’ll evaluate it in mid April. That’s when the season ends.

Suits me...but you'll know way before then...

[exstatic]

Suits me...but you'll know way before then...

We’ll see…

[mo7888]

We’ll see…

Agreed

[timvp]

38 wins LJ? Pass me whatever it is you're smoking bro.

The logic I'm clinging to:

-DeRozan is a proven net-negative player. I know the offense will be worse without him but does losing a net-negative player really hurt your team? It'll hurt in certain situations but I struggle to figure how it'd be a catastrophic loss.

-Losing Mills and Gay will hurt the bench's cohesion -- which actually worries me more than anything, tbh. But, then again, Mills was garbage the second half of the season and Gay had his pluses and minuses as a player.

-Murray, White, Johnson, Walker, Vassell, etc. should all be better. Even someone like Poeltl should be a little bit. The vast majority of the roster is, in theory, in an upward trajectory when it comes to their growth.

-Pop, if he cares to, can now coach as hard as he wants without having to tiptoe around "stars" on the roster. I mean, DeRozan didn't seem like he was ever a problem to coach but it also seemed like Pop never pushed him, especially on defense.

-The Spurs were a 37-38 win team last year ... and that was with, what, ten games of peak White?

So, yeah, I don't think 38 is unreasonable. Maybe I'm missing something but I feel good about that guess.

[timvp]

One thing that may be overlooked is the Spurs' (possible) ability to wear down teams with their style of play and their waves of relatively young bodies.

It won't make them an elite team but it could allow them to overachieve based upon the conventional projections.

Last year, the Spurs had an iso scorer (or two before LMA left) and the opponent could relax on defense. Gentleman's truce. Both the Spurs and the defense just sat around and watched. It conserved a lot of energy for the opponent.

Pop was uncomfortable with that approach and it showed.

Now Pop has a team he can coach just the way he wants to, lots of ball movement, pure basketball, no stars to defer to, lots of running -- a coach's game as much as is possible in the modern NBA.

It could fall flat, but it could also succeed, perhaps even coax a new dynamic into the NBA equation.

Pop will be looking to tire the opposition with old-fashioned ball movement and maybe even movement without the ball. It's the pure way he's always wanted to play. And, fortunately(?), he has no other options.

Yeah, I'm smoking on this, too.

Pop now has no excuses with this current roster. No more walking on egg s s.

But, uh, does Pop even care enough about wins and losses to coach up this team? I'm not sure, tbh. If he gave an Olympic-sized effort, I'd be feeling really good about 38 wins . . .

[timvp]

You wouldn't be stunned if walker leads the spurs in scoring? seriously?

I don't care enough to look back but I think Walker was the team's leading scorer in games DeRozan missed. Or at least he was until later in the season. I think Mugen or someone was tracking it at one point, IIRC.

[DAF86]

I'm rooting for:

1) a winning season, even if it's just 43 wins.

2) if not, the worst record in the league.

Please no more 38 wins seasons.

[baseline bum]

The logic I'm clinging to:

-DeRozan is a proven net-negative player. I know the offense will be worse without him but does losing a net-negative player really hurt your team? It'll hurt in certain situations but I struggle to figure how it'd be a catastrophic loss.

-Losing Mills and Gay will hurt the bench's cohesion -- which actually worries me more than anything, tbh. But, then again, Mills was garbage the second half of the season and Gay had his pluses and minuses as a player.

-Murray, White, Johnson, Walker, Vassell, etc. should all be better. Even someone like Poeltl should be a little bit. The vast majority of the roster is, in theory, in an upward trajectory when it comes to their growth.

-Pop, if he cares to, can now coach as hard as he wants without having to tiptoe around "stars" on the roster. I mean, DeRozan didn't seem like he was ever a problem to coach but it also seemed like Pop never pushed him, especially on defense.

-The Spurs were a 37-38 win team last year ... and that was with, what, ten games of peak White?

So, yeah, I don't think 38 is unreasonable. Maybe I'm missing something but I feel good about that guess.

Walker and McDermott are even worse defensively than DePression and then there is this guy

[Mugen]

I don't care enough to look back but I think Walker was the team's leading scorer in games DeRozan missed. Or at least he was until later in the season. I think Mugen or someone was tracking it at one point, IIRC.

That sounds way too helpful to be me tbh

I do remember Lonnie putting up some 20+ point games when Derozan sat last year

[Mugen]

Exactly, I'd feel okay about a 35-40 wins prediction if that ing scrub Forbes wasn't in line to lead this team in mpg tbh

[GreekSpursfan]

In another thread I said almost the same thing-If they win any where near 40 they'll rename the coy award the Pop award.
I could easily be wrong, but I really think this team will struggle. That said, I'm OK with the direction.

Finally we're heading in the right direction but i'm afraid Pop might do it, he might win 40 games

[superbigtime]

I don't care enough to look back but I think Walker was the team's leading scorer in games DeRozan missed. Or at least he was until later in the season. I think Mugen or someone was tracking it at one point, IIRC.

was surprised to see him hoist 17 shots in gm 1, so that's a good sign.

[exstatic]

was surprised to see him hoist 17 shots in gm 1, so that's a good sign.

Well, everything he puts up counts as a shot, since he’s allergic to drawing fouls.

[superbigtime]

Well, everything he puts up counts as a shot, since he’s allergic to drawing fouls.

what do you think of walker this year?

[exstatic]

what do you think of walker this year?

He seemed more aggressive last night, and that’s good, but I’m not sure his offensive instincts are much better than his defensive ones. His cardinal sin, one he does over and over, is that he picks up the ball too soon on a drive, leading to a much more difficult shot, and almost no chance to draw a foul with whatever awkward shot goes up.

[John B]

Yeah, I'm smoking on this, too.

Pop now has no excuses with this current roster. No more walking on egg s s.

But, uh, does Pop even care enough about wins and losses to coach up this team? I'm not sure, tbh. If he gave an Olympic-sized effort, I'd be feeling really good about 38 wins . . .

I don’t like going back to the DJ incident in the huddle. But that left me a bitter taste, and I’m still trying to look pass that. Because if anyone, he seemed like the “eggs ” who Pop tries not to bark at. And sometimes I cringe at the way Pop does it, but in the spirit of playing better? All hands on deck, from DJ to the last man, and firstly on DJ as he is seemingly the heir apparent leader of the team.