The Spurs Lost The Finals Because They Could Not Close

We react to the Spurs’ Finals collapse against the Knicks and dig into why double-digit leads kept slipping away. We lay out the fixes, from protecting the ball to reshaping lineups, and we ask who San Antonio should trust when the game gets tight.
• Turnover battles as the clearest path to wins
• Wembanyama’s next leap through strength, stamina, and free throws
• Late-game awareness and slowing the pace in crunch time
• Coaching adjustments that never came and lineup pairings we wanted to see
• Stefan Castle’s basketball IQ, tempo control, and need for a go-to move
• Dylan Harper’s case as the closer and how his role could grow
• De’Aaron Fox under the microscope for playmaking, defense, and fit
• Keeping key shooters and adding the right forward to complete the roster
• The Spurs’ bright future after a painful Finals lesson
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Transcript

Welcome And Quick Call To Action

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey and as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about the NBA finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks. But before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment tell anyone who's anyone about the show. I'm trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. And if you wonder where you heard this before, that's because you've been listening to me Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. So I greatly appreciate your support. Now, the Spurs is specifically what we're going to talk about for the NBA finals.

Spurs Finals Meltdown And Turnovers

SPEAKER_00 0:31

And ladies and gentlemen, I just gotta say, it was a complete meltdown. A complete meltdown. Like, out of the five games, bro, I want to say, if I'm not mistaken, that they were up double digits every game and still lost. Still lost. Like, I I mind you, I'm not saying that this formula was easy, but I found a formula for them to win. You gotta win the turnover battles in three quarters. Now they did it once and they what? Won the game. All right, cool. Part of their issue was making sure they don't turn the ball over too much. That was part of their problem. But they had some other ones as well,

Wembanyama Growth And Late-Game Poise

SPEAKER_00 1:15

too. Like Wimby got some growing pains. Off top, I remember saying this at the beginning of this season. I expect, and probably even a couple seasons ago too, I expect him to add, like to bulk up, right? And by year four or five, he's gonna start strengthening up the way Giannis did, right? And that's my thing. He's gotta add strength because he was not able to get to the basket the way he wanted to. If he can do that, he's gonna be unstoppable. With his mobility, add a little strength to him, that's gonna be tough. Also, too, he won't get tired as easily. So that means he can have a little more steam late game. That's gonna be key for him. Because I mean, shoot, I know we said attack the paint more, but also you gotta knock down your free throws, champ. Cause them two missed free throws were whoo! That hurt. That hurt. That hurt. And y'all were up 29 in that game. That hurt. Like you needed that. Like you needed that. So that clutch factor, you gotta get people to believe in you. Because keep in mind, people will be petty and say, well, remember he missed those two free throws. Heard you. So again, that's one. Also, I need you to slow the game a little bit more. I need you to understand where you are on the court, where your teammates are, where the doubles are coming from, what you can do. Because again, like once you add strength, it's gonna be so easy, especially with these current players right now. Wait till some taller players come in. Or like players like Kat who are a little stronger, like Jalen Duran. Is he seven foot? Let's say Jalen Duran's seven foot. Maybe that could be a problem for you. But I ain't gonna lie, it's gonna be an interesting battle. But what that that's some things that Wimby did. Just just again, some some high-level stuff, just to just to talk about. Because there's a little bit more, but we you know, we don't have to we don't have to talk about it too too much. But yeah, I do hate that clutch moment thing. I I do hate that for that.

Coaching Choices And Rotation What-Ifs

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Mitch, the head coach, I do believe that you failed the team by not changing up the game plan enough. Like off top, why can't we like how can we never saw Luke Cornette and Victor Women Yama share the flow? Like imagine Victor Womenyama contesting Jalen Brunson like he did. And then Luke Cornette being there instead of somebody else. I don't know if OG Ananobi gets that shot off. I don't know if he gets that tip in, ladies and gentlemen. I'm just saying that's a scenario where it could have actually worked. Or how about Stefan Castle playing too many minutes when he was poor when he was shooting poorly from the field? I understand his defense was key. Do not get me wrong. Played stellar. Dylan Harper? Was he not playing well? I'm just saying. I understand Dylan Harper was also playing well offensively, but when we think about it, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagne, they did fairly decent defense against Jalen Brunson. It's not like it was cakewalk against him every time. Stefan Castle may be a better defender, but the offense that they were bringing might have usurped Stefan's one of 10 night. So again, Mitch, I would have thought, okay, even though Stefan Castle, yes, he's one of your future star players potentially, you can still sit him down. Like we can still try some different things. Harrison Barnes could have got some more playing time. Savvy Vetra, who's been in the league a couple seasons now, has won a championship already. Might have been able to do something. Keldon Johnson, who was sixth man of the year, didn't get that much playing time. Game five, he got 16 minutes of playing time. Gave pretty decent production from what I saw. But, you know, again, 13 minutes, eh, six man. Felt like he could have gotten more. But again, I wish he would have tried to change some things up. Hell, you could have thrown out Kelly Olnick and paired him with Wimby to see what happens. Because now you can leave space to floor out a little bit, plus you get a little more height. And I know Kelly's gonna crash. I know Kelly's gonna crash. So I mean, I'm just saying, ladies and gentlemen, and you could have paired him even with Stefan Castle, too. That could have helped out with a little playmaking, pick and roll, pick and pop with Stefan and Kelly. That could have been interesting. I'm just saying, ladies and gentlemen, Mitch, you could have tried some things and you got some growing pains yourself.

Castle Development And Harper As Closer

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Speaking of Stefan Castle, yeah, he does have some adjustments to make. For starters, we gotta work on your basketball IQ, champ. Because I do think the way he looked at the game and the constant turnovers going too fast, he young, so he gotta settle down. That's understandable, right? Like as he gets older, he'll get more mature. You hope at least, but that's the expectation, right? I will say this he low-key messed up his trade value just a little bit, lowered it just a little bit. I shouldn't have said messed up, lowered it just a little bit. Because again, those turnovers were quite high. Again, turnovers you can work on, and hopefully that happens. I'm expecting it too, because he's a hard worker. That's we've that's what we've seen thus far. So that's why I'm not even trying to get too down on him. Just saying he needs to improve his basketball IQ, which keep in mind a lot of young players do. So it's not like it's too big of a knock. I just expect more from him. Also, I would love to see him develop a signature move. Every time I kept seeing him like drive, let's work on a jump shot. Like let's work on a little MIDI, something like that. I think that would be good to do. Because it that's your next thing. Keep in mind, I was gonna say actually, something similar to Dylan Harper. I think Dylan Harper can make a solid uh little mid-range jump shot. And I and I'm wondering now, because of something like that, he can hit the three-pointer respectful enough, at least for me, can he be a closer for this San Antonio Spurs? Because a lot of the time when I was looking at the Spurs, I was waiting for somebody to close the game. And the the last game when like all you like all the chips are on the table now, you gotta you gotta do everything you can. Dylan Harper showed up arguably the most, if not the most, for the Spurs. And that's making me wonder, should he be the closer going forward? That's gonna be a question that I have. I don't I understand you have Wimby, but keep in mind, I know people are gonna have that two free throw miss notion about him. And if he's not in a similar situation, I wonder how long that will carry over for him. But Dylan Harper, he looked pretty good. He looked like the best spur at times on the floor. I'm talking about with Wendy. He played pretty well, and this was his rookie season, ladies and gentlemen. Wondering if he should be a starter next season or if he should continue to come off the bench, similarly to Manu Ginobli or James Harden. Because I remember those teams did actually get to a championship a couple times, to the finals a couple times. So maybe that should be the formula that they do, and then they they finish off with Dylan Harper. Because it's not about who starts, it's who finishes. Just keep in mind. So again, Dylan Harper, tip of the cap, bro, you played really phenomenal, and I'm looking forward to seeing you next season. Like this this man like he gave me MVP league vibes, at least all-star and all-NBA vibes at times. Because his defense, his offense combination was pretty spectacular. And I'm not gonna lie to you, it's gonna make Stefan Castle look like the third option, especially if he continues to work like that. That that's there's no slouch. I'm just saying it may be a shift in dynamic.

De'Aaron Fox Questions And Roster Fit

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Notice how I talked about Stefan Castle and Dylan Harper. I did not talk about De'Aaron Fox, who we should have talked more about, and I'm questioning his future with the Spurs. Keep in mind, right? Scoring prowess, he's supposed to be the best attribute. That was supposed to be his best attribute, personally. We always knew he could playmake, but scoring was supposed to be his thing. We understand the dynamics of the team have changed, right? Like it's not like he was on the kings anymore, right? Like he doesn't have to be the main focus scoring-wise. But playmaking, we need to see a little bit more of. And sometimes I was I was questioning his playmaking, right? Like the turnovers were a little bit too much. Well, I understand it's your first time in the finals, deep in the playoffs. I get it. And and and and and and yes, he's older. I think he's about 27, 28. I understand that. Still your first time. I hear it, but still, ladies and gentlemen, the playmaking has got to be a little bit better. The defense also got exposed as well, too. Although we never really viewed him as a defender, but again, you gotta improve that defense, champ. You're very quick. I understand you're 6'3, you're a little in. Oh my goodness, you're a little lean, but you still gotta improve that defense. That's something you gotta work on. And the Spurs also gotta work on as well, too. Also, the clutch player combo, that's probably gone. I'm I'm questioning if it is or not, but I'm assuming it's gone. Because again, I've had a couple people already say, oh, you are quote unquote ass. Like that means you were terrible. And I know a bunch of people are probably gonna feel that way, especially given your shooting during game five, and a couple of the other games, too. Now, you had some decent games as well, too. Don't get me wrong. I don't think you're trash, but I do think you underperform like a like a son of a gun. I will say that. All right, fair is fair. So again, the the the the future with you and the Spurs, I do question. I love the addition of Julian Champigny and Devin Bassell. Because them boys can shoot that rock. They gotta remain on the Spurs. I'm telling you right now, man, because they they probably average like two to four threes each game. Like, like they like they they might they might have done that because they they were always snapping. You gotta you gotta like keep an eye on them at most times. And pairing that with Wimby and Castle and Harper, that's gonna be really imperative. Only thing better could be maybe get a power forward, which means one of them might have to come off the bench. But again, you're playing with possibly Dylan Harper coming off the bench. That's nothing to scoff at. Unless they trade Darren's Fox. But again, that would be nothing to scoff at if you're playing with Dylan Harper. You and him terrorizing the league second units, and especially if you get hot, you probably stand in the game. So I'm just saying that could be very interesting for the Spurs, but you gotta love those two players. I I'm I'm looking I'm looking forward to Carter Bryant getting more offense. I really truly am. Because once that man does, the Spurs are about to take off on a no like on a whole nother plane. Because that's gonna be the defensive small forward that they need. Like, like how OG Ananobi was looking like a grown man out there, that's gonna be Carter Bryant. That's gonna be the expectations of Carter Bryant. He's gonna be able to guard the Cooper Flags, the AJ DeBonsas, the Jason Tatum's, like those caliber players years down the line. Because again, those are gonna be talented, big, small forwards that who can play power forward. And they need they're gonna need him to do that to guard those type of players. So, ladies and gentlemen, the Spurs' future, while they had a meltdown this whole finals, you gotta at least say that their future is bright, and you gotta, as a Spurs fan, be happy with not necessarily what occurred, but at least the possibility of what could occur because this is now gonna be a chip on the Spurs' shoulder. They're gonna want to get their get back. And I mean, as Spurs fans, when y'all usually get to the finals, you don't lose that much. So it's gonna, again, put more, add more fuel to the fire for the Spurs to get back and win a championship and potentially win multiple championships. Who knows? Hell, the Spurs can end up winning a dynasty or being a dynasty and winning multiple championships back to back. Three, three P. I mean, y'all got the talent to do so. So it's gonna be very interesting to watch the Spurs. I'm not gonna hold you. I just want to see how these guys improve given this offseason because that that that was pretty that was a pretty bad loss. I ain't gonna lie to you. Like that was a really bad meltdown. But at least you got one. I always say stars get you one, and Wimby, y'all were extremely young. I'm gonna say the youngest team in NBA history and to get to the finals. And respectfully, you got at least one. So kudos to that. Let y'all build off that. And that's the most I'm gonna terrorize you all.

Spurs Future Outlook And Listener Questions

SPEAKER_00 13:21

But, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. So I'm curious, what's your thoughts about the Spurs, their meltdown? If you call it a meltdown, who did you not like during the playoffs the most? What's their biggest flaw? What do you think they should do? All that good stuff. But that does conclude the end of the episode. So, like I said, please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey, I'm the host of Get the Bucket. I hope you're all having a good one. Take care.