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SPURS 126 - PELICANS 119 | SPURS IMPROVE TO 7-2
Scott's Notes:
Scott's Notes:
- Welcome back, Fantastic Mr. Fox! I was torn between a 4 and a 5 for Swipa because he is certainly capable of even more than this, but considering this is his return game and he has only been playing 5-on-5 for two weeks, this is about the most we could expect. I said this in the game thread (and apparently it was taken the wrong way by some), but having Fox back is such a game changer. He is capable of taking over on the offensive end in ways that are just on a complete different level from anyone other than Vic (Harper has shown flashes of this ability too). Castle and Vassell have been cast into this kind of role of picking up the slack when the team is struggling, but they just aren't that kind of player. Fox is, and it absolutely raises the offensive ceiling of this team in pretty awesome ways.
- I gave Victor a 4, because while he wasn't great offensively he completely dominated the defensive glass and was his usually defensive force. Especially with Fox back, there is less burden on Vic to be superhuman on offense every game. If a baseline game for him is this kind of "off" offensive performance plus this kind of defense and rebounding, he's still an All NBA player. Rudy Gobert, for example, is a multiple time All NBA player based on this kind of D and rebounding... and Wemby is BETTER than that, plus more of an offensive threat even when he's off.
- Continuing on Victor... I have full confidence we'll figure out these defenses, officials will start calling these obvious fouls, and Victor will break out of this slump. Then what is the rest of the league going to do?
- I was between a 4 and a 5 from Steph because of those 3-point bricks, but the form doesn't look bad, the shots just aren't falling. Some people say he should stop shooting, I disagree. If he's open, he should get those shots up (maybe not the early shot clock ones). I'm confident the shot will come around. But the vision and playmaking was awesome today.
- I was higher than community consensus on Keldon. To me, this was a clear 5 performance for his role. He's an absolute terror on the offensive glass (a monster 13.2% OREB rate) and his inside game is becoming automatic with that bank shot floater hook. If Keldon keeps like this, we won't have to see the return of Sad Keldon and @OK Computer's prediction of some 6MOY recognition won't be far fetched at all.
- What's gotten into HB's defense? Loving what both he and Champ are doing with 1-on-1 defense right now. They are by no means stoppers, but they are busting their ass and providing resistance. They'll never be all world defenders but they are doing the jobs great right now, in addition to being exactly what we need from offensive wings. HB is up to an absurd 50% on 5.3 3PA/gm and Champ, who started slow, is now at 37.5% on 5.3 3PA/gm as well.
- Continuing on the 3P shooting, Devin is at 36.5% on 8.2 3PA/gm and he's doing well in his new role. I liked his play again today, a departure from the Main Character Dev who returned during the two-game losing streak. As a team, we're at 36.3% on 35.2 3PA/gm. That's around middle of the pack on both metrics, and that's good for me considering the make up of our roster and the presence of Vic and 3 downhill guards.
- Speaking of 3s some more... Sochan didn't attempt one and who cares. This is a good role for Jeremy. 15-20 minutes, high defensive presence, opportunistic offense. The kind of game Jeremy played today was within himself and was a positive impact on the team during some difficult stretches. Let's just let Sochan do THIS and not expect/demand he be something more.
- TMIII... no more... I apologize for whatever lovely San Antonio lady broke your heart and made you take it out on us like this
- @Sugus
- Someone described this as a "professional win" in the game thread and it felt exactly accurate: the Spurs never seemed seriously challenged despite their leads waning, and always had answers to match scoring runs from the Pelicans. Fox looked very smooth and springy on the court, which was great, and his scoring prowess is a sight for sore eyes - though I would've liked to see him integrate more into the distribution role that Castle ended up undertaking.
- The season so far has been characterized by a "to think that they're still missing X and Y!" feeling, and tonight was no exception; Harper and Kornet can't come back soon enough, and will raise the ceiling of the team even further along. Exciting times
- @Area 51.247
- Maestro and the Mariachis need to take the team on a rattlesnake drive to point out every team is dangerous until they're completely in the kevlar bag and it's tied off. Too many comfortable leads are wriggling away, keeping CB, DJG, Minix, Ingram, and Bismack from their destiny as an all-time closeout crew.
- Plus-minus's limitations did show in this game. Two Pelicans each played 38 minutes, with Jones going +17 with 15 pts and Murphy going -14 with 41 pts.
- For the Spurs, DV was +22 with 16 points in 33 minutes while SC was -4 with 14 pts and 14 ast in 35 minutes. Not sure anyone would say they wanted to see more DV than Steph, though.
- Once they take a deep breath and calm down, the ferocious defensive intensity of Sochan and Bryant combined with the steadiness of Waters and Harper (or Fox or Castle) will create an opportunistic second unit that can hopefully, begin to keep leads.
- @Splits
- never thought the day would come, but the friendship crew all got 5s
- Fox was above average in his debut, so nice to have him back
- average game from Mitch, still confused by a lot of his sets with Wemby starting in the corner or setting picks above the 3pt line. Fox as well began many sets in the corner to start the game and for many stretches, they were intentionally not having Fox bring the ball up or initiate the offense, sitting Fox during crunch time was also strange, he only brought him back in when Castle fouled out.
- @heyheymymy: Fox was worth the wait
- @Robz4000: Never felt like the Spurs were in danger of losing this game the first 46 minutes but when the Pels made it interesting Fox shut the door quickly tbh. Glad to have him back.
- @Davidicus
- Felt like a half glass full / half empty game.
- Half empty - Victor isn’t just being doubled, he is straight up regressing to last year taking 3s and turning the ball over on the dribble. Castle can’t shoot 3s and every game is either fouling or TOing too much. Jeremy’s hesitation to shoot disrupts the offensive flow too much. We can’t maintain leads against dogshit teams.
- Half full - was 2nd night of a B2B after a bludgeonfest of a win against a top team in the West. Victor is destroying rebounds and is patient enough to keep letting the game come to him. Stephon career high tie 14ast. Fox won us the game with clutch shooting and a veteran demeanor. Jeremy finds ways to contribute on both sides of the ball, often times with real impact. Supporting cast of DV HB JC KL is honestly fantastic, given they are now in the back seat.
- In reality, both sides are not only true, but signal an adaptability and depth of this team to find a win when not firing on all cylinders (every game except DAL). Which translates into a 7-2 record. True tests will come against better opponents, but I like our trajectory.
- @LeBowen
- Castle is developing better than expected, but that shot is going to be an issue if he doesn't figure something out.
- Wemby is too unselfish at times while also taking some really bad shots. He needs to realize that a lot of his passes aren't that great of a decision because they players catching them can't take the advantage like he does and that him shooting from close range is almost always better than passing out unless the receiver is a wide open, good shooter.
- Good to see Champagnie keeping his level even from the bench, Keldon continues contributing with monster effort and even Devin/Jeremy were solid.
- Fox is a max player, I'm not sure why some people were surprised by his performance other than it being his first game back. It's what he does.
