SHOOTAROUND SOUND: COACH MOSE AND FRANZ WAGNER 12.03.25

Coach, uh, as you look at this Spurs team tonight, how important is it to win the possession battle, you know, doing such a good job of taking the care of the basketball, how important is it to do it on your end as well? We have to. I think they’re a team that, you know, they can exploit you if you’re not taking care of the basketball. You’ve got to make sure we’re getting back in transition and recognizing where those shooters are on the floor and just then finishing possessions out is going to be key for us. Ko’s out again tonight. Just where is he in his process? We talked about that the other day. where is he in his process and what’s the next step for him? You know, I think, you know, obviously there’s still no contact work. Uh but the next step would be, you know, playing against some contact, going against there and seeing how he recovers from that the next day. Is this process at all taking longer than you would have expected it to or where I know there’s not a timeline, but is this how it It’s hard to say if it’s taking longer or shorter with no timeline. Uh but the end but at the end of the day like it’s just we always try to see how he’s responding to each day and how he recovers that that next day after he’s gone through treatments and and workouts. What does that work specifically include? Running, jumping, those sorts of things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You you expect this from this team. We saw it last year, but how do you think the team has responded to to not having Powell on the floor? Obviously, everyone misses him misses him and you guys you guys want to see him back on the floor, but but how do you feel like this team has responded and kind of come together in this moment? and that has been helpful in that. I mean, we miss him. There’s no mistakes about that one. But at the end of the day, what we’ve also talked about is it’s always a next man up mentality. Who can step up in those moments? Um because you’re not going to replace the things that he does on the floor by one individual. You have to do it by by committee. And that’s what this group has done. Finding a way to do that, you know, as a unit, as a group to to come together and play the way in which we have been playing. Does does de does Desmond or Anthony take the kind of leap that they that they’ve taken since the beginning of the season with with Powell on the floor? How much how much have they kind of filled in the gaps with with Paulo out? I think each person has filled in the gap in their own way. You know, I think each guy steps up on any gi on any given night. I think that’s what we’ve continued to talk about as a group. Like our process, our ability to star in your role when you when you’re given an opportunity to step on the floor, you you know do your job. And I think a perfect example of that is was the other night with Noah Panda not, you know, getting a ton of minutes and then stepping in and starring in his role. Anthony Black doing that. So each guy that we’ve asked to step on the floor in any given time, you know, is is doing exactly what’s been needed for this team. I think the last time I asked about Mo, the next step for him was doing one-on-one. Just where is he in this process as he continues to rehab? Mo’s still doing the same thing. the next B will be the one-on-one piece, the contact pieces, all those parts of it is what you know those steps and it not five on five and in that situation yet, but slowly but surely he’s working his way back and his spirit has been great. His work ethic has been fantastic. So, you know, Mo’s the guy that continues to bring the energy whether he’s playing or not playing and that’s what we need from him. You mentioned Noah a moment ago. Just what have you noticed about his onc court vision when he has the ball, does the pump fake and can drive or kick out. Like what what have you? I mean, he’s he really is just a very good playmaker. Uh his ability to when he does have the ball in his hands, when he can back a guy down on the post up, seeing cutters, uh just knowing what’s going on on the floor, uh whether he’s playing the the three, the four, or even sometimes in our small ball when he’s playing the five, I think he just has great vision and a great feel for the game. Thank you all. Thanks. Appreciate it, Frans. When you look at the way the Spurs team is playing, doing such a good job of taking care of the basketball right now, how important is it for you to your group to do the same and win the possession game tonight? Yeah, really important. Um, yeah, I think taking care of the ball and, uh, also, you know, creating extra opportunities on the glass. Um, I think like like we’ve been doing, obviously, taking taking a little bit better of the ball than we than we did against Chicago will be important. Guys, you guys, this will be the 10th game since Po since Paulo’s injury. Obviously you guys miss him and need him, but but what is what has been the reaction and how have you guys kind of kind of come together to to to kind of fill in the gaps with him out? Yeah. Yeah, I think we we uh we’ve been more consistent. Um a lot of guys stepping up and know making big plays. Uh especially I thought AB has been playing really well and um I think just the way we playing is is is playing into you know everyone’s to everyone’s ability and you know making sure we maximize everyone. So, we’ve been doing a good job with that. Last last year when when Powell was out, you kind of stepped in stepped into that void, you know, seeing someone like AB, seeing someone like Dez can, you know, not that it’s good to be out such an important player, but but can it be good for certain players to kind of find their confidence and just kind of get a feel for things? Uh, sure. Um, I think we’ve seen some of that and um, obviously it’s important to make sure that everything stays like that, you know, when when Paulo comes back and um, obviously we want to make sure Paulo’s in a good rhythm as well. What do you guys tell Paulo when he’s going through this process? It’s obviously not the severity of last year, but to go through this again with him and he’s been out three weeks now. Yeah, I think whenever a teammate goes down, I think it’s important to, you know, to still make sure he’s, you know, feels connected to the team. I think that’s that’s tough sometimes when you’re not in the drills and maybe doing stuff on the side by itself. So, I think that’s the most important thing. And um I think he’s been doing a good job of staying engaged during during games and, you know, helping guys out. What did you notice about Noah’s performance the other night when he got put in there late? Yeah, I thought I thought Noah has been playing really well. Uh I mean obviously played really well against the Celtics that that game and um know when we’re we got subbed out and um I think it’s proven, you know, they they can play important minutes. How how big has Desmond been during during the stretch? You know, obviously had the last two games with, you know, scoring 37 kind of taking on the scoring load, but how how important has that been to kind of share the share the burden at at this point? I think that is is is super important for us. I think he uh know the way he wants to play and he’s kind of used to playing I think that is very contagious and um I think honestly helped help helped a lot of us um kind of adopt that a little bit and play play something more sustainable I think basketball offensively. So um you know even without him scoring like that I think he’s he’s super important for our team. Yeah, he’s trying you.

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