https://www.spurstalk.com/2024-spurs-bucks-grades-34/
Entertaining game, at least
This season is all about watching Wemby and to a lesser degree Vassell. Both delivered tremendously, so it was a great game. Besides his last shot, I loved what I saw from Tre too. I hope these guys see this game as an actual moral victory.
It’s clear that you add some decent PG play and the team is immediately more compe ive. Weird the Spurs won’t do that for Victor and just the mental health of this group. I hope they can add even a little depth at the position by the trade deadline. One average point guard on an entire NBA roster? What team does that when you have a generational talent on your squad?
But all in all this was a great showcase for the young Spurs and what’s possible for Victor.
Pop's 'you don't need a point guard despite everything' hill, is certainly a strange one to die on.
Sochan finally got an F grade
Wow, don’t think I’ve ever seen an F before. It was well earned tho.
Best grades of the season
That was a great game. It’s a shame Collins, Branham, and McDermott will all be back soon to ruin it. Just hope Tre remains in the SL where he belongs
Thanks Timvp. I have to disagree on several points. Firstly you mentioned Wemby hesitating on 3’s. Boy, I thought he should’ve hesitated more. I thought he was a bit impatient shooting the 3’s and should wait to develop sone semblance of team offense. Wemby as great as he is, needs to fathom his offense some on Jokic, developing plays on top of the key. Yes sending them some, but also wait for cutters for nifty passes. It will take for his teammates to make strong cuts to the hoops, but Wemby needs to learn to traffic those.
Wesley’s defense when he’s out there is elite. Several times he was the reason the Bucks POA slowed down. He was a plug out there and affected the player(s) he was guarding setting a play. I think he is a big reason why the Spurs are not giving up big leads lately or not getting down as much. He is a big plug in the POA hole. I really wish Pop could find more minutes for Wesley especially when keeping the leads. Imo the Spurs don’t have as much problem scoring, but sustaining and keeping the leads. And that’s where Wesley could do a lot of help.
Barlow is so nice to watch out there. I hope he keeps healthy because he can help. His rebounding is great, his perimeter defense is great. He has touches around the elbow. He is definitely making the most of his opportunities with Bassey and Collins out. If he could find consistency in shooting outside, I would start believing he could play along with Wemby in the PF position. He has the length, the lateral mobility and the dog in him. Barlow could be a special player if he could continue improving. And he should at only 20 years old.
I thought Sochan had some good defensive rebounds. I wish he would try attacking the board more, and not stop his momentum once he gets to the paint. He should try to finish with contact ala Keldon. Sochan is becoming predictable stopping his penetration once he gets to the paint. He is overthinking (albeit could be affected by the PG experiment) and just start to play loose. He has improved skills, but negated by overthinking. It takes a lot of practice to translate them to instincts, muscle memory to just let the plays develop. I’m still rooting for the kid. He is a very hard worker and willing to do anything out there for the team. He is team first imo. So I feel bad that so called “Spurs fans” crucify him, instead of encouraging him. I think with his athleticism, his dog in him and his willingness to learn, he would be a great asset once he puts them all together. He has shown glimpses, just need to trust his skills and let the game flow.
I wish they won. Still I rather the Spurs get two top 10 picks that will help them a lot either by drafting or using as trade assets for that elusive PG and veteran help. GSG!
The Spurs play one of their best games of the season (a low bar tbh), Sochan gets an F, Pop gets a D+. Per par...?
I'm surprising myself to find that I'm much higher on Blake Wesley than I thought I would be over the last two games. I'm not saying his production is actually great, but at least he's playing solid defense as far as I can tell, or at the least trying to play defense, and he's reducing for the most part his trauma-inducing defeats at the rim. I don't know if last night's rotation is feasible long-term, but whoever didn't play last night, I'm not really missing them. And Blake is showing progress and his potential skills are hugely needed: play aggressive defensive and drive and kick. Just do that. Please trade Doug asap.
His dribble penetration is effective. The stats don’t show the assist, but those lead to connecting passes. But the most impressive is his defense. I’m not much on metrics, but I’m sure he has great defensive rating especially defending the POA.
He seemed relatively effective against Ja and Dame, I mean way better than Branham. He didn't back down defending them. It helps set a tone. If nothing else, it makes the games less painful to watch.
Best part about that wemby block is it's everywhere on nba sites today thus highlighting the bull shoulder dip and slam Gianis does on EVERY drive.
Badass that wemby absorbed the football hit and still got the clean block
Grades:
timvp: A+
such a shame tre jones cant shoot....we would be so much better
With the Spurs needing three points, having Sochan and Jones on the court late was a head-scratcher.
Uh oh the floodgates have been opened. An actual F was handed out for the first time instead of a D-.
Mugen get your ass in here
That was not easy to block a strong Giannis the Freak head on. Wemby’s stock should go up much especially with the fan votes, he’s currently 8th in the West (not including guards) behind Sengun but two higher than Chet
People can say what they want, but I can't complain about any performance yesterday. Yes, the Spurs lost, which was expected. But I took my 12 year old to the game. He is a huge soccer fan, but had no interest in basketball. Still I tried to get him interested when I took him to the first Clippers game and he was fairly bored. So for Christmas, I got him a Wemby jersey and took him to the game last night. And what a show Wemby (and several other Spurs put on). He became a huge Wemby fan and was blown away with the throw it to himself and dunk it in the first half, the behind the back and dunk in the second half, the Lillard block, and of course the block on the Greek Freak. Though we both had to admit the Greek Freak's and-one dunk was special, Wemby did stuff that the casual person can't ignore as greatness. I remember falling in love with basketball after watching a young Michael Jordan torch the Knicks. I'm glad that Wemby could have that kind of an impact on my son, even in a loss.
And Kudos to fuego Vassell in that game and that crazy reverse windmill dunk by Keldon Johnson. I never left a Spurs loss so happy. Even when the Spurs are losing, we are lucky.
And Sochan may have got an "F", but to my son, him making two one-handed free throws stood out. I know we expect more from a lottery pick, but hey, can we enjoy that he is the only player in the NBA doing that.
Your post is funny. While reading it I look over to see Sochan's smiling face.
Fun game to watch, great grades to read!
Wesley is starting to play under control, he doesn't look lost out there. He's got some real defensive potential and is finishing at the rim much better than last year.
Sochan really is not fitting in this season, he's so out of sync with where to be offensively. In the way is a good way to put it. It takes 5 players working together and we are finally getting 4 on the same page. Sochan and KJ are so often out of sync,
Wemby has a true compe ive fire and clutch gene to go with size, grace, skill and high IQ. After he has faced every team a couple of times and adds some muscle, he will dominate the league. Also, if it hasn't been said enough, he's the best passer on the team.
Tre is our best bet to get the team organized. He's also the low-water mark for a PG for this squad. We just need someone better than him and things should start to improve.
Pop is a bit of a head-scratcher. He is so engaged and actively providing teaching moments to the youngsters. I can only imagine his teaching is on point basketball-wise. His overall coaching as a strategist, planner, and game manager seem off.
tre showed us why he is the best fit to start at PG this season and also why he is not the best fit to remain the starting PG beyond this season.
Pop and Sochan get the grades they deserve
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