Player The Methodical Meritocracy of Maestro Mitch Johnson and his Many Minions

[bozhemoi]

Early in the season there was a lot of frustration at the number of wide open threes the team was giving up, and rightfully so. But there were some that pointed out that the team was installing a new defensive scheme that took time to get the wrinkles out. I assume this is largely Sweeney.

In essence, they keep Wemby in the lane as much as possible on D. Opposing teams always want to pull Vic out of the paint on actions, forcing him to guard a shooter on the perimeter. The Spurs refuse to do this as much as they can, by having him dip down and, if there is another defender in his area, they swap. In a way, they're making a switch without being forced to buy a screen or action.

This lead to tons of open looks as the players learned how to do it -- it's super easy to give up shots if you fuck it up. But at this point, they have it down pretty solid, and it's pretty rare that VW is pulled out especially early in the shot clock. Really impressive.

 

[spursparker9]

Look at Sean Sweeney jumping off the bench ..Loving the energy & emotion. Obviously Wemby is anchoring all of this, but it nice to have lead assistants with a pulse holding players accountable again..

https://twitter.com/x/status/2026118992415297625

That epic clapping by Mitch and Air fist by Sweeney!

Can feel through their energy from our screen

 

[spursparker9]

10 games ago. A lot of moaning and bitching was going on about Mitch Johnson. He made some key adjustments- moving a slumping Unc to the bench was key and the Spurs have been cooking well on both ends since then. I hope the moaners and bitchers give props to Mitch now for doing his part.

lol tbh I have forgiven Mitch ever since he finally shown he has grown some balls and bench Grandpa Barnes. Grandpa Barnes give us nothing if his 3s are not falling.

Having Vassell and Champ in the starting lineup has a much better chance that we can maintain consistent on the defensive end and either of them can get hot shooting 3s and give us an early big lead.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

the guy ran a hammer play against the Kings. That's all I needed to see. We haven't run that set since like 2019. Also the Fox Wemby pick & roll with Devin Vassell as a back screener is absolutely lethal.

 

[OK Computer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2026157217779429433

Took inspiration from Mayweather

 

[brazil]

I thought Mitch coached very well against Detroit, He helped the team keep its composure against a border line dirty Pistons and managed well the rotation in particular in the 4th, he gave a nice breather to Vic there, played him 35 min... and kept our guard rotation tight. To nitpick a bit, I thought in that kind of physical game he could have used more Carter Bryant in particular with Barnes not bringing shooting. On a night where you have all the spacing you need with Vassell on fire and Champ, you don't need to play him that much tbh... I also would like to see a bit more min for Dylan, hard to find rythm with going off bench back and forth for a couple of min... at the end 18 min is not enough. The equation is complicated but that's why he received a fat salary.

 

[ace3g]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2026382364692095007

 

[MannyIG]

It has taken all my will power to not go to the other Mitch thread and bump it lol. That thread gets dumber by the day.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

 

[Paramore]

 

[2Trill]

Salute to Mitch with another great performance last night.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

the timeout call by Mitch was absolutely clutch

 

[Itzsoweezee]

I still have my doubts about Mitch Johnson. It feels like Wemby covers up a lot of the glaring issues with this defense. And Mitch’s refusal to give CB minutes at this point is just bizarre.

 

[spursparker9]

Seem like Grandpa Barnes coming back and shooting well reduced CB's mins...

 

[tearsofmorningdew]

Seem like Grandpa Barnes coming back and shooting well reduced CB's mins...

The worst thing to happen to this team aside from kornets regression. this is going to cost us a playoff game/series can’t count on that mental midget for anything

 

[RC_Drunkford]

 

[MannyIG]

I still have my doubts about Mitch Johnson. It feels like Wemby covers up a lot of the glaring issues with this defense. And Mitch’s refusal to give CB minutes at this point is just bizarre.

CB is showing a lot of promise and makes big plays but I think you guys miss how inconsistent he is at times and he does a lot of thigns that hurt the Spurs too. But more importantly, I think Mitch is not wanting to ruin the kids confidence by throwing him out there and him failing. He's bringing him along slowly and its worked really well so far, so you can't just rush it. Its clear as day that CB has confidence issues at times and if you put him out there in a high pressure situation and he fails then you could be way worse off.

 

[LeBowen]

CB is showing a lot of promise and makes big plays but I think you guys miss how inconsistent he is at times and he does a lot of thigns that hurt the Spurs too. But more importantly, I think Mitch is not wanting to ruin the kids confidence by throwing him out there and him failing. He's bringing him along slowly and its worked really well so far, so you can't just rush it. Its clear as day that CB has confidence issues at times and if you put him out there in a high pressure situation and he fails then you could be way worse off.

The issue is that Barnes has been so terrible as of late that even suffering through CB's mistakes would be more valuable than having Barnes get blown by every single time someone attacks him.

 

[MannyIG]

The issue is that Barnes has been so terrible as of late that even suffering through CB's mistakes would be more valuable than having Barnes get blown by every single time someone attacks him.

You don't seem to understand my point that if CB has bad gains then its bad for HIM due to his confidence. HB or CB certainly isn't hurting the Spurs in the past couple of months as its not a factor in either of the only 2 losses they have so I don't see a problem with it. Also HB hasn't been nearly as bad as y'all make it out.

The biggest pet peeve is the non statistical analysis about players on the fringes that happens on this forum that becomes a running narrative. Just look at the numbers, its not nearly as bad people make it out to be. HB has had a really shitty March, but otherwise he's been fine and people have been complaining about him since day 1.

 

[Itzsoweezee]

You don't seem to understand my point that if CB has bad gains then its bad for HIM due to his confidence. HB or CB certainly isn't hurting the Spurs in the past couple of months as its not a factor in either of the only 2 losses they have so I don't see a problem with it. Also HB hasn't been nearly as bad as y'all make it out.

The biggest pet peeve is the non statistical analysis about players on the fringes that happens on this forum that becomes a running narrative. Just look at the numbers, its not nearly as bad people make it out to be. HB has had a really shitty March, but otherwise he's been fine and people have been complaining about him since day 1.

HB is a front court player that can’t rebound or play defense. And if he’s not hitting from three, which has been the case other than a hot streak at the beginning of the year, then his minutes should go to a player that can rebound, defend, AND hit threes. Luckily, the Spurs already have a player that can do that—CB

 

[scott]

The issue is that Barnes has been so terrible as of late

Homeboy has played two games in two weeks, and one of them he was very good while we were without Wemby and the other one he played significantly below his season average in minutes... and in each of the the 9 games preceding his injury, he played 6+ minutes per game fewer than his season average minutes up to that point (28.2).

Mitch is doing exactly what people seem to want him to... and they still get mad, lol

MPG through Feb 5 (51 games) - 28.2
MPG since Feb 6 (11 games) - 20.4

 

[MannyIG]

HB is a front court player that can’t rebound or play defense. And if he’s not hitting from three, which has been the case other than a hot streak at the beginning of the year, then his minutes should go to a player that can rebound, defend, AND hit threes. Luckily, the Spurs already have a player that can do that—CB

Sorry but these numbers just don't agree with you. Jan is his only bad month from 3. HIs defensive rating isn't amazing, but its right in long with other Spurs rotation players. He's not hurting the Spurs with defense. Definitely not a great rebounder, but that's who he is. And like Scott just said above, his minutes are trending way down. There's no world in where he's not a rotation player when healthy for this team. You can't tell me Barnes isn't a top 10 player on this team - especially given his size.

Like I said, you guys need to stop with the vibes posting and actually look at the numbers to see if your observations (or assumptions) are correct.

 

[LeBowen]

You don't seem to understand my point that if CB has bad gains then its bad for HIM due to his confidence. HB or CB certainly isn't hurting the Spurs in the past couple of months as its not a factor in either of the only 2 losses they have so I don't see a problem with it. Also HB hasn't been nearly as bad as y'all make it out.

Oh, really?
You're talking about 2 losses and I'm talking about us going on a huge run after Barnes got benched.

The biggest pet peeve is the non statistical analysis about players on the fringes that happens on this forum that becomes a running narrative. Just look at the numbers, its not nearly as bad people make it out to be. HB has had a really shitty March, but otherwise he's been fine and people have been complaining about him since day 1.

My biggest pet peeve is you not actually following what was written during the season.
I had a Barnes rebound tracker going.
In short, before he got benched he had 16 rebounds in 11 games, 274 minutes played.
Out of those 16, he had 8 against Minnesota in Wemby/Anta game.
Meaning he had 8 in 10 games, 245 minutes played. One rebound per 30 minutes.
If that wasn't hurting the team, I don't know what what.
He was also shooting 29% in that stretch.

Homeboy has played two games in two weeks, and one of them he was very good while we were without Wemby and the other one he played significantly below his season average in minutes... and in each of the the 9 games preceding his injury, he played 6+ minutes per game fewer than his season average minutes up to that point (28.2).

Mitch is doing exactly what people seem to want him to... and they still get mad, lol

MPG through Feb 5 (51 games) - 28.2
MPG since Feb 6 (11 games) - 20.4

I don't think Barnes should have more than 10 to 15 guaranteed minutes when everyone is healthy.
Get him a couple of shots, if they're not falling, take him out after ~6 minutes.
Repeat in the second half.

He went 0-3 in 22 minutes against the Hornets and also had 0 assists.
If he's not putting up shots, there's no point in keeping him on the floor just as a decoy. At this point he doesn't command more spacing/closeout respect than our other wing players.
Keldon was doing great, bullying the Hornets, played less than Barnes.

Right now he's the only target on defense. Opponents won't be trying to attack anyone else over and over again. Maybe Fox because of his size, but he makes up for it with his speed and the ability to poke the ball.

 

[MannyIG]

Counting how many rebounds a player has is not comprehensive statistical analysis. HB is a poor rebounder for his size. That isn't where he brings value. He's been benched and more of his minutes are going to others every game so he's being minimized but the alternative isn't HB or someone who's always going to play better than him. It is a rookie who SOMETIMES plays WAY better than him and sometimes plays worse than him.

Once again, the advanced metrics aren't just made up. The on off numbers aren't just made up.

 

[MannyIG]

This isn't a perfect analysis because its not over the same time period since HB hasn't played much in March, but if we look at his Feb game logs, he has an average game score of 8.18. CB in his 8 games in March, where we all acknowledge he's been better, has only gotten above that mark 3 times and and his average is 5.1. Part of this is a minutes mismatch as CB has averaged 15 in March and HB averaged 22 in Feb but even with that they're pretty much the same. Game Score isn't a great metric, but it allows us to compare the two against each other since both were playing reserve roles in these months.

I want CB playing more as the year goes on and I hope he's a meaningful contributor. He's got way more potential and his ceiling is much higher. But just understand that he is NOT there yet.