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The funny thing is that without Green and Brooks, this is basically the same team as last year but with Mark Williams instead of KD. New coach Ott is making a great impact on this team. I love the idea that they're just trying to improve a little every game. It will be interesting to see Green and Brooks reintegrated into the team as they seem to have a pretty good rotation going at the moment. Hopefully, we don't have to take a step back to do it.
Thanks to good scouting, good coaching and good execution, the Suns always seemed a step ahead.
"A lot of times, we were blitzing (Wembanyama's) catches in the post and we were switching with him too," said Suns guard Grayson Allen, who finished with 17 points on the strength of 5 of 9 from beyond the arc on a night the Suns shot 57.6% (19 of 33) from distance.
Wembanyama said the silver lining is that the Spurs will be better prepared when other teams try to copy the Suns' approach. The first test will come when the Spurs face the Lakers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
"It's a great time for us to take away a lot of things from this game, maybe because we're going to see this again," Wembanyama said. "I know our next opponents watched this game tonight and they're going to take some things away from this game as well. So, the preparation starts now."
I am worried about the ball movement when Brooks comes backShelC wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 5:28 amPretty much a complete game all around. The Suns were locked in on both ends, denying Wemby and rotating out properly to shooters. They were conceding the corner 3 a lot of times, which the Spurs missed a bunch of. But they were physical with Wemby, using different defenders and doubling from all over which really seemed to throw him off.
Vintage Book game. I've been wanting to see him off the ball, getting the ball on the move and getting back to his midrange shot and last night was just that. No more ISO at the 3pt line and taking a contested 3, and if he's catching the ball on the move looking to score, he can't get trapped and turn the ball over. Castle also got him going, which wasn't the smartest thing to do. But this was one of his better scoring games in a long time.
The roleplayers did exactly what they needed to. They defended and hit 3s. Allen, Royce and Dunn were 11-18 for 3, which made Book's life that much easier. And they were largely the ones guarding or helping on Wemby. Our centers did the job, playing big - Williams was actually off Wemby and asked to guard the corner 3, while Richards and Oso took advantage inside when Wemby sat, so they knew the assignment. Gillespie with another strong game even with the ball pressure the Spurs were throwing at him to try and slow him down. And Goodwin's been a great addition to the rotation recently.
We still fell into a bit of a lull when Book sat and the Spurs made a run in the 4th. Also felt like the refs were blowing the whistle and slowing the game down in the Spurs favor, but Book came back in and we got back on track. Fortunately the lead was so big, the Spurs could only cut it to 14. Was annoyed when both teams pulled their starters and the Spurs pressured and made a few plays. Would've been a cheap way for them to make a comeback but they ran out of time. Was impressed with Brea, who plays with a ton of poise and was really the only one handling the Spurs' pressure. He has the demeanor of a vet, which is noticeable on the court with guys like Fleming and Maluach.
Interested to see how we look when Green and Brooks come back. Part of me just wants to bottle this and keep it going with the guys we have. Everyone's in sync, guys know their role and spot in the rotation. It'll be an adjustment adding two 30mpg players into the mix, but we do need their scoring because we're so reliant on perimeter shooting right now. Just hope it's not a case of "less is more" like the past 2 seasons.
Same here. There were a number of possessions last night where the ball kept moving late in the shot clock leading to a high % look that have been moments where Brooks has resorted to contested, off-balance mid range attempts. We'll see how things go, but to be fair, we haven't seen Book/Brooks/Green yet together. He may have felt a need to be ultra agressive without Green and with the young guys still kind of feeling out the team.specialsauce wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 12:59 pmI am worried about the ball movement when Brooks comes backShelC wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 5:28 amPretty much a complete game all around. The Suns were locked in on both ends, denying Wemby and rotating out properly to shooters. They were conceding the corner 3 a lot of times, which the Spurs missed a bunch of. But they were physical with Wemby, using different defenders and doubling from all over which really seemed to throw him off.
Vintage Book game. I've been wanting to see him off the ball, getting the ball on the move and getting back to his midrange shot and last night was just that. No more ISO at the 3pt line and taking a contested 3, and if he's catching the ball on the move looking to score, he can't get trapped and turn the ball over. Castle also got him going, which wasn't the smartest thing to do. But this was one of his better scoring games in a long time.
The roleplayers did exactly what they needed to. They defended and hit 3s. Allen, Royce and Dunn were 11-18 for 3, which made Book's life that much easier. And they were largely the ones guarding or helping on Wemby. Our centers did the job, playing big - Williams was actually off Wemby and asked to guard the corner 3, while Richards and Oso took advantage inside when Wemby sat, so they knew the assignment. Gillespie with another strong game even with the ball pressure the Spurs were throwing at him to try and slow him down. And Goodwin's been a great addition to the rotation recently.
We still fell into a bit of a lull when Book sat and the Spurs made a run in the 4th. Also felt like the refs were blowing the whistle and slowing the game down in the Spurs favor, but Book came back in and we got back on track. Fortunately the lead was so big, the Spurs could only cut it to 14. Was annoyed when both teams pulled their starters and the Spurs pressured and made a few plays. Would've been a cheap way for them to make a comeback but they ran out of time. Was impressed with Brea, who plays with a ton of poise and was really the only one handling the Spurs' pressure. He has the demeanor of a vet, which is noticeable on the court with guys like Fleming and Maluach.
Interested to see how we look when Green and Brooks come back. Part of me just wants to bottle this and keep it going with the guys we have. Everyone's in sync, guys know their role and spot in the rotation. It'll be an adjustment adding two 30mpg players into the mix, but we do need their scoring because we're so reliant on perimeter shooting right now. Just hope it's not a case of "less is more" like the past 2 seasons.
Let’s hope he’s been paying attention to how it’s moving as of late and with good results.3TheHardaway wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 2:37 pmSame here. There were a number of possessions last night where the ball kept moving late in the shot clock leading to a high % look that have been moments where Brooks has resorted to contested, off-balance mid range attempts. We'll see how things go, but to be fair, we haven't seen Book/Brooks/Green yet together. He may have felt a need to be ultra agressive without Green and with the young guys still kind of feeling out the team.specialsauce wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 12:59 pmI am worried about the ball movement when Brooks comes backShelC wrote: ↑Mon Nov 03, 2025 5:28 amPretty much a complete game all around. The Suns were locked in on both ends, denying Wemby and rotating out properly to shooters. They were conceding the corner 3 a lot of times, which the Spurs missed a bunch of. But they were physical with Wemby, using different defenders and doubling from all over which really seemed to throw him off.
Vintage Book game. I've been wanting to see him off the ball, getting the ball on the move and getting back to his midrange shot and last night was just that. No more ISO at the 3pt line and taking a contested 3, and if he's catching the ball on the move looking to score, he can't get trapped and turn the ball over. Castle also got him going, which wasn't the smartest thing to do. But this was one of his better scoring games in a long time.
The roleplayers did exactly what they needed to. They defended and hit 3s. Allen, Royce and Dunn were 11-18 for 3, which made Book's life that much easier. And they were largely the ones guarding or helping on Wemby. Our centers did the job, playing big - Williams was actually off Wemby and asked to guard the corner 3, while Richards and Oso took advantage inside when Wemby sat, so they knew the assignment. Gillespie with another strong game even with the ball pressure the Spurs were throwing at him to try and slow him down. And Goodwin's been a great addition to the rotation recently.
We still fell into a bit of a lull when Book sat and the Spurs made a run in the 4th. Also felt like the refs were blowing the whistle and slowing the game down in the Spurs favor, but Book came back in and we got back on track. Fortunately the lead was so big, the Spurs could only cut it to 14. Was annoyed when both teams pulled their starters and the Spurs pressured and made a few plays. Would've been a cheap way for them to make a comeback but they ran out of time. Was impressed with Brea, who plays with a ton of poise and was really the only one handling the Spurs' pressure. He has the demeanor of a vet, which is noticeable on the court with guys like Fleming and Maluach.
Interested to see how we look when Green and Brooks come back. Part of me just wants to bottle this and keep it going with the guys we have. Everyone's in sync, guys know their role and spot in the rotation. It'll be an adjustment adding two 30mpg players into the mix, but we do need their scoring because we're so reliant on perimeter shooting right now. Just hope it's not a case of "less is more" like the past 2 seasons.