I’ve searched long and hard for a unique take on this game. Trust me. I went deep into the Take Mines armed with ropes, ladders, flashlights, pickaxes, dynamite, the whole prospector starter pack. I hunted for hours. Hours that felt like days. I scoured every corner, flipped every rock, and vowed not to rest until I found something that would both enlighten and entertain the dear readers of this site who I consider to be my closest and most important friends.
But look, this game was a barren wasteland. A dried up, tumbleweed rolling, nothing but dust and regret kind of wasteland when it came to interesting things. I was floundering. I was grasping at straws. I was holding the tiniest of nuggets up to the light, hoping one of them might shine.
Was it interesting that the game stayed close for three quarters before the Wolves started hitting threes and suddenly it wasn’t close at all? No. That’s the opposite of interesting. That’s a basic cause and effect relationship. The Spurs couldn’t buy a bucket from beyond the arc all night. Neither could the Wolves. Then, all of a sudden, they could buy it all! I… yeah, I’ve got nothing. We all watched that happen. It is what it is. Remember when the Spurs could _also_ buy tons of stuff out there against Denver the other night? The result was way better. The Spurs should make more threes every time they play. HOT TAKE!
Was it interesting that the Spurs margin for error on defense without Wemby is basically zero? Also no. That’s like, pretty much the most predictable thing in the world. That’s gravity. That’s throwing an apple in the air, turning smugly to your friend and going, “bet that sucker falls to the ground here in a second.” The Spurs are not a bad defensive team without Wembanyama, but he is, I’m pretty sure, the most impactful defensive player on the planet at the moment. Sometimes you’re gonna get got when he’s not out there. The Spurs would be better off with Victor Wembanyama in the lineup. EVEN HOTTER TAKE!
Was it interesting that the bench unit for Minnesota won the game while Anthony Edwards took a breather? Hey now! That’s not really a take, but it’s got some promise as an angle. The DiVincenzo and Reid group posted a combined plus-21 in the fourth quarter and hit five threes in about four minutes, and the Spurs rotation did… not do this. They played fine. They were certainly out there. DiVincenzo and Reid were just better. They performed exactly the way they’re designed to perform off the bench for this team and the Spurs, shorthanded as they are, didn’t have a great answer for two very good bench shooters doing exactly what their career percentages indicate they’re likely to do. Again, this isn’t even really a take! For the love of god, I’m spouting on about plus-minus stats. This is supposed to be ENLIGHTENING stuff. I’m supposed to be ENTERTAINING you! Not dredging up analytics in the vain hope that there might be a trickle of spice for us.
I’m at the end of my rope here, strained spelunking metaphor aside, and I just don’t know what to do with it. Friday night against the Nuggets was about as fun as regular season NBA basketball gets these days. Sunday night against the Wolves was equally blah. It wasn’t even bad! Bad I could get all up in arms about. No, this was blah. It was a worn out, shorthanded team at the tail end of a road trip. It was a group of guys who knew that the only thing waiting for them after the buzzer was boarding a bus and then a plane in 12 degree weather and flying home at an ungodly hour. They looked like a team capable of giving us three good quarters, and that’s exactly what they did.
It’s a long season. They can’t all be winners.
I’m gonna grab a breather and head back into the content mines. I won’t sleep until I have something interesting to say about the Spurs, I promise.
(I’m probably gonna sleep a little)
* The De’Aaron Fox experience has been fun. I’m enjoying getting to know him as a player. He gets buckets. He’s insanely fast. His shooting is…you know…hit or miss. He make 2-3 defensive plays a game that are pretty electric. My excitement at watching him hunt mismatches is tempered only by my disappointment that we _still_ haven’t really gotten to see him do it with Victor very much and that is kind of the main thing I really want to know about. Them developing some pick and role chemistry is kind of the big unanswered question about this team at this point and is maybe the biggest factor when it comes to how high the ceiling is for the Spurs this year. My point is, I like Fox. It’s good. I’m glad he’s here. Not his fault at all, but I’m just still waiting around for the next part.
* I don’t think I have it in me to fully weigh in on Devin Vassell yet. When it’s good, he’s legit one of my favorite players to watch. When it’s bad, I sort of forget he’s out there. Which isn’t the worst problem in the world, but it’s also not like…great. It’s not what we’re looking for. He’s being steady right now though. It feels like he’s inching closer to what the Spurs want him to be and I know they are giving him the runway to do that. I want him to do it! I want him to be a part of this! Come on Devin! Be that guy! Like, I said, I don’t have the energy to weigh in on this.
* Those black Wolves christmas tree uniforms are pretty gnarly. I _really_ enjoyed watching a game with them on the floor. Minnesota has a quietly elite uniform bench to choose from. They’re _worst_ one are probably they’re, like, normal standard ones which aren’t even that bad really. But I love their old royal blue ones. I love the christmas tree ones. I love the Prince ones. It’s all good. They’re a great League Pass team based on visuals alone.
* My cousin was at this game! I don’t know why he was in Minnesota, but he was there! I saw him sitting a few rows behind the bench! I bet it was a pretty fun experience right up until it wasn’t! Look, I realize talking to you guys about my cousin being at the game isn’t super relevant to what this audience is looking for, but I’m mentioning it here just to drive home one last time, for effect, that I tried really hard to find something interesting to talk about here and just…you know. Didn’t have it today. Anyway, David, if you’re reading this, what’s up!?!?!? Hope you had a good Thanksgiving! Sorry about the Aggies!
\- _You said you turned over every stone, looked in every possible corner, broke your body, mind, and soul on a never-ending quest to find something interesting to talk about for this thing… and came up with nothing. Then at the very end you mentioned you had a family member in attendance at the game. Sitting pretty close behind the Spurs bench. And you didn’t… I don’t know… call him? Didn’t want to pick his brain for any eyewitness accounts or interesting on-the-ground news and notes?_
\- Well, I didn’t want to bug him.
\- _Feels like a dereliction of duty._
\- I think….it’s more like…I mean….look it’s pretty dark down in the content mines. Sometimes you miss stuff.
_\- Pretty big one to miss._
\- It was dark down there!
See More:
* [Spurs Analysis](/spurs-analysis)
* [What we learned](/what-we-learned)