Game Thread Spurs (11-4) @ Suns (10-6) (Sun 11/23/25) [7:00PM CDT]

[scott]

people can hate on dillon brooks but he's proved himself three times over. was a core part of a good grizzlies team. went to houston and was considered overpaid initially but outplayed his deal and his attitude stuck there and houston thrived on defense/physicality with his presence. and now look at phoenix. looked like a franchise dead in the water. lost KD and added Brooks and suddenly they are one of the better defensive teams in the league.

and its not just his defense, for a couple of years now the guy legitimately generates his own looks in the midrange and looks really good doing it

I don’t hate Brooks’ on the court game… just everything else about him lol

 

[timtonymanu]

I would take Brooks over most of the players on our team, tbh.

 

[DaSlicer]

Brooks gives me Jax type of vibes in the sense just like Jax he gives whatever team he's with an edge and the honeymoon phase he has initially with his new team is good but once it's over him and his team ends up flaming out.

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

I knew Phoenix had been on the rise since beating the Spurs, and I predicted that a loss would have the Fox haters and doubters doubling down on their bias against him. Yet he put up 25 points on just 11 shots, went to the line over 10 times, but some people in the thread still claimed he couldn’t get past defenders—completely ignoring that his offseason surgery was on his hand, not his legs, which are perfectly fine. Combine that with Mitch’s ongoing struggles as an NBA head coach—still rolling out unbalanced, head-scratching lineups—and the fact that Phoenix is no pushover, and you’ve got an expected but disappointing loss for the Spurs. Now on to the Grades.

Mitch: D-. Here we are, and our not so seasoned rookie head coach is serving up some of the most baffling lineups of the season. DJG was a revelation last game, a distributor stepping up while our wunderkind point guards, Harper and Castle, nursed their injuries. So naturally, the next move is… PG Sochan and the no-PG Olynyk experiment, leaving Fox marooned as the lone floor general. And wouldn’t you know it, this comes right after Professor Pop is spotted chatting with Mitch at the facilities. Lord above, keep the self-anointed Jeffe far, far away from Mitch and the squad.

Keldon: B- He brought the juice and was basically the only other reliable scorer besides Fox, but somehow Mitch’s “offensive scheme” included long stretches where Keldon might as well have been invisible—no touches, just cardio.

Fox: B Fox is still on probation in my book, but he went ahead and dropped 25 points on only 11 shots, courtesy of what felt like a season pass to the free throw line—16 trips! Yet people in the thread made declarative statements like 'I don think at this stage Foxx can get passed defenders" His defense wobbled a bit, but come on, Devin Booker has been cooking defenders for years, and Phoenix is basically running an all-you-can-eat buffet of talented guards and wings. I’m chalking this one up to the scheme, not the man.

Kornet: C+ In his fourth consecutive start filling in for our missing Alien, Kornet offered a solid enough presence in the paint, and on the rare occasion the guards and wings actually fed him the ball, he managed to put it in the hoop. Let’s be honest—no one with a pulse and a working brain cell was banking on an All-Star showcase from our big guy.

Bryant: INC Carter Bryant had his best stretch so far, but it was so limited that I have to give him an incomplete. I still think Mitch not sending him to Austin for much-needed reps is hurting his potential and development. Just another demerit in the coaching acumen of our new HC, not an indictment of Carter’s ability or worthiness as an NBA player.

Olynk and Sochan: D- I group these two together because our HC made the odd choice to run them as our primary ball handlers in the second half—the half where the Spurs collapsed, blew the lead, and ultimately lost the game. Sochan is Sochan; some call him part of the Friendship Crew with Keldon and Devin. I call them the cum laude grads of Professor Pop’s Pfizer College distance learning program in Citizenship and Government Social Justice. Each has flaws as players, though some have managed to correct them better than others. Olynyk has somehow ended up sharing the duties, but this feels more like a Mitch move for Olynyk. He wasnt brought in for this role or to take this course.

Devin: C- Devin Vesseled it up as good but not as bad as he has Vesseled it up before. Devin still can’t be the go-to guy on a fast break after five or six years, preferring to bulldoze a shorter, smaller defender instead of just turning and shooting over him or passing the ball to open teammates filling the lane. That said, he did block some shots, knock down a few threes, and put some points on the board.

Barnes: B He wasn’t hitting from three but didn’t take too many attempts, and still had a solid game nonetheless. If anyone was expecting a SUPER BARNES finish two games in a row, well, he’s still only flesh and blood. I love this guy.

Julian: C+ Julian hit some threes, though not at an elite level, but he contributed strong rebounding, finishing with a surprising 12 boards. He brought energy and wasn’t terrible on defense. Not to say he was good, just not awfull. Overall, good job, Champagnie.

 

[spurraider21]

I'm deathly afraid of OKC trading for him in a year or two as he's probably the best I have ever seen guarding Wemby. And OKC has the plethora of riches to make it happen without it hurting too much.

i mean... they have dort

 

[O_V]

I only saw the second half. I was confused as fuck at why DJG was barely handling the ball. Why the fuck are we not letting him run the group like he did a game ago?

They had a blanket on him. He couldn't get a good shot off and he couldn't complete a pass.

 

[Fireball]

Just watched this game and realized I went through it very quickly ... often using the 10+ seconds button as I never believed the Spurs would win this game.
Typical road game against a good team - at home we would have pulled this off but not in Phoenix.

At first it looked as if Brooks would give us a chance with his chucking but sadly he stabilized and we have chucker Vassell ourselves so no advantage for the Spurs.

And yeah DJG looked horrible. Less minutes for him, more minutes for Carter (overall, not substituting each other of course) would have been better.

 

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1992797072349975002

 

[spurraider21]

Champagnie and Barnes arent that good out on the perimeter (although Barnes has had some admirable performances like his defending of Durant). and Vassell has been hit or miss as far as being impactful defensively. certainly wasnt there today.