The San Antonio Spurs held their media day yesterday, and I simply so occurred to be on the Victory Capital Efficiency Middle for it. When you might get a handful of nice soundbites from some groups, the Spurs have all the time tended to be a bit extra cautious with how they reply questions. That doesn’t imply there wasn’t something that stood out. Listed below are my 4 takeaways from the Spurs’ media day.
The Most Stunning Quote
When requested about a few of his new teammates and preliminary ideas enjoying with Victor Wembanyama, Harrison Barnes referred to as out an attention-grabbing identify. Barnes said, “I believe in my two weeks, the one man I undoubtedly would like to shout-out is Blake [Wesley]. I believed he’s completed an unbelievable job. Simply selecting up guys, defensive deadly core, getting lively, getting steals. He’s had an incredible two weeks.” With the addition of Chris Paul and Stephon Citadel, it appeared gamers like Wesley and Malaki Branham would possibly find yourself being pushed additional down the bench. Getting singled out may have a long-lasting affect in the place Blake stands within the rotation, particularly on condition that this was coming from a extremely revered veteran in Barnes.
The Most Stunning Lack-thereof Quote
Following up Blake getting talked about in a solution by a participant who took questions, one participant not named fairly often was Tre Jones. I perceive that Wembanyama is the primary attraction, so most questions are going to be centered round what the gamers have seen to this point and their general ideas on him. That doesn’t imply it’s not noticeable when the start line guard of the final two years (sure, I do know the staff didn’t begin Tre till January) isn’t talked about, given how Paul signing with the staff indicators a return to the bench for him. The one time Jones’s identify was uttered was when Paul introduced up how he’s recognized him for years as a result of he attended Paul’s basketball camp in highschool. This isn’t to say we must always marvel about the place Jones stands within the lineup or on the staff normally, however for an individual who was attending his first media day, it stood out.
The “Wemby is Completely different” Second
Heads turned the second Wemby walked out onto the court docket to take a couple of photographs earlier than sitting down for questions. Every little thing that occurred main as much as the primary query appeared completely regular to me. As soon as the final phrase was spoken, and it was time for Wemby to supply a solution, there was a pause. He sat there and appeared down for a pair seconds. You may see he was taking in what was requested, placing thought into what it meant, and crafting his response. This would possibly seem to be one thing everyone does when requested a query, however this was totally different. For many gamers, that pause earlier than responding is often to provide you with a solution that doesn’t create a soundbite for the speaking head reveals to run with. For Wemby, nonetheless, it grew to become clear he did this to forestall offering the accustomed cookie-cutter response. He even requested for a couple of inquiries to be repeated so he may make sure that he knew precisely what his reply must be centered on. Wemby wished to supply one thing of substance, which matches to indicate you the form of individual he’s.
The Mic Drop
All people who sat down was requested concerning the expectations for the staff this yr in some kind or trend. Whereas Coach Pop would possibly’ve given his typical coach-like reply by retaining the give attention to the development of gamers and shying away from speaking wins, the gamers had a unique strategy. Listed below are some quotes from a couple of of them:
Jeremy Sochan: “I believe we’re going into the season, you recognize, making an attempt to win as a lot as we are able to. Make the playoffs and see what we are able to do.”
Chris Paul: “I’m certain anyone on the staff will let you know we need to be taught and construct and attempt to win on the identical time… I believe we received an opportunity to have an incredible yr.”
Keldon Johnson: “We undoubtedly need to win. I really feel like we received some nice items. And I really feel like that’s our expectation. I really feel like we received a vibrant future forward of us.”
Wemby: “My emphasis is all the time going to be on successful and making my teammates higher… So it’s no totally different than earlier years. It’s simply that final yr, our expectations was to be taught to know ourselves. I believe in direction of the tip of the yr, it actually confirmed. However this yr we count on from us to win.”
So you possibly can inform that turning what they’ve discovered and developed into wins is of prime of thoughts. Even Blake, who instructed KENS 5’s Jeff Garcia, “I really feel like we’re going to be a scary staff this yr.” The only reply when speaking expectations for the staff got here from Devin Vassell. He fairly actually dropped the mic after stating what he sees within the Spurs’ future. “Playoffs. That’s it. That’s all I see.”
