Game Thread Spurs (15-7) @ Pelicans (3-21) (Mon 12/8/25) [7:00PM CDT]

[Arguendo]

I don't know about that last paragraph. Didn't he hold out or told teams he didn't want to play for them if he couldn't play PG?

According to who? Whose the source? No the guy fighting for a Top pick in his draft, who didn't play PG in college did not "hold out" and hurt his draft stock.
Don't believe something you here from ESPN. Their only goal is your click, that's why they keep firing all the basketball people, the people with actual sources, they just want Perk's 65 IQ spouting nonsense to get reactions.
Castle talk about playing PG and that he'd like to they PG, but of course he did, a PG his size is far more rare.
And "holding out" is when you have a contract and posturing for an extension/new deal.
No, he didn't no Eli Manning and say don't draft me, that never happen. Go read his draft profiles and projections, none of them called him a PG, he was listed as a D focused guard/wings with secondary playmaking, who could MAYBE develop into a PG. Not the same thing. Same with Reed and Dillingham, all were MAYBE PGs if it goes right, and for those 2 their only chance to be starter due to size. The PG class in that draft was very bad (save Topic) so these guys were shoehorned into the slot, MAYBE. Read the draft profiles, seriously.

 

[timtonymanu]

Still on pace for 75-7

Sometimes tough teams gotta win tough game

Not gonna lie, I cringe on Reddit whenever that one poster brings up that on pace for 75-7 nonsense.

 

[Itzsoweezee]

With Castle back should Champagnie be starting and Vassell moved to the bench

Yes, but it’ll never happen

 

[Arguendo]

What Castle wants to be and what he should be might not be the same thing.

With that said I’m also just a fan of thinking more positionless, having two creators in the backcourt is fine, so I’m good with developing him as one to some extent. I think these two might be the perfect backcourt duo once they’re developed. And in the meantime we got Fox to hopefully fill the hole.

This. But look around the league, Castle is pretty clearly not a pure PG (whatever that means). Maybe that's a dying position, but there' no reason with Fox/Harper to force him into that role. Excellent secondary skills, but when he has the ball, we want him attacking and continuing to get to the line 54.8% of the time, not trying to find his teammates for lower percentage shots unless he see the lob opportunity.
This is people looking for problems, there's no problem here. Castle can absolutely play the 3 and yeah him and Harper can be a great duo once Fox give us what he's got.

 

[NASpurs]

According to who? Whose the source? No the guy fighting for a Top pick in his draft, who didn't play PG in college did not "hold out" and hurt his draft stock.
Don't believe something you here from ESPN. Their only goal is your click, that's why they keep firing all the basketball people, the people with actual sources, they just want Perk's 65 IQ spouting nonsense to get reactions.
Castle talk about playing PG and that he'd like to they PG, but of course he did, a PG his size is far more rare.
And "holding out" is when you have a contract and posturing for an extension/new deal.
No, he didn't no Eli Manning and say don't draft me, that never happen. Go read his draft profiles and projections, none of them called him a PG, he was listed as a D focused guard/wings with secondary playmaking, who could MAYBE develop into a PG. Not the same thing. Same with Reed and Dillingham, all were MAYBE PGs if it goes right, and for those 2 their only chance to be starter due to size. The PG class in that draft was very bad (save Topic) so these guys were shoehorned into the slot, MAYBE. Read the draft profiles, seriously.

You really need to calm down, are you his dad or something?

And yes ESPN did report it and so did many other outlets, it's not hard to look it up. I'm not here to be your Google.

 

[Kick-Stand]

Borrego gifting us a win by drawing up a stupid play lol

LOL NOP tanking for the Hawks. That pick is gonna be everything we thought those three ATL picks would become.

 

[Arguendo]

Yeah I'm not disagreeing with that but once again, the guy wanted to play PG for the team that drafted him when he fits more in the mold of Jimmy Butler. I love Castle though but he should really be working on that 3.

Serious question: "Castle wanted". Do you think that means he'd rather be a 20mpg backup PG or an AS and All-D secondary guy.
Wanted. OK. He'd rather not maximize his potential out of desire/selfishness or he'd rather maximize his potential/earnings/role given the roster and his skillset?
Like, you think he forces a trade if he doesn't play PG?
All serious question, not facetious.

 

[Arguendo]

You really need to calm down, are you his dad or something?

And yes ESPN did report it and so did many other outlets, it's not hard to look it up. I'm not here to be your Google.

K dude. Yup I'm his dad. Great response.
He was drafted as PG, 100%. No question. He's 3 mins away from demanding a trade bc he's not playing PG while Fox is avg 25ppg and Harper was drafted #2 and is clearly a much better natural PG.
"Reliable sauces" just Google it. You could google his draft profiles but nah. I need research, you def don't. Perk said he wanted to be a PG, so did bleacher report, and some random podcasts trying to drive clicks. Castle and Harper can't work!

 

[100%Duncan]

Loaded question.
You’re not actually expecting a real answer, are you?

Im expecting an answer as I wasnt able to watch the game

 

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Not gonna lie, I cringe on Reddit whenever that one poster brings up that on pace for 75-7 nonsense.

Seriously, the toxic positivity on that sub is nauseating

 

[Spursgenius]

Pelicans 2pt FG% was 71%, 44-62.
That's just not acceptable.

Kornet was getting owned by the rook Zach Randolph 3.0. Better passer. Better handles

 

[OK Computer]

Steph Castle is a point guard and arguably has the best court vision on the team, brought to you by his biggest fan.

Is he the top point guard on the team? Probably not. But he’s a point guard, who is capable of playing with other point guards at the same time.

The sooner people accept this, the better.

 

[Spursgenius]

Steph Harper and Fox have different types of pg in them.

 

[timtonymanu]

Seriously, the toxic positivity on that sub is nauseating

I don’t mind the positivity. Being too negative is just as annoying. I just don’t care about a portion of the fanbase that is always like “we gotta keep everyone!” and calling some of us “Wemby fans” because we want him to be surrounded by winning players. I remember so many on there didn’t want Fox because he will mess up the chemistry and wasn’t on their timeline and other nonsense they said because they didn’t want to get rid of mediocre players like Tre Jones.

Sochan needs to go yet some people on there act like we’re gonna miss him if we trade him.

 

[OK Computer]

Steph Harper and Fox have different types of pg in them.

48 minutes of elite guard play, non-stop attack.

…and people want to keep mislabeling Castle as a small forward, diminishing the promising talent he has whenever he has an off game. He clearly is able to make special things happen when the ball is in his hands, so let him have it. This doesn’t mean the ball won’t be in Fox or Harper’s hands, all indications are that these guys are excited to share the point guard duties with each other. Too bad fans can’t be excited too.

 

[Paramore]

 

[spursistan]

LOL NOP tanking for the Hawks. That pick is gonna be everything we thought those three ATL picks would become.

Teams that have apparently passed on the trade should fire their GMs.. Just looking at the board and the suspects are Bulls (for Essengue ROFL) and Blazers (swapped picks with Memphis; Yansen (17) for Coward (11)). I'm sure Brian Wright would've done it in a heartbeat. How hard was it to bet against a Zion-led team? Only solace is that pick (most likely top prospect) is going East and won't change much in our 2027 pick fortunes as it already lost significant value with ATL recent smart moves

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

Im expecting an answer as I wasnt able to watch the game

Here, is an "answer" you can choose which one you like. Or not.

When the Spurs were up by 25, Castle was having a great game. They finished the half ahead by 20, and he was still playing well. In the third quarter, though, his performance dipped, and he had a bad stretch. He didn’t finish the fourth, so maybe you’d say he should be traded—is that what you want to hear?
or
He returned, scored some points, drove to the basket with ease, but also made a few careless turnovers, much like the rest of the team. The Spurs pulled off the win. The squad is still young and in the middle of a franchise rebuild. Castle, Fox, Wemby, and Harper still haven’t had much time on the court together. Our rookie head coach is still figuring out the roster and rotations due to injuries. The Spurs got the victory, and Castle seems to have fully recovered from his hip flexor injury.

It really depends on what you think of Castle in the first place, doesn’t it?

I hope you can actually get to watch the game to reenforce, or not, the opinions you want.

 

[scott]

Cuz he's simply not a primary creator. Why people keep referring to him as a PG is head scratching. He had the role when Fox has hurt because he had to and he avg'd 5 TOs a game in that role. He's not a PG and unless we trade him or things go horribly wrong with Fox and Harper, we'll never find out if he could even become one.
CASTLE IS NOT A POINT GUARD and he's more a 3/2 then 2/3.

"Castle is a 3" Mafia RISE UP

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

Im expecting an answer as I wasnt able to watch the game

I dont mean to down play not being able to watch the game live, I do have the time an tech to watch all the games. However that new sugar britches TV guy was pluging his lil video segments at the half. His Corner. I'll admit Im down on him and have taken some shots at him. However he plugged his little video segment I'm kindda curiouse, if he was a faggy eating the "three whole Beignets" as he sounded in talking about eating the cruddy fried sweet breads.

I dont get to see the studio show

 

[sfernald]

Man fox nearly did us in at the start of the third quarter, it was just turnover after turnover, brick after brick.

I thought castle actually did pretty well for his first game back in a while. You could tell he was trying to get his flow and shot back but same aggressive as hell castle.

Harper showing his star much earlier than most thought, even me and I was one of his biggest fans at the time of the draft.

So who the fuck on here was on the ST rookie thread badmouthing Queen? I distinctly recall I was one of the very few saying he was gonna be a star but almost everyone else hated the guy. As if having actually basketball skill is some kind of poison. How many of you actually thought that Malowatch guy was gonna be the better center!? Time to fess up.

 

[STAT88]

Man fox nearly did us in at the start of the third quarter, it was just turnover after turnover, brick after brick.

I thought castle actually did pretty well for his first game back in a while. You could tell he was trying to get his flow and shot back but same aggressive as hell castle.

Harper showing his star much earlier than most thought, even me and I was one of his biggest fans at the time of the draft.

So who the fuck on here was on the ST rookie thread badmouthing Queen? I distinctly recall I was one of the very few saying he was gonna be a star but almost everyone else hated the guy. As if having actually basketball skill is some kind of poison. How many of you actually thought that Malowatch guy was gonna be the better center!? Time to fess up.

Can’t remember where I mocked Queen pretty sure I had him as high as 5 and as low as 12 to Chicago.

He would have been a nice fit at pick 5 next to Sarr in that shitshow that is Washington. Sarr covers him defensively and has shown ability to play both in the dunker spot as a vertical spacer or as a floor spacer with a decent 3 point shot. Would have actually been a great fit on offense, maybe some issues with Queen/Sarr having to defend 4’s.

Toronto next to Scottie Barnes who’s one of the best defensive/rim protecting 4’s in the league, also would have been a nice fit.

New Orleans badly needs to get a defensive C or PF next to him tho for him to turn his talent into wins tho.. maybe that happens in Seattle or Vegas.

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

Man fox nearly did us in at the start of the third quarter, it was just turnover after turnover, brick after brick.

I thought castle actually did pretty well for his first game back in a while. You could tell he was trying to get his flow and shot back but same aggressive as hell castle.

Harper showing his star much earlier than most thought, even me and I was one of his biggest fans at the time of the draft.

So who the fuck on here was on the ST rookie thread badmouthing Queen? I distinctly recall I was one of the very few saying he was gonna be a star but almost everyone else hated the guy. As if having actually basketball skill is some kind of poison. How many of you actually thought that Malowatch guy was gonna be the better center!? Time to fess up.

Yeah, the 21-year-old with the dad bod has been getting more consistent minutes under Borrego than he did under Green. Whether that’s because Zion’s been sidelined or due to a change in coaching philosophy isn’t for me to say. Since they let Green go, the Pels have been competitive in a lot of games until the 4th, and Queen has dropped 30 points twice. He is slow and cant defend for shit,


but yeah i guess he is showing his "star" too lol It was a Star fest of sorts lol ....They saying 'Look at my star"

 

[siraulo22]

this team can never keep the lead

atrocious defense again, everyone getting owned in the paint, even Luke


still, any road win is a great win

 

[100%Duncan]

Here, is an "answer" you can choose which one you like. Or not.

When the Spurs were up by 25, Castle was having a great game. They finished the half ahead by 20, and he was still playing well. In the third quarter, though, his performance dipped, and he had a bad stretch. He didn’t finish the fourth, so maybe you’d say he should be traded—is that what you want to hear?
or
He returned, scored some points, drove to the basket with ease, but also made a few careless turnovers, much like the rest of the team. The Spurs pulled off the win. The squad is still young and in the middle of a franchise rebuild. Castle, Fox, Wemby, and Harper still haven’t had much time on the court together. Our rookie head coach is still figuring out the roster and rotations due to injuries. The Spurs got the victory, and Castle seems to have fully recovered from his hip flexor injury.

It really depends on what you think of Castle in the first place, doesn’t it?

I hope you can actually get to watch the game to reenforce, or not, the opinions you want.

Wtf league pass was running in my phone, but got pulled into a meeting just after the 1st quarter tbh.

I’ll watch the highlights later. Im getting too old to watch full replays.