If the Spurs win less than two games in their last six outings, he will end up with the worst record in the club's history. In office since the 1996-97 season, Gregg Popovich nonetheless remains satisfied with this exercise like no other, marked by a negative franchise record, with 18 defeats in a row.
“ It sucks to lose, but seeing everything they've accomplished this season, it's truly a joy “, appreciate the technicianwho for example said he took part in one of the most competitive matches in recent years, talking about this recent match against the Nuggets, marked by the clash between Victor Wembanyama and Nikola Jokic.
This narrow defeat against the reigning champions came after another narrow defeat against the Warriors, and especially after their series of three successes in a row (Suns, Jazz and Knicks), the best of their season. Since a traditional “Rodeo Road Trip” that was terrible in accounting terms (1v-8d), the Texans have since posted a much more decent record of seven wins for ten defeats.
Better in every match
“ We play very well, we improve every month. Our results don't reflect the way we play, but we improve with each match », remarks Tre Jones, who attributes this progression to the fact that the group has gained in maturity and cohesion, where Zach Collins highlights more physical response and a better mental approach.
And, in terms of pure play, a better understanding of the Victor Wembanyama phenomenon. “ They improved as the year went on. At first it was weird. No one knew what to do around Victor. They had never played with someone Victor's size before. So it took a while, but they are much more comfortable now », Remarks their coach.
Promoted to the position of playmaker, and therefore central piece around the Frenchman, Tre Jones ensures that this period of adaptation, on one side or the other, is not over: “ We are trying to learn to play with this advantage behind us. »
Victor Wembanyama sees progress
Mike Malone has already noticed that the use of French has evolved. “ Pop continues to put him in new situations where he can be the ball carrier or initiator. He puts him in catch-and-shoot, isolation situations and he reads the defense and makes the play », Judges the Nuggets coach.
More responsible with the ball in hand, he has posted more than 5 assists per game since the All-Star Game. “ Looking back on the season, I can see our progress, but also my own. Even though I feel like it's little by little, every game, when you do it every day, after a whole season it becomes something big. These are things I couldn't have done in the first game of the season », says Wemby, who says he is proud of the progress made.
So many good signals which, according to Gregg Popovich, “ augur great things for the future “.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Victor Wembanyama | 67 | 29.3 | 46.4 | 31.9 | 79.4 | 2.3 | 8.2 | 10.5 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 21.2 |
| Devin Vassell | 68 | 33.1 | 47.2 | 37.2 | 80.1 | 0.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 19.5 |
| Keldon Johnson | 68 | 29.6 | 45.6 | 34.8 | 79.0 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 15.8 |
| Jeremy Sochan | 74 | 29.6 | 43.8 | 30.8 | 77.1 | 1.9 | 4.6 | 6.4 | 3.4 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 11.6 |
| Zach Collins | 63 | 22.3 | 48.0 | 31.1 | 74.1 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 5.2 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 11.0 |
| Tre Jones | 71 | 27.2 | 50.9 | 35.1 | 87.6 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 6.2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 9.8 |
| Malaki Branham | 71 | 20.7 | 43.1 | 33.6 | 88.5 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 9.0 |
| Cedi Osman | 72 | 17.6 | 47.9 | 38.9 | 67.3 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 6.8 |
| Julian Champagnie | 68 | 18.7 | 39.7 | 36.6 | 81.1 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 6.3 |
| Doug McDermott | 46 | 15.2 | 44.2 | 43.9 | 58.8 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 |
| Dominic Barlow | 33 | 12.7 | 49.6 | 33.3 | 69.0 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.4 |
| Blake Wesley | 55 | 13.5 | 47.5 | 18.6 | 64.7 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 4.0 |
| Mamadi Diakite | 3 | 5.3 | 80.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 4.0 |
| Devonte' Graham | 17 | 9.5 | 38.0 | 31.6 | 77.8 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| Charles Bassey | 19 | 10.8 | 72.5 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 1.2 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 3.3 |
| Sandro Mamukelashvili | 40 | 7.3 | 47.4 | 26.2 | 76.2 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 3.0 |
| Sidy Cissoko | 7 | 5.3 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
