It was hardly shocking that the San Antonio Spurs dropped their eleventh straight game. Spurs games are essentially only going one of two ways right now: either they are getting blown out, or they are hanging in there until the middle of the third quarter before giving up the momentum to their opponents or losing their composure.
If the youthful Spurs could occasionally win a game not just mathematically but also with a real chance to win when it matters most, that would be a moral victory. Even while the Spurs frequently lead their opponents in the first half—sometimes even by double digits—that’s just not happening at the moment. They seem incapable of maintaining a lead. And the Spurs won’t win any games as long as that remains the situation. However, it is evident that the Spurs’ top priority this season is not winning games.
Not all of the Spurs’ point guards are starting. A guy who can’t actually run the point is being allowed to do so. It is required of point guards to improve their teammates. The result of the Point Sochan experiment is the reverse. The Spurs are fully cognizant of this. Despite this, they do not include the one player who can run the point consistently in the starting lineup.
The Spurs are doing it, but why?
They must have a valid explanation. Additionally, I’m sure it has something to do with Jeremy Sochan’s personal growth. The Point Sochan experiment will undoubtedly come to an end at some point. However, it appears that being the person they see Sochan as is highly important to them. Because they understand that without a competent point guard, everything becomes harder for everyone else on the court.
Another example of why we can’t watch Spurs games with the expectation that they will win right now is last night’s defeat to the Warriors.
Conclusions
With just 16 NBA games under his belt, Victor Wembanyama is already without a doubt the Spus’ first choice. Not only that, but his use rate of 30.2% puts him in superstar status. The only regular season in which Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the two Spurs greats, had a higher use rate was 1993–94, when Robinson won the scoring title (32 percent). Wemby has received a lot of attention, although his utilization is unexpected. What is completely predictable
But at twenty years old, he’s a high-user/low-efficiency guy. He was trying to make a lot of difficult off-balance shots, and last night was a prime example of that. such is typically the outcome of such kind of offense. He may have a few more unexpected scoring outbursts such to the one he had against the Phoenix Suns, but for the foreseeable future, he will probably remain an ineffective scorer. Over time, he will unavoidably become more proficient, but that is not going to occur quickly. However, there is one approach that would probably make him more effective right away. The Spurs’ offensive rating drops to 95.6 when Wembanyama and Sochan play without Jones, according to a piece written by Sam Vecienie for “The Athletic” yesterday. The team scores 116 points when Jones plays with Wembanyama but not with Sochan. That figure rises to 120.5 when Jones plays with both players on the floor. The Spurs decide to start Jeremy Sochan with Wemby.
Speaking of Jeremy, it is amazing that the Point Sochan experiment is still going on because it not only hurts the effectiveness of their best player and franchise cornerstone, but it also costs Jeremy’s fellow first-round draft picks. Malaki Branham, who shown flashes of scoring in his rookie season, has also seen his minutes reduce in year two, and his scoring efficiency has plummeted from poor to worse. Blake Wesley has seen his role decrease to cameo appearances. The game last night illustrated why: To make up for the Spurs’ deficiencies, the team needs three shooting from their second-unit shooting guard.two ineffective point guards in practice. Sadly, Malaki’s quality doesn’t extend past the arc. From 6 last night, he was 0 now. That may happen to anyone, but nothing indicates that he could even go close to being sufficient. This season, at lesser volume, his percentage has decreased from an embarrassingly low 30% last season to a startlingly low 25%. These numbers are not surprising when you consider his shooting motion. Although Malaki is a productive player when operating inside the arc, the Spurs view three-point shooting as a must-have skill that will probably remain so in the future. The top seven players in the rotation, who make up the youthful Spurs core,has a lot of unreliable shooters that defenses miss. There’s just one person, and that’s just not enough, someone you can rely on to get people’s attention and give you the much-needed space. Devin Vassel is that person.
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