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Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan experiment has seen ‘bumps in the road’: How long will it last?
By Mike MonroeNov 22, 2023
17
SAN ANTONIO — When word got around to NBA coaching circles that San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had decided to turn 20-year-old, 6-foot-8 power forward Jeremy Sochan into his starting point guard this season, some in this exclusive fraternity may have wondered if the news was real or fake.
Others knew better than to be even mildly surprised.
Count Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins among such Popovich cognoscenti, and no wonder. He had spent six years inside the Spurs basketball operations department, first as an intern on Popovich’s (2007-08), followed by assistant coaching stints with San Antonio’s Austin Toros-turned-Austin Spurs team in the NBA’s D League-turned-G League, from 2008-12. Finally, in 2012-13, Jenkins served as the Austin Spurs head coach.
Watching Popovich from the inside taught Jenkins many valuable lessons, including the importance of thinking outside the box. Always included in Popovich’s summertime coaching retreats, where unorthodox thinking is more mandate than suggestion, Jenkins learned the importance of being open-minded.
So, when asked about Popovich’s experiment with Sochan as point guard, Jenkins expressed full understanding.
“I think that when you have been around Pop, competed against Pop, he is very open-minded to trying a lot of different things,” Jenkins said before his injury-plagued Grizzlies handed the Spurs their eighth straight loss Saturday night. “Obviously, in the eras that he has been here, playing big, playing small, emphasizing the 3-ball, emphasizing the paint, emphasizing faster pace than slower pace, so (Sochan at point guard), not a surprise.”
But a 6-8 power forward who had never played one minute at the point? Starting for a team that in June drafted generational big man Victor Wembanyama?
“Sochan is a guy we studied coming into that (2022) draft,” Jenkins said. “(He has) unique playmaking ability at his size, kind of a Swiss Army knife-type player on both sides of the floor. (He) has evolved into a better shooter, but that playmaking ability always really jumped off the page.”
Jenkins’ endorsement of the move is little comfort to Sochan. After paying lip service to full buy-in to the change during the preseason and the first few regular-season games, his frustration grew to the point of exasperation as he acknowledged losing confidence in his game.
“There have been moments where it’s like, ‘Yo, I don’t want to. It’s like (expletive) this (expletive),;” Sochan told reporters after the Nov. 5 morning shootaround that preceded the Spurs’ 123-116 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Sochan came to the Spurs as the ninth pick in the 2022 NBA Draft from Baylor. He started at power forward in 53 of the 56 games he played in 2022-23. He averaged 11 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists for a team that tied the Houston Rockets for the second-worst record in the league. He also established himself as a solid and versatile defender, adept at challenging both forwards and guards.
He did not play one minute at point guard.
But after the Spurs won the 2023 draft lottery and with it the right to make Wembanyama the No. 1 overall pick, Popovich and the rest of the Spurs basketball operations department mused about how they could optimize a 7-foot-4 teenager with an 8-foot wingspan who has both the ball skills of a guard and 3-point range.
Someone from the 2022-23 starting lineup would have to move to the bench for Wembanyama to be an immediate starter as his selection as the No. 1 overall pick demanded. Tre Jones, the 6-1 veteran of three seasons who started 65 games at the point in 2022-23, went to the bench.
Sochan became the starting point guard in what Popovich called the Spurs’ “official experiment of 2023-24.”
Thus far, the experiment has produced many more reactions that smell of rotten eggs than the yummy scent of cinnamon buns. Sochan is painfully aware that being the offensive catalyst can be anything but fun, as his post-shootaround rant on Nov. 5 made clear.
What also has become clear is that the only way the “official experiment” works is if the Spurs offense is running through Wembanyama. The rookie entered Monday’s game against the LA Clippers, a 124-99 loss, leading the Spurs in scoring (19.3 points per game), rebounding (9.5) and blocked shots (2.6).
As Jenkins noted, Sochan has the skills to bring the ball to the frontcourt. There, his mandate appears to be less “run the offense” than “get the ball inside to Wemby.” On Monday not even this was enough to keep the Spurs losing streak from reaching nine games. The rookie from France had his worst performance of the season, missing 8-of-12 shots, including all four of his 3-point attempts. He even failed to convert a fine lob pass from Jones into a dunk. He grabbed only three rebounds.
Sochan finished with eight points and eight rebounds but a single assist in his 29-plus minutes.
Defensively, Sochan typically guards the opponents’ top offensive threat, and on Monday, that was most often Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. They combined for 48 points on 19-of-33 shooting.
Nevertheless, Popovich had nothing but praise for Sochan’s defensive effort against the Clippers’ two All-Star forwards.
“He loves playing defense, going after people, being physical, competes his butt off,” Popovich said. “And, once again, he missed a lot of last year (missing 33 games with injuries). He’s learning a lot about these players and what it takes in the NBA.”
Jones logged just under 23 minutes against the Clippers as Sochan’s backup, outscored him (11-8) and had more assists (3-1). Afterward, he empathized with the transition Sochan is trying to make, very much on the fly.
”There may be a little adjustment just because it’s his first time playing point,” Jones said. “But he is doing a great job adjusting to it, and he’s continuing to grow and learn so much.
“There will be bumps in the road, but he does a great job any time there is a bump in the road to keep pushing, to keep trying to learn, talking to everyone around and trying to do everything he can to continue to improve and to grow.
“We have seen the improvements already. He is going to continue to grow. We are going to keep growing as a team together, no matter who is on the floor. We’ve all got each other’s backs and we are going to continue to keep pushing.”
Will Popovich’s patience linger? He frets that what his team, the NBA’s youngest, needs most is another victory but those who know him best assure he is committed to a long run to see if his experiment finally produces a winning formula.
“Well, he’s growing in every aspect,” Popovich said of Sochan at the point. “It’s a new position for him, so he’s learning every day, every practice, every shootaround, every game, in all areas. So that’s a work in progress, but he’s up for the task. He’s understanding more and more every night and doing a good job.”
No one cares. You have no weight in this forum, because you know almost nothing, or maybe actually nothing about basketball.
It’s bad.
A ing sixth grade girl with coke bottle lenses on her goggles could have gotten the pass in.
Really getting tired of watching Sochan bumble around and get his pocket picked leading to a transition score.
Just poke aways alone he has to lead the league.
Not reading all that, don’t ever quote me again. Stick to being Pop’s rag
you're such a pussy
wrong account
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