The San Antonio Spurs appearing head coach, Mitch Johnson, has harped on a selected difficulty time and again this season: physicality. There are too many nights when he’d just like the Spurs to impose their will on the opponent, whether or not or not it’s attending to 50/50 balls, proudly owning the glass, or dominating defensively. Wednesday evening’s 118-106 loss to the Houston Rockets could also be one of the best instance of San Antonio’s lack of physicality.
Houston is without doubt one of the most athletic and bodily groups within the NBA. Amen Thompson could also be one of the best athlete within the league. That was their key benefit towards the Spurs. They had been greater, sooner, stronger, and lots of Spurs followers could hate to confess this… however they had been simply flat-out higher. They owned the boards, smothered San Antonio defensively, and didn’t enable them to create any area for driving lanes or open threes.
With out Victor Wembanyama, we’re beginning to see the failings in San Antonio’s present roster construct. They lack offensive firepower outdoors of De’Aaron Fox proper now (who had his worst sport as a Spur on Wednesday). Too few of their wings aren’t plus defenders and those which are include offensive deficiencies. Harrison Barnes might be one of the best three and D gamers on the roster. Now, with no Charles Bassey or Wembanyama, they’re counting on an getting old Bismack Biyombo to set the tone within the paint.
The one space San Antonio can management and enhance at via the tip of the season is to play with extra aggression and physicality. Keldon Johnson has began to do it and is enjoying among the greatest basketball of his season. If they’ll’t enhance in that regard, the Spurs entrance workplace ought to actually take into account discovering extra gamers that may match one of the best athletes within the league and compete with the physicality wanted to win video games on the highest degree.
Takeaways:
Again to KJ. He’s made the many of the offensive vacuum Wembanyama has left behind. Johnson has been extra aggressive in getting downhill somewhat than settling for threes or contested jumpers. His exercise on the glass has been higher, too. He’s by no means going to be a defensive stopper, however this offensive outburst is appreciated. Johnson had a team-high 22 factors within the loss.
The Spurs starters had been outscored 83-27. Lots of that needed to do with the offensive struggles of Fox and Devin Vassell. The duo went 7-21 from the sector and added simply 16 factors. The Rockets protection deserves a variety of credit score for slowing down San Antonio’s greatest scorers. Thompson particularly did an superior job defending Fox. He’s shortly turning into one of the crucial thrilling gamers within the NBA.
Jeremy Sochan left the sport after a blow to the pinnacle. The Spurs held him out for “precautionary causes.” Dropping Sochan for an prolonged time period can be powerful for a staff that’s already experiencing depth points.
Stephon Fort performed half-hour after getting simply 9 minutes of enjoying time within the Spurs earlier matchup. Fort performed effectively defensively however nonetheless struggled to search out his means offensively. If it weren’t for a surge in rubbish time, the rookie’s stat line wouldn’t have seemed very spectacular. Nonetheless, 22 factors, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 assists on 9-22 taking pictures from the sector isn’t an terrible bounce-back sport.
