- Turnovers continue to be a huge issue for the Spurs. The Nuggets scored 27 points off the Spurs’ mistakes, a number that both Pop and Zach Collins mentioned in the post-game press conference. It’s tempting to say playing in Austin played a big factor, but it has been a problem for the entire season.
- Opponents will continue to put a forward on Wemby and hide their center on Sochan. It’s going to happen. It seemed like Wemby figured out how to make them pay by attacking quickly after the catch, but defenses counter by shrinking the floor earlier. Devin Vassell has also been getting traps or hedges on ball screens from opponents who want to get the ball out of his hands and make the Spurs’ questionable shooters beat them. Julian Champagnie has been doing well. The others have been streaky. It’s something to monitor the rest of the way, as the front office figures out how to improve for next season.
- Sochan played well, finishing with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists, which could have been more if he had found Wemby more often. Dominick Barlow had a good game, as well. They can’t provide spacing, which is a big issue, but the non-shooting bigs did well individually and played with a lot of effort on both ends. It’s easy to focus solely on the negatives but these are young guys who are still developing.
- Malaki Branham had his third poor scoring game in a row and played just 12 minutes. He’s 0-for-10 from outside in this latest stretch. Young players are typically inconsistent, so this is not a huge deal, but anyone expecting Branham’s red-hot shooting to continue was probably too optimistic.
Source: https://www.poundingtherock.com/2024/3/ ... wembanyama