Spurs’ first real hiccup
The Spurs will wait until December 27th to lose to a team with a negative record. Victor Vembanyama’s partners have so far always managed matches against poorly ranked teams with 13 wins and no losses. But last night, at home, The Spurs thwarted the Jazz. For their coach, De’Aaron Fox’s absence doesn’t explain everything.
“Jazzers obviously deserve to be congratulated for their production and performance, but if we’re talking about being judged, I’m very disappointed in a lot of things”, coach Mitch Johnson admitted. “The execution of the game plan wasn’t good. We weren’t connected on the very simple things that we do every game. It wasn’t necessarily specific to the Jazz, but they took advantage of that and punished us whenever we made a mistake.”
A lesson to be learned
A hiccup to match Victor Wembanyama’s return to the starting five. The French pivot dominated in attack with his 32 points, but also in defense with 5 blocks. But overall, he wasn’t as dominant as he usually is. Maybe it’s because of this playing time that is always closely monitored.
“It’s a balance between continuing to develop your fitness and keeping it fresh”Mitch Johnson explained. “It was his first game as a starter, so we were a little conservative. We want him to stay fresh because the whole team is better when we play fast. But his playing time will continue to increase.”
Wembley holder Keldon Johnson once again assumed the role of the 6th man, and he was very effective with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Not enough to make a difference in time for money. “I feel like we tiptoed into the match” he regrets it. “It’s a lesson in humility. We’ve had similar games this season where we’ve been able to come out of it. That wasn’t the case tonight. But we can learn from it. We win together, we lose together, and tomorrow we get back to work preparing against Cleveland.”
2025-12-28 09:09:00
