Until the bench decides they want to play some defense this season is going be back and forth and we won't be able to stack wins.

AA said:

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Until the bench decides they want to play some defense this season is going be back and forth and we won't be able to stack wins.

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I don't think it is a decision thing. I don't think the majority of them have any defensive ability whatsoever. Collins, Branham, Keldon, Barnes, Paul, etc are never going to be good defensive players going forward. It is what it is.

Wemby, Sochan, and Castle can be (or are) elite. Devin, Wesley, and Julian can all be above average to good. I think Bassey can be good or great, but not sure he will ever get minutes to be a rotational player.

Everyone else is poop defensively.

Guitarsoup said:

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AA said:

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Until the bench decides they want to play some defense this season is going be back and forth and we won't be able to stack wins.

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I don't think it is a decision thing. I don't think the majority of them have any defensive ability whatsoever. Collins, Branham, Keldon, Barnes, Paul, etc are never going to be good defensive players going forward. It is what it is.

Wemby, Sochan, and Castle can be (or are) elite. Devin, Wesley, and Julian can all be above average to good. I think Bassey can be good or great, but not sure he will ever get minutes to be a rotational player.

Everyone else is poop defensively.

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I think most of the Spurs organization would disagree. Defense is a choice for many players. I've seen Keldon and Branham play much better so far this young season. Even Collins made some really nice plays today protecting the rim.

Ag Natural said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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AA said:

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Until the bench decides they want to play some defense this season is going be back and forth and we won't be able to stack wins.

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I don't think it is a decision thing. I don't think the majority of them have any defensive ability whatsoever. Collins, Branham, Keldon, Barnes, Paul, etc are never going to be good defensive players going forward. It is what it is.

Wemby, Sochan, and Castle can be (or are) elite. Devin, Wesley, and Julian can all be above average to good. I think Bassey can be good or great, but not sure he will ever get minutes to be a rotational player.

Everyone else is poop defensively.

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I think most of the Spurs organization would disagree. Defense is a choice for many players. I've seen Keldon and Branham play much better so far this young season. Even Collins made some really nice plays today protecting the rim.

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Branham especially has played better defense, but I am not holding my breath that it will be a lasting thing. Keldon is a high effort guy, but I just don't think he really has the defensive IQ to be good. All of the guys on the team are capable of making great plays on both ends of the court from time to time, but that is a lot different than being a good defensive player.

Lost in the promising Spurs moments from yesterday is that Chicago came back to beat the Hawks. Double win for us.

Bulls erase 18-point deficit to win the game 🔥

Here's some highlights ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/456DcRj5Vc

— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) November 10, 2024

6-14/1-6 for Zacc.
6-16/12-6 for Trae.


Hawks are now 11th in the East at 4-7 and Philly and Milwaukee are still below them. Charlotte is 4th in the East.

Josh is keeping a running update on his Twitter if any of you are interested.

CHI beating ATL was ideal for the Spurs' picks from both teams. They're currently projected for picks 8, 11, 16, and 19.

Today:
CHA @ PHI pic.twitter.com/AKFMI4K9Bs

— Josh Paredes (@Josh810) November 10, 2024

It'll be interesting to see what happens to the roster if all of those convey

AA said:

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It'll be interesting to see what happens to the roster if all of those convey

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We trade at least two of the picks.

Also Josh has it wrong and the Charlotte pick should be thought of as more important than the Chicago pick because of it doesn't convert this year, it becomes two seconds. Chicago is top ten protected this year so it could be better, but it is top 8 next year.

My ideal would be Spurs/Hawks are lottery and Charlotte is 15th. Chicago converted next year as 9th since we only have one 2026 pick.

Then we have two 2027s.

Someone to watch for the draft is BYU's Egor Demin. BYU has him listed at 6'9, so probably 6'7 barefoot. Still too skinny to be a big wing, but he is their primary creator. Averaging 19p and 9assists in the first two games. He is from Russia and played for Real Madrid.

Egor Demin in just his 2nd college game vs UC Riverside..

20 PTS (8-11 FG, 2-5 3PT)
7 AST
5 REBS

How we feeling? NGL I get goosebumps watching bro hoop ⏸️… pic.twitter.com/OheoiVcfa5

— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) November 9, 2024

It's going to be fun watching college basketball this year. There are so many good players. It is definitely a good year to have multiple picks.

Shamelessly stolen from some random redditor.


In 10 games so far Wemby has received the ball in the low-post or high-post area, in isolation, 68 times.
Here's what happened next:

• 17 times he got doubled right away. Two defenders immediately trapped him. Out of those 17 times:
  -3 times he turned it over (got stripped).
  - 14 times he passed to the open man.
• 20 times he wasn't doubled, but 1 or 2 defenders crowded the paint to help on a potential Wemby drive, leaving their men wide open (this is the so-called "gravity" effect). In a situation like this, the paint is shut down.
  Out of those 20 times:
  - 1 time he got fouled.
  - 2 times he turned it over (got stripped).
  - 5 times he shot a fade-away (went 1/5).
  - 12 times he passed to the open man.
• 31 times he was neither doubled, nor saw any help defense in the paint. So he was able to play back to the basket 1v1 and the paint was wide open.
  Out of those 31 times:
  - 2 times he turned it over (got stripped).
  - 3 times he decided to pass the ball back out.
  - 9 times he took a fade-away and went 4/9.
  - 17 times he either scored inside or got fouled

Conclusion

It's not nearly as bad as it seems. Wemby's post offense has been very productive, generating passes to wide open players or baskets 70% of the time (48 out of 68 times).

Have the other teams figured Wemby out? Not really. Have they figured the Spurs out? Hell yeah, they did. They can afford to double or crowd the paint because they will live with anybody shooting from 3 if that means that Wemby is unable to drive.


--------------------


I am still more negative than he is on this data.

10 of 68 times he gets in the post, he turns it over. Can't turn it over 15% of the time you post up.
14 of 68 times he took fadeaways; making just 5 of 14. That's awful.
22 of 68 times he scored inside or was fouled. Add the five made fadeaways and he scored on 40% of post ups. That doesn't seem great.

I would be interested to know on all the times he passed to the open man, how many easy buckets were missed? Or how many times did we reset the offense.

Wemby post-game interview. Of note his comments on Steph:


"It's just impressive, man. Impressive. Quick learning, rarely doing the same mistake twice, that's all you want from a new player in the league. I'm sure his humility, the fact that he is willing to learn is going to take him very far.

Wemby leads the league right now with 4 blocks per game.

Here's a visual of where all his blocks have taken place from @PivotFade pic.twitter.com/uU4ruJcn3u

— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) November 10, 2024

Kind of crazy he has already blocked 5 three point attempts.

Never want to see this. Tough break for the kid.

Thunder: Chet Holmgren suffered a right iliac hip fracture and a return to play protocol will be provided in 8 to 10 weeks. pic.twitter.com/ijma0D5zy5

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 11, 2024

jteagle said:

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Never want to see this. Tough break for the kid.

Thunder: Chet Holmgren suffered a right iliac hip fracture and a return to play protocol will be provided in 8 to 10 weeks. pic.twitter.com/ijma0D5zy5

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 11, 2024

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Oh man, that's awful.

This doctor went into it and didn't think it would be that bad.

I can’t believe this mf still made the lay wtf I’m pissed

— chet holmgren (@ChetHolmgren) November 11, 2024

Enzo The Baker said:

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Castle better be careful or he might really win ROY if he keeps this up. He's doing such a great job on Fox.

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His defense is great and I'm pleasantly surprised at how his offensive game is progressing. I didn't expect it to happen this quickly.

It's crazy how many guys are putting in good minutes given how much we looked like a g league team last year

34p
16r
6a
3b
1s
6 3pt made

Guitarsoup said:

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34p
16r
6a
3b
1s
6 3pt made

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Isn't that two straight games with 6 3s?

Yep

Wemby heard that the Spurs thread on TexAgs was talking **** about his shooting, so that gave him the fire he needed to prove everyone wrong.

Also Castle had 10p, 6a, 4r, 1s, 1b and just 2 TOs. Made 2-5 from three.

jteagle said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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34p
16r
6a
3b
1s
6 3pt made

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Isn't that two straight games with 6 3s?

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Yep, and after that game, he is shooting 31% from three on the season.

West Texan said:

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Wemby heard that the Spurs thread on TexAgs was talking **** about his shooting, so that gave him the fire he needed to prove everyone wrong.

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You should see the Spurs Facebook Groups.

But much better that you don't. Do not subject yourself to that under any circumstances.

here’s the early Wemby “what the fuck” clip of the game (presented by nobody) pic.twitter.com/4gtP2mJQR2

— dylan (@dylangonzalez21) November 12, 2024

And should have been a jumping under the shooter flagrant foul, but the NBA doesn't care about consistency or enforcing their own rules.

Devin Vassell stepback three AND the foul 💦 pic.twitter.com/DFSlJ6Y1cZ

— NBA TV (@NBATV) November 12, 2024

Great move by Steph.

the rook got moves 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/l6kl4zqfZf

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 12, 2024

All starters in double digits with 4+ assists. Dev, Keldon, and Mamu chipping in with solid showings off the bench. Wembcastle B2B ROY in play. Held a high powered offense under 100. Just a heck of a night from the lads.

Yep, Kings were 6th in PPG at 117.5/game.

Are we…back?