Preseason: Spurs vs Jazz Observations

Preseason observations from Spurs vs Jazz on Keldon Johnson, Chris Paul, Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie, Zach Collins, Stephon Castle, Blake Wesley, and Riley Minix.

The San Antonio Spurs improved to 2-1 in the preseason Saturday following a 126-120 win over the Utah Jazz.

Before jumping into player observations, here’s a rundown with some comments on rotation players that were out, the Spurs’ starting five, and some interesting lineups Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich went to during the game.

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Rotation players who were out for each team:

• Spurs: Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, Malaki Branham - Before the game, Coach Pop said of Wemby being out Saturday, “he’ll be good, he’s fine” and he said he expected Victor to play in the Spurs’ final two preseason games next week.

• Jazz: Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, Keyonte George

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Starters for each team:

• Spurs Starters: Chris Paul, Julian Champagnie, Harrison Barnes, Jeremy Sochan, Zach Collins (in place of Wemby)

• Through 3 preseason games, Champagnie, Barnes, and Sochan have started in all 3 games. Paul has started in the 2 games where he’s been available to play. Wemby will for sure be a starter. So for now, one would assume the Spurs will be going with a starting five of Paul, Champagnie, Barnes, Sochan, and Wemby to begin the season.

• Jazz starters: Collin Sexton, Isaiah Collier, Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Walker Kessler

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During the course of the game, Coach Pop was trying out some interesting lineups.

Here were some of those lineups:

• Small ball lineup: Paul, Tre Jones, Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson, Sochan - In the fourth quarter, this lineup was very active defensively and forced multiple Jazz turnovers. They got out on the break over and over again with this group.

• “That group really changed the game a little bit,” said Coach Pop of the small ball unit in the fourth. “They were quick. They were aggressive, used their hands well, got those turnovers, and turned them into easy points, and oftentimes, that’s what it takes.”

• “We stringed together some stops,” said Johnson of the small ball group in the fourth. “We got some stops and go out on the break, and just playing basketball the right way. I feel like we’re making each other better when we can get out on the break and use our speed, length, and youth to get some easy buckets”

• Keldon at the SG position: Paul, Keldon, Barnes, Sochan, Collins - For a few minutes, Johnson was with the starting group instead of Champagnie.

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The Starters

Chris Paul - 3 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 0 turnovers in 27 minutes

• Paul had a tough night shooting the ball, going 1-of-7 from the floor, but, he was much more aggressive in looking for his shot from the mid-range. His lone make was a pull-up three out of the crossover.

• Paul showed his ability to get his teammates good shots over and over again. Here were his 8 assists with 0 turnovers:

1. Barnes 3PT make

2. Champagnie 3PT make

3. Keldon driving hook

4. Sochan layup

5. Sochan layup

6. Collins floater

7. Champagnie 3PT make

8. Collins dunk

• “He’s been finding everybody,” said Johnson after the game. “He makes basketball easy.”

• “He just makes your life easier man,” said Collins of Paul. “He’s so good at manipulating things and knowing what he wants to do and having 2 or 3 setups, confusing the defense, and yeah, it’s fun to be out there with him. In a nutshell, he just makes the game a lot easier and guys are getting open looks left and right, and he’s making passes that you don’t know are there, and all of a sudden the ball’s in a guys shooting pocket, and he’s wide open.”

Julian Champagnie - 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block in 21 minutes

• Offensively, through 3 preseason games, Champagnie is showing he wants the role of the being the high volume outside shooter for the team. He’s spacing the floor well to make himself a target for catches on the arc, and he doesn’t need to be wide open to put up a three with good form. He led the team again, by drilling 4-of-8 shots from distance.

• Defensively, Champagnie continues to play sound defense. He got a steal when Hendricks tried to take him off the dribble and he closed out well on a 3PT shot, blocking the shot by a shooter.

Jeremy Sochan - 15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 turnover in 25 minutes

• Offensively, Sochan continues to score off hustle and energy type plays, such as cutting to the basket, finishing on the break, or crashing the glass. He had a monster throwdown dunk in the halfcourt on a possession after Collins drew the attention of the defense. Sochan scored 14 of his 15 points from the layup/dunk range.

• On one play, Sochan got position against a smaller defender, and once Paul saw this, he threw a dart pass straight to Sochan under the rim and he finished the dunk.

• Sochan also showed some of his versatility, such as when the Spurs had him play some small ball 5 for a few minutes. During the game, Coach Pop also had him guarding Sexton on the perimeter for multiple possessions.

Zach Collins - 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block in 20 minutes

• Since this was his first preseason game, Collins was rusty from the outside with his shot. He went 0-of-6 from distance. Inside though, he got going in the second half with finishes closer to the rim. In just one game together, Paul was already finding him multiple times on different short roll actions.

• “Considering that,” said Coach Pop of Collins shaking off the rust, “I thought he looked really good. He boarded. He banged with people. He wasn’t afraid of the shoulder or anything like that. He understands how we want to play. It’s great to have him back in the fold.”

• “Body feels good,” said Collins of how he felt after the game. “Shoulder feels good.”

• Now that Collins is back, the key question will be who earns the backup center minutes in the regular season? Sandro Mamukelashvili has played well in 3 straight preseason games, and he brings more ball movement and outside shooting off the bench. Collins meanwhile brings more size and inside scoring off the bench.

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The 2nd Unit

Stephon Castle - 11 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers in 19 minutes