Game Thread Spurs (31-15) @ Rockets (27-16) (Wed 1/28/26) [8:30PM CDT]

[Sugus]

Interesting. I actually think it's the opposite. There is a lot of potential on this team...but not very much realized talent.

2 of our 3 guards can't shoot for shit and it might take years before they can.
At power forward our options are veteran with one foot out the league, top 10 pick to trash to get on the court, rookie 1st round pick who is about as raw as it gets. We basically just flat out don't have a power forward at all.

Most teams playing rookie contract guards who can't shoot big minutes while also not having a real power forward or pretty bad....

Dude, we just played against a lead guard who really can't shoot for shit. The difference between Amen's shot and Castle's or Harper's is abysmal and was on full display in the game. Neither of them were ever left wide open as aggressively, and both are shooting better %s still, even rookie Harper. They are shooting threats today -- however of course with much growth still pending.

You're spot-on about the PF situation though, and I'm eagerly waiting for the Giannis situation to settle to see if we're resolving this deficiency before the playoffs. The game against the Pelicans was a good highlight of our lack of front-court size and strength.

 

[Maddog]

Even funnier you can tell Ime just flat out doesn't like Reed. That was 100% a Stone pick. You can see Ime physically recoiling on the sideline every time Reed gets roasted, and literally ever team roast him when he is on the floor.

Rockets might extend Van Fleet again if they cant find a real point guard

I thought Reed would be fine with the other good defenders around him but he gets roasted so bad in any pick and roll that a help defender just flat out doesn't have time to come over and help

I wonder if the rumors where true that the Spurs would have taken him if he was on the board. Given Wright's interest in bigger guards I suspect not.
Also what are the Rockets going to do with him- being a 3 pick his contract is not inconsequential

 

[frenchfred]

great win but let's not get carried away, we have seen that this season many times. Let's see if they can start a winning streak

 

[gospursgo91]

He fucking sucks on defense, other than an occasional steal. I was elated to see SA work picks specifically to iso him against Fox or Castle. He has zero chance against either.

Reed actually held his own on defense. They kept targeting him in the 3rd and he held his own.

 

[LeBowen]

 

[OK Computer]

Wemby’s passion on the court starting to eerily look like KG

 

[rascal]

I wonder if the rumors where true that the Spurs would have taken him if he was on the board. Given Wright's interest in bigger guards I suspect not.
Also what are the Rockets going to do with him- being a 3 pick his contract is not inconsequential

The Spurs would not have taken Sheppard over Castle. They baited Houston into taking Sheppard by feigning interest.
Castle was their target all along even had a scout assigned to scout Castle while at UCONN .

 

[poopbox]

I wonder if the rumors where true that the Spurs would have taken him if he was on the board. Given Wright's interest in bigger guards I suspect not.
Also what are the Rockets going to do with him- being a 3 pick his contract is not inconsequential

I think the consensus at the time was Sarr, Risacher, Castle, and Reed in some order and it just so happened Houston picked 3rd so they had to make the decision on Reed and Castle before we did. I have no doubts if Houston took Castle we would have taken Reed. Who else was there possibly to even take at 4? And I say that as someone who was arguing we should have taken Dillingham at 4

If Castle doesn't improve his shot though he is already close to the ceiling of what kind of player he can be.

 

[LeBowen]

The Spurs would not have taken Sheppard over Castle. They baited Houston into taking Sheppard by feigning interest.
Castle was their target all along even had a scout assigned to scout Castle while at UCONN .

Rockets were never taking Castle.
Him and Amen would be impossible to play together.
Especially with Sengun also barely shooting the 3.

 

[ginobilized]

Tremendous win! I must admit, I was tired after a long day and so close to giving up on watching. Glad I stuck it out.
Some huge takeaways and things to carry forward.

• Stephon Castle can body up Sengun AND stop KD from getting to his spot on nearly consecutive plays in the 4th quarter. Turnovers aside, that is special, his physicality and toughness will always be valuable in a dogfight type of game. He seems to thrive initiating contact on both sides of the ball. I don't think we win without his play last night night.
• Whatever Mitch said at halftime seemed to work. As Victor said, the Spurs initiated contact and didn't allow Houston to set the tone physicality-wise. That really shook them as bully ball seems to be their only style of play. The fact that the team responded and turned it around against a division rival tells me that they are all learning as they go and building the trust and foundation of a winning program. Have successfully averted a 3-game losing streak again.
• Dylan Harper may have broken the dad-curse if it was true that Ron was at the game. Either way, He looked like the 2nd coming of Harden/Ginobili in a modern-day form. Poise, savvy, gutsiness, 3-ball, embarrassing Houston by getting to the rim at will and his defense is so solid, sneakily so. Great to see him comeback and look like himself.
• Wemby was just insane. The jersey grabbing, claw marks on the shoulder and constant picking himself off the floor would've incited fisticuffs in the 80's and 90's. He weathered all that while putting up insane numbers and impacting the game every second in the 2nd half. We'll see where this puts him as we face the blowout champs of the league (both sides of the equation) Hornets. Having him guard Thompson was where the game turned around. Not sure if that was necessity or plan, but, that worked wonders for momentum.
• Lastly, just a thought I had while looking at this young team and their rough spot this season. They came out of the gates so strongly and I think they might've run out of gas a bit as they are learning how to win and have no real idea of what it's like to have a winning season in the NBA. Pacing themselves will be an acquired symptom of winning. This is a very emotional team and it seems like their wins have taken them over the traditional Spurs speed limit of not getting too high nor too low. Exciting as hell and their ceiling is still yet to be determined, but, I believe they are no where near it.

 

[TDomination]

So many pros and cons watching this team play as a fan of the team.
Pro- they can beat anyone.
Pro- they can overcome leads and their defense has taken a huge leap forward in the last month
Pro-Wemby
Con- No lead, and I mean NO lead is safe. I barely feel safe with a minute to go up 14….seriously.
Con- Still a lot of immature basketball being played, just silly mistakes that can easily be fixed but it doesn’t seem to be.
Con-My blood pressure (jk but seriously, i don’t even allow myself to get too up or down until game is over, then I will go back and watch highlights and then I allow myself to excited.)

 

[Dbreiden83080]

We sure have been up and down lately. But that was 1 satisfying and impressive 2nd half last night...

Hopefully this is a launching pad..

 

[Exstatic]

Also, not to be overlooked, but Amen wasn't effectively defensively AT ALL against Keldon. Big Body just bullied him and got to his spots in the paint at ease. Amen's obviously a very gifted defender, but at least for tonight, he was no match for KJ.

KJ bullied Sengün at least once on his way to a basket. If he can do that, Amen won’t stand a chance.

 

[Exstatic]

We sure have been up and down lately. But that was 1 satisfying and impressive 2nd half last night...

Hopefully this is a launching pad..

It was nice to flip the script, and be the team steamrolling another team that has a big lead.

 

[Wemby_Island]

Seeing the way Wemby talks to Shaq, chuck and charles, lol….

 

[John B]

I think the Spurs right now have a higher ceiling than the Rockets but the Rockets have a higher floor. They also have a higher median.

Spurs have better young players and better balanced imo. But the Rockets have KD which makes them overachieved on some nights. Otherwise, Rockets would be a lottery team. But the future is brighter for the Spurs:

Young Players
Wemby >>>>> Sengun
Castle >= Amen Thompson
Harper >>>> Reed
Keldon = Eason
Sochan <<< Jabari Smith
Vassell >> Okogie
Champagnie >>> Dorian Finney

Veterans
Fox >> Van Fleet
Barnes <<< Durant
Kornet >> Adams
Biyombo = Capela
Olynyk = Jeff Green

 

[John B]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016739899286966535

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016739588715245613

Man that stare down on KD was awesome. Also had his moments with KD on both sides of the court. Our young are not star-struck

 

[John B]

Tremendous win! I must admit, I was tired after a long day and so close to giving up on watching. Glad I stuck it out.
Some huge takeaways and things to carry forward.

• Stephon Castle can body up Sengun AND stop KD from getting to his spot on nearly consecutive plays in the 4th quarter. Turnovers aside, that is special, his physicality and toughness will always be valuable in a dogfight type of game. He seems to thrive initiating contact on both sides of the ball. I don't think we win without his play last night night.
• Whatever Mitch said at halftime seemed to work. As Victor said, the Spurs initiated contact and didn't allow Houston to set the tone physicality-wise. That really shook them as bully ball seems to be their only style of play. The fact that the team responded and turned it around against a division rival tells me that they are all learning as they go and building the trust and foundation of a winning program. Have successfully averted a 3-game losing streak again.
• Dylan Harper may have broken the dad-curse if it was true that Ron was at the game. Either way, He looked like the 2nd coming of Harden/Ginobili in a modern-day form. Poise, savvy, gutsiness, 3-ball, embarrassing Houston by getting to the rim at will and his defense is so solid, sneakily so. Great to see him comeback and look like himself.
• Wemby was just insane. The jersey grabbing, claw marks on the shoulder and constant picking himself off the floor would've incited fisticuffs in the 80's and 90's. He weathered all that while putting up insane numbers and impacting the game every second in the 2nd half. We'll see where this puts him as we face the blowout champs of the league (both sides of the equation) Hornets. Having him guard Thompson was where the game turned around. Not sure if that was necessity or plan, but, that worked wonders for momentum.
• Lastly, just a thought I had while looking at this young team and their rough spot this season. They came out of the gates so strongly and I think they might've run out of gas a bit as they are learning how to win and have no real idea of what it's like to have a winning season in the NBA. Pacing themselves will be an acquired symptom of winning. This is a very emotional team and it seems like their wins have taken them over the traditional Spurs speed limit of not getting too high nor too low. Exciting as hell and their ceiling is still yet to be determined, but, I believe they are no where near it.

Agree in all, but you forgot Keldon. Keldon also took the challenge of meeting Sengun and bodying him up, alternating with Castle. Keldon has truly been a wonderful change in the way he embraced the 6th-Man, really productive especially when Spurs needed a basket. Now he’s so poised and really playing like a seasoned veteran in this young team.

 

[Ice009]

Man, just read through the thread. Some really interesting takes. People did not like Castle early on in the game (Not unlike some of the stuff I was saying when watching the game for the first time with the replay on League Pass). He really played very well in the second half. Same with Victor and Dylan and De'Aaron was steady too.

Keldon, again, great off the bench. I haven't commented on Keldon much as I thought it's too early, but if he can keep playing like this, it was will an amazing turnaround from him. He's playing like a vet, and the best thing about that is, he's not the age of a vet. What a great season he's had so far. I hope he keeps it up all season.

The less time Mitch has to prepare the team, the better.
I can't believe some members in here believed this game will be the (in)famous turning of the corner after what we've seen against NOLA.

I said we'd win this game before it started. I had a good feeling about it. I was also pinpointing it as a game that can start the Spurs' turnaround, and I think they needed to start that turnaround as soon as possible. I really wanted the team to win it. I just thought it was a big one to win (especially after what happened last week there) to boost the team's confidence. Glad that they won it. Hopefully it does give them a big boost for the rest of the season going forward.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

 

[Dex]

Seeing the way Wemby talks to Shaq, chuck and charles, lol….

That time delay was rough. So glad the crew was joking about it afterwards because it made Wemby seem weird and disconnected

 

[brazil]

Seeing the way Wemby talks to Shaq, chuck and charles, lol….

yeah he does not give a fuck

 

[John B]

yeah he does not give a fuck

Agree. Wemby is his own man, and I like him for that. He’s not easily influenced by the media or celebrity, very much like Timmy. Really a good head (bald) over his shoulder

 

[ginobilized]

Agree in all, but you forgot Keldon. Keldon also took the challenge of meeting Sengun and bodying him up, alternating with Castle. Keldon has truly been a wonderful change in the way he embraced the 6th-Man, really productive especially when Spurs needed a basket. Now he’s so poised and really playing like a seasoned veteran in this young team.

Keldon was Keldon-esque in his rise to the challenge. I skipped him because the other points are more works in progress. Totally agree though.

 

[Sparco41]

Man, just read through the thread. Some really interesting takes. People did not like Castle early on in the game (Not unlike some of the stuff I was saying when watching the game for the first time with the replay on League Pass). He really played very well in the second half. Same with Victor and Dylan and De'Aaron was steady too.

Keldon, again, great off the bench. I haven't commented on Keldon much as I thought it's too early, but if he can keep playing like this, it was will an amazing turnaround from him. He's playing like a vet, and the best thing about that is, he's not the age of a vet. What a great season he's had so far. I hope he keeps it up all season.



I said we'd win this game before it started. I had a good feeling about it. I was also pinpointing it as a game that can start the Spurs' turnaround, and I think they needed to start that turnaround as soon as possible. I really wanted the team to win it. I just thought it was a big one to win (especially after what happened last week there) to boost the team's confidence. Glad that they won it. Hopefully it does give them a big boost for the rest of the season going forward.

Before this season started there was a lot of talk about trading Keldon, but not so much anymore. Keldon is hard to dislike, because it always seems like he’s trying hard even when he has a bad game.