20 comments

1. Sochan with a team worst +/- of -10, was he that bad? I only watched the first half where he got cooked by Chet on a few occasions.

2. I’m happy. Castle has phenomenal court vision. Don’t mind the TOs, he’ll clean it up for sure. Barnes is going to be so good for us, I can already see it. If Julian can shoot like Steph it’s over for the league. Loved Manu as always. Unfortunately Sidy can’t take care of the ball at an NBA level, so…

   SPURS BASKETBALL IS BACK, BABY

3. Came for Castle. That is all.

4. * Castle: Rookie mistakes, but good PG bones are there. Will be good.
   * Jonson: Oof… Still got the wrecking-ball game, but not much else. More mobile on defense, but still bad.
   * Champegnie: Got hot, and got pulled from the game. That good of a game.
   * Mamu: I am so happy he’s back. Dude got pulled for balling out.
   * Wesley: Defense looking great, speedy as ever, make better decisions, but still no shooting or finishing.
   * Branham: What a stinker, not his night.
   * Sissoko: Potential is there, but not that great of a defensive presence, and won’t even try to shoot when wiiiiide open, driving into a packed paint instead. Points for actually landing the dump-off passes though.
   * Ingram: Playing a fringe role even with the G-league out there. Basics are good. Probably going to stick around at the 12th man mark for a while.
   * End of bench: Minix can shoot, Boston Jr. moves well without the ball, Flynn is Flynn. No idea who gets that last spot.
   * Pop: Fucking around with no centers in the game whatsoever. Guess he wanted to see how well the team can execute help defense.

5. Castle didn’t put up 22 points in his preseason debut, totally the wrong guy /s

   (Seriously though, he showed a lot of things that don’t pop out on the stat sheet.)

6. I am very confident Minix is getting the last two way, really good both ways

7. It’ll be interesting to see who makes the rotation.

   Projected starting 5
   CP3, Julian, Barnes, Sochan, Wemby.

   Where do you fit Malakai, Wesley in and amongst Tre, Castle? The additional of CP3 and Castle, probably means one of Malakai and Wesley will be kept on a short leash.

8. Pumped that the spurs are back but good lord the game thread was insufferable immediately. What’s the point of watching a team you hate?

9. Last year we had the youngest team in the league, not sure how much CP3 and Barnes changed our age average lol.

   We played without our (imo) three best current players.

   And we lost to the team with the best record in the West last year (that only got better this off-season) by 5 points.

   I’m happy.

   We have some work to do, but every team does right now. And we showed some great hustle and quickness and team play.

10. Still fully erect from Castle poster, when do I call a doctor 

11. My thoughts are that I really, really hope the Spurs find some way to give Castle minutes with the ball in his hands. He’s smart enough to play at the two and three as he showed in college and in burst today

    But he’s going to be So much more useful on offense when he can handle the ball and initiate play. He just makes such smart decisions doesn’t need to pound it away for 20 seconds before he does so

    I thought a good three of his turnovers were a combination of simple rookie mistakes/ bad luck so I’m not too concerned about that. And I counted three passes to open shooters who missed.

    I’d like to see a bit more offensive aggression from him next game, but I thought considering the lineups he played with that, he did a good job of filling the role the team needed, which is something I think Spurs fans are going to need to be patient with

    Looking at our roster, I don’t see any way that he gets substantial minutes as a point guard or lead ball handler. This year. He’s going to play a lot off ball and as a connecting piece, and he’s probably not going to put up great counting stats as a result

    But his swagger, confidence, defensive versatility, and again ability to make plays without needing to have the ball in his hands constantly will be huge For this team

    Minix Probably has the advantage in earning that third two-way spot right now. He brings something to this team that went healthy They’re lacking, A true spacing big man. I don’t know if he’s a true NBA player with his foot speed, but as someone who watched him in college, I definitely think what he’s shown with the Spurs is not hot shooting. It’s just who he is. The guy can score from all over And keeping him in the G League would be a smart move

    I was really impressed with Ingram in the 4th. God he hustled, showed good versatility, was much quicker and more willing to put the ball on the floor and made decisions then during summer league, And looks like someone who could turn into a good glue guy

    Blake, Wesley had some fantastic passes and reads. He’s still overpenetrates and is out of control but I thought him and Castle were shockingly good with each other. Castle slowed things down when it got a little out of control, and Wesley sped it up when it got a little too stuffy

    I know he hit shots but I really didn’t like Malachi with his decision making tonight. There were three times he hit a jumpshot/ layup where if he had missed it he probably would have gotten his head ripped off by pop for waving off other guys and missing open passes. If that’s the player he’s going to be that can be okay. Heat check volume guys off the bench can be useful. But he has to turn into a true knockdown three-point shooter if that’s going to be the case

    Mamu and Julian both played their roles pretty ideally tonight and if both of those guys are at 75% of that this year the Spurs depth will be in a good spot

    I really hope San Antonio can figure out what to do with Johnson. He’s talented but both him and his teammates often look a bit confused with how best to use him and what his role should be

    All in all in all, not a bad first preseason game. All things considered. There was some fun moments

12. Castle is going to be as good as I hoped he would be.

13. Hartenstein was like 24 when the Clippers picked him up, they let him walk for John Wall’s corpse 🤦‍♂️.

    Let’s not make the same mistake they did but with Mamu.

14. Way too early thoughts:

    -Mamu is one of our best players period.

    -Julian & Minix may be our two best 3pt shooters, their forms look pure. Like you do not want to leave them open, you want to stick to them like glue.

    -Castle needs someone to hit 3s in the corner, this opens up the lane for him & he could’ve easily had 6+ AST if he did have a sniper there.

    -Castle-TJ have no synergy together since TJ can’t shoot. Castle-Wesley looks better because they both shore up the defense considerably.

15. Malachi Flynn is Michael Jordan in disguise.

16. It’s been one preseason game and I already trust Castle running the offense more than anyone else but Tre and probably Paul.

17. My perspective remains unchanged: Branham plays losing basketball (defensive traffic cone, inefficient offensively) and can’t get almost any minutes, really. Castle looks great and I don’t mind Champagnie green lighting from behind the arc

18. Anyone got a clip of Sidy bouncing the ball off Flagler’s face? That was funny as fuck.

19. Castle is already miles ahead of Wesley and Branham. Absolutely bonkers that we spent two FRPs on those two.

    Champagnie will start over Sochan.

    A second unit combining Branham/Johnson/Sochan/Collins will be an atrocious fit and probably keep us in the Cooper Flagg hunt

    Cissoko legitimately might be the worst rostered NBA player currently, depending on how Bronny shakes out

20. Boston looks like he never left the AAU circuit. No defensive awareness and low IQ offense.