Game Thread Spurs (30-13) @ Rockets (25-15) (Tue 1/20/26) [7:00PM CDT]

[Rafa]

To play a little bit of devil’s advocate, this is part of the problem with being “ahead of schedule”. Mitch is out of his depth because these are waters he wasn’t supposed to be in. He was supposed to learn to swim with the rest of the team… problem is, the rest of the team turned out to be natural swimmers.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the FO has the courage to see what’s happening and bring in the coach more appropriate for where the team is at, so we are going to have to wait for Mitch & Co to catch up.

I see that point of view but realistically we should’ve known Wemby would be ready early, and getting Fox is a sign that you are ready to compete now (whether you agree with the trade and contract or not, surely that was their intention).

I wonder if we even interviewed other options. It’s a huge risk to give the reigns to a unproven guy like Mitch, it works out sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. For all I know he’ll figure it out, but guess all I’m saying is that if he doesn’t, I just don’t think the FO will care and will get in their feels about it and ride or die with him.

If he was at least showing progress on some things I’d have more confidence, but he doesn’t seem to understand what might be going wrong and keeps making the same mistakes over and over, or I guess if we wanna be nice, we can at least say he’s certainly not looking for solutions and is sticking to what I consider to be flawed principles.

 

[sKiN20]

I don’t get it. Did Wemby forget opening night and the first 10 games of the season? Not one post up in 40 games since wtf

LBBIQ tbh

 

[Hotspur]

Goddamit bro we really blew a huge lead to these putos!! I should've known!! smh

 

[LeBowen]

I see that point of view but realistically we should’ve known Wemby would be ready early, and getting Fox is a sign that you are ready to compete now (whether you agree with the trade and contract or not, surely that was their intention).

I wonder if we even interviewed other options. It’s a huge risk to give the reigns to a unproven guy like Mitch, it works out sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. For all I know he’ll figure it out, but guess all I’m saying is that if he doesn’t, I just don’t think the FO will care and will get in their feels about it and ride or die with him.

If he was at least showing progress on some things I’d have more confidence, but he doesn’t seem to understand what might be going wrong and keeps making the same mistakes over and over, or I guess if we wanna be nice, we can at least say he’s certainly not looking for solutions and is sticking to what I consider to be flawed principles.

The question is if he's actually in charge?
Or has the front office ordered him that Castle's development at the team's expense is a priority.
I refuse to believe that someone who's paid to coach is this dense in trying to make a player into something he's not for the sake of potential development.

Castle as a point guard being shoved down our throats isn't doing anyone any favors.
He's struggling and losing us games by trying to do too much.
Fox who just got paid a lot of money is playing as a shooting guard most of the time.
Harper who looks like a better floor general than both is stuck on the bench.
Noone benefits from Castle's current role.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

I want y'all to look at the spurs schedule this year and tell me with a straight face it's not bullshit.

Back to back in general to me are bullshit and I would’ve got rid of them years ago. Because you can’t avoid a game like tonight where one team played yesterday and the other team didn’t. Add being on the road to the mix and the chances of winning are just so fucking slim.

 

[Spurs Homer]

Its gotten to the point where i cannot watch a spurs game and also read this forum…

Ive never seen such weak minded fragile fans as this…i mean…just post after post of whiny fragile cliff jumping weakness and blame blame blame whaaaa whaaaa

I enjoyed the game, spurs tried and ran out of gas…im not pissed at anyone or worried about houston or wanting a trade or slamming our exhausted players…

It is a grind and they battled their asses off and just didnt have it. Wemby was cold and his shot was not falling and houston woke up a little and enjoyed a little home cooking.

Just the nba grind. The playoffs will have more rest between games and this is a solid well-coached team.

Im proud of the boys no matter what.

 

[Mugen]

Game was lost in the 2nd quarter when we had them on the ropes and let them off the hook per usual.

Mitch’s over reliance on set rotations is his biggest flaw. We had Castle/Harper/CB all out there at the same time during a key stretch which should never happen tbh especially against a playoff team.

 

[Rafa]

The question is if he's actually in charge?
Or has the front office ordered him that Castle's development at the team's expense is a priority.
I refuse to believe that someone who's paid to coach is this dense in trying to make a player into something he's not for the sake of potential development.

Castle as a point guard being shoved down our throats isn't doing anyone any favors.
He's struggling and losing us games by trying to do too much.
Fox who just got paid a lot of money is playing as a shooting guard most of the time.
Harper who looks like a better floor general than both is stuck on the bench.
Noone benefits from Castle's current role.

No disagreements on the assessment but not ready yet to say someone else pulling the strings.

The telling thing for me will be when Vassell gets back. If within a few games (and assuming Vassell plays like he was) he’s not starting alongside Julian, and instead Barnes is still getting that spot, I’m convinced he’s just clueless

 

[BatManu20]

Lol. We were up 16 dummy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013824611163500889

 

[TimmyBuckets]

Back to back in general to me are bullshit and I would’ve got rid of them years ago. Because you can’t avoid a game like tonight where one team played yesterday and the other team didn’t. Add being on the road to the mix and the chances of winning are just so fucking slim.

And add refs giving the other team the game too.

 

[TimmyBuckets]

Lol. We were up 16 dummy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013824611163500889

Mitch, you're fired, son.

 

[LeBowen]

Lol. We were up 16 dummy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013824611163500889

Rockets were begging us to blow them out and he played a lineup with Keldon as the best shooter.
Castle fucked up 3 times when we could've gone to +17.

 

[Rafa]

Lol. We were up 16 dummy.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013824611163500889

Watching Mitch post game is actually bait content

 

[Chinook]

Curious as to how you feel about Castle going forward? Is he off limits in a trade package? Do you expect him to improve his shot and decision making?

My feelings about Steph are pretty close to where they were during the summer. I have him clearly behind Harper in terms of future stocks. I am open to trading Castle if he's being valued as a top prospect and can allow the team to make a huge trade without hamstringing themselves in terms of draft picks. But I did not and do not see the Spurs as contenders this year in large part because I think Wemby isn't ready yet. So I'm not in a rush to make a win-now trade at all. Castle probably won't be a great shooter, but he can be a decent one. I sort of don't blame him for his decision-making, because he's being told to be a star by the coaches and his teammates. It's sort of like how Keldon and Vassell were hero-balling rather than trying to fit in with Wemby the first couple of years. The team should be run through Fox, with Castle as the secondary perimeter guy. It's the reverse right now, and I don't believe it's because Steph is forcing everyone to give him the ball.

I don't really like how Johnson is managing Harper. Dylan seems to have a quick hook and gets squeezed for Waters or McLaughlin minutes. He's the number-two guy on the team, and developing him should be a top priority. The team is trying to win, sure, but they aren't a contender. They can afford to take lumps to unlock their talent. On the other hand, Steph gets a lot more runway, and it's hurt the team in some games. I believe they would have lost to Minny had Castle not fouled out. So it's a weird situation, because team team doesn't have an open competition for their 240 minutes where the best players play depending on the day. Castle gets to have this rock-solid core status instead of competing for his minutes, which totally doesn't incentivize him to cleaning up his mistakes. That's an interesting stance to take if the long-term plan is to trade him for a ton of value. But if they're honestly trying to figure out how to make this roster work, they can't be married to him until he shows a lot more.

That said, I far prefer how Johnson is developing his young guys to what Pop was doing.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

And add refs giving the other team the game too.

Yeah, but let’s not let ourselves off the hook. We had nobody playing well in the second half. And Victor that was the worst game he’s played probably all season.

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

And Mitch has the Built-in excuse of
Back-to-Back
Shots didn't fall
We lost our vision or some such
Not even worth watching the post-game Presser
Let alone asking this Dunning Krueger Peter Principle idiot questions.

Bring Tiago Home.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2013824611163500889

Well
Well
Well

Bring Tiago Home

 

[TimmyBuckets]

Yeah, but let’s not let ourselves off the hook. We had nobody playing well in the second half. And Victor that was the worst game he’s played probably all season.

Absolutely. No arguments there. It just wasn't a game I thought we deserved to lose.

 

[Floyd Pac]

Its gotten to the point where i cannot watch a spurs game and also read this forum…

Ive never seen such weak minded fragile fans as this…i mean…just post after post of whiny fragile cliff jumping weakness and blame blame blame whaaaa whaaaa

I enjoyed the game, spurs tried and ran out of gas…im not pissed at anyone or worried about houston or wanting a trade or slamming our exhausted players…

It is a grind and they battled their asses off and just didnt have it. Wemby was cold and his shot was not falling and houston woke up a little and enjoyed a little home cooking.

Just the nba grind. The playoffs will have more rest between games and this is a solid well-coached team.

Im proud of the boys no matter what.

You enjoyed watching castle play like angel reese? That’s fun for you?

 

[O_V]

Castle needs to stop running point. Also, there seems not a great chance the Spurs win the game if they shoot like this and only have a ten point lead.

Goddammit. I can only jinx when I commit.

 

[Raven_]

the finale was hilarious.. he's getting rimmed by reed fuckin shepherd, and he goes with french vanilla.. because.. thinking outside the box

 

[Kick-Stand]

Can't believe we could have had Taylor Jenkins coaching this team and instead got Pop's yes man.

 

[Floyd Pac]

My feelings about Steph are pretty close to where they were during the summer. I have him clearly behind Harper in terms of future stocks. I am open to trading Castle if he's being valued as a top prospect and can allow the team to make a huge trade without hamstringing themselves in terms of draft picks. But I did not and do not see the Spurs as contenders this year in large part because I think Wemby isn't ready yet. So I'm not in a rush to make a win-now trade at all. Castle probably won't be a great shooter, but he can be a decent one. I sort of don't blame him for his decision-making, because he's being told to be a star by the coaches and his teammates. It's sort of like how Keldon and Vassell were hero-balling rather than trying to fit in with Wemby the first couple of years. The team should be run through Fox, with Castle as the secondary perimeter guy. It's the reverse right now, and I don't believe it's because Steph is forcing everyone to give him the ball.

I don't really like how Johnson is managing Harper. Dylan seems to have a quick hook and gets squeezed for Waters or McLaughlin minutes. He's the number-two guy on the team, and developing him should be a top priority. The team is trying to win, sure, but they aren't a contender. They can afford to take lumps to unlock their talent. On the other hand, Steph gets a lot more runway, and it's hurt the team in some games. I believe they would have lost to Minny had Castle not fouled out. So it's a weird situation, because team team doesn't have an open competition for their 240 minutes where the best players play depending on the day. Castle gets to have this rock-solid core status instead of competing for his minutes, which totally doesn't incentivize him to cleaning up his mistakes. That's an interesting stance to take if the long-term plan is to trade him for a ton of value. But if they're honestly trying to figure out how to make this roster work, they can't be married to him until he shows a lot more.

That said, I far prefer how Johnson is developing his young guys to what Pop was doing.

It was castle and his team saying he was a point guard coming out of the draft remember? It’s more so him forcing the spurs hand to play him at point and have fox watch him bring up the ball

 

[poopbox]

A 14 point quarter

It's hard for me to care very much about this team until we get a real power forward and Castle stops being a turn over machine or at least get's a hook when he is one.

 

[Itzsoweezee]

Wemby simply needs to be better. I know he’s still young, but he’s got to be more mature out there. He wanted to show up Sengun, and it backfired because he didn’t play smart.

 

[Blizzardwizard]

I see that point of view but realistically we should’ve known Wemby would be ready early, and getting Fox is a sign that you are ready to compete now (whether you agree with the trade and contract or not, surely that was their intention).

I wonder if we even interviewed other options. It’s a huge risk to give the reigns to a unproven guy like Mitch, it works out sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. For all I know he’ll figure it out, but guess all I’m saying is that if he doesn’t, I just don’t think the FO will care and will get in their feels about it and ride or die with him.

If he was at least showing progress on some things I’d have more confidence, but he doesn’t seem to understand what might be going wrong and keeps making the same mistakes over and over, or I guess if we wanna be nice, we can at least say he’s certainly not looking for solutions and is sticking to what I consider to be flawed principles.

They didn't. First HC vacancy in nearly 30 years and they didn't even set up sham interviews to at least make it look like they'd done their due diligence before promoting from within.

Any other organization would've been called out for that BS except this one because that's Just How They Do Things.

You'd think there'd at least have been some value in picking the brains of guys like Mike Malone and Taylor Jenkins but that's not who we are. We don't need outside perspectives because our guys always know best!

Consequently we're stuck with a glorified cheerleader on the sideline who's clinging onto the coattails of high-end talent and relying on them to bail him out on a nightly basis. And he's not going anywhere for the next 10+ years either.