From the primary sentence of his post-match press convention, it was clear San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich is not hanging on to preseason video games.
“One pre-season over, 4 to go,” he mentioned.
The Spurs misplaced to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, 112-107, however for Popovich, the rating did not actually inform the story. He was extra curious about evaluating his crew, which was taking part in with out Devin Vassell, Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul, amongst others.
He needed to see Julian Champagnie, who completed with 22 factors on 6 of 13 taking pictures from behind the arc. Pop mentioned he was inspired by Champagnie’s efficiency — a great signal for a participant who’s prone to play extra minutes because of Vassell’s harm.
LEARN MORE: Will Julian Champagnie begin rather than Devin Vassell?
“He performed a great, strong recreation throughout,” Popovich mentioned. “He missed about three in a row, however he saved taking pictures. He performed effectively all over the place, he hit the boards.”
Popovich was a little bit involved that his crew got here out gradual early on. He thought Oklahoma Metropolis got here out stronger and extra bodily. Nonetheless, the Spurs performed tougher within the second half to make the sport nearer than it really was.
“I assumed their physicality was higher than ours within the first half,” Popovich mentioned. “We modified that within the second half. We had been significantly better within the second half.”
Popovich was additionally happy with the hassle of Riley Minix, who solely performed a couple of minutes.
“He made his photographs. I do not know what else to say. He did not play a lot, however he made his photographs,” Popovich mentioned. “It’s significantly better than taking part in a couple of minutes with out taking a shot.”
San Antonio now appears to be like ahead to its second preseason recreation, scheduled for Wednesday night time in opposition to the Orlando Magic. There, Popovich’s evaluation of the nonetheless younger crew will proceed.
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