Grades: Spurs @ Thunder - Nov. 14, 2023

[timvp]

https://www.spurstalk.com/2023-spurs-thunder-grades-11/

[MultiTroll]

This alone makes it an easy F for Popped.
Devonte’ Graham

Graham only scored four points and didn’t do much notable on the defensive end. However, when he was on the court, it was like night and day in terms of point guard play. Having an experienced point guard like Graham running the show actually allowed the Spurs to run their sets properly.

And yet there was soo much more:

Doug McDermott

McDermott is supposed to be a steadying influence but he might have actually been San Antonio’s most spastic player on this night. He turned it over four times in 18 minutes and it was impossible for him to string two positive offensive possessions in a row. McDermott was also a clear liability on defense.

Exactly why is Pops Pet getting this many minutes, yet along being on the roster as one of the highest paid Spurs?

[rjv]

i'm ready to move on from champagnie and doug at the end of this season. mcdermott looked like some random fan the spurs just grabbed out of the crowd. when he's not hitting his threes, he's an absolute train wreck.

[$pursDynasty]

Next time some on this board go on the just cut Keldon rants I will refer them back to his game. This young team needs what he gives them a scorer. This game was the most unwatchable of the season.

[TrainOfThought5]

I honestly thought the game was so bad that TiMVP couldn’t muster himself to enough to watch the whole thing and skipped the grades

[rjv]

I honestly thought the game was so bad that TiMVP couldn’t muster himself to enough to watch the whole thing and skipped the grades

not to mention that he was denied half of the 4th quarter because TNT hit the eject button at that point.

[024]

At 10+ games into the season, I just don't see the potential in Sochan at point guard. He just does not exhibit enough natural playmaking instincts or even ball handling skills to become effective at the role. In fact, it seems to be detrimental to his development as you can see his frustrations grow. Might be time to end this experiment and let Sochan slide back into a SF/PF playmaking role instead of being the full time point guard.

[MultiTroll]

I honestly thought the game was so bad that TiMVP couldn’t muster himself to enough to watch the whole thing and skipped the grades

he gets Kudos for watching the whole game for sure.

[MultiTroll]

At 10+ games into the season, I just don't see the potential in Sochan at point guard. He just does not exhibit enough natural playmaking instincts or even ball handling skills to become effective at the role. In fact, it seems to be detrimental to his development as you can see his frustrations grow. Might be time to end this experiment and let Sochan slide back into a SF/PF playmaking role instead of being the full time point guard.

You sir are in danger of being expelled from the next Pop Sniffers gathering.

[LeBowen]

At 10+ games into the season, I just don't see the potential in Sochan at point guard. He just does not exhibit enough natural playmaking instincts or even ball handling skills to become effective at the role. In fact, it seems to be detrimental to his development as you can see his frustrations grow. Might be time to end this experiment and let Sochan slide back into a SF/PF playmaking role instead of being the full time point guard.

Spot on.
Role changes usually happen when a player has at least some elements for the new position.
Jeremy has none.

Demar had a lot of point guard elements before he joined the Spurs. That's why the system with him as a primary playmaker somewhat worked.

Jeremy has no point guard qualities.
Handles, passing vision, actual passing because most of his passes are out of control and erratic. He's not a pnr threat and he can exploit a mismatch only with big size advantage. But all of that takes away so much from the team that it's not even worth attempting to change his role.
Especially because I still think he can be an elite role player as a utility forward for all kind of lineups.

[The Truth #6]

Sochan will now get pressured more and I see the frustration rising. I thought he might get in a fight last game. One of my favorite players. Ugh.

[Dex]

I think it is worth noting that Jeremy Sochan has the SECOND WORST Plus-Minus (+/-) in the NBA through 11 games at -143.

Sochan briefly had the worst but somehow Tre's brother Tyus has taken those honors in the dumpster fire that is the Washington Wizards (3 of the 4 worst players in +/- all play for Washington)

Adding to that, his assist-to-turnover ratio is 1.8/1....which is okay as a big, but awful for a starting point guard.

For reference, Tre Jones' ratio is 4.3/1 in similar minutes.

The Sochan PG experiment is failing, and it's dragging down the morale of the team with it.

[Bruno]

Pop can do whatever genious in game adjustment or play calling, he deserves an F in every single game as long as Sochan is the starting PG.

Spurs don't need some trades or vets signing for the moment. They just need to start Tre as PG and have Graham as backup PG. I don't see how more obvious it can be.

[Jordan Jackson]

Pop can do whatever genious in game adjustment or play calling, he deserves an F in every single game as long as Sochan is the starting PG.

Spurs don't need some trades or vets signing for the moment. They just need to start Tre as PG and have Graham as backup PG. I don't see how more obvious it can be.

Unfortunately, probably have 70 more games of this . Pound the Rock baby!!!

[NASpurs]

Unfortunately, probably have 70 more games of this . Pound the Rock baby!!!

for real

This Sochan will continue until he's either injured or the season is about to end.

[Ice009]

I've wanted to see Devonte get some court time all season. Why haven't the Spurs given him much of an opportunity? I would have settled for seeing him in preseason play, so I have no idea why he hasn't played much at all with Tre being out.

Man, this is getting very frustrating. They're already losing a lot of games and losing most of those games by a lot of points. How long are they going to try fitting a square peg into a round hole? This is insanely incompetent.

Edit : Hopefully they haven't ruined Jeremy and the team chemistry playing him at PG. I wonder how he's feeling mentally. I don't get why they're forcing it.

Edit 2 : Are the Spurs doing this on purpose to tank for a high pick (Man, Jeremy would probably be pissed if he read this message. I am not trying to bag on the guy as I really liked him last season in his more natural position)? If so, how would Victor feel about this.

[Dex]

I've wanted to see Devonte get some court time all season. Why haven't the Spurs given him much of an opportunity? I would have settled for seeing him in preseason play, so I have no idea why he hasn't played much at all with Tre being out.

Man, this is getting very frustrating. They're already losing a lot of games and losing most of those games by a lot of points. How long are they going to try fitting a square peg into a round hole? This is insanely incompetent.

100% agree.

At this point, I don't care if we lose 60 games again this season, but I'd at least like to see a team that actually looks like they belong in the NBA.

You can argue about talent all you want, but we basically had a less talented team last season and they were at least able to compete in losses.

Considering we added a #1 pick, getting blown out by 40 multiple times falls squarely on the coaches and rotations. There are adjustments that could be made to help, and players WILL start to get pissed off if this continues.

[couchman]

Keldon is the only player have right now who truly threatens the defense when driving to the rim.
But he’s not a good enough ball handler to be our primary playmaker.

We desperately need a primary playmaker to set the table.
I know we need to draft BPA, but that has better not be another off ball player.

I was willing to go along w the Sochan PG experiment but he does not finish well enough to start the offense.
Lost in all this is the fact that Sochan is shooting the 3 exceptionally well this year but mostly as a spot up, not off the dribble. That would be super useful if he started as the PF or SF.

[The Truth #6]

In preseason I floated the idea that Pop was ok with not winning this year while prioritizing development. Others suggested we were going to win 40 games and make the playoffs. Just to talk about me for a moment, this is now worse than I thought. The morale boost of Wemby has been destroyed.

It feels like PG minutes are inverse to talent. I think Devote is probably our best point guard and he can't sniff the floor. His shooting makes him better than Tre in my opinion.

I'm not throwing Jeremy under the bus, still a favorite player, and I want to see him developed, and growing pains are expected, but Pop isn't developing him. It's bad. I think they have to mix his time as a forward also, more than currently.

[spurs10]

Thanks for the grades. Well I quit on the team before TNT. Wonder what they said about the Spurs. Probably about what we say here, where's the point guard?

[Ice009]

Thanks for the grades. Well I quit on the team before TNT. Wonder what they said about the Spurs. Probably about what we say here, where's the point guard?

Did this really happen? Did they just changeover to another game? If so, at what point of the game did they do it? Also, does anyone know how the national media schedule works in regard to a team being bad? If a team is as bad as the Spurs are looking, can they drop the Spurs games and switch to different matchups rather than continue showing Spurs games? That would suck for the fans in France. I wonder if fans there are still staying up late to watch the games? This season has gone from very promising to demoralizing in such a short time.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

The team and the coaching staff’s willingness to mail this one in was really disappointing. I also think Tre’s absence has made it painfully clear that Jeremy is playing way out of position. I don’t think he’s embracing this role, either. Time for the team to seek out other PG alternatives…past time. That position is historically the quarterback of the team, and the Spurs don’t have one. No wonder they can’t compete on a nightly basis.

[wildbill2u]

The Sochan at PG experiment is obviously an attempt to keep Sochan and Keldon on the court at the same time. Adding a second turd into a punchbowl doesn't improve the mix.

[emanueldavidginobili]

The team needs to work on passing as a whole, ridiculous how many inbound passes they mess up or how often there are deflections while making routine passes. The team also needs athletes that can penetrate the lanes. Love Pop but everyone loses their touch, thats just how it goes, this team needs a new fresh face in charge. Meanwhile Ime has the ing Rockets on a 6 game winning streak with their most recent win against the 8-2 Nuggets.

[Chinook]

The Sochan at PG experiment is obviously an attempt to keep Sochan and Keldon on the court at the same time. Adding a second turd into a punchbowl doesn't improve the mix.

As I said, Pop think Sochan, Johnson and Collins are non-negotiable starters and will change any other position to preserve that.