This just EXPOSED a fatal flaw…

This just EXPOSED a fatal flaw…

The San Antonio Spurs have a fatal flaw. Despite leading by double digits in 10 straight games now, the Spurs take a brutal loss at the hands of the Phoenix Suns. Still without WBY Castle and Harper. But there is one aspect of this game in particular that has plagued the Spurs all season long and it’s making these games way more competitive than they should be. We get to dive into the Spurs versus Suns, what happened, and the big issue that San Antonio is facing and the huge implications that this has on the rest of the season. and then we’re going to dive straight in. So, I want to start with this. The Spurs have led by double digits in 10 straight games. Doesn’t it drive anyone else mad that we’re up by double digits so much and the games always, always, always end up being so close. And you know what? I’m going to contrast this Paul Garcia tweet with this one here. Right. Look at that. Spurs die by double digits in 10 straight games. The Spurs are down by double digits for just the fifth time this season. We were two and two and down by double digits. Now, two and three. Look, the Phoenix Suns, they ended up taking this game over and honestly, they deserved that win. The Spurs could not keep up with them. But what is the big problem? Maybe you’ll be able to see it through some of these screenshots here, and I’ll tell you in just a few minutes if you haven’t figured it out already. But look, 111 to 102. I’m going to be honest, right? In games without Wemby without Let’s show all these, right? There we go. This button. Games without Wemby without Dylan Harper. By the way, these sweaters, as always, link in the description, 10% off all orders of any of this merch, which you can’t find at the Spurs store. The Spurs, like they make these games close, right? There’s a there’s an issue with ball handlers, too, that I think maybe I’ll even talk about first, right? Having De’Aran Fox be the only NBA level point guard really on the team right now is forcing the Spurs hands in a lot of ways, and he’s really not able to be his playmaking self either. Right. Dearon Fox has relied upon so much for getting buckets. We’re going to show buckets from a few different guys, but Fox has relied upon so much for getting buckets for this team that his playmaking just hasn’t really been able to shine. And it has a bit over the past few games here, but this kind of pullup threes what I’m talking about. Look, he had a great game again, keeping up those incredible averages since Wii, Castle, Harper, they’ve all gone down. Dear Fox has been that all NBA level point guard for us, and that’s what I love about his game. five for 11 from the field, 14 for 16 from the free throw line. He had 16 of the Spurs 34 free throw attempts, only two turnovers, five boards, three assists. Fox was phenomenal and he kind of has been all year. And like when he was given the ball late in the game to create these opportunities, it felt like he really was the only one that could get it going. Devin Vel forcing tough shot after tough shot. Champeni just not able to get anything going. three for 14 on the night though he did notch a double double credit to him. Harrison Barnes, Mr. 100% only took two threes and he missed both. The Phoenix Suns under head coach Aught have been really really good at ma playing hounding defense. Big shout out to Dylan Brooks as much as I dislike watching him and I’m sure a lot of you guys do too. He frustrated the Spurs, especially Devin Vel and Julian Champeni and kept them off their game. But one of these big issues that I’m talking about is the Spurs point guard spot. And look, Dylan Harper has been working out. His calf injury is healing. He’s not in the walking boot anymore. We’re expecting him to be back within the next couple of weeks. That’s going to be great. Victor Webbyama, while not on this road trip where we’re going to go into Portland and Denver for the NBA Cup, he’s going to be back soon. Stefan Castle, we’re not really sure, could be back within a week. So, this issue is going to rectify itself. And again, let’s be honest, the fact that the Spurs are within 10 points out of a Phoenix Suns team that yes, they were missing Jaylen Green, but they shot 37% from three. They shot 14 for 38 when the Spurs shot just 10 for 34. The fact that we stayed in this game was incredible. But a big one here is the total turnovers, 19-6. The Spurs had 19 turnovers, the Suns had six, and they had five until like Devin Booker made a weird turnover in like the last 20 seconds of this game. Really, they had five turnovers in the game that actually mattered. The Spurs were not good enough at forcing turnovers on the other team. The guard defense from San Antonio, especially without Stefon Castle, has really not been there. Vel’s defense has been okay. Fox is solid. Like, it’s not it’s not that bad. But honestly, these wing and guard defenders, like the these point of attack guys, they’re they just haven’t been really doing the job. But also, the closeouts on the Phoenix Suns have not been tonight. They weren’t elite. And it’s been a problem again for the Spurs over the last number of games guarding the three-point line. I mean, look at the Warriors. They turned into the 2016 Warriors when they played us. And then the games before and after, Steph is getting like 10 points, but he dropped backtoback 40 bombs against San Antonio. So, the three-point shot is a problem. But the big thing here that I did want to get into as we take a look here at all of all the guys stats. Look, some good games from a lot of people. Shout out Spurs, Muse, Fox again, 26. Vaccum was great. Again, I I got to be honest, man. Kell Johnson, every single game he’s showing up 14 points, six for eight from the field, three turnovers, but six rebounds. The issue lies here in this screenshot. And maybe if you’ve been watching the games all year, you’ve been watching these recaps, you know where I’m going with this, but it’s that third quarter stats throughout this entire year. Now, I don’t have the updated ones, but the Spurs at one point had like a plus 30 or 40 differential in the first quarter and in the fourth quarter. And the second and third quarters were basically neutral, slightly negative. Tonight, it represented that very well. Actually, our first half in general was pretty good, minus a bit of a 70 run there by the Suns in the second quarter. The Spurs were up 56 to 49 at half, 30 to 25 after the first quarter. The difference in this game literally was the third quarter and the third quarter alone. 37 to 24, outscored by 13 points by the Phoenix Suns. And there’s a lot of questions when it comes to that, right? And you look at some of these rotations, there’s some experimental stuff going on there. And look, I’m not placing the blame on Mitch Johnson, I think, especially when you don’t have guys like Harper, like Castle, like Wem. You have to try and figure out different things that’ll work for the Spurs. But like that third quarter just didn’t work. It was four shot after four shot. The Spurs were shooting three after three. The Suns were hitting them. The Spurs were not. We were leaving these open threes for Phoenix and San Antonio’s offense really died down. The pick and roll wasn’t really there when Cornet was off the floor and even Cornet rolled his ankle a bit later in the game. That same ankle that kept him out for a few games. So hoping he’s okay. He came back in the game after twisting it. So I think he’ll be okay. But like this this third quarter of watching the Spurs, it was turnover after turnover. It became sloppy. There was no cohesion on the floor and Fox was out for a few minutes. And when he wasn’t on the floor, it just looked like mayhem. And I just wonder, could a guy like Lindy Waters maybe alleviate some of that? I I wonder, right, David Jones Garcia, as great as he was last game, having that David Jones Garcia legacy game that I talked about tonight, he just couldn’t couldn’t get it going. He had a couple of great looks, he couldn’t capitalize. So, right now, the ball handling is is kind of that third quarter. Whoa. The voice is cracking because I’m just so passionate about this. It happens every video. Am I 14? I don’t know. I don’t think I look 14. I think anyway, look, these Spurs are aging me regardless. Like, they’re not making me any younger. These third quarters, especially, right, the ball handlers, I think the ball handling issue does play a bit of a role in it, but hasn’t for the full season, right? Look, we were missing Fox for a while, then missing Harper. We haven’t had all three healthy at the same time yet. So, that is going to be an interesting experiment when it happens to see if that can kind of help that third quarter. kind of just go with whoever’s hot and always always always have at least one of those guys on the floor. So much easier with three guys than two. Like even if it’s just Fox and Castle, they can do it. But if they both start having Harper as that other option is going to be important. Again, I don’t think that’s the only reason. I think the Spurs get a bit complacent. The ball movement uh the ball movement wasn’t great. The offball movement wasn’t great, and the Spurs seem to settle for semi-contested threes, shots that again, Phoenix could hit, the Spurs could not. that three-point shooting issue that we talked about earlier this season, it’s kind of back and and and look, even guys that are supposed to hit some threes like Kelly Oolen 0 for two from three. Harrison Barnes 0 for two. Champenny two for nine. Fox was two for six and he’s not really one of our better shooters. Vel three for seven is not that bad. Carter Bryant had a decent finish, but he also shot one for three. Jones Garcia 0 for one. So, like the the shots just weren’t there. So, there’s a few issues to break down here, but no reason to really be concerned because let’s be real, the Spurs are still 11 and five and we are right there in the playoff picture in the Western Conference heading into a couple of tough games. The Portland game, they’re going to work us like dogs. They have fantastic defenders at every position. The Denver Nuggets and Nicolic are going to try and bully us. So, hopefully Cornet is ready to go for that game. Don’t know what we’re going to do without WBY there. But look, leave your thoughts on this game down below. I’ve left mine. I think I’ve left enough. That’ll do it. But look, hey, if you want stuff like this after every single game, hit that subscribe button. Look, if you made it 9 minutes in after a postgame loss to the Phoenix Suns, a late game, come on. I mean, I think we’ve earned it at this point. I’ve been your host, Josh Gos. I’ll catch you in the next one.

The San Antonio Spurs take a rough loss in Phoenix after yet another 3rd quarter collapse. This is a theme for the Spurs but there are some silver linings. Josh Gosse breaks it all down on this episode of Spurs Digest.

—

Get 10% off of the BEST Spurs merch we’ve ever worn HERE 👇:
https://diehardaddicts.com/discount/Digest

0:00 San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns

Spurs Digest is a YouTube Channel that covers all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors regarding the San Antonio Spurs. We provide comprehensive coverage on topics such as game highlights, player performances, and in-depth analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Chris Paul as well as insights from Head Coach Gregg Popovich and president R.C. Buford. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Spurs!

Have you ever wanted to break into sports media as a write or content creator? Apply to join the Digest Media team today here: https://digestmedia.ca/join-us/

for_digest_redistribution

—

Unchanged

—

NBA Trade Rumors, NBA Free Agency, NBA Draft, NBA Finals Preview, Fantasy Basketball Advice, NBA Betting Odds, NBA Jersey Review, Player Performance Breakdown, Sports Analytics, NBA Highlights, NBA News Update, NBA Stats, NBA Roster Moves, NBA Predictions