Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Spurs Praised For 'Giving Effort' Despite Loss vs. Jazz
A 128-117 loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night makes it five straight for the San Antonio Spurs as the season comes to a close and the draft draws near. However, the defeat was met with a positive outlook from the team.
"As long as they're giving effort, they're all learning, making mistakes but overall that's what we're trying to do. No matter who is out, no matter who is not playing, other guys are happy to get minutes. Trying to get them to learn how to play, this is what it's all about," head coach Gregg Popovich said.
Known for overtly berating players in times past and likely to do it again in hopeful future winning seasons, coach 'Pop' was pragmatic in his assessment of his team.
San Antonio has struggled for a while, so while a loss is never celebrated, a five-time champion such as Popovich understands that developing his young talent, instilling fundaments and good habits and establishing continuity are what will make this season a success.
As for point guard Tre Jones, the 23-year-old had more displeasure to his tone for the lack of wins that the Spurs were able to provide their fans this season, but was all the more appreciative for their unwavering support.
"Super thankful for the support we got all year from our fans all year. Obviously, it's a little bit of a down year for us. Not winning as many games as we want to but the fans continued to have our back every single night. The last game of the year here [AT&T Center], it's almost sold out," Jones said. "It was a rough year for sure."
Jones has been a bright spot for the organization, boasting an immaculate assist-to-turnover ratio while getting others involved. Whether as a starter moving forward or a key reserve in the second unit, Jones' floor generalship figures to be key toward the franchise's rebuild.
San Antonio has much to look forward to heading into the offseason and beyond. They just entrenched themselves as a bottom-three seed, garnering joint-14 percent odds at winning the 2023 NBA Draft lottery.
Further, talent such as Jeremy Sochan have showed precocity along with a natural feel for the game while vanguards Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell's yin and yang styles of play make them valuable assets in one way or another as the team looks to give coach Popovich one last championship-caliber roster before he ends his Hall of Fame career.
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