Wemby Watch: Spurs Fall To Pieces vs. Celtics
Story of The Game
Blame for how things fell apart vs. the Celtics extends every which way.
Let’s start with the Celtics. They took this game seriously and executed with precision. Their players were sharp, organized, and focused. They looked like a championship team.
The Spurs battled admirably early on, but then a switch flipped and they couldn’t even compete.
While Victor had stretches of great play along with a few highlights, he also had an active hand in the loss.
Pop deserves blame on a macro level because of how the team still doesn’t maximize Victor and plays undisciplined basketball. Within the game itself, I have two problems in my notes:
- Pop had his OCD with Victor’s minutes and took him out down 3 (15–12) with 6:31 left in the first. This totally killed the team’s momentum and flow for a completely arbitrary reason.
- I thought Pop should have called more timeouts as soon as things started to get out of hand in the 2nd and 3rd quarter.
And then we have the rest of the team. Some horrific basketball was played on this New Year’s Eve.
Victor Stats
21 points, 3 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 block in 24 minutes
8–16 fgs, 3–8 3-point fgs
Quick Thoughts
Let’s start with Victor:
He settled for way too many threes. I think, in some cases, he chunked just because the Celtics left him. Strategically, he shouldn’t catch the ball outside of the three point line as much as he does because this puts him in the launching position to begin with: he’s open and opponents are sagging.
Victor can be a fine three point shooter but threes should only be a small fraction of his game. There’s a reason opponents leave him: he can do way more damage inside the paint than he can beyond the arc.
Victor also needs to put a lot more effort into getting rebounds. He got caught a few times trying to out-height his way to boards (we’ve seen this happen in multiple games this season). He also got caught not paying attention, leading to a direct Kristaps Porzingis tip-in.
Victor must not shy away from physicality when it comes to getting rebounds. He must be in the mix. The good news is he usually won’t have to win strongman contests to grab the ball so long as he positions himself correctly.
Additionally, I noticed him calling for the ball when there wasn’t really a good opening to get it. He should not call for the ball just for existing. The play needs to be there.
Moving on to a few notes on the rest of the Spurs:
Julian Champaigne threw away a pass in the backcourt that led to a layup because he was too nonchalant. He tapped his chest and said, “my bad.”
There are too many “my bads” from the Spurs. We know it’s your bad. Stop playing horrible, lackadaisical basketball and start paying with focus and attention.
The contrast between the Celtics players was the perfect juxtaposition because the Celtics are careful, not careless, with the ball and they have heightened awareness.
Another problem is the Spurs had too many misses, too much shooter-who-can’t-shoot syndrome going on. Tre Jones, Doug McDermott, and Julian Champaigne shooting 0–10 from three really dashed the Spurs ability to remain competitive.
And their looks were mostly open.
Overall, the Spurs finished 12–45 from three. At some point, you have to stop taking threes and start getting close to the bucket.
Probably should have paid Chip Engelland to stick around. That guy was worth every million.
As for overall play, it’s one thing to play low IQ basketball, but it’s another to get outhustled and outaggressived. The younger Spurs should always be attacking and playing with aggression, putting opponents on their heels.
But over and over we see the Spurs reacting and getting beat to the punch. The rebound stats accurately reflect this. The Celtics won the boards 56–39 and they were even more dominant when the game was in the balance.
For as much as I fault Keldon Johnson for being a blackhole, Keldon Johnson’s spark was definitely missed tonight.
Another problem that resurfaced tonight was Jeremy Sochan driving without a plan and getting stuck with no place to go down low. Pop, do you know where we can find a coach for these guys?
One last Spurs note to Pop:
Is Victor hurt or isn’t he?
If he’s hurt, sit him.
If he’s fine, play him.
This minutes restriction looks more and more idiotic with each passing game.
What exactly is the point here? That he’s going to play 5 less minutes a game and it’s somehow going to prevent him from being injured again?
Final game note goes to Jason Tatum: He looks every bit of a superstar.
His game and his jumper are silky-silky smooth and he’s always under control. Also, he’s bulked up with lean muscle and you can tell he’s hit a new peak.
In the past, I’ve regarded him more as a superstar in theory because of his inconsistency and tendency to disappear every so often. That may still be the case, but he left a great impression on me: he looked ultra solid.
My highly recommended pick for the next Spurs head coach, Sean Elliott, made a few pinpoint comments on tonight’s broadcast.
- He wondered aloud what Victor’s stats would have been if he got 35–38 minutes against Portland. That minutes add-on comment was probably not an accident.
- He twice mentioned that Spurs passes to Victor wouldn’t have been there two weeks ago.
Sean also came across as under-the-surface extremely frustrated when Julian Champaigne threw the ball away for a Celtics layup.
Horrible game for the Spurs, but it was just one against the best team in the league.
The push for the playoffs picks up against the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
Pre-Game Setup
The Boston-Spurs matchup is game #32 for the Spurs.
Betting: Spurs +13.5, Over/Under 240.5
(Guess-Prediction: I’ll take the Spurs and the over.)
Betting Record going into the game 18–17–1.
The Celtics travel to San Antonio for this contest.
