It’s not the end of the world or anything. It’s not like we’re in a full-on crisis like the Thunder, can you even imagine?!?!? But yeah, this wasn’t it. There are things starting to show up now. Trends. Themes. Echoes. Motifs, even. Big-picture issues peeking their little heads up through the cracks in the facade.
We’re not panicking yet, obviously. But I do think we can officially escalate this to the stage of the movie where everyone is standing around in the control room, solemnly monitoring the situation, and someone finally says a line like, “Boss, you better come and take a look at this.”
It’s just that this didn’t feel like a one-off. It felt like a handful of familiar issues the team’s talent has been able to paper over all season suddenly colliding and sounding louder than usual. Losing the physical battle. Taking their foot off the gas in the third. Looking a little dicey in crunch time. These are all things we’ve seen crop up again and again.
Sure, it’s only resulted in 11 losses so far. The record is great. But it’s also led to a lot of nights that were closer than they needed to be. Games that turned into coin flips instead of clean put-aways. And now that the rest of the league is starting to take this team seriously, it might be time for the Spurs to take a long look in the mirror and do the same.
For me, it all comes back to control. This team tends to fluctuate between a locked-in, killer demeanor and one where it feels like the magnet gets pulled out and everything starts flying around on its own. You saw the good version in the first half, when they were buzzing around defensively and never letting the Grizzlies come up for air. They were active and aggressive without being reckless. It was fast, but it was calm. A bullet train on the tracks.
That control showed up in the details. The Spurs were forcing mistakes, turning defense into early offense, and never letting Memphis get comfortable. Even when shots were not falling at a high clip, the possessions made sense. The ball moved. The guards stayed downhill. There was a rhythm to it, one that let San Antonio absorb Memphis’ runs without spiraling.
I do not want to hear about shooting being a problem with this team. That conversation misses the forest for the trees.
Shooting is not the issue. Whether or not this team can score is not even the question. The real questions are _how_ they score, and _why_ that process seems to disappear from time to time.
Because look, Julian Champagnie can hit shots. Barnes can hit shots. Fox, Castle, Harper, Wembanyama, all the way down the line. The talent is there. We’ve seen it. This isn’t about needing another shooter or playmaker. It’s about having a plan for how those shots are created, regardless of who’s on the floor, and being able to replicate it for four quarters.
When everything is flowing and the Spurs are in control, those looks come naturally. They’re born out of quick, lightning-strike breaks in transition or the chaos generated by a well-executed half-court attack. Champagnie can get, and hit, open looks all night if the offense is generating them. Look at the first half of this game, or the other night when he went supernova to beat the Knicks. But when things bog down, like they did in the second half when it felt like everyone was standing around waiting for Wemby or Fox to bail them out, the well dries up fast.
I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. These are issues that have been pinging around the edges of the Spurs’ season all year. They just feel louder now that we’re deeper into it. This is the point where you start looking around, sizing up the competition, and figuring out where you actually stand.
Because we can all watch this team go out and dismantle the Thunder and it’s impossible not to start dreaming about what a real playoff run might look like. Then we watch them take their foot off the gas against teams like Utah, Portland, or Memphis, and suddenly it gets a little sweaty. The ceiling with this group is obvious. They are so good. Unbelievably talented. Exciting in ways the Spurs haven’t been in a decade.
They’re also pretty green. They can be undisciplined. They lose focus. They don’t always know how to modulate their energy and effort from night to night, quarter to quarter, moment to moment. I have no doubt everyone involved is aware of it, and that there are a lot of heads down, getting to work on it. The problem is that the the games keep coming and they don’t stop coming. The margin for error is shrinking and all these theoretical tests we keep getting about to get very real.
The hour is later than you think.
* I have a hard time circling the square of exactly how the Spurs are able to bully a team like the Thunder, and then still look like they are losing that battle against a team like Memphis. I don’t want to do this. I hate to do this. But the only answer that sticks out to me is effort? Hate that! Never want to call professional athletes out on the “effort” question because I know that they work hard. Harder than I’ve probably ever worked in my life! But, when you’re losing rebounding battles, loose balls, and second-chance points, that’s not a talent issue or a schematic one. That’s about urgency, about meeting the game where it is. Against the Thunder, the Spurs matched physicality with force and intent. Against Memphis, they didn’t do it consistently enough. That gap matters, and it’s something they’re going to have to close if they want their best version to show up more reliably. Sorry! Don’t shoot the messenger!
* You know who _did_ seem like he was out there banging bodies and making noise? Jeremey Freakin’ Sochan. Or as he’s better known around these parts, the “much maligned Jeremy Freakin’ Sochan.” He made the most of the run he got, grabbing boards, throwing his body around, and doing the kind of dirty work the rest of the Spurs largely struggled to match. I like seeing him. It certainly does feel like we might be winding down our time with him here in Spursland, but a night like this reminded me why I miss him being out there when he’s not in the mix. He plays with an edge and a personality that doesn’t fit neatly into a box, but when it works, it _really_ works for me.
* We should probably also note that Victor looked pretty good coming back from his little injury sabbatical. He’s good. Victor is very good. Ready to officially go on record with that one. We are absolutely, positively _not_ ready to have the conversation about how the offense can sometimes look a little clunky with him on the floor. Nope. Not even close. That is not a real issue. Not something worth discussing. Do you see it though, way off on the horizon, that tiny little dot over there? How could anyone possibly be worried about something that small? It’s barely even there. Definitely not getting bigger. Probably nothing. Stop bringing it up.
* See, this is sustainable! Don’t even worry about it.
_\- Forgive me for reading between the lines here, but I’m starting to think you might actually be worried about Victor Wembanyama’s fit into the Spurs offense._
\- I’m not worried. I was very clear about that. I went out of my way to say that we don’t even need to discuss it because it’s not a problem. Have you seen how tall he is?
_\- Yes. Victor is very tall._
\- He’s so tall! And in basketball, being tall is one of the best things you can be.
\- So, yea, he’s tall and he’s good and the Spurs are good and he’s tall and so, when they’re on offense, they can just, you know, they’ll figure out a way to use the tall part to their advantage along with all the other good stuff that is also good just not as tall.
_\- Seems like a good plan_.
\- Right, I mean no one has all the details sorted out right now but it’s fine and it’s not a problem.
See More:
* [Spurs Analysis](/spurs-analysis)
* [What we learned](/what-we-learned)