Misc MISC Spurs 2025-26 Season Thread

Austin Spurs getting back Bouyea is a good news. He was with a two way contract with Bucks but they waived him to sign Alex Antetokounmpo...

Spurs have put a lot of effort this summer to have a competitive gleague team:
- They traded all their 2025 and 2026 draft picks to get players.
- They have only added proven gleague vets.
- They hired a promising new coach.
- They gave 8 "exhibit 10" contracts. They have given that financial bonus to basically all the players.

Biyombo is making the roster but will they keep him once Olynyk is back?
 
Just glad the season is nearly underway! Awesome our first game is with our great rival Mavericks. Hopefully Victor and Coop bless us with a decade long rivarly like the Dirk and Duncan era gave us.

Nice to meet you all. Pumped for good health and an epic season!
 
Just glad the season is nearly underway! Awesome our first game is with our great rival Mavericks. Hopefully Victor and Coop bless us with a decade long rivarly like the Dirk and Duncan era gave us.

Nice to meet you all. Pumped for good health and an epic season!
Extra fun with the rookie class coming in. There’s almost always going to be someone interesting to watch on the bad guys this year. And the Houston and OKC games feel like they’re going to be extra spicy.
 
I just watched that HEB commercial (cool commericlal), but that's not the reason for my post. There was a link to a new Robert Horry podcast with Byron Scott and it was very interesting (I was still about pissed about his comments about Tim a few years ago, but decided to watch some of it). I watched about half of it, and Bryon asked him about the culture on the Championship teams and how different is was between the teams as Byron was very interested to know (Rockets, Lakers, Spurs), and he said surprisingly, it wasn't that much different between all three teams. He mentioned that they all played defense and had that as a top priority (not sure if new school fans think the same due to the Curry era, but I still 100% believe defense wins championships). He said off the court, they were all pretty close to each other on those Championship teams (they'd go to restaurants together, stuff like that), and that translated to on the court defensively (where they were cohesive/almost played as one on the defensive end). The other host (I don't know his name as I don't normally watch Byron's podcast), he also mentioned that a common thing is that the teams usually had an enforcer.

I'm thinking about this current Spurs team, and I can already see some of those traits/good habits developing (focus on defense, team closeness, hanging out together etc., so I hope that can translate on the defensive being more cohesive), so it's good that they're finally prioritising defense which I've wanted them to do for the past couple of years now, but I still feel they might be lacking an enforcer. Would you guys say any of the current players can be an enforcer? Does Bismack have the traits to come in a knock someone around if someone on the other team gets out of line? How about Kelly Olynyk?

An interesting thing that Byron wanted to know about was his time at the Suns and what happened, why he wanted out. He said he hated the culture there. They weren't practicing hard. He said in Houston they used to practice hard, harder than the games, so when it came to the games, it was in a way almost easier. He said guys at Phoenix didn't even want to practice at all (some guys/players) were just sitting out with cigars. He said he tried to bring up to the team about playing defense, but they didn't care to focus on that, and that pissed him off. Then Ainge said some shit to him during a game and he flipped out. He said Ainge called him up after he traded him and said something like "I've probably just won you another championship, but I've traded you to the Lakers." Horry said he got in his car straight away and started driving to LA. He wanted out of there bad.

Interesting that he also said Tim didn't talk to him much for almost 2 years. Most likely due to all the battles they had where they had to go up against each other, and usually the stakes were high, where either the Lakers won the Championship or the Spurs won the Championship during that time. He said the fans were also against him too when he first got to SA, said they were looking at him like he's a spy. Thinking back, I felt the same way. I didn't start trusting him until half way through his second season with the Spurs (2005 season). He also said the year before (2003) he missed a shot that could have won the Lakers the game, and then in 2004, he missed a shot from the same spot that could have won the Spurs the game. Said he tried to never shoot from that spot again on the AT&T Center floor. Didn't like that spot. He said he tried to shoot from anywhere else but that spot. I remember both those misses. Really could have turned the tide for either team in both those series.
 
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I'm thinking about this current Spurs team, and I can already see some of those traits/good habits developing (focus on defense, team closeness, hanging out together etc., so I hope that can translate on the defensive being more cohesive), so it's good that they're finally prioritising defense which I've wanted them to do for the past couple of years now, but I still feel they might be lacking an enforcer. Would you guys say any of the current players can be an enforcer? Does Bismack have the traits to come in a knock someone around if someone on the other team gets out of line? How about Kelly Olynyk?

David Jones-Garcia:st-wakeup:

 
Didn't realize DJG can do that. Sochan, I thought is more annoying than anything enforcer wise, but, the Spurs haven't been a winning team before so maybe he can fill that role? I've never thought of him as an enforcer, though. He always seemed more talk to me than someone that'd take action if pushed to that point.
 
Sochan gives me “I’m gonna start a fight and then hide behind one of these female refs” kind of vibes
I always wondered how would fans rate Sochan if not for his Rodman cosplay. If he looked like your average NBA player.
He'd be just another Stanley Johnson, tbh.
 
I don’t see much of a throughline between “enforcement” and winning. These guys don’t actually deter anything. Guys are still messing with curry after all these years of a Draymond nut punch hanging over their heads.

the purpose of the role is pride and energy. You want to use them to take control of the narrative of the game when the ball and hoop aren’t cooperating.

Jeremy could do that in theory. We haven’t seen it because there’s a general lack of intensity from opposition against a tanking team. But once wins start to become expected I could picture him being wielded as some kind of weapon.

…just not during crunch time the other 30 minutes a night when he should be on the bench.
 
I always wondered how would fans rate Sochan if not for his Rodman cosplay. If he looked like your average NBA player.
He'd be just another Stanley Johnson, tbh.
I don’t see much of a throughline between “enforcement” and winning. These guys don’t actually deter anything. Guys are still messing with curry after all these years of a Draymond nut punch hanging over their heads.

the purpose of the role is pride and energy. You want to use them to take control of the narrative of the game when the ball and hoop aren’t cooperating.

Jeremy could do that in theory. We haven’t seen it because there’s a general lack of intensity from opposition against a tanking team. But once wins start to become expected I could picture him being wielded as some kind of weapon.

…just not during crunch time the other 30 minutes a night when he should be on the bench.
The two posts are answered by each other: fans would still rate Sochan highly without his "Rodman cosplay" because of his perceived enforcer attitude... And we have already seen that attitude from Sochan, despite the Spurs tanking, with his Judo takedown of the Morris brother (iirc?) during a game:


Whether he can consistently live up to the "modern enforcer" role is a topic of debate, but he's unarguably played the part already.
 
I actually liked Zach for being a tough guy. Him at the same time looking like the pretty face QB jock in a Scream movie, made it just better.

As of now, Sochan and Olynyk probably are the closest thing to being an enforcer...and I'm not sure, we need a James Johnson type, if the whole core brings some toughness with it.
 
I actually liked Zach for being a tough guy. Him at the same time looking like the pretty face QB jock in a Scream movie, made it just better.

As of now, Sochan and Olynyk probably are the closest thing to being an enforcer...and I'm not sure, we need a James Johnson type, if the whole core brings some toughness with it.
Collins wasn't a tough guy, he was just a dirty fucker who often retaliated because his opponents kept shitting on him.
I don't like the Olynyk signing because he's a well-known dirty player and the last thing we want is someone retaliating on Wemby because one of our dirty players injured someone.

Tough guy era is over, modern NBA doesn't tolerate anything and enforers are just washed up third stringers that come in to injure someone. Any malicious plays is a flagrant these days, not worth the trouble.
 

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Damn, too bad considering he's a big with a 3. I'd rather him than Biyombo but it might just be my rose colored glasses because I've never seen Potter outside of our preseason games.
 
I actually liked Zach for being a tough guy. Him at the same time looking like the pretty face QB jock in a Scream movie, made it just better.

As of now, Sochan and Olynyk probably are the closest thing to being an enforcer...and I'm not sure, we need a James Johnson type, if the whole core brings some toughness with it.

There are zero people in the league afraid of James Johnson even though he could kill them with his bare hands. When he does his “I’m gonna *%!# you up” thing, I wonder if anyone even in the moment gives a shit. What’s the premise - that he’s going to walk up to someone and punch them in the face or put them in some choke hold? When has that ever happened when a bench player jumps a real player? Ever, even once?

Olynyk is honestly one of the best enforcers in the league because he’s big and dirty. Guys like Lou Dort are also effective because they’re dirty but in a quiet way. Mathurin is good because he’s also a little dirty and annoys the shit out of people and can also do damage on the scoreboard.

I think Sochan’s issue is that he’s not good enough for people to take seriously and he’s not particularly strong or imposing. He’s just a bench guy who is harassing better players. It’s not nothing but it has limitations.
 
I don't like the Olynyk signing because he's a well-known dirty player and the last thing we want is someone retaliating on Wemby because one of our dirty players injured someone.

Tough guy era is over, modern NBA doesn't tolerate anything and enforers are just washed up third stringers that come in to injure someone. Any malicious plays is a flagrant these days, not worth the trouble.

Interesting point about Olynyk, I never imagined that happening, I'd hate to see it. Sochan is also pretty unlikeable. I don't mind that being a part of the team's identity to some extent but nobody better touch Wemby. :st-makemyday:
 
Interesting point about Olynyk, I never imagined that happening, I'd hate to see it. Sochan is also pretty unlikeable. I don't mind that being a part of the team's identity to some extent but nobody better touch Wemby. :st-makemyday:
Collins wasn't a tough guy, he was just a dirty fucker who often retaliated because his opponents kept shitting on him.
I don't like the Olynyk signing because he's a well-known dirty player and the last thing we want is someone retaliating on Wemby because one of our dirty players injured someone.

Tough guy era is over, modern NBA doesn't tolerate anything and enforers are just washed up third stringers that come in to injure someone. Any malicious plays is a flagrant these days, not worth the trouble.
I seriously doubt any player wants to deal with the fallout of being the guy who cheap shot injured the biggest draw in the league. That's a reputation you dont want, and especially if you're some bench player just wanting to hang in the league as long as possible.
 
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