- The Spurs lacked size. Our size is sloooww or defend like classic centers (drop coverage)
- The Spurs lacked aggression.
- Coach Pop is slow to make in-game adjustments that diverge from his plan A/plan B strategies. Lonnie was hot and scoring at will. Lack of size and slow feet were killing us. Pop did not adjust. Did not insert Luka nor played Eubanks through the 3rd quarter when he clearly was more aggressive that Poeltl. Vassell did not score but played great defense in the second.
- DeRozan creates natural missmatches that no other Spur can. He can explore defenses with his attacks ore with his reads. He can create a bucket when everything is going wrong. He can score or generate consecutive successuful attacks.
- SIZE WITH SKILL AND SPEED is as important as 3 point shooting. The 76ers looked bigger in 4 of the 5 positions for most of the game. They generated great shots by attacking with size over our guards, speed over our bigs and 3 points after making our defensive help and bad switching collapse.
- DeRozan is the reason we are playing decent basketball. He can give what this team needs moment by moment. He can make reads, adjust and feed players with the hot hand. He has one of the biggest qualities in basketball - HE IS CONSISTENT. He can give 20, 5 and 7 day in and day out. He can score 30, dish 10+ or rebound 8+ if needed. White, Murray, Mill, Gay, are not capable of giving steady and consistent production.
- Extend DeRozan (29m/year deal). Let Gay go. Let Liles go. Reduce Mills role. Play with more size. Roll with those that give you the results game to game.
DDR is a legit offensive threat. He can get a good look for him or someone else at will. He struggles more against those 6'8 small forwards though. His decisions can be telegraphed towards end of games. In saying that, Spurs are still a good 4 away to get the most out of DDR.
I mean, even if the Spurs offer him big money, what if he doesn't even want to come back? He might want to move on elsewhere.
I could see the Spurs wanting to bring him back, though years could the thing that causes DeMar to look elsewhere.
Re-signing him beyond two seasons could cause the Spurs to be a tax team while DeMar might want to lock-in on a longer term deal.
Right now he helps the team with specific skills the team is lacking, yes. But he can disappoint just as much as anyone. I mean, he can really have off nights, too. Trying to find a sensible middle ground with DDR is the challenge if we re-sign him. Is he the de facto point guard? If yes, then DJ needs to improve his outside shooting. Trying to find a balanced roster has been a challenge with DDR. Anyway, if the team moves forward with DDR, my main point is they really need to figure out if he is a transition or if he is a focal point, because we have a lot of guards and we need to start prioritizing some of them over others, I would imagine.
Demar is definitely the only reliable scoring option, but that doesn't change the fact that Pop's rotations are inexcusable.
Why is Patty the primary second unit ballhandler? He should be banned from taking more than 1 dribble. Nothing good ever comes out of it. Lonnie simply has to be allowed to make mistakes. Last night he had 13 in 10 minutes, Patty closed the hlaf out after scoring exactly 0 in his 10 minutes.
One of Derrick and DJ always has to be on the floor. Idk why isn't this a thing already? Them playing together works, but isn't optimal if we talk spacing. But they're our best defenders and I simply can't understand why doesn't Pop stagger them.
Other obvious stuff like Lyles starting shouldn't even be mentioned.
I think the Spurs would sign him to a two year deal depending on the money. But we are a lottery team without him. The way the 76ers shot last night, they may have beaten Tim, Tony, and Manu. They had a good shooting night. Spurs would've still lost with DDR. It's just it would have been more compe ive because he generates good looks, even when his shot isn't falling. And when his shot is falling, he is a beast of a player.
Is there a better team that can offer him more or the same money? I imagine if the money is close he stays. This is his last big contract, I doubt he is going to take a huge pay cut to play for a contender. I guess maybe Miami. They have money expiring.
A couple bad wins can cause people to overreact just as much as a couple good wins can. The Spurs will likely stick to their plan and view their pieces the same way as they have. If DeMar isn't part of their timeline, he will not be with the team going forward.
The problem with DDR always has been is that teams can scheme against him in the playoffs. He's good for giving the young guys compe ive games and playoff experience. I think spurs like him but not at his asking price, I suspect they want to sign him to a tradeable contract so once an upgrade is available it is easier to work a trade. Remembered a rumor that they were willing to dump him when they were courting Bojan.
Right now, this team needs DDR's paint penetration where he's also able to draw fouls. It seems that the opposing teams are doing their scouting reports on the Spurs & are starting to clog up the paint, daring them to drive & score, because they are also aware that the 3 point shot for this team, is just not there. Usually, the end result is dribble, dribble to penetrate to the basket, then with the shot clock winding down, a desperate shot is made, & then there's a missed (3 point, in some cases) shot, without a offensive rebound. That's what happened last night for this team, & it's been a strategy that other teams have used against this team in the past. DDR also offers playmaking skills that other players don't offer consistently. It will interesting to see what wll happen between the Spurs & DeRozan in the off season, knowing the possibility that he could just walk, but he is an important scoring & playmaking factor to this team right now.
Derozans value will never be higher. Still,spurs arent trading him
these games with derozan out are white's chance to shine and show that he can held shoulder the load.
it should also be considered that in a scenario where derozan isn't brought back, we'd still have cap space to sign another player to pick up the scoring slack. the issue with derozan is that he limits the team due to his defense/shooting... but there's no question he's a big net positive.
Derozan actually gives the team some interior offense. It doesn't seem like anyone else on the team has that ability
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