The San Antonio Spurs got a 122-106 victory over the Dallas Mavericks yesterday. Coach Mitch Johnson wasn’t satisfied at all after the win and didn’t let the team celebrate. It took the Spurs three and a half quarters to pull away from a Mavericks team playing without Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg. San Antonio has been struggling to shoot the three-ball and consistently get stops through the first three games. Coach Johnson’s message going forward matters because games like this are the ones Spurs should run away with from the start.
Spurs Coach Mitch Johnson Not Happy Despite Win
Johnson said that they need to “get back to their standard” and that right now the “floor is raised too low”. He also stated that consistency has been their biggest problem and that there are stretches of every game where they look horrible. Against Dallas, it really showed; everything he said after the game was true. One stretch they would look really good, then all of a sudden, the Mavericks would go on a big run.
Johnson addressing this and saying this after a win means more than if he were to say it after a loss. His saying this after a win shows how serious he is and how much of a problem they have. The effort hasn’t been there through three games. He did, however, credit Tarris Reed Jr. for coming in and giving energy. He stated that Reed wasn’t out there doing step-backs and was playing the right way. He acknowledged how the bench was all cheering and rooting for Reed.
The Defensive Concerns
The Spurs gave up 31 points in the first quarter to a Mavericks team without Flagg and Irving. They also allowed Dallas to score 62 points in the paint, which can’t happen with last year’s Defensive Player of the Year down there. San Antonio is constantly looking confused and out of place through the first three games. Rotations have been slow, and everybody on every team feels like they can attack the paint now.
This is a big concern with Victor Wembanyama anchoring the defense. Teams aren’t looking like they fear him in the paint right now the way that they did last year. The three-point shooting will come, but the defensive side is the main thing that needs to be fixed. The Spurs don’t look connected the way that they were last season. They allowed a team that was missing their two best players to hang around for most of the game.
Where The Spurs Must Improve
San Antonio needs to be more connected on defense and communicate. They have a 7’4 Defensive Player of the Year; there’s no reason for teams to score a lot in the paint. The guards need to be more aggressive and wall up better. The positioning on their defense will help a lot if they can find better positioning. The Spurs had a positive sign by winning the fourth quarter 30-17. It came against a team that they should have blown out, though.
The three-point shots have to start falling too. They have had so many good looks and haven’t been able to buy one. The shots will start falling soon; they just have to keep driving and passing out to the open shooters.
These first three games have been concerning for San Antonio. However, there’s no doubt that they’ll figure it out. They still have the same team as last year that was in the NBA Finals just a few months ago. Coach Johnson’s disappointment is understandable, and he is going to do everything he can to make sure they get better.
Spurs Coach Mitch Johnson Sends a Blunt Message After First Win