'We hoopin' this year': Ahead of opening night, the Spurs are trying to keep perspective
San Antonio is preparing for the long season ahead, one that doesn't include discussion about Victor Wembanyama.
A quick vibe check around the Spurs practice facility returns nothing but positivity from a group of young players hellbent on building upon its Play-In Tournament appearance last season. There’s been talk about pushing for the postseason, Devin Vassell is clapping back at Victor Wembanyama conversation on his Instagram Live, and the team isn’t allowing much of the public discourse surrounding its upcoming season to permeate the locker-room walls. “We hoopin’ this year,” Vassell told the chat. “Y’all gonna see.”
This is the time of year when hope springs eternal for almost every team. Everyone is fresh off a productive summer, bodies are fresh, and the attrition of the NBA season has yet to take its effect. At 0-0, a roster full of healthy players is just ready to play.
“It’s like the first day of school,” Tre Jones said. “It seems like everyone’s excited basketball is back.”
And in San Antonio, there’s reason for optimism. A bigger, stronger Vassell appears poised for a breakout season, a slimmer, quicker Keldon Johnson has shown a different gear since his return from a dislocated shoulder, Joshua Primo’s 23-point preseason finale sent Spurs fans into a tizzy, and the franchise’s highest-drafted player since Tim Duncan is set to start on opening night. There’s sunshine, there are daisies, and right now that’s all that matters.
But rest assured, friends, the losses are coming, and with them the frustration that accompanies defeat. The average age of San Antonio’s roster is a shade over 23 years old, and youthful exuberance and competitiveness can be a hell of a drug combination on opening night. Sometimes it’s difficult to account for the comedown.
“Me and Gorgui (Dieng) and J-Rich (Josh Richardson) have to bring a little more of a calm presence,” Doug McDermott said. “Just let them know it’s another game and we’ve got 81 after this, so they don’t get too hyped up because we got a lot more after this.”
It’s important to maintain perspective on this season, lest players and Spurs fans lose their collective minds. Being comfortable with labeling what comes next as a “development year” on paper is one thing, but watching it play out in front of you is a different beast entirely. The hard lessons learned can drag locker rooms down, but the Spurs are taking the idea of “development” and applying it to both the basketball and personal areas of life.
Once a week during camp, the team has brought a yoga instructor into practice. With what lies ahead, mindfulness is going to be critical.
“It’s good for not only your body but your mind. It relaxes you. It’s something the Spurs have been doing for a while,” McDermott said. “A lot of organizations kind of take stuff from the Spurs, so they are incorporating it into their programs as well.”
At shootaround Wednesday, Gregg Popovich took control of the auxiliary cord and the music selection. The tone was a bit more relaxed than it normally would be when someone like Keldon Johnson is commanding the speakers, bringing up the energy to a fever pitch. After all, the players aren’t exactly accustomed to listening to the likes of James Taylor and Marvin Gaye in the practice gym.
“It’s all been old stuff, but it’s good stuff,” Jones said with a grin.
Motown isn’t going to be necessary at every practice this season, as the team certainly isn’t interested in using the energy it possesses against itself. But the message from the old heads in the room is clear: This is all about the big picture. The Spurs are going to need a pep in their step every day for the next six months during a season that will test their resolve, and how they come out the other side of it is going to give everyone a better idea of what the future has in store.
Optimism isn’t a bad thing, and neither is a team that believes in itself more than the public believes in them. You expect it from a group of highly competitive athletes, and it would honestly be problematic if they viewed their chances in any other light. These are the kinds of people you want putting on your uniform.
But what’s equally as important is the way they deal with adversity, road trips, injuries and losing streaks. These things take a toll on every player in the league over the course of a long season, never mind just the youngest of them. How they respond, how the maintain their confidence, and how quickly they learn from their lapses will determine whether or not this season was a success.
Make no mistake about it amid all the talk of tanking and next summer’s NBA Draft, however, these players are trying to win. They’re not interested in Victor or Scoot Henderson, they’re not paying attention to our predictions, and they’re mostly ignoring their own coach’s preseason gambling advice.
The way they see it, their time to shine is now, and nobody is going to deprive them of that opportunity.
A new defense system
Jeremy Sochan’s presence in the starting lineup could mean big things for a defense that’s battled around a gaping hole at the ‘four’ for a couple of years now. Eventually, at least. The rookie still has a steep learning curve ahead of him, but his activity in the frontcourt and ability to guard multiple positions is going to provide the Spurs with a level of versatility they haven’t had since Kawhi Leonard was in town.
For starters, Jakob Poeltl is going to be provided some much-needed help. San Antonio has asked a lot of its big man during its recent run with a downsized lineup. But now that Sochan is in the mix, and Johnson has been able to slide to the ‘three’, he’s not going to be tasked with doing damn near everything on that side of the floor.
Best suited as an anchor big who drops in pick-and-roll situations to defend the rim, Poeltl was asked all too often to defend up high near the level of the ball-handler as his teammates struggled to get through screens. But so far in the preseason, we’ve seen him drop into coverage much more often. With a stronger Vassell able to deal with screeners, a quicker Johnson and the insertion of Sochan alongside him, the Spurs theoretically won’t have to stretch Poeltl so thin.
On top of that, San Antonio is switching everything around its big man. Whether it’s off the ball or on it, the Spurs’ new size along the perimeter has allowed them to rotate defensive assignments without giving up much, if any, physical advantages. Even the 6’1 Jones is sticking his nose in there, though the ideal form of this group comes into play when Primo enters the game off the bench. Becoming an efficient, switching defense will take time and reps to perfect, but as that unit improves it’s going to make life much more difficult on offenses, and much easier on poor Jakob.
The most interesting lineup
Speaking of Primo off the bench, it wouldn’t be going out on too thin a limb to suggest that’s the lineup everyone is waiting to see. A group comprised of Primo, Vassell, Johnson, Sochan and Poeltl would feature four of the team’s last five first-round picks and a glimpse into the future.
Primo went out with a preseason bang against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday. As the lead ball-handler of the second unit, he put together an entire game worth a highlights we’d only previously seen in glimpses. The 19-year-old has shot up to 6’6 and has eclipsed the 200-pound mark, but the smoothness with which he plays doesn’t seem like an ability a teenager in the middle of a growth spurt should possess.
Jones is a solid point guard for the starting lineup at this juncture — a steady player who knows the system, has a quick first step to get by defenders and initiate the motion offense, and is familiar with where and how Vassell and Johnson like to get their touches. Additionally, Primo said recently he is comfortable coming off the bench right now because it gives him an opportunity to gauge the flow of the game.
But if what he flashed last week is a sign of things to come, it’s going to be mighty tempting for Pop to throw him in the fire alongside his fellow teenage teammate. It may not be long before that’s a reality.
Thanks for covering the team, Matt. It's great to have this quality of analysis on a regular basis again. Looking forward to following along this season.