Analysis GRADES: 12/08/2025 Spurs 135 @ Pelicans 132

scott

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SPURS SURVIVE VOODOO CURSE, ESCAPE NEW ORLEANS WITH 16-7 RECORD AHEAD OF CUP QUARTERFINAL MATCHUP
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Scott's Notes:
  • Only one more game against NOP this year (Jan 25) and I'll be happy to not have to face TMIII or Derik Queen anymore. Sheesh these guys sure do eat our lunch
  • A career high and a game winner for our star rookie. Thought he played a great game aside from getting caught ball watching a few times
  • Thought Steph looked good in his return, but I'm a little higher than consensus on him I see
  • Don't know where Fox's mind was at this game, but he did come up with a huge bucket in the last minute of the game along with two clutch FTs
  • Barnes' offense kept us alive in the 3rd, but his D also hurt us... I thought the bigger wing story was Champ - who played a great game off the bench. I still contend Champ should start, but this kind of bench performance gives me confidence he won't fall off in a bench role like he did last year
  • I didn't think Devin played horribly, there is just not a lot of space for him as he gets pushed down to a 4th/5th option role. Tonight he was a 3rd option and couldn't get it going. This is also why I don't think moves like Devin + picks for a guy like TM3 make any sense. Why do you want to pay the hefty price for TM3 to be limited to 5 shots as a 4th option? It just doesn't make sense. He probably isn't gettable, but even a guy like Ryan Dunn might be a better fit for what we need here. A guy who is a plus defender and can just hit open 3s. Champ is our best fit for that right now, which is why I think he should start and Devin should be allowed more freedom against benches
  • Hopefully Wemby back Wednesday...
  • Mitch needs a Masterclass subscription so he can learn how to give halftime speeches cus his ain't working
What You Said:
  • @jeebus - Mitch is the NBA equivalent of Jason Garrett.
  • @LeBowen - Everyone gets a -1 to their grade because of how embarrassing this was.
  • @Splits - A road win is a road win... I guess. What in the actual hell is Mitch doing in the locker room at half?
  • @heyheymymy - Mitch needs to improve 3rd quarters, Devin can't disappear, Sochan must stop giving games away. Champ, HB and Harper were great. Hats off to Queen for his first career triple double. He was unstoppable.
  • @couchman - Mitch acknowledged in his post game presser that the third quarter issues have happened even with different personel on the floor. That makes it a COACHING ISSUE. He has to change the 3rd quarter dynamic somehow.
  • @ginobilized - Harper was awesome coming back from his bad outing in the Land. Great to see. I was so glad we didn't go to Fox on the last possession. Also, it was interesting that so many of Harper's buckets came going right and with the right hand. That's not a normal rookie talent. Castle hit a huge 3 as the lead was going back and forth in the 4th and that's great to see and proved to be valuable. I can't imagine what the coaching staff will do with watching that 3rd quarter. My hope is that they figure out their halftime approach and alter it appropriately. Kudos to Mitch for giving Sochan a chance and then aborting that idea thereafter.
  • @NotoriousHOP - What happened to the Kornet Kontest? Post injury Luke has had his moments but had been mostly mediocre. He has a tendency to bat rebounds out instead of grabbing them, is easily blocked out, and has looked painfully slow.
  • @Area 51.247 - What a thoroughly unsettling win. From a fluid, dynamic offense getting stops in the first half to a clunky, fake beautiful game that tossed the ball around the perimeter and away, along with a twenty point lead, it was a disjointed performance. Thank goodness for Unc and the rookie Harper, who pulled the Spurs together in the third and fourth to win. Way past time for "Coaches Only" and "Players Only" meetings about the Post Halftime Lethargy, though. Something's not right coming out of the locker room.
  • @spurs10 - We lose this game without Barnes and Harper. Stephen looked alright!
 
i thought Castle looked good but he was clearly pressing and maybe doing too much to try to re-assert himself as part of the team's identity instead of letting it come to him. it felt that way when Fox returned too, to be fair, when "fox possessions" felt pretty distinct from everythign else the offense was doing. for now, getting his sea legs under him is going to matter, and the chemistry will develop with time.

my bigger issue with castle was that his defense didnt stand out. overall this year his defense had been much more consistent than what we saw as a rookie. other than the booker game where he got sonned, he's been our perimeter defensive ace this year.
 
I absolutely hate the number of turnovers that happens because our players just lose the ball when entering the paint on drives.
It's like they all caught Sochanitis.
 
Just end sochan suffering and trade him on the first day we can.He just dont fit here.
 
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Hopefully this third quarter shit is not becoming a thing, at this point it could be very well in their head... You start missing 2/3 shot and then the here we go again mentality is ticking
 
Hopefully this third quarter shit is not becoming a thing, at this point it could be very well in their head... You start missing 2/3 shot and then the here we go again mentality is ticking
For a second, read "'hero' we go again" and laughed. Good point, though, about the "in their head". That's on both the players and coaches to work through. What happened to the staff sports psychologist?
 
i thought Castle looked good but he was clearly pressing and maybe doing too much to try to re-assert himself as part of the team's identity instead of letting it come to him.
This. He got his pocket picked in the first play of the game and it looked like he was trying too hard to make up for that the rest of the way. He broke the offense than once going full tunnel vision to the basket.
 
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