What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Jazz

Yesterday at 01:13 PM

The biggest little win in Texas

I showed up late. My night got away from me and, even though I knew I had to write about this game, I just couldn't get in front of it by tip-off. My three-year-old daughter insisted that watching Spidey and His Amazing Friends on the big TV was more important than an early-season tilt between the Spurs and the Jazz. "But we're wearing our new City Edition jerseys for the first time," I pleaded. She was unmoved.

By the time everyone was fed, bathed, and asleep, I dutifully pulled up the game to catch the final stretch. Having snuck a peek or two at the score in between various superhero episodes—and noticing, with dread, that the Spurs were also clearly uninterested in this game—I wasn't expecting to see much. Imagine my surprise when the first thing that pops onto my screen is Zach Collins fighting through bodies to finish off a tough layup in traffic to tie the game. Is that even allowed?

The rest of the game—well, I don't know how else to say it. It made me smile. I sat there with a big, dumb, goofy grin on my face the entire time. I wasn't thinking about the future or the development or the intangibles. I was just watching our guys hoop. What a concept! What a treat! To just get to watch Chris Paul move our guys around the floor like chess pieces, barking out orders, directing traffic, and knocking down no-doubter jumpers from the elbow is something I never even thought to wish for—and there it was unraveling before my eyes.

Making it even more special, the rest of our team seemed to just drop into that flow without batting an eye. CP3 had a plan, which was great, but our guys were capable of following that plan and executing it. That wasn't something this team has been doing for a few years now. It's always been the best of intentions with a healthy dose of, "Oh, uh, actually, we're not quite there yet." Last night, everyone showed up. Everyone rose to the challenge. Everyone was ready to ball.

With every win, I keep seeing people post the stat that reads something like: 8th win of the season—it took the Spurs until January last year to do that! Frankly, that sounds unfathomable. This team doesn't even seem that different from last year on paper. So they added some old guys and a new rookie? Great. They've also been swimming with injuries, and Gregg Popovich is out for an indefinite amount of time. It shouldn't be working. Not really, anyway. They should be flubbing around, still making mistakes, and taking their lumps.

Instead, we're getting Keldon Johnson technical fouls for hanging on the rim too long after a dunk. We're getting Blake Wesley losing his mind on the sideline after Castle finishes off an And-1. We're getting copious shots of the home crowd looking delirious after another big three drops in from the corner. Simply put, we're getting joy.

I came into this season expecting the team to be better right away, and they weren't. I've written a lot about how my expectations didn't really match up with reality and how adjusting those levels has been a—well, let's just say "process." Games like this are an interesting data point to add to the greater conversation about what this team is going to be.

Are they great? Are they contending? Are they ready to be in a real conversation with serious teams in this league? I don't know the answer to any of those questions. They probably aren't great. They probably aren't contending. They probably aren't quite ready to be taken seriously yet. So what are they? For now, I'll settle for fun.

This team is fun.

Takeaways:

• Can't say enough about how cool it is to watch Chris Paul do his thing out there. He's everything everyone has always said he is: demanding, controlling, efficient, crafty, and (if we're being honest) kind of annoying. But he's doing all that for us now. He's putting guys exactly where they need to be. He's doing that little thing where he hinges over at the waist and contorts his body around the defender to get the exact precise angle he wants on a bounce pass. He's weaving off picks, meandering to the same spot on the elbow he's been meandering to for 20 years, and draining that middy. It's incredible. It's everything you could ask for. Light every injury candle you have so he stays healthy and we get to soak up as much of this run as possible.
• CHUCK. BASSEY. IS. THAT. DUDE. What a surprise—he is a blast out there. Just running the floor, swatting shots into the stands, and doing fun "LET'S GO" screams. This wasn't a card I realized we had to play, and I'm having a great time seeing it in action. Like, please come back soon, Wemby, for one million reasons, but also I'm sort of dying to see the two of them out there at the same time creating the ultimate No Fly Zone in the paint.

• Who is the best dunker on this team? Wembanyama doesn't qualify because his dunks don't even seem like he's trying. It looks weird. He's out. I think it has to be between Keldon and, surprisingly, Stephon Castle. Keldon unleashes out there with a kind of unbridled energy that always gets me going, but Castle has been quick this season to show off that he has unreal hops. I mean, the dude can absolutely FLY out there. He attempted a dunk in the second quarter that got foiled by a ridiculous foul that wasn't called, but he took off from just inside the paint, wound up, and was trying to bury the defender into the ground. It was audacious, and I loved it.
• (I realize all of these good vibes came from a comeback win against a shorthanded Jazz team that only has 3 wins and is clearly tanking. I realize it, I get it, and it's been factored into my excitement. Thank you.)

WWL Post Game Press Conference

- How did you feel about the Spurs wearing a blue jersey?

- Ok, I'm on the record as saying the NBA has too many jerseys now. It's too much and even the cool stuff doesn't seem special anymore. Everyone needs to do less. That being said, these jerseys are here and we're living with it and in that reality I must admit that I really like these. I think they're fun

- You don't think they look like someone left a blue sock in the wash?

- I get the criticism of that, but I think that's mostly a result of the pure white undershirt/leggings that some of the guys are wearing. It's a weird combo and creates that effect of looking like no one is really on the same page color scheme wise. On their own though? I think these are fun. I like the font, I like the colors, I like the vibe. I LOVE that the Spurs are coloring outside the lines of only doing "traditional" fiesta color stuff. We're containing multitudes!

- Wow, so you're saying you hate the Fiesta colors???

- No one hates the Fiesta colors. We just...I think we lean on them too much. Obviously they are cool, but I think the Spurs in general we're saddled with the "boring" label for so long and we spent all this time being like, "We're not boring! We're not! Look at the pink and teal! Would a boring franchise have those colors??????" It just sort of soured me on it a little bit.