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OCTOBER 30, 2025 - SPURS 107 HEAT 101 - SPURS MOVE TO 5-0!
Scott's Notes:
Next up: @ Phoenix on Sunday. GSG!
Scott's Notes:
- Really liked Mitch's choices tonight. Called timeouts appropriately, went deep into minutes for key guys. What stood out most were two moments. The first is in the 4th when Wemby was clearly gassed, Mitch pulled Wemby to give him a breather but then we had a timeout and it wasn't long before Vic was back in the game. In recent times it seemed like Pop would sit guys until a certain game time, whereas Mitch gave Wemby just enough of a break to get some energy back up. The other move I liked was after Dylan made a mistake in the 4th, Mitch subbed him out (I believe this is actually when he put Wemby back in) and it looked like Dylan was going to go right back in, but Mitch saw that closing lineup get hot and stuck with it. I like that adapability.
- Victor just absolutely dominated the defensive glass tonight, absolutely love to see it. Wasn't Vic's most efficient game, but he game up when it mattered and filled the stat sheet. This was kind of an "off" game offensively from Wemby but he was just so good on the glass and the defensive end, which is the stuff MVPs do.
- Overall I was very impressed (and have been all season) by our rebounding dominance and it's not just Wemby. Vassell chipped in 9 big boards last night, Champ had 9 the last game IIRC, Steph had 6, another 5 from Champ tonight... just great stuff. We're #4 in the NBA in Reb/gm as it currently stands per NBA.com, but we are #1 in REB%. We out-boarded MIA 48-41 and MIA actually leads the league in Box Outs/gm, so that says something!
- Great game from Steph. He still had a couple of TOs I didn't like, but he was much more composed last night. The 4 steals were absolutely huge. In 5 games, Steph has also hit two clutch 3s. Not bad for a guy who can't shoot. I think the shooting will come around. Let's practice those FTs though.
- I rated Devin significantly higher than consensus. He hit some big time 3s and I just love the game he is playing right now. No hero ball, just quick, decisive decision making. He didn't record any steals last night, but he is playing solid team defense. This Devin skeptic is loving eating some crow.
- Speaking of steals, another 10 last night. I love how active we are in creating defensive events. We're 12th in the league at 8.8 stl/gm right now, but I think we're going to climb up those rankings.
- A fun stat: right now we are 3rd in the league at 7.0 blk/gm (this will go up with Korndog is back, IMO), but we're also first in the league in Blocks against, at only 2.4/gm, what a wild differential! The next closest team is GSW at 3.0
- I think this is about the best we can expect from Bismack. We really need Korndog and Kelly back ASAP.
- Julian I almost rated a 4, which may sound surprising given the community grade of 2.9. He had a poor game offensively, but he had a big steal late, did well on the boards and posted a team high +24. We can debate +/- all day, but the fact is that Champ on the floor helps the offense work, even if he's only hitting 30% on 3s so far this year.
- Speaking of Julian's 3s... I'm not concerned about his shot or HB's quite yet... they'll come around.
- @spurraider21
- Vic - Great final numbers but a bit of a mixed performance. Defensively wasn’t too effective against Bam and offensively never really found a rhythm. But still impacted the game as always, gave us 39 minutes and was dominant down the stretch.
- Vassell - gave him a 3. The shot wasn’t falling but other than maybe 1-2 attempts i don’t fault his shot selection. Was solid on defense and gave several high effort contests.
- Castle - it wasn’t a flawless game but it was a 5 on my scale. Was laying bricks early but really came on strong and was our most consistent offensive player. Made some great passes in transition and was a monster defensively other than a bad rotation here and there.
- Harper - he gets a 4 for me. The production wasn’t great and he was takes after some bad offensive possessions. But he was playing great defense and making 2 crisp catch and shoot 3s bodes very well (missed every pull up attempt though). Got to the rim a ton but blew a couple of bunnies.
- Mitch - easy 5. Wasn’t reluctant to give Wemby all the minutes he could handle. Kept the hot lineup in the game late and it worked out. Dealing with a limited roster so not too much he could do rotation wise.
- @Em-City: Impressive play from castle with the great defense- into - offense mindset. Good depth despite the injuries, with McLaughlin playing effectively and bismack not giving up too much. Barnes continues to do some things but champ is looks like he's lost confidence after the scorching pre-season. Oh, and thank the heavens for vic
- @mazerrackham: Nice to see Castle break out of his mini-funk. Controlled the game state well, limited turnovers, hit some timely shots, great defense.
- @brazil: Easy schedule or not Spurs are 5-0 and this game was a test against one of the hottest team in the NBA and a defensive statement holding Heat 140 ppg at 100, Victor ate Ware alive (-20) making him unplayable and Harper is awesome. More importantly Spurs have still room to improve, FT shooting continues to be an issue (worst FT shooting in the league), as expected Heat dare Spurs to shoot from 3 and Spurs did okish converting 14 out of 41 with the expected return of Sochan and Fox, pressure on that side will increase.
- @Davidicus
- We say we’re grading Wemby on a bell curve - NO CURVE FOR LAST NIGHT. There is only one area I graded Wemby on, and it was his will to win. Seriously, I have never seen Wemby more happy to win an NBA game in his life. You could tell he understood what this game meant in terms of the franchise turning a corner, and he went out and won it for us. He is so hungry, dare I say Jordan-esque.
- I’ve noticed Harper’s good defense throughout the year, but WOW it was jumping off the screen last night. He’s so large compared to Dayvion. You think Dayvion is gonna torch him, but Dylan stays with him step for step and just completely engulfs him with his size. Unreal how lucky we are.
- Big props to Mitch Johnson and the coaching staff. He guided the team through that zone defense. We had a great 3Q for the first time all year. We were slow and lost on defense rotations in 1H, much tighter 2H. Beating Spoelstra is always a challenge.
- Castle just showed up tonight, that’s all you need to say. He does not back down from a bad shot, a bad quarter, or a bad game. He’s a dawg, through and through.
- KJ is so impressive. He gets it. He fully understands how to use his body to help the team win games. His happy place is in the paint.
- Champ, Barnes, and Vassell all had pretty bad games, but hit clutch buckets in the 4th. Can’t fault these guys when they directly contribute to sealing a win.
- @Robz4000: Can't say the Spurs don't have a quality win anymore tbh; held the best offense in the league statistically to more than 30 points below their season average. Safe to say this defense is legit.
- @Correct Crusader: Jordan McLovin can hoop. Several high IQ plays throughout the game, very smart player.
- @Guru of Nothing: I'm going full Oprah tonight.
Next up: @ Phoenix on Sunday. GSG!
