It may symbolize his season to this point. San Antonio Spurs point guard Jeremy Sochan played his best game of the season, maybe the best game of his very young career. And yet, a key play — a charge call drawn by Trae Young — that didn't go the Spurs way is what ultimately sticks out in the 137-135 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
The call
With 6.1 seconds remaining in the game and with the Spurs trying to complete a last-minute rally, Sochan stole Saddiq Bey's inbound pass intended for Onyeka Okongwu and raced up the court. As he neared the basket and started into his motion for a lay-up, Hawks star Trae Young, who was already in the backcourt at the time of the steal, beat Sochan to the spot. Though he wasn't yet totally upright, Young set his feet just enough to draw contact and an offensive foul on the former Baylor Bear.
While Sochan would later say, “You don't really call that at the end,” neither he nor Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich, took major issue with the call.
“I just read the offense, seeing if I could get it. Went for the steal and got it. I think it was a fast break. I felt like it was a 50-50 call,” the 9th overall pick of last year's draft continued, “No one had a challenge, no one had the time out so you just play on. It is what it is. The outcome was a loss. There's a lot of things we could have done better. If we cut down the turnovers by five or six, we win that game by 15.”
“It looked like it, yeah, Popovich answered when he asked if it was a good call, “He (Young) looked pretty stationary to me. I'd have to look on the tape, but from what I saw he was stationary.”
Career Night for Jeremy Sochan
Sochan, who's struggled in a move to the team's starting point guard spot, scored a career-high 33 points in what proved a 13th straight Spurs loss. He also grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 6 assists.
“It was an all-around performance. There's things I [could have] done better but overall it was a pretty good game,” Sochan admitted.
Popovich included Sochan's defense in his praise.
“I thought he had maybe his best night. Made a lot of good decisions, moved the ball well. Guarding Trae Young is not easy. I thought he was wonderful.”
Still just 20 years old, the 6-foot-8 novice as the team's floor general says the game is slowing down a bit for him.
“Control what I can control and the game will come to you. Play defense, play with energy, see the floor, communicate with your teammates and you get rewarded for that,” Sochan said.
Quoted several weeks ago as saying “F*** this s***,” regarding how he sometimes feels as makes the transition from forward to playing the point for the first time in his career, Sochan says he's settling into the role.
“Yeah, it's a process to that but as every day goes on, I think it's getting easier, it's getting better. I'm just going to keep going and if I have the trust of my coaches, my teammates, that's the most important thing.”
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