Spurs reaction

Mark and I got together to discuss the early season #Spurs success. From Wemby to Harper and on down the line, the Spurs have played well to start.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:27):
I go to work like a doctor. When I rock
the mic. You got to like the way you hop
the weight. I'm a lyrical standing just from rappington. I'm
so librically poets and I'm and then'spoting on the same me.
I got the potential to make it go that hill.
I got to treat that child. That's the we say
show to make up our same show that you know?
Why will called film take a couple of meal that
the bill does kill from up the bapples of skill

(00:47):
and chilled, but we rapups a no frill, hang him
an epigy.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I need to suck up, hang them to the left
of mecuse.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
My right hand man is my mic stand and the
microphone that I own and my game plan if keep
for that steady hat, ain't nobody.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Gonna rush head, Ain't no And we're back Fan Polled Sports,
a Tree Tech sports podcast, A Tree Tech Sports fan
to again. I'm your host, Ronnie Langford, back at it,
back at it on this beautiful Monday evening, talking a
little spurs with the main man, the double Nickel, the

(01:19):
legend in his own mind, the guy that came off
the bench. And there's still still some doubts on whether
he was sober or not, but he did wake up
from his self induced coma to hit the game winner.
They're rolling Oaks Mall. The Man, the myth, the legend himself,

(01:39):
Mark Ramirez, Welcome back to the program, my friend.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Hello, Hello, Hello, Oh yeah, man, that was I still
don't remember if it winning orund.

Speaker 4 (01:50):
I just let it go and I knew it was good,
and I just laid back down. I mean, oh yeah, man.
Also with you.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Right here, Ronnie Langford, the winner the Winter Winter Chicken Dinner.
His Longhorns won, Yankee's won, a lot of Texas teams won,
even the damn Texans won as opposed to one that didn't.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
But we're not talking that today.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
We're talking Go Spurs, go, and boy do we have
to put I don't know how many exclamation points behind
that today because it's just un freaking real how this
team has started and how good they look. I know
it's just three games, but I think me and Ronald
you can call us liars now since we made our predictions.

(02:34):
I think I'm more of a life than him because
he said eighty two and oh and we're on our way, bro,
and I can't wait, I can't wait till for this
whole season to complete.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah, you gave a little way too much football talk
there when we're not talking football tonight. But that's fine.
Uh yeah, dude, the quest for eighty two and oh
is alive. I mean, you can't you can't get tady
two if you don't get to three and oh. And
the Spurs are a three and oh tonight playing their
Toronto Raptors. The team from up north came down, came
way down to visit Texas, visit the Spurs and uh,

(03:09):
you know, try to go trying to go four and
o to start the season. You're right, man, it's been
a while since the Spurs started, you know, three and oh.
And it's kind of a different vibe right now. It's
kind of a different feeling throughout San Antonio. H Of course,
you got to kind of tie it in with the

(03:30):
fact that the Spurs are trying to get something on
the ballot, something to propose for Project Marvel and all
that stuff downtown. That's another that's another episode onto itself.
But the excitement that that fans are feeling right now, man,
you don't get this feeling if the Spurs aren't around
and we haven't had this kind of feeling in a
long time.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Man.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
Uh. And the young guys are playing well, they're coming together.
Some of the veterans are stepping in and leading like
they need to. So yeah, it's been an interesting first
three games. You know, I did. I did a I
did a little bit of a recap after game one
after this first destroyed and I do mean destroyed the
Dallas Mavericks. But we can touch on all that. Man,

(04:13):
I'm gonna turn it over to you. I'm gonna let
you take the lead tonight. You tell me where you
want this thing to go, and we'll go from there.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
I guess my first question to you would be, when
is the last time you remember a start like this?
I know, it's awesome. I know we we didn't.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (04:30):
I'm gonna be honest. I didn't expect it for the
team to jel so quickly. But look at the look
at the way they were in the preseason. Uh, they
they were undefeated there too, So so technically, there's something
something going on in the in the water, there's something
going on in Tamalas. There's something going on and and
downtown that you know, Hey, man, these guys are jelling.

(04:52):
They're they're in that groove.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
Man, We've talked about it before, with that groove that
you got to be in, you know, not too fast,
not too slow.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
They're they're moving the ball, they're playing defense, they're getting blocks,
they're scoring when they need to, they're shutting down teams
when they need to. They're doing all the little you know,
check check check check check man, like my check brother.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
It's fun to watch.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
It's fun to see all the little things, you know,
all the little things that they're doing right as opposed
to wrong, because there is something that there is some
always some stuff to gripe at. For me, it's free throws.
But hey, man, that's just I'll take that.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Man.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
If you're still gonna win by ten or fifteen or more,
I'll take it any day of the week. And when
you put your foot down on somebody, they're keeping them there.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
And when they do.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
Come back up rare, then you know, they just smack
them right back down where they belong. And that's something
I have not seen or felt or enjoyed watching in
a really really long time.

Speaker 4 (05:48):
I'm trying to remember, you know.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
I think when you and I would get together and
watch games, and we watched the season opener, and those
first few games are always kind of like a feeling
out right. Sometimes we win one and early times we lose.
I mean majority of times we've went majority of them
when we had a good team, and then when we didn't.
It was always a question mark. But man, a lot
of good questions were answered.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
Especially with the Dallas game.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
You know, I know you said you already touched on it,
but for me, what I took away from that was, hey,
you know, everybody better take notice, everybody better in the
NBA world and all the other teams now they know
what they're dealing with. They know what they got to
deal with with the team in South Texas. This team
is for real. It feels so good to say that, man,

(06:34):
It feels so.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Good to say that.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
You know, after so many years of man, just frustration,
the COVID, the lockdowns and all that craft man and
the wokeness, and.

Speaker 4 (06:44):
You know that's all in the rearview mirror.

Speaker 3 (06:45):
I love to watch watch a game now, you know,
my wife and I are excited to watch games again.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
And it's just dude, it's man, it's just exciting. Bro.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Man, you know, I haven't had an opportunity to work
a game yet. I'm trying to make that happen so
I can be kind of I've been in the building,
but hopefully that will come with time, because I know
that that home opener at home, not the.

Speaker 4 (07:06):
Home opener was was a big deal.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
Because you know, you want to show the fans, you know,
the fans at home.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
You know what you're about, what you can do, what
you're about. Man.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
And and just dude, it's so amazing to see, you know,
these guys just working together as a team for once.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
So do you have a question.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
Oh, I'm sorry, man, My first question was, yeah, the
start man?

Speaker 4 (07:33):
Did you what do you think about this start? Man?
So far? Man?

Speaker 2 (07:36):
I cracked myself up, I really do. I mean, you know,
it's very it's it's exciting. You're right, dude, it's exciting,
you know. I mean again, you haven't felt this type
type of vibe, type of vibe, type of feeling in
a while, you know, because the last few years have
been a struggle. And yeah, you're right, dude, I mean,

(07:57):
you know, with the way things played out. Uh, you know, Bay,
I can't believe it's already been five years since all
that craziness. But yeah, as things played out the way
that they did and the world changed, and and you know,
I'm with you, man, it's been a while since I
was excited about just watching a Spurs game and you know,
being involved and you know, following along on Facebook and

(08:19):
commenting and saying all the stupid stuff that I say
on social media and stuff. But I mean, it's it's fun.
It's fun, and it's it's a it's a good time
so far. You know that that's kind of what I
was thinking that this team could be, right Like I didn't.
I mean, and we'll touch on defense and all that
stuff that that comes with it, but you know, I
didn't think they would be this good defensively. You know,

(08:43):
they've they've been pretty pretty good defensively. They've made stops
when they've needed to, they've crashed the boards when they
needed to. I know Cornett was out yesterday. I'm not
sure if he played tonight or if he's playing. But
you know, that's one of those things where these guys,
you know, they just kind of just kind of gelling,

(09:03):
trying to grow together, trying to learn. You know, you
said you didn't expect them to come along this fast
and get along this well this fast. But I watched
a lot of the stuff that they were posting prior
to training camp, prior to the start of the season,
and you could tell these guys were getting along not

(09:23):
only on the court, but off the court. And if
you remember some of those great Spurs teams we had
with with you know, David and Avery and Sean, you
know Timmy's first few years, you know those guys, those
guys used to hang out, play video games and all
kinds of stuff. You know, there's that meme that went
around for a while that you know, the Spurs were

(09:45):
celebrating their their ninety nine championship on the plane and
they have all the computers out and everything, you know
what I mean, and everybody was like, you know, a
bunch of nerds playing you know, Dungeon and Dragons or
whatever the hell they were playing. But I mean, it
just it's it's just continued to bleed over from those
guys into what tim Toni Imanu Worthy. Those guys were

(10:06):
great friends. They did a lot of things together. Then
you had guys like Manu and Patty Mills and Manu
and Thiago Splitter and all those different variations of the
different teammates that have been together and have done things,
and you see it now, I mean even Bores d'au
like they all those guys still stay in contact with

(10:27):
each other. That laid the foundation for what these young
guys are doing. Now. It's a different generation, it's a
different group of guys, it's a different mentality. And I
understand that. But you can't fake camaraderie. You can't fake
getting along, you know what I mean, Like you can
put on a brave face like Okay, we're okay with
each other, but we're not really cool with each other,

(10:49):
Like you can fake that, but you can't fake getting along.
And I think you're seeing that in their play. I
think you see that in the way that they hustle,
the way that they're getting after it, and the things
that they're doing. So it's been a great start. Like
you said, it's only three games, you know, and and

(11:10):
I agree, it's only been three games, but they've been
entertaining three games. They've been entertaining three games, uh uh,
And it's it's been it's been pretty crazy, you know
what I mean. So it's it's a lot of fun,
and I can't wait to see what they're gonna do.

(11:31):
You know, from this point forward, as they continue to
move into the rest of this week and then into
November obviously, is as the season really starts to get
rolling here in a few weeks.

Speaker 3 (11:44):
Yeah, man, I guess my next question to you, man
is Dylan Man uh Man.

Speaker 4 (11:50):
I'm not gonna say that I was the W word,
but man, he is.

Speaker 3 (11:54):
I'm less right, I'm not gonna say that I'm w
because dude, he is just I've never seen like a
rookie that, you know, just by the skill set of
what he had, and he has game, and I know
maybe you saw more than what I saw. But how
do you think he is in his role right now
what he's doing, man, Because dude, he just came in

(12:15):
with the big boys and he just you know, they
put the whooping stick on him, but he put it
right back.

Speaker 4 (12:20):
Dude, what do you think about him and his play
so far? Well?

Speaker 2 (12:24):
I mean again, dude, I mean, anybody that's surprised about
the way that this guy has played or the way
that this guy has taken you know, he's kind of
he's kind of like a duck to water, you know,
I mean his dad was a professional, a champion. You know.
He he's he's been in the game for a long time.

(12:46):
He has an older brother, that's that's you know, been
in the league for a year and you know, kind
of learned some of the ups and downs of the league.
He's talked about how excited he was about being in
San Antonio, you know, getting to learn from and Pop
and stuff like that. So to see him respond the
way that he has in certain situations has been a positive,

(13:10):
you know what I mean. Now, he's still a rookie man.
He's still gonna he's still gonna go through shooting slums.
He's gonna make mistakes, he's gonna make a knuckleheaded play,
you know. But that's part of the growing. That's part
of what you're supposed to do when you're excited about
living the dream that you've wanted to do. I'm sure
this kid dreamed about playing in the NBA and then

(13:30):
here we are, and you know what, nineteen twenty years old,
whatever he is, you know, and he's getting to play,
and he's getting he's getting to get paid for something
he probably loves to do and he would do for free.
So I mean, to me, he's done well. He struggled
in that first game. You could tell he was he
was wanting to do well, but he was just pressing
in that first game. Man, he did not look comfortable

(13:53):
in that first half. Whatever Mitch Johnson or the or
the assistant coaches told him at halftime, it definitely ignited
a fire and it definitely settled him down. And he's
been playing great since then. Fifteen points in the opener,
I want to say, he had twelve points against New
Orleans and then twenty points yesterday against Brooklyn. You know,

(14:18):
and I mean he's he's doing well. I want to say.
I want to say he's got like forty five, maybe
forty seven points. So he's averaging right around fifteen points
a game, averaging about five assists. So I mean, if
he's gonna do that as a bench player, just think
what this guy can be in a couple of years
when he's a starter. Because he's just gonna he's just

(14:40):
gonna get better. He's just gonna get stronger, he's just
gonna mature more. And you can see it, man. You
can see the way that he can make plays. You
can see the way that he can get to the
to the rim. The big question will be when the
defenses start to figure him out and they start to
cut off those passing lanes and and minimize his driving.

(15:03):
Can he make a consistent jump shot? Can he put
the basket or the ball in the basket when he's
not two feet away from it. That's gonna be the
real challenge for him to understand how the game is played,
because it's a long season and people will adjust. The
better teams will adjust, and they're going to force him

(15:24):
to have to make shots. He's gonna be left open
a lot, and he's gonna have to be willing to
step in and step up and knock down some shots.
And I'm hoping, I'm hoping that that's what that's what
he'll develop, is a steady, consistent jumper. What are your
thoughts on him?

Speaker 1 (15:41):
Man?

Speaker 2 (15:41):
What else?

Speaker 4 (15:41):
What?

Speaker 2 (15:41):
I mean, what else did you see for him?

Speaker 4 (15:44):
For me?

Speaker 1 (15:44):
Man?

Speaker 4 (15:45):
That that New Orleans game?

Speaker 3 (15:46):
You know, he just kind of that last quarter he
was in PTP time bro right, he was primetime player.
I mean he he scored what was it like, eight
buckets or eight points in a row when they needed him,
because to me, it was it was getting.

Speaker 4 (15:59):
Down to the wire. And they were kind.

Speaker 3 (16:01):
Of they couldn't find buckets and they couldn't find you know,
they couldn't find an answer, and it seemed like the
game might slip away.

Speaker 4 (16:09):
But dude, man, he shifted into fourth.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
And fifth gear and he just he started making buckets
and got some a three point play and then he
just I mean, it was just then it was just like, Okay,
this guy is like you said it before, right, hey,
just let the players go out there and just be
a basketball player. He said the same thing about you know,
other players.

Speaker 4 (16:27):
That's what I saw, man.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
I said, Okay, he just said, f this, I'm gonna
I'm just gonna be me right, and man did its show.
And I think that to me, that was his kind
of more or less is coming out game, because I mean,
it was winning time. Then you go to ot right,
and you know you expect, Okay, well what are we
gonna do here. We're just gonna get it to Wimby
and then we're just gonna seal this win and we're
gonna go go back home and we're just gonna take

(16:50):
this w No. Man, it was it was still like
he was still involved, he was still making plays, he
was still you know, just in the crunch time, and man,
that's showed me a lot.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
You know.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
The good thing about it is, Man, he's so young,
and I guess maybe he didn't have no fear and
he just kind of took over in that one little
section of the game that pretty much I think that
was what the decider was. I mean, yeah, it was
just one game, but if he has that experience in
that field, that hey, look when it's on, it's gonna
be on me right now.

Speaker 4 (17:19):
I'm not gonna fear the moment.

Speaker 3 (17:21):
And he didn't, man, And I think he kind of
sealed the game for the Spurs. I mean, yeah, everybody
else got their points, and Wimby did his thing, and
all the other guys, Champagne even sell Castle. Obviously, everybody's
gonna get their money, their money and their points, right,
But I think he kind of just showed me a
lot that game, man, and it's kind of just continued.

(17:41):
He even kind of, you know, built upon it for
the next game here at home and here in San Antonio.
So mand, yeah, I cannot be more impressed than anything.
I wanted to change my pick. Man, I think he
can be Rookie of the Year if he just kind
of continues his with his consistency, because you've got to remember,
these guys they just started playing together, right, not just him,
but everybody on the on the first.

Speaker 4 (18:01):
On the front five and then the back five.

Speaker 3 (18:03):
They're they're they're just getting to know each other, and
I think they're only going to get better, you know.
And dude, it was just not just not a pleasant surprise.
It was I was like, Wow, man, this guy came
to play. You know, he's got he's got it, man,
he's figured it out. And I'm not saying, you know,
I don't want to jinx or anything, but it's a
long season, you know.

Speaker 4 (18:21):
But man, dude, it was fun to watch.

Speaker 3 (18:23):
And You're right, dude, It's it was almost like an
out of body experience. I'm like, man, is this my team?
You know what I mean? Like, am I watching a
video game? I you know what I mean? It was
almost like we were putting video game numbers.

Speaker 4 (18:33):
Bro. It was crazy.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
And that's what the best thing I could describe it
to to you. So far, in certain stretches, in certain
parts of the game.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Man, it's cool to watch, yeah, man, I mean, and
it's been interesting. It's been interesting. I mean, because you
see the way that you know, they blew out the
Mavericks and they got into that dog fight against New
Orleans and then yesterday, you know, they got a big
lead of Brooklyn to their credit, made a big comeback,
tied it up, took the lead, spurs, made stops, took

(19:01):
the lead, went on a run, closed it out. So
I mean, and that's what you expect, right You expect
young teams to have that type of you know, up
and down, you know, emotional roller coaster, so to speak.
But it looks like they're trying to figure things out.
They're trying to figure out how they're gonna do it.
Mitch Johnson's talking about trying to you know, consistently have

(19:24):
a ten man rotation, you know, especially because he's got
a lot of guys injured right now, especially the bigs
with Olenic out and like I said, Cornet out yesterday.
So I think they're trying to figure that out. I
think they're trying to see who works well together, what
pieces can they put together? And I mean, if this

(19:45):
is what you're gonna get with Harper and of course
Castle Castle playing very well as well, how much better
does that get? When Fox gets there, you know what
I mean, Like people forget man, like, yeah, that guy,
that guy's going to be an integral part to what
the Spurs do and what the Spurs accomplished this year.

(20:06):
So you know, there's been variations all throughout the league.
The last I would say four or five years of
three guard play. I mean, you get those three guards
on the floor and you know they're going to cause
a problem for somebody. They're going to cause a major problem,
major problem for someone.

Speaker 3 (20:27):
So so what do you think about the defense so far?
I mean, I guess that's the major question because I
know that we we touched upon it before the season started,
and you know, now we're kind of three games in,
we're getting we've got our feet wet, we're tints in
into the season. Now, how do you see the defense?
I guess from last year to this year? What do
you see with your eyes?

Speaker 4 (20:47):
Man? What do you see?

Speaker 2 (20:48):
Well, I mean, it's night and day. It's not even close.
We didn't play defense the last few years. I mean
we were we were literally the Aba Spurs. You know,
we just try to run and gun everybody. And you
know running gun works, you know, when you're playing at
H and S and Sacred Herd and you know, twenty
fourth Park and Kennedy and shit like that. You know

(21:10):
what I mean. That doesn't work in the NBA, you know.
But no matter where you play, no matter how old
you are, no matter what level of basketball, I've always said,
basketball is about three things. Okay, defense, rebounding, and free throws,

(21:30):
you know, And right now they're doing really well with
two out of those three. Their defense is much better
than it's been. Their rebounding has been solid, not great yet,
but you can tell when Cornett is on the court,
it makes a big difference because whether he gets the
rebound or not, he's eating up space for other people

(21:52):
to get the rebound. And then the free throws. Some
of these games, especially that New Orleans game, like they
could have slammed the door in New Orleans if they
would have made some free throws earlier in the fourth
quarter and even earlier in the game.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
But those three things, no matter what level of basketball
you play, those three things have to be played at
a consistent level. And if you do that, you'll win
a lot of games. Because guess what, I don't have
to be the best three pointer or a point shooter.

(22:28):
If I'm getting the rebound and kicking it down the
court and my guy's hitting a layup. I don't have
to be the best dribbler if I'm rebounding and getting
the ball up the court, or are I'm forcing somebody
to shoot late into the shot clock? You know what
I mean? You don't have to be the best at
some of these things. I mean, I know what the

(22:50):
NBA is now right, Like it's a chunk it up league.
Everybody runs to the three point line. I get all that,
But you still don't have you still don't have to
do all those like those types of things all the time.
You can still do the little things and be successful
at a high level. And I think that's what they're
starting to learn. I'm sure you saw it where Johnson

(23:13):
is telling them to embrace the mundane, to embrace the routine,
the normal, you know what I mean. So those types
of things, those types of things, I mean, it sounded
very pop right, that was like pop speaking. But those
those are the things that have to be ingrained in

(23:33):
young teams because they'll they'll they'll put they'll fake themselves
out and think, oh I got a run, run, run,
I gotta go go go no, you don't be patient,
be smart. Do the little things win the game, because again,
it don't matter if you win by one or a hundred.
A win is a win, you know what I mean.

(23:55):
So I think I think that's I think that's a
lot of it. Man, I think that's a lot. What
have you seen with the defense? What do you think
about the defense so far? Oh?

Speaker 3 (24:04):
Man, I almost want to say the offensive boards are
kind of like defense because I've noticed, Man, they're crashing
bro when when they're on one side of the court
and they're on the they're trying to score. They've get
so many second chance opportunities. Man, it's not even funny
because that's almost like a defense in itself because you
never even have to get back on defense because Man,

(24:25):
I can remember stretches there against whatever, whichever pick a
team that they've played so far, you know they'll get one, two,
sometimes three, you know, offensive boards or tips or putbacks
that that that wasn't there last year. And I want
to attribute that a lot to Cornett and the Biggs because,
like I said, the spacing, man is just dude, that's

(24:46):
what I saw in preseason, the space racing, the spacing
between the guys is they know where to be, they
know how to get skinny or fat and close out
and they know how to box out better. Or they're
just man, they're sneaky and they're getting in there and
just so many extra opportunities. I mean, you can't put

(25:06):
a price on that, because that tells me that all
five of those guys on that floor, they're all in.

Speaker 4 (25:11):
Bro, they're all in, and they know each other, they
know where they're gonna be at.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
And then when you get that offensive rebound, sometimes they'll
just put it right back or you know it's easy too.
You know it's it's not even like if you start
getting all those little second chance points. I mean, you're
you're just you're just death by a thousand cuts to
the other team, Like before they know it, then they're down.

Speaker 4 (25:31):
What how much were they down?

Speaker 3 (25:32):
You know yesterday they had almost a thirty point lead, right, yeah,
so again I don't know how the hell they lost
that lead. But at the same time, they just their defense,
and then when you get back on defense, it's just
that much.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
More of a grind.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
You know, they're they're closing out better, you know, they're spacing,
they're boxing out to get, you know, defensive boards, and
they're like kind of in the players heads.

Speaker 4 (25:54):
You can see it because they're almost kind of don't.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
Know what to do. They're like, Okay, well, what am
I gonna do? He just cut off that laner. He
just cut off that passing lane. He dies, he's doing
this and man, and then okay, I gotta go.

Speaker 4 (26:05):
In there, and I gotta go in the middle.

Speaker 3 (26:06):
And amongst the trees with number one there, you know,
I mean, look how many.

Speaker 4 (26:10):
Damp blocks this guy has. Dude, it's man, he is.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
Here's as many blocks in one game as it you know,
take a player what two or three games? Dude, that's
just that's next level elite.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
You know.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
That's pushing that B button on the on the damn
NBA two K thing.

Speaker 4 (26:26):
Man, that's that was That's something. Man. He's let me
he's again let me. Well, dude, let me.

Speaker 2 (26:31):
Just tell you right now. Okay, we used to play
like four or five games a day, and I averaged
about four or five blocks a game. Okay, so we
talk about twenty five blocks in a game, I mean
in a day. Okay. So as impressive as Wenby has been,
he ain't getting no twenty five blocks. Okay, So I

(26:52):
need everybody to calm the hell down and mean, y'all
make it. See the man is seven foot nine, okay,
he I mean, he stands, he's touching the top of
the damn you know, Frost Bank Center. He's he's cleaning
off the damn banners when they when they get dust
on him. Okay, that ain't that damn impressive? All right,
I'm just saying. I'm just saying, come, come, do what

(27:13):
I did, and then we could talk wemby.

Speaker 3 (27:15):
Okay, no, bro, and you get extra rebounds. You're just
thrown back up so you can get Patrick's stats, bro,
and we're playing the games.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
Okay, let me let me just let me just let
me just clarify right now. Some of that was because
you guys couldn't hit the damn side of a barn,
and I was like, do I trust them to shoot again? No?
So you know what, let me take care of this myself.
And then I would rush and I would I would
you know, alligator arm it, or I would throw it

(27:47):
a little too hard and go over on the other side.
So that wasn't always my fault. Y'all always make it
seem like, oh, you just patted your stats. You didn't
make no damn buckets. Make some buckets and then we
don't have to worry about it. But anyway, that's neither
here nor there. Hey, real quick, you said you weren't
sure how they lost that big lead yesterday. I'll give
you two reasons why. One they stopped being aggressive, and

(28:12):
two they weren't playing solid defense. They got caught up inta,
I gotta go do this. I gotta get over here.
I gotta make this shot. You know, they hit it three.
I gotta hit it three. They again, young team, gotta learn,
gotta figure it out. But that's how they lost that lead.
They got sped up for no reason. They were up

(28:33):
double digits. There was no reason for them to speed up.
But if you watch that stretch there when Brooklyn started
making their their comeback, the Spurs were shooting with like
fourteen seconds left on the shot clock. Man, run your offense,
run your offense, get it under ten and then take
a shot. And they sped up. They sped themselves up

(28:56):
for whatever reason, and then they got caught up in
they they made it three. I got to make it three,
and they did not have to do that. So that
that's just that's what I saw.

Speaker 4 (29:07):
To slow down the game, I guess they had to
slow down the game a little.

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Bit and run some clock, which is just basic common
knowledge type basketball.

Speaker 4 (29:14):
Man.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
Man, you know what I did something weird I got.
I saw a post on Facebook and I looked and
I said, I don't know why it shocked me, but
it did. I was just oh my god. You know,
the Spurs are a number one in the West, you know,
and it kind of just you know, a little peek
came down my leg.

Speaker 4 (29:31):
I'm like, oh my god, dude, this team is for real. Like,
you know, wh when you and I.

Speaker 3 (29:36):
Talked, you know, before the season, we said, hey, you know,
we're talking about plans and we're talking about this and
we're talking about that.

Speaker 4 (29:44):
And again, you know, it's a long season.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
I get it, but dude, when I saw that, it
kind of it was almost like.

Speaker 4 (29:51):
A sticker shock thing, even though I kind of already.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
Knew there were three, no, but it's weird when you
see it kind of posted, right, you see it kind
of just you know there on face Book or Twitter
or whatever does you you know, whatever.

Speaker 4 (30:03):
Media you use.

Speaker 3 (30:04):
And I was just like, man, dude, this wow. Man,
I wanted to pinch myself. It was pretty cool feeling like, yeah, man,
that's my team, you know, that's that's our guys. You know,
that's these guys committing and dude, it was it was
a good feeling.

Speaker 4 (30:18):
I mean, I mean, what do you think about Wendy's
play so far?

Speaker 3 (30:21):
I mean, I know, I mean, superlatives are there, but
what is he doing that you kind of notice, you know,
just in his game that's obviously different from last year,
But what do you see that he's just okay?

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Man? What is what is he.

Speaker 3 (30:36):
Doing really really well to have him, you know, be
at this level that he's at right now.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
He's leading from the front. That that's the difference, you
know what I mean? I mean, And again, I'm not
comparing playing, you know, pick up basketball with my friends
in my neighborhood to the NBA. But yeah, you guys
knew that when we stepped on the court, you were

(31:05):
gonna follow my lead. We were gonna win with me
or we're gonna lose with me, you know what I mean.
And that doesn't mean that I was the best player,
because there were times that I wasn't the best player
on my own team, and definitely not the best player
on the court. But I always, I always felt like
I gave us a chance to win, right and and again,

(31:27):
we can joke about we can joke about the rebounds
and all the bullshit, right, But but you guys had
a confidence in me that, Okay, he's gonna he's gonna
get this bucket. If I throw it to him, he's
gonna get this bucket. Or if you knew that they
were gonna double team me or triple team or whatever
you knew, Okay, I gotta be ready to shoot because

(31:48):
he's gonna look for me, he's gonna want me to
make this shot. And you have to have that type
of mentality to tell your team, come on, let's go.
And I think he's starting to develop that more. I
think his leadership has improved. You know, there's there's a
lot of stuff going around, and there was a tweet

(32:08):
that night of the Dallas game somebody was like, whoever
these monks were that unlocked this version of Wemby, Oh
my goodness, you know, because it's true, you know, he
found that inner piece. He's he's finding physical and mental strength.
And I mean because his game continues to get better,

(32:30):
like his overall game has always been good from day one.
He could do things at his size and height that
very few people his size and height could do. So
he had all those skills, man, he just needed to
start putting it together. And everybody always said, oh, man,
he's got Timmy, he's got Dave, he's got Manu, he's

(32:51):
got Tony, like it's gonna be easy for him. No,
it's not, because I'm sure in some ways he was thinking, Man,
these are the legend I grew up on. These are
the legends that I had hanging on my wall. How
do I live up to that? How do I How
do I equal or better what they did? And I

(33:14):
think that was part of the enlightenment. And you know
he and he talked about it too, and in one
of his interviews, how him getting that blood clot really
made him think about how precious all of this is,
the game, life, his health, like, all of it, you
know what I mean, Because in the blink of an eye,

(33:37):
in the blink of an eye, it was taken away.
So I think that's a lot of it. Man, it's
just him starting to develop that mindset. The other thing is, man, again,
look at who he worked out with this year KG.
I'm sure KG probably unlocked some sort of rage in
this kid that he didn't even know he had. Alijah One.

(34:00):
I mean, I will never stop talking and bragging about
Hakim because he was incredible, right But I said it
on that episode when I did that recap last last week.
Whoever in Houston decided that they were going to allow
this kid from the Spurs to come train with Alajuan

(34:24):
and allow Alajuwon to impart his wisdom on this kid.
Those people in Houston have got to be kicking themselves, going,
what the hell did we do? Because if I was
a Rockets fan, oh my god, almost threw up right there.
But if I was a fan of that team, if
I was a fan of that team and I would

(34:44):
have heard that then those two guys were going to
be working out together, I would have I would have
figured out where he was staying. I would have flattened
the tires. I would have, you know, dropped a little
something in his food to get him sick. You know
what I mean. I would have caused a blackout, I
mean something. I would not have allowed Hakeem to unlock

(35:06):
this version of Wemby because this version of Wemby is scary.
He's scary, you know. And and I even I even
said it in one of my posts. I think I
think it was one of the dunks that he that
he was throwing down on Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, that's
another one. Yeah, but that's that's your mouth. Du I

(35:28):
love that. I love that.

Speaker 4 (35:29):
I know what you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, but but if you but in my my thing
is is that I said it. I was like, this
is what nightmares are made of if you're not a
Spurs fan. And that's exactly what it is. Dude. If
Wemby stays healthy, he stays out of foul trouble. He
got way too caught up in Zion dunking on him

(35:50):
in that that game against New Orleans, and he gave
up some stupid fouls that he needs to get better at.
You're seven foot plus. People are gonna dunk on you.
I mean people used to dunk on y'ao mean and yao,
we mean outweighs this guy by one hundred pounds. So
if people were gonna be able to climb the Great

(36:12):
Wall of China and dunk on him, they sure as
hell are gonna climb the Eiffel Tower and dunk on you.
You just gotta know which ones you're gonna go after
to try to keep from dunking on you and picking
up a good foul or letting one of these other
little guys. And Zion's a little guy compared to Wemby,
So just let him dunk, give him the dunk, don't

(36:35):
give him the foul. That's all I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
Damn man, I'm right there with you.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
Man.

Speaker 3 (36:40):
He's I'm not gonna say he's completely totally polished. And
that's a scary thing because he's only twenty one. Dude,
he's twenty one years old. He's just getting his stride.
He's making his mark, not only on this league, but
I think he's making his mark, Like I've said before,
I mean the globe in the world, like people are
gonna know you, they're gonna go to know your name.

Speaker 4 (37:00):
And I mean even right now.

Speaker 3 (37:02):
Dud, they're fifty five to thirty three.

Speaker 4 (37:04):
And there's still five minutes to go. In the second.

Speaker 3 (37:08):
You know, they outscored the Raptors forty one to twenty
nine and just one quarter.

Speaker 4 (37:12):
They have forty one points in one damn quarter.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
And I'm sure, it's not all Winby because it's just
the team bro the team, the hand, you know, going
in the glove. It's anything you want to compare it to.
All these guys are you know, they're dialed in, they're
buying in, and I mean the coach. And I guess
that's my last question to you, man, what what do

(37:36):
you think about you know, Mitch Johnson and what he's
done so far and what direction he has these guys
going in?

Speaker 2 (37:44):
I mean, I mean, how hard do you have to
I mean, how good of a coach you have to
be to coach you know, a generational player. I'm kidding,
I'm joking. I'm joking. No, man, I mean you got
to give him. You got to give coach Johnson credit.
Because as much as we want to sit here and say,
I mean, come on, roll the ball out the guy

(38:05):
seven foot five or whatever, it's not that easy. He
has to be able to have people, he has to
have people around him, He has to develop trust. And
if you remember the very first episode that I ever
recorded for this podcast, I talked about like everybody calming
down because of how great Wimby was gonna be and

(38:25):
all this other stuff. Right, Pop wasn't even sure what
to do with this guy because he was trying to
figure it out. The difference between Wimby and the greatness
that he could have and Timmy and the greatness that
he had was what was around tim when he got

(38:46):
here in comparison to what was around Wimby when he
got here. And it's not about how great the players
were that were here with tim because there were some
great players in comparison to what Wimby had. The difference
was the maturity level, the veteran the veteran levels. Right,
you had David Robinson, Vinnie Dolnegro, Sean Elliott, Avery Johnson,

(39:12):
Chuck Person. I mean, you had, you had some guys
that were in or just getting out of their prime.
And now you bring in this generational superstar who was
already a superstar in college, and you say, we're gonna
stick you with these guys and they're gonna help you.
And you don't even have to be the best player

(39:33):
on the team yet because we got this guy that's
a Hall of Famer at center. So Wimby didn't have that,
and he still doesn't have that. He doesn't have any
kind of player like that on this team. Has he
got better players, yes? Or is their talent true talent
on this team now? Yes? So I think coach Johnson

(39:57):
being able to relate with these guys. You know, he's
he's still fairly young himself. I think he's in his
early forties, you know, So him being able to relate
with these guys, he can talk to them in a
certain way that maybe Pop and some of those older
assistants couldn't talk to them because and it wasn't that
they couldn't relate, but they couldn't relate, you know what

(40:21):
I mean, because oh, Pop, you're an old head so
to speak, and you've got this young guy. But I
think him being in that Spurs system for as long
as he was, he was in the video room, he
worked his way up to assistant coach, he became the
lead assistant, he was the interim coach last year, and
now the head coach now. Man, I mean, he's just

(40:42):
taken those levels like he's needed to. And what helps
with that is now you can take that superstar and
tell him look where I started and look where I
am and it's because I did these things. Now how
does that relate to you? And then they figure that
out and then he tells them, Okay, now I need

(41:02):
you to be a leader and bring these guys along,
you know what I mean. And I think the more
I think, the more that they do that, the better
to look. Kelden and Devin have played very well to
open the season. But the thing that I like the
most about watching them right now is the fact that

(41:23):
they are both fitting in in leadership roles. And you
can see it. You can see it when they're talking
to guys in timeouts, you can see it when they're
talking to guys on the court, you can see it
when they're walking off the court together talking to people.
It's one of those things where they know, hey, we're
a little bit older. We've been here four or five years,

(41:45):
whatever it's been. We got to kind of bring some
of these young guys along and we got to really
support Wimby in every way that we can. And I
think if they do that, they're gonna be Okay. I'm
not saying they're a title this year. I'm not saying
that they're gonna run the West. But if they continue

(42:06):
to put these blocks on top of one another, man
stock those boxes, so to speak, it's gonna be it's
gonna be a special season, you know. And and you know,
we talked about the preview, we talked about the predictions
and stuff. Dude, there's no reason why if they stay healthy,
there's no reason why this team can't be in the

(42:28):
top five in the West. I'm not saying number one,
but they could easily be one of the top five
teams in the Western Conference if they stay healthy and
if if everything falls into place like we hope it will.

Speaker 3 (42:44):
Yeah, to pick it back on what you just said
in the West, I mean, I honestly think that the
West is more stacked in the East. And when you
look at all the teams that are out there, especially
last year, you know, obviously.

Speaker 4 (42:58):
You got the champs. It's it's just like it just
makes it that much harder.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
But all you got to do, man, all you got
to do is when the games you know you should right,
the lesser teams you should be, you know, and then
compete with those teams that are kind of at your
level if you're kind of you know, in the middle.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
Of the road.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
But now they got the target on their back, which
is a different kind of thing, right, Well, you got
to target on your back because you're the number one
in the West. I mean, let's see how they handle it, right,
Let's see how they own that I guess carrying that cross, right,
Let's see what happens.

Speaker 4 (43:39):
I'm anxious. I'm excited, bro.

Speaker 3 (43:41):
I'm way more excited than once now that the season
is going, because you know, we love October. Bro, when
Spurs started playing like we can't wait till Fiesta comes,
because we're always in the thick of it, right, We're
always in the middle.

Speaker 4 (43:53):
Of that that that fight.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
We're always in the middle of those those teams, man,
just trying to make a name for themselves. But now
I needmore, Man, We're that team with the target on
our back, I think, and I actually think those guys
just need to deal with that.

Speaker 4 (44:07):
You know. Just keep doing what you're doing.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
Listen to your coach, you know, keep those those whatever
whatever thing that that keeps you guys gel together, that groove,
that speed, that that whatever, you know, just keep doing it, man,
because it's fun to watch.

Speaker 4 (44:25):
It's almost like, hey, you know, are you not entertained? Right?
It's it's basically that that level.

Speaker 3 (44:30):
I mean, right now, there's sixty one forty three, bro,
you know, and there's still there's still what three minutes
to go in the second. They got sixty sixty one points,
and they're owning this team, which they should, right because
they're quote unquote the best team in the league. You
just got to keep doing that and just own it.
You're right, man.

Speaker 4 (44:48):
And Number one that leadership.

Speaker 3 (44:51):
That guy, he's just hey, man, it's my way, follow me,
you know, lead, follow, get out of the way kind
of type mentality.

Speaker 4 (44:58):
And he's and he's doing it. I think he's doing
it with a little bit more grace and kindness. Then
then he needs to.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
Man, he could be a dog, he could be a jerk,
and he could be of this and he could be
of that. But I'm glad that he's doing it with
number one with class, bro with class, and he's he's
leading this team and every single night, man, you better
you better have your your your your laces doubled up, man,
if you're coming up against our guys, because they're gonna
be ready for you, whether it's home or away. Because

(45:26):
those away games, I think are the ones that are
gonna be the harder fought games. And let's see how
that works out. And obviously they know that we got
to deal with the the was it the rodeo when
that comes around?

Speaker 4 (45:39):
All that, Man, all those things got a factory in.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
I mean, that's far, far far down the road. But man,
I'm I'm man, I am so excited. I'm glad that
they're at the top of the heap, and let's just
hope that they can keep it there.

Speaker 2 (45:51):
Well, I just want to say a couple of things.
First of all, if Dallas doesn't realize it now, they're
about to become this first again. So there's that. Let
me get that out of the way. Second of all.
Second of all, you know, people, I saw a bunch
of stupid stuff, people talking about flag and he had

(46:13):
a double double that game, and he was the first
rookie with a double shut up. Shut up. He took
seventeen shots to score ten points. Okay, and I mean
he was on the floor, laid into the fourth quarter,
so he should have had at least fifteen rebounds. Okay. Now,
I'm not saying that the kid's not gonna be good.
I'm not saying that he's not gonna be special. I'm

(46:35):
not saying that he can't be a better player. But
all of these hyper oh my gosh, you know, everything
is oh my gosh right now in the world when
it comes to some of these stars, alleged stars and
stuff like that, that it's just it's stupid. It's ridiculous.
The other thing, the other thing is I need Spurs

(46:57):
fans to pump the brakes as well. Like it's nice
that they're three to zero. The standings show them at
the top of the top of the Western Conference. That's great, okay,
and I hope that they stay up there for the
duration of this season. But let's not get too caught
up over three games. Let's not get too caught up

(47:19):
over over them being up twenty on the rafts on
a Monday night in October. You know what I mean,
It's eighty two. It's eighty two games that this team
is gonna have to go through before they even get
into the playoffs. And as much as I want the
season to be fun and I want it to be

(47:41):
as successful as possible, none of that matters if you
don't do something in the playoffs. Now, what does that
look like for the Spurs? What does that look like
for this group? You know, is that making it six
games in the first round and getting eliminated is that
making it to the second round and then maybe getting eliminated.

(48:02):
I mean, you can, you can sit there a measure
success however you want. But you know, there's a lot
of different things to be excited about, and I want
people to be excited, but I don't want people to
be overly excited thinking that, well, this is the way
it's supposed to be all the time, They're gonna go
eighty two and zero. We all understand that is not realistic,

(48:25):
that that type of stuff is not gonna happen. But
you know, you should you should be happy if you're
a Spurs fan, you should be excited if you're a
Spurs fan for this. And if you're not a Spurs
fan and you're a fan of one of these other teams,
especially in the Western Conference, you should be terrified because
this team's only gonna get better and they may not

(48:46):
be the number one team this year coming out of
the West, but they're coming. They're coming, and then you
you know, you can get more excited and stuff like that.
But yeah, man, I mean, it's it's fun. I'm with you, dude.
I'm excited about it. I can't wait to see what
they're gonna do. One has been. I mean, just un

(49:09):
freaking believable. I love the fact that he's bringing back
the reverse dunk. Okay, the over the head dunk, because
you didn't see you don't see a lot of guys
doing that anymore. And so the fact that that he
already has like four or five of those types of
dunks this early in the season is cool. I saw

(49:31):
somebody say today that there they put money down that
he's gonna get a quadruple double before the season's over.
He would be only he would be only the fifth
player in NBA history to do it if it happens.
Nate Thurman for the Chicago Bulls, Alvin Robinson for the
San Antonio Spurs, jakeem Olajuan for the Houston Rockets, David

(49:54):
Robinson for the San Antonian Spurst. So if he pulls
it off, that would be really cool to have three
of those accomplishments with one franchise, that being the Spurs.
But here's my thing. I mean, ten points, ten blocks,
ten rebounds, ten assists, that's your quadruple double, right, But

(50:20):
what if he goes out and gets ten steals all
on the same night. What if he does the five
how freaking insane. Would that be? That would be legendary
and that would be unreal. But I mean, that's it's
almost impossible for that to happen. But hey, dude, I

(50:43):
thought it was impossible for us to get him, and
here we are. Here we are with him. Man. So
that's all I got. Man, I ain't got much more
than that. Like I said, you know, I wish I
was in Dallas. I wish I was in Dallas last week.
I've got some friends. I got some friends of there,
so may I may see what we need to do
to get up there so I can go invade Mark

(51:07):
Cuban's house or whatever the hell they call that damn place.
I tried. I tried in twenty fourteen. I try to
go and have a beer with that guy, and you know,
we could sit down and talk about the first round
matchup when they played each other that year. He never
came downstairs, So whatever, whatever, Mark, I don't like the
name Mark anyways. I mean, the guy's name Mark are

(51:28):
sucked as anyways. I don't like them guys no way.
So anyways, man, that's all I got. You got anything
else before we wrap this thing up?

Speaker 4 (51:36):
Hell? No, man, just go Spurs go.

Speaker 2 (51:38):
Man, go, Spurs go. And this is why I say
temper the excitement, because I swear to God, the first
one of you Mexicans, and I say that respectfully, that
go down Commerce Street because the Spurs start five and
oher or something like that, I'm gonna throw something at
you because there's no need to climbing your car and

(52:01):
head down Commerce Street over a five and oh start. Okay,
you got to get to four first, and we're trying
to get there tonight. We'll see how that goes. But
there will be much more Spurs talk. There will be
much more of this craziness, foolishness and wildness that comes
with this team. I can't wait. I know Mark can't wait,
and I really can't wait till we get Big Mo

(52:21):
in here. You know, I think that'll be a lot
of fun. And like I told you guys a few
weeks ago, man, I know, we try to get together
for Cowboys games and stuff like that, which that's not
happening again this season. To hell with them. Let's get together.
Let's get together and either make our way down to
the Frost Bank Center or at least at least let's
get together somewhere and watch a Spurs game together. Man.

(52:42):
I think that would be a lot of fun. I
think that would be a good time and we got
to make that happen. So that's all I got. So
Fan Poll Sports a true tech sports podcast for the
true tech sports fan. Once again, it's been Ronnie, that's Mark.

Speaker 4 (52:54):
We're out Peace.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
Peace every day. You can take can tail Pistas Stepping Week,
I'm Ben Take and

Speaker 1 (53:06):
Carl Bista pep Go Hide you can can Bistas and
working over time where else