点击查看原文：A toast of Champagnie and a Wemby injury scare
A toast of Champagnie and a Wemby injury scare
Columnist Mike Finger and beat reporters Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss Julian Champagnie’s big game versus the Knicks and why he’s become one of the most integral players this season.
NOTE: The initial upload of this week’s podcast was interrupted midstream by an older episode. We regret the error and it has been fixed. Enjoy the rest of the episode.
Suggested reading:
Spurs’ Champagnie reveals secret to drawing jump-shooting fouls
Where does the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama rank in fan All-Star voting?
Why Trae Young, Spurs show that the best trades often are the ones not made
How Spurs coach Mitch Johnson is turning heads across the NBA
Here is the transcript of the podcast:
Narrator: From a highly secure network of top secret locations across North America, this is the Spurs Insider, New Year edition. For the first time, we’re coming at you in 2024.
Mike Finger: I am Mike Finger, joined as always by Express News Spurs Beat Writers Tom Orsborn and Jeff McDonald, walking with his 10 feet off of Beal in a secure location not far from the arena where one tall San Antonian, Victor Wembanyama, might be making a return. By the time the listeners of the Spurs Insider hear this podcast, he might not. Jeff’s about to head over there and find out on a beautiful Tuesday morning. Uh, but the the status of Victor Wembanyama who on New Year’s Eve, I believe, uh, we we all saw him his his leg straighten, clear hyperextension. A a a shiver went over South Texas just a couple days, a day or so after the same thing happened to Nikola Jokic. He could be okay, Jeff. You’re about to find out, but he could be okay.
Jeff McDonald: Um, my guess, this is going to be my guess is, um, they’re going to see how he warms up and then uh we’ll make a decision after that. I think that’s what they’re going to tell us at at shootaround.
Mike Finger: So the people who are listening on Wednesday morning as they often do with their children gathered around the podcast machine, they’ll already know, but in general terms, the Spurs dodged another uh another bullet here, it appears.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, he’s like you said, we saw that on um New Year’s Eve, um and it it was there was a hush that fell over the uh Frost Bank Center crowd because he didn’t get up right away. He kind of bear crawled a little in pain, like it looked bad. And then he hopped off uh the court, Victor did, and um what’s the word? Not cajoled the crowd, but sort of uh exhorted the crowd. Yeah, and that that that uh got a nice little uh roar. But um sounds like it could have been a lot worse. I think his flexibility probably saved him. You know, we we talked a lot a lot about how much, I mean it sounds silly, but how much stretching this guy does, and he’s done it his whole life. He has this whole routine that keeps him limber, keeps him flexible, and I think that flexibility probably saved, I mean, I’m no doctor, we know this, but I think it probably saved some ligament damage there. And it sounds like if he doesn’t play against Memphis, like he made the trip, if he doesn’t play against Memphis, it sounds like he’s not too far uh away from getting back on the floor, which, you know, I think New Year’s Eve that didn’t seem like that was going to be possible.
Mike Finger: Especially Tom, when when that happened, like I mentioned earlier, um, these we’ve been talking about calf injuries for months in the NBA, and then all of a sudden you have a MVP level guy, a guy who’s won the award, a guy who’s won a title, one of the best players in the world go down with the hyperextended knee and then the next thing you know that same thing happens to Victor Wembanyama and Nikola is out for a month. And so it was understandable that night when you see Victor have the same injury that people are worrying about a month there, but it sounds like that we’re that the uh, that we’re all going to be able to see him play again much sooner than that.
Tom Orsborn: First, Mike, did I hear you say huddled around the podcast machine?
Mike Finger: Uh-huh, that’s what families do whenever they uh listen.
Tom Orsborn: I understand the huddling, but the podcast machine, that that uh…
Mike Finger: Well, I didn’t want to be specific. It could be a radio, it could be a record player, it could be a TV. Uh, there’s many ways to access the uh the podcast. How do you listen to your podcast, Tom?
Tom Orsborn: What’s that? How do you listen to your podcast?
Jeff McDonald: Um, on a on a phone.
Mike Finger: Ah. That’s boring. Telephone. That’s boring. He uses a telephone. set that up to the big radio in the corner of the room, like the the the kids uh in the when Tom was a child in the middle of the 1900s. Yeah, they they would huddle around the the machine in the living room and listen to like the Ovaltine ads and and uh you know, the uh Little Orphan Annie and the Lone Ranger and all that kind of stuff. Didn’t you do that, Tom?
Tom Orsborn: I have fond memories of FDR’s fireside chats.
Mike Finger: Yes.
Tom Orsborn: And Blackie Sherrod, too. I listened to Blackie Sherrod’s uh podcast back in the day.
Mike Finger: Blackie Sherrod’s podcast. Now that you mention that, wasn’t that the first podcast, is the FDR Fireside Chats? Like that was that’s the first podcast. He was was inventive that that guy.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, and he had sponsors too. And he was just like the whole thing was like getting over on the uh that was his thing, you know, uh you know, you do the podcast and get over on the right. That’s what he did. If you were in New York, you listen to Mayor La Guardia. He had he had some great podcasts too.
Mike Finger: Anyway…
Tom Orsborn: He used to read the comics, yeah, to the kids.
Mike Finger: This podcast could be up for an award, Tom. And and I, you know, we’re we’re going to have to choose which of these podcasts we’re submitting for awards. So we need to be a little back on track. It is awards season. Make sure that this one might be a nominee. It is awards season. Going for the poddy.
Tom Orsborn: Okay, well, uh Victor, yeah, um that was uh yeah, I mean yeah, that was a tense moment, but it was soon forgotten with uh Julian Champagnie hitting three after three after three after three after three. That that that performance uh you know, these these Spurs Knicks games are becoming, I mean, you got to have a ticket. You got to see those games. Uh they don’t play dull games, especially here in San Antonio.
Mike Finger: Well, Victor scored 60 against the Knicks, right Tom?
Tom Orsborn: I know, exactly.
Mike Finger: That’s that’s a throwback to whoever that poor gentleman was way back when Tom and I were in the uh what is it, the the uh the the dystopia of Las Vegas. And someone asked Victor about scoring 60 against the Knicks and he said, I did what? Uh Victor didn’t score 60 against the Knicks, but a lot of people uh had such fond memories of these recent Spurs Knicks games over the last couple of years that that the uh the memories are are being already being exaggerated in our heads. Yeah. There have been some really great games. Julian Champagnie adding his name to the lore of great performances against the Knicks with the most three pointers made in a Spurs game ever, surpassing Chuck “The Rifleman” Person. Uh which is just staggering that a that a three-point record in the year 2024 that anybody’s three-point record, any franchise’s three-point record dated back to the 1900s. Um but it did until until Julian Champagnie pulled it off.
Jeff McDonald: You make him sound like Chuck Connors, not Chuck Person.
Mike Finger: Well, isn’t, Tom, isn’t that the source of the nickname?
Tom Orsborn: Yes. Yes, the Rifleman TV series and Chuck Connors, by the way, was drafted, I believe, or I think he had a cup of coffee with the Boston Celtics, and he was also a really good baseball player. I think he had I think he played, he had time both in the major leagues, I think maybe with Brooklyn and uh and in the NBA with the Celtics.
Mike Finger: He was a regular Danny Ainge, multi-sport star. Yeah.
Tom Orsborn: He didn’t last very long in either one, but…
Mike Finger: We’re hitting all the cutting edge references on this podcast. Go ahead.
Jeff McDonald: I didn’t look it up, but I would reckon until that night, until New Year’s Eve 2023, the Spurs had to be maybe the only franchise…
Mike Finger: There are others.
Jeff McDonald: …still remaining in single digits?
Mike Finger: Oh, in single digits. Well, what I what I thought you were going to say is that still had a record dating back to the 1900s. There are a few others, but there’s not many that were that that were in the single digits and were were dating back to the previous millennium. Um, and uh…
Jeff McDonald: Julian got on a heater, man. It was kind of fun to watch.
Mike Finger: We’ve we’ve talked about him a lot over the years, maybe never focused the first 10 minutes of a podcast on Julian Champagnie. Um but to sign a guy the year when you maybe had your worst draft of the century, worst one of the worst drafts that you could you that the Spurs have had. Spurs have had a lot of really good drafts. That one in particular wasn’t great when you have three first round picks and you might soon be a split from all three of those guys. Um that’s what that’s maybe the best contract in the NBA.
Um $3 million a year, the Spurs had an option on it four years in a row. When you look around and like that starting guards make $20 million, role players make 10, and to be able to get that kind of production, I mean like 1%, 2% of the salary cap year after year after year. Next, they have a they have the right to renew next year, his fourth year at $3 million. And there’s going there are 20 players in college right now who are going to make more than him. Uh maybe more because the because the way that the the salary rookie salary scale is is set, the 20th pick in the draft last year made $3 million. Next year it could be the 21st, 22nd pick. But and you know, you you feel I I talked to him, um friend of the podcast Michael C. Wright was in a recent locker room somewhere, it might have been in Vegas, and we were talking to him about his deal and how how um the Spurs just kind of opt in every year and we’re laughing with Julian about it and and he had a good attitude about it. He was like, man, that’s, you know, that’s that’s that’s that’s what you did. I took what I could get whenever I was a free agent. You know, there was nobody else who wanted them and the Spurs offered him that. That seemed like a life-changing money and it is. It is life-changing money. $3 million a year is nothing to sneeze at, but he’s worth a lot more than that and the Spurs did really good work there, front office work to to nail that down because he’s been a, it wasn’t just a one night flash in the pan of him breaking the three-point record. He’s been good for them for a while, key part of what they’re doing at both ends of the floor. And uh he went from a guy who I thought for sure you’re just going to let go at some point after this to a guy who you might think about, is he part of the future?
Jeff McDonald: And he salvaged that draft like you were talking about. It was in a way he was their he he becomes their draft pick from 2022 um that’s still on the roster even though he wasn’t a draft pick. It was it was um it’s a really remarkable story and a really um it’s the kind of stories in the league, I was just talking about this with somebody yesterday. It’s just one of the stories in the league that I like about guys that come out of nowhere and have no career and then all of a sudden you see it click and they have a career. I mean the throwback to me is Danny Green coming in out of nowhere, even getting cut a couple of times, G League stints in there, and then ends, you know, Danny Green ends up being a key part of those finals teams. And and Julian’s path reminds me a lot of that, although Julian seems to have stuck a lot quicker than Danny did.
Mike Finger: Julian was nice enough last spring to come and be a part of the Express News High School Sports Awards and stood up there and uh on his on during his time off uh presented trophies to 100 or so local high school athletes and and um was interviewed by some jabroni uh from the Express News on the stage there um at that at that at the Witte Museum where we had our award ceremony and and gave great words of encouragement. And um, he told the story that day about getting waived on Valentine’s Day by who who who was he with before this? By Philadelphia. And he said he had taken his his girlfriend at the time out to dinner that night and he still had to do the dinner but he was waived on Valentine’s Day and didn’t know if he’d ever be in the league again. And not only was he in the league again, but he’s found a definite home with the with the Spurs. Been a key member for them and there was a story in the Express News just this past week or so about how he has become Mitch Johnson’s guy to play and I think believe he was Greg Popovich’s guy before this, a guy to plug into the starting lineup as the fill in whenever the Spurs need a guy for a night or two for because of injuries and and I’ll I’ll turn it over to you guys to kind of explain why he fills that role so well.
Jeff McDonald: Well first I want to go back to the Valentine’s Day story because I’m kind of putting myself in Julian’s shoes. And you basically get fired right before Valentine’s dinner. Like like do you do you tell your date, you know, like, how about we don’t do the lobster tonight? Or why don’t we why don’t we skip dessert or uh our reservation is now a Burger King or something like that. Like putting myself in his shoes and really really feeling bad for him because he didn’t know he had he had a joke along those lines. I was the aforementioned jabroni who was with the in front of the crowd and he gave he gave a great story about that. He was like, you know, he had to go. We had to go. I didn’t want to be there but you can’t you can’t skip Valentine’s Day.
Mike Finger: But why is Julian the perfect guy as a fill in starter, which not everybody could do because it changes your role back and forth. Why does he fit so well in that in that swing role?
Jeff McDonald: Part of it is because he fits alongside a lot of different kinds of guys. I mean when you’re a guy who’s he doesn’t necessarily need the ball in his hands to create. Like you see those other guards, De’Aaron Fox, Steph Castle, Dylan Harper, they they need a lot of touches when they’re on the floor. Julian’s touches just come in the natural flow and so he can play along side just about anybody. And a big part of his role even if he’s not getting shots, he’s not making shots is just spacing the floor. And then on the other side there’s the the defensive part where he you know, he’s not an all-defensive guy but he’s definitely a um a guy that can hold his own, has has positional size and can hold his own at that at that end of the floor. So he he he fits more as that kind of swing guy than maybe anybody else they have on the roster. Like you couldn’t throw a Jeremy Sochan in there. At this point in time, you don’t want to make, you don’t want to start Dylan Harper, you want his role to stay the same. And like I mentioned, it’s sometimes difficult for all three of those heavy usage guards to all eat when they’re on the floor at the same time. So you get more bang for your buck when they’re staggered a little. Julian’s a guy that can uh do that and and um make a lot of different lineups work. And also, he’s a guy that makes $3 million and he’s not going to complain about going to the bench when it’s time to go to the bench. Right, it’s not going he’s not going to put him in any kind of funk or anything like that. He’s just happy to be here contributing.
Tom Orsborn: And as you mentioned Jeff, if he’s not hitting threes, he still defends and he rebounds. Rebounds. Correct. That’s a good point. He’s a pretty good rebounder. Um back to the, you know, the emotional side of this, um um speaking of people that did good work on New Year’s Eve, one Jeff McDonald, that was a I thought that was a great job, uh a masterclass in interviewing a guy and trying to get beyond what happened in the game to get, you know, that that good material that that we’ve been talking about. And Jeff elicited from uh Julian that he cried uh if I’m remembering this correctly, cried on uh when he didn’t get drafted. Um he was there in New York, the draft was in Brooklyn and and he had a tearful night when he didn’t get picked.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, he came out of college early to not get picked, you know.
Tom Orsborn: And like you said, I thought I had a pretty good college career at St. Jones.
Mike Finger: That’s the you know, that we we’ve discussed, I guess not we as in this podcast, but the royal we of people who cover basketball often pick on the guys who come out too early and think that they’re a prospect and aren’t. They they sort of become the butt of jokes, right? Like the guy who like why did this guy think he could come out early and get picked? He doesn’t get picked. He should have gone back to school. You never know what kind of advice these players are listening to, what kind of feedback they got from teams that might not have been 100% forthright. There’s a lot that goes into it. But for a player to kind of experience being the butt of the joke, the way that Julian Champagnie was and to come out on the other side and uh and have a career like he’s already had so far and looks like he’ll have for a while, that’s a that’s a pretty fun story. And uh you know, Jeff, I don’t think that was the first time Jeff has elicited something about tears when he interviews people. They they often are crying trying to get away. But uh yeah, Jeff Jeff Jeff does a great job. That was a great great story in the Express News. A lot of great coverage in the dead tree edition and the Express-news.com this week. Uh it’s been a while since I’ve done the official plug. It’s a new year. I needed to get one of those out of the way.
Jeff McDonald: And the funny thing about Julian is like the next game he goes out in Indiana and can’t hit anything. Can’t hit anything. Um and those weren’t even like uh in Indiana, it wasn’t even like in and out and he’s right on target. Like he was hitting the side of the backboard and stuff. So it was funny. It’s just a reminder that he’s not Steph Curry and if he was, you wouldn’t have him for $3 million. Yeah.
Mike Finger: Um, do do we want to get into, you mentioned the name and we obliquely mentioned a name through the draft. It’s one development from the last week where Victor Wembanyama’s been out, Devin Vassell has been out. There there have been openings in that 10-man rotation, nine-man rotation, five-man starting lineup for guys who usually don’t get to play. Um and those guys who don’t usually get to play have been Carter Bryant who’s playing more and more, um Kelly Olynyk, um and one name that hasn’t been mentioned is Jeremy Sochan. And I I think it’s worth getting into the fact that we kind of I I mentioned this on a podcast a few weeks ago that you just watch the games and you understand the situation. Now it’s become more evident than ever that he’s just not part of this team’s present and uh do we want to get into this team’s future a month away from the trade deadline?
Jeff McDonald: It certainly looks, I’m going to say use the word bleak for him in terms of contributing. Like they’re clearly he’s clearly not in the rotation and it doesn’t seem like there’s a there’s a very plausible scenario where he gets there. Like you you would think if they were ever going to force him back in there for some minutes, it would be at a time like this and it’s not it’s not happening. And I think a big part of it is Carter Bryant, not that Bryant has, you know, played like gangbusters, but I think it’s becoming evident they want they see Carter Bryant as that Jeremy Sochan role of the future. And so they want to groom him for that now and he’s going to get those minutes over Sochan, even though Sochan probably has does have more NBA experience. So I think they I think I mean, I don’t want to speak for the organization right now, but just from the outside where we are watching how things are playing out, it does seem like they’re moving on from Jeremy Sochan in terms of a him being a a a key piece of what this team is going forward.
Mike Finger: His contract situation, he is a restricted free agent this offseason, which means that well, well our listeners are educated and informed enough to know what that means. But basically the Spurs would have the right to match any offer that someone else makes for him. It does not seem like if he’s um if he is what he is now in the rotation that that they’d be much interested in making that match. Would he be a guy, Jeff, GM Jeff, GM Tom, who you’re ready to part ways with in the next month before the trade deadline if that $7 million contract gets you someone who can more readily contribute to what the Spurs are putting together this season, if it could get you uh A, a shooter, B, a veteran type guy who adds to your playoff knowhow seeing as how this is a team that’s going to almost certainly be in the playoffs this year. Um, $7 million might not be a one-for-one type of thing. Uh you might need to add some salary, you know, depending on who you target. Um but are are are you at all hesitant to say yes after all this, Jeremy Sochan is available in a trade this this month?
Jeff McDonald: I mean, if there’s if you could get a guy that you want and will help you and like a a player on your roster who’s not playing is not going to be a hold up to that. So like of course. Yeah. Of course you’re going to include him if that makes a deal work that makes sense for you. I still don’t know if that if that deal will be out there. Um I I don’t I what I don’t…
Mike Finger: let me throw a I’m not, you know, don’t aggregate this. This is just an example because Phoenix has been playing really well lately and they might be they they might be adding rather than subtracting. So I’m not saying this is a possibility, but this is a trade that would work legally uh under the the salary cap rules and it’s it’s it’s the vibe of a trade that I I I think could make sense for the Spurs in a Jeremy Sochan deal this month. Uh Royce O’Neale, a three and D type of guy who could slot in and give you some more some of that toughness, some of that veteran knowhow. Like Royce O’Neale guards Victor Wembanyama as well as anybody in the league. Yes, he did. Um that salary sort of matches up. And I and I don’t think this is going to happen because I don’t think Phoenix is selling him. But uh um to me that type of trade of Jeremy to a team that could um invest in his future, could think maybe they could fix him, could think maybe they could uh match whichever salary was offered in restricted free agency, keep him around and coming the other way for the Spurs, get a guy, a veteran defender, a guy who can make an open shot. I think Royce O’Neale is shooting around 40% on threes. Um that’s I think the kind of deal I’d look at for for Sochan. I don’t I’m not sure if any other match up like that exists out there, but to me that’s the kind of deal you would do for Jeremy Sochan. Um which would be which would represent a new era of the Spurs in that they become the buyers of the veteran guy and the sellers of the of the younger guy. Um but…
Jeff McDonald: Yeah, you’d probably have to throw a pick of some sort in there.
Mike Finger: Probably would have to throw a pick in. And um and that that would be the type of deal you do. Um, I’m not sure this works either, but like Kyle Anderson scored 22 points the other day for Utah, our old friend Kyle Anderson. That is there a spot for him on this team? I don’t know. But that those are the I guess this is transitioning into a a broader discussion of the trade deadline. Do you go make the big splash for just to throw out a name, Trey Murphy, who makes a lot of money and would require you to give up more or are you looking at the margins at the Royce O’Neale, Kyle Anderson types who just kind of uh give you a little extra depth?
Tom Orsborn: Well, I don’t know. Both sound good to me. Yeah, I mean, you’d be getting more than what you’re getting now. So yeah, they they’ve clearly moved on from him. So… Be aggressive.
Mike Finger: It’s too bad. It’s because he he did I I I don’t feel the need to do the an obituary of the Jeremy Sochan era in San Antonio yet. But we’re we’re all aware of the challenges he had where he was put in a situation where he was trying to play a position that he wasn’t well suited to play, sort of never found the role, but the bottom line is he never showed he could make a shot and that’s that’s uh that’s that’s that’s been the biggest Achilles heel. And I think it’s been striking to go back to Carter Bryant. Um Jeff and Tom, it’s it’s fair to say Mitch Johnson, the head coach of the Spurs, has gone out of his way multiple times to praise young Carter Bryant’s um willingness to play hard, to do a lot of stuff on the floor even if he’s not filling up the box score, his attitude, that type of stuff. And and am I reading that wrong in that maybe he was making an example of Carter Bryant and saying this kid’s going to play because he’s doing what we’re asking him to do. Did you did did did you read anything else into that as a comparison to other guys or was that just him going out of his way to praise Carter Bryant?
Tom Orsborn: Probably the latter. Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: I I think I think they made the decision that they want to develop this guy, Carter Bryant in the NBA and so they want him to get NBA minutes. And so it’s kind of gassing him up a little and maybe boosting his confidence even though like you say, he’s not filling up the box score and the ball isn’t always going in the net for him even even on dunks. Um so I think it is a way of kind of keeping his confidence up and just trying to get some good minutes out of him. I mean because he is a young guy and there there was there was a uh point in this franchise’s history where a guy like Carter Bryant would absolutely be in the G League for a while. Like they they’d want him to to marinate in the G League, get some confidence there and then bring him up to the to the NBA club because there’s no there was no crying need for him on the NBA club right now. Um but they’ve decided they they appear they’ve decided to go a different route with Carter Bryant and let him um let him let him grow and develop through through through pressure cooker minutes. You know, not a ton of them, you know, he might play eight or something in a game. So not a ton of them, but um they seem to have found value in getting him minutes at the NBA level right now instead of letting him go just be a a stud in the G League. But to do that, he’s going to have some struggles at the NBA level and I think what you’re hearing from Mitch when he’s when he’s talking that way about Carter and being really positive is a way of kind of kind of slapping him on the butt in public and giving him a little little pep um pat on the back and keeping his spirits up and keeping him focused and keeping him um you know, his confidence up, letting him know he’s on the right track.
Mike Finger: I got to say, it’d be good for the the the the panelists on this podcast if if Carter Bryant plays more and plays well because maybe the what one of my favorite short little interviews of 2024 was talking to that kid after he he missed two just give me dunks against what was that game, Cleveland a week ago? On national TV on on Peacock and just blew, just smoked them. Just smoked them. And uh he sat down with me after that game and basically said like I’m going to be one of the best players in the world and the ball’s going to go in one day and everything’s great. And why would I be upset about this? Like everybody has rough days at work. It was just it was like a seven-minute interview of the most positive. You you the Spurs Insider podcast sometimes is known for over the top ridiculous uh upbeat finishing numbers. We are. Oh, I see. I see. You know what I’m saying? Like the way that uh that the way that that I try to get people uh excited at the end and it’s all clearly like sort of blowing smoke myself. And uh it’s unclear whether I actually believe it. The thing about Carter Bryant is he believed that stuff, man. And he was talking about how uh you know, he he he works his butt off and that he’s going to keep working his butt off and just because he missed two dunks doesn’t mean that he’s not going to focus, he’s going to go home with his three dogs and rewatch those dunks over and over again on the app on his iPad and he’s going to focus on how, hey, I was in the right lane, I was in the right position. I did all the all did all the right things during the process of the play, during the process of the action to put myself in position to make it. And he said something along the lines of, yes, I’m 6’6" and I have a 40-inch vertical and it’s ridiculous that I didn’t dunk those, but it’s going to be okay. And uh he said at one point, I think there was how many people are in this arena? 18,000. I’m sure none of them think that the game’s slowing down for me, but it actually is. The game is slowing down for me. And just that relentless positivity is something that I think we’ve all seen from his interplay in the locker room. You know, the guys gravitate to him. They they they love Carter Bryant. And walking out that night, De’Aaron Fox was kind of ribbing him about not being able to dunk. And you don’t rib guys if you’re not sure they can take it. And that and that’s another thing that I think that the Spurs it speaks to more than just the locker room dynamic. If a guy can take some ribbing and take some hard coaching and take failure, this speaks to why uh maybe they’re okay with him learning some tough lessons in the NBA as opposed to building up some confidence, you know, scoring 30 points against the Red ants and the Rio Grande Vipers or whatever. You know, if if you can if you can take some tough nights at the top level and not have your spirit crushed by it, I think that can serve you well. And I think that speaks to why they’re willing to let him learn those tough lessons at the NBA level as opposed to spending all that time in the G League.
Jeff McDonald: Just listening to you describe him, he’s like uh he’s like the NBA’s uh Tony Robbins.
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Jeff McDonald: I mean…
Mike Finger: Am I wrong? You Tom, you’ve you’ve you’re in the locker room a lot. Jeff, like those those you can tell when a guy is a locker room favorite and when he’s more of a wallflower, right? And I think we’d all agree that the guys really gravitate to…
Tom Orsborn: Yeah. No, early in the season I was in the locker room, I don’t know, Phoenix or LA or somewhere, but him and uh Harper, uh, kind of dominated, you know, they were the pregame locker room, they were dominating in there with their chatter and back and forth and that was pretty striking to see that early in the season.
Mike Finger: And we sports writers and podcasters can make too much of that stuff and they’re they’re listeners out there rolling their eyes at this cliche nonsense, what have you. But I think it does play into just just the dynamic of of of who who fits and who doesn’t and and who has that confidence about them and who doesn’t. And I don’t think that Carter Bryant will lack for confidence anytime soon. You mentioned Dylan Harper and as a way to to kind of segue away from that, there have been some closing lineups where we’ve seen the three guards together, right, Jeff?
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. Did they do it in Portland? I don’t know. They did it uh the game Indiana.
Mike Finger: I believe they did. Yeah. Harper Fox and Castle as a closing lineup. What what are your reviews of that?
Jeff McDonald: I I think it’s a work in progress, but there’s a lot to like there. Um and it it helps because um they can all defend their position and sometimes multiple positions. Like sometimes when you get into a a guard heavy um lineup, one of those guys is is a is a mismatch on the other end, but I think all of them can hold their own. And and that in that in that in that vein, it’s really Castle that makes it work because he can guard so many different people. He can he can guard bigs. I mean, he can guard wings, he can guard points. So so any kind of switching they have to do, um it’s hard to find a mismatch against them. Whereas other for other teams trying to play a bunch of guards together, you would just hunt those mismatches. And there said there’s still a work in progress. I think it’s like two or three minutes at a time that they’ve been um playing together. But I mean on the offensive end, the the the upside is obvious. Like you’ve got three guys that are just relentless downhill, rim attacking, playmaking for themselves and others. Like it’s a hard that’s a hard threesome to guard when they’re all on the floor together. And my lord, if you put Victor on the floor with them at some point too, I don’t know how you guard that. And because it holds up on the defensive end, I think I think it works as a closing lineup in certain situations.
Mike Finger: You want the fourth guy to be able to make a three-pointer obviously, or the fifth guy. Yes. Um because that’s that’s really the the only um caveat with that group is do you can you make a defense respect the three-point line with three guys all going downhill. Um and each of those three guys has made a big three-pointer this year, but I don’t think any of those three guys is are what you’d consider the uh a Chuck Connors-like rifleman. Um so if you have a Harrison Barnes on the floor standing in the corner, um Devin Vassell who I guess we’d need an injury update on, um Julian Champagnie, one of those guys. Uh what what what is the status of Devin moving forward, Jeff?
Jeff McDonald: He’s out. Yeah. That’s going to be that’s my that’s my pop answer. Remember you would ask before the game, he’s out.
Mike Finger: I remember Pop.
Tom Orsborn: Probably for quite a few more games too. I would think so, yeah. They’re not going to, yeah, he’s going to be out for several games is what I’m hearing. And he he had a really solid start to the season. Yeah. Um providing pretty good value at in a different way that Julian Champagnie provides value, but for the contract that um made some people think Devon might have been overpaid for a while. I think if you look around at other people who make what he makes, he was he was uh he was he was fulfilling his end of the bargain. Um and we’ll see if he can get back.
Jeff McDonald: He’ll be back. Yeah. He’ll be back. He’s he’s not going anywhere. He’s just on the shelf for a little while.
Mike Finger: We did not get into like individual results this week. The the Julian Champagnie game, the Champagnie Supernova on New Year’s Eve, that resulted in a victory over the Knicks, the the Spurs held serve at the Indiana Pacers, finally lost the back end of a back-to-back for the first time all year. The Spurs lost the back end of a back-to-back against uh the Portland Trailblazers at home. So they went two and one, which I think was a lot of people’s prediction last week um during the week that was. By the time you listen to this, the Spurs might have already played the Memphis Grizzlies with or without Victor Wembanyama, with or without Ja Morant. A big back-to-back against the hated Lakers in San Antonio on Wednesday night, and then a uh formidable back-to-back road trip, an imposing looking looking trip against the surging Boston Celtics who are emerging as one of the best teams in the Eastern conference despite not having Jason Tatum. I think Joe Mazzulla might be a heck of a coach. And uh and at Minnesota. So let’s look at at Memphis, home against the Lakers, at the Celtics, then a back-to-back at Minnesota before we convene again. That is four games, Tom. What do you see?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, Memphis uh that’s one they got to get, uh with with what’s coming up. Um and Memphis has got its share of injuries. Yeah, the Lakers are they’re better, they’re better on the road than at home. Celtics surging. We’re we’re going up to Minnesota? Is that the cutoff point?
Mike Finger: Yeah.
Tom Orsborn: Okay. Okay.
Mike Finger: So we have two back-to-backs. Memphis LA, Boston, Minnesota.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, yeah. Um…
Mike Finger: You see two victories?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, maybe maybe they maybe they beat the Lakers again, but I don’t know. I don’t know. This is a tough, tough stretch. Um…
Mike Finger: Tom, two and two.
Tom Orsborn: Two and two. Two and two.
Mike Finger: Two and two.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah.
Mike Finger: Jeffrey.
Jeff McDonald: I I don’t um I don’t trust the consistency of our local cagers right now and I’m going to say one and three during this stretch. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the other team that was in uh the other teams that were in the NBA Cup uh finals and semi-finals along with the Spurs, and I’m speaking of like OKC and New York, they aren’t exactly playing like gangbusters now either. Like they’re maybe…
Mike Finger: That’s becoming an NBA Cup tradition, by the way.
Jeff McDonald: Yeah. There may be something about that is it just wears you out and you kind of take it take it on the, you know, coming out of it you kind of see the um the effects of that. So I don’t know. Um this team could use some rest and it’s interesting, they have they start the uh the Spurs start the new year with three consecutive back-to-backs, which that’s tough. But then they also have five uh five instances this month of two days off in a row, which is a league high. So it’s a weird mix of you get rest and you get uh back-to-backs. Um I don’t know if you get much rhythm though. Like everybody likes to play every other night. So it’s just going to be an a weird, interesting stretch to see how they how they navigate all this stuff.
Mike Finger: If they can get two before we podcast again, I think that would uh constitute a a pretty successful week. We’ll see if they can pull it off. Until we talk to you next time, take care of each other and keep it real.