The Jeremy Sochan at point guard experiment is not going well for the Spurs
November 26, 2023
The Jeremy Sochan at point guard experiment is not going well for the Spurs
6 comments
Snippets from the article:
>##Sochan is just not a good pick-and-roll ball handler##
>Sochan is a good passer and has good vision, but he’s also one of the worst pick-and-roll ball handlers in the league in terms of points per possession generated as a scorer, according to Synergy Sports. The numbers can’t possibly come as a surprise to anyone who has watched him in his two years in the league. Sochan is not a threat to pull up that opponents respect and simply doesn’t have the ball-handling ability, the quick first step or the know-how to put opponents in a bad position while using a ball screen. There’s the occasional strong drive, especially when he rejects the screen, and sometimes he gets close enough to the rim to hit a short pull-up but in general, he simply can’t generate points for himself consistently. The tools are just not there, at least at this point.
>##Sochan could be developing in other areas instead##
>The whole experiment is obfuscating how interesting a player Sochan could be. He’s already a good passer for a forward and someone who can defend multiple positions and score within the flow of the offense. Last season he showed a budding post-game along with the ability to find spaces to cut, and that has carried over. This season he’s been hitting open threes at a high rate, albeit at a small volume. The tools for him to be an elite complementary player are there. Sochan is in all likelihood not going to be a go-to scorer or primary creator, but he could be a fantastic Swiss army knife elite role player with enough shot creation to punish mismatches and the ability to facilitate on the break and as a secondary ball handler or connective piece.
>##It’s too early to call the experiment a failure##
>Is Sochan to blame for the Spurs’ struggles? Not really. Should Pop get flak for trying something intriguing that is probably going to fail? No. The reality is this season should be about experimentation for the Spurs. They are not trying to lose but they didn’t really go all in on trying to win, so the standings shouldn’t be what determines what they do.
>As for Sochan, he’s clearly learning some things. Whether he ends up becoming a full-time point guard or not, the skills he’s picking up by getting to run pick-and-rolls and setting the table on offense are transferable. Pop himself said he didn’t know what Sochan was going to be before the season. Maybe in two years he’ll be a matchup nightmare who can do whatever the team needs, including running the offense in a pinch, and this season will be the reason why.
Accurate
I agree it hasn’t gone well. However, Sochan has been vastly improved over the last 5 games. We will see if that incremental progress holds up throughout the rest of the season, but he IS getting much better.
Couple of things this article doesn’t mention, the Spurs O has done a consistently good job of getting people open (We are about middle of the pack for getting open and wide open shots). We shoot horribly on those shots.
Additionally, for all the angst about getting people in good positions, we still are #3 in assists.
Our problems have been hitting open shots and way too many turnovers, as well as dumb mistakes in the clutch, which has been a team wide issue. The “this is a Jeremy problem” is grossly overstated. He hasn’t been amazing, but considering Tre is a -15 NetRTG in the last two weeks and Jeremy is a -4 NetRTG, just blaming Jeremy is a stupid perspective.
Idky people are acting surprised. What do you expect when a player is trying to learn arguably the hardest position in basketball at the nba level? It doesnt happen overnight or in 16 games. Its only gonna make him a better player in the long run. And thats what the spurs are concerned w right now. Not this year or next year. Look how long it took the thubder to rebuild.
The biggest issue with the Sochan experiment is it’s impacting the development of the rest of the team, including Sochan. No one can get into a rhythm and everyone is frustrated. The team knows they should be better, but can’t improve while they’re still getting sub par pg play. It’s not the root of all of our problems, but it make all our other problems that much worse. Why we insist on starting with it instead of sprinkling it in when we can just perpetuates the tanking theory. I just hope we are not doing more harm than good with this experiment. At least it hasn’t been as bad recently.
How about instead of playing Sochan at point they actually let Tre develop as a starting PG
6 comments
Snippets from the article:
>##Sochan is just not a good pick-and-roll ball handler##
>Sochan is a good passer and has good vision, but he’s also one of the worst pick-and-roll ball handlers in the league in terms of points per possession generated as a scorer, according to Synergy Sports. The numbers can’t possibly come as a surprise to anyone who has watched him in his two years in the league. Sochan is not a threat to pull up that opponents respect and simply doesn’t have the ball-handling ability, the quick first step or the know-how to put opponents in a bad position while using a ball screen. There’s the occasional strong drive, especially when he rejects the screen, and sometimes he gets close enough to the rim to hit a short pull-up but in general, he simply can’t generate points for himself consistently. The tools are just not there, at least at this point.
>##Sochan could be developing in other areas instead##
>The whole experiment is obfuscating how interesting a player Sochan could be. He’s already a good passer for a forward and someone who can defend multiple positions and score within the flow of the offense. Last season he showed a budding post-game along with the ability to find spaces to cut, and that has carried over. This season he’s been hitting open threes at a high rate, albeit at a small volume. The tools for him to be an elite complementary player are there. Sochan is in all likelihood not going to be a go-to scorer or primary creator, but he could be a fantastic Swiss army knife elite role player with enough shot creation to punish mismatches and the ability to facilitate on the break and as a secondary ball handler or connective piece.
>##It’s too early to call the experiment a failure##
>Is Sochan to blame for the Spurs’ struggles? Not really. Should Pop get flak for trying something intriguing that is probably going to fail? No. The reality is this season should be about experimentation for the Spurs. They are not trying to lose but they didn’t really go all in on trying to win, so the standings shouldn’t be what determines what they do.
>As for Sochan, he’s clearly learning some things. Whether he ends up becoming a full-time point guard or not, the skills he’s picking up by getting to run pick-and-rolls and setting the table on offense are transferable. Pop himself said he didn’t know what Sochan was going to be before the season. Maybe in two years he’ll be a matchup nightmare who can do whatever the team needs, including running the offense in a pinch, and this season will be the reason why.
Accurate
I agree it hasn’t gone well. However, Sochan has been vastly improved over the last 5 games. We will see if that incremental progress holds up throughout the rest of the season, but he IS getting much better.
Couple of things this article doesn’t mention, the Spurs O has done a consistently good job of getting people open (We are about middle of the pack for getting open and wide open shots). We shoot horribly on those shots.
Additionally, for all the angst about getting people in good positions, we still are #3 in assists.
Our problems have been hitting open shots and way too many turnovers, as well as dumb mistakes in the clutch, which has been a team wide issue. The “this is a Jeremy problem” is grossly overstated. He hasn’t been amazing, but considering Tre is a -15 NetRTG in the last two weeks and Jeremy is a -4 NetRTG, just blaming Jeremy is a stupid perspective.
Idky people are acting surprised. What do you expect when a player is trying to learn arguably the hardest position in basketball at the nba level? It doesnt happen overnight or in 16 games. Its only gonna make him a better player in the long run. And thats what the spurs are concerned w right now. Not this year or next year. Look how long it took the thubder to rebuild.
The biggest issue with the Sochan experiment is it’s impacting the development of the rest of the team, including Sochan. No one can get into a rhythm and everyone is frustrated. The team knows they should be better, but can’t improve while they’re still getting sub par pg play. It’s not the root of all of our problems, but it make all our other problems that much worse. Why we insist on starting with it instead of sprinkling it in when we can just perpetuates the tanking theory. I just hope we are not doing more harm than good with this experiment. At least it hasn’t been as bad recently.
How about instead of playing Sochan at point they actually let Tre develop as a starting PG