Why Spurs’ Devin Vassell works on bad shots during practice

Around San Antonio and among Spurs fans, Devin Vassell he has earned a reputation for making tough shots. And that’s just fine with Spur who have the second longest tenure. In fact, he prefers it.

“You know, a lot of shots to me might look like bad shots to a lot of other people. But those are the shots I work on all the time.”

The 11th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft has become the team’s second-leading scorer through this third season, behind the Spears’ 2019 draft pick Keldon Johnson. The following year, which was also Victor Vembanyama’s first in the league, Vassell was second on the team with 19.5 points per outing. It should come as no surprise that his 13 points in the first quarter and 25 points in the first half in the Spurs’ last game against the Cleveland Cavaliers marked season highs.

“Any player that gets hot like that, the team’s not going to let them just keep shooting,” Vassell said of the adjustment The Cavs cruised to a 13o-117 victory.

“They’ve just stuck with me everywhere I’ve gone, and it’s just something I have to adjust to,” the former Florida State star continued. “You have a hot half, whatever it is, you get hot, you just have to be able to adjust and still impact the game. So that’s one thing I was looking at that second half and just kind of seeing where I could go to my spot so I could get certain shots as well.”

Although his seven 3-pointers in the first two periods tied a franchise record, Vassell scored just three points in the second half.

Devin Vassell talks offensive options

Averaging 16.5 points per contest this season, Vassell has been the Spurs’ second leading scorer for three weeks Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle are out with injuries.

“I would say that all the time, I just stay aggressive at the end of the day,” the 25-year-old guard said.

The 28 he scored against the Cavaliers marked the second most points scored by Vassell this year. He had 35 in a big win at the Denver Nuggets the day after Thanksgiving. That’s a credit to San Antonio’s assistant coaches, given the number of Vassell’s limited opportunities overall on the revamped roster.

“If I have some space, it’s a good shot. So that’s something I have to do.”

Castle is expected to return for the team’s next game at the New Orleans Pelicans. With another scorer in the game, Vassell sees a chance to take advantage of spots on the field that defenses might throw away these days.

“Maybe if they put the heavy twos or the middle ranks, but that’s something we’ll live with if we have to.”

San Antonio is in the middle of the stretch where ten of the eleven games may come outside of their home Frost Bank Center. If they beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on December 10they will head to Las Vegas for the semifinals on Dec. 13 before a possible final.

“You play a lot of games, you travel a lot, and we don’t really try to make a lot of excuses. So we’ll be back in the next game.”