After two straight games of tinkering with the starting lineup for the first time this season outside of injuries, all indications point to the San Antonio Spurs going with Friday night's starters again on Monday.
In a 121-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls that matched the Spurs' longest-ever losing streak, the team rolled out Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sochan and Malaki Branham. Following the game, head coach Gregg Popovich gave a simple one word answer when asked if he'll take another look at the lineup.
“Absolutely.”
The Spurs' shakeup
Off the heels of starting Zach Collins with Wembanyama, Vassell, Johnson, and Sochan at point guard through their first 19 games, barring injuries, of 2023-24, Popovich inserted Cedi Osman into the lineup on Wednesday at the Minnesota Timberwolves. It marked the first time Sochan, who played forward last year as a rookie, didn't start when available this season. It also marked a 15th straight Spurs loss.
When asked about the reason for the change, Pop was again short, “It's what we wanted to do.”
Like in that 102-94 loss in Minneapolis, the Silver and Black were again competitive two nights later vs. the Bulls when Sochan reentered the starting unit and Malaki Branham joined it, sending Collins to the bench.
“I thought we looked pretty good. Having more firepower coming off the bench is always going to help us take some relief off the starters,” Collins said, “Hopefully, this, spacing-wise, will work a little better.”
Branham, who started a couple of games last month because of injuries to others, echoed the sentiment.
“It looks pretty solid so far. I like Zach coming off the bench carrying that second unit. We've just gotta see how it plays out.”
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama sees the moves as a potential fix to third-quarter lulls.
“When our opponents are down at the half, of course, they're going to have a reaction, but we've got to expect that every time because our first half was pretty solid, especially defensively,” Wemby said following a fifth home loss in which his team squandered a double-digit lead, “There's ups and downs in a game, but we've got to get our downs less and less low.”
Taking in the change
The two Spurs players most affected by the latest change are probably Collins and Branham. The former had essentially served as the team's starting center since Jakob Poeltl was traded in February. Branham had only started this season when regulars hadn't been able to play.
“I always said, when you come off the bench, you don't have the luxury of starting the game and getting into it fast, getting your body going, getting your mind into the game so you, kind of, just have to stay locked in coming off the bench from the jump even though you're not in the game,” Collins said, “At the same time, play your game, be aggressive and bring energy off the bench. It takes a relief off the starters any time you can have a group to come in to extend the lead or hold the lead. That's a win so that's what we try to do.”
For Branham, the move is more about understanding a new role rather than whether he's in the game at tip-off.
“It's really position-less. Whoever gets the ball can really bring it up, so just really running my lanes and going from there,” the second-year first-round pick from Ohio State said. “I feel like me just evolving as a player each game. Whatever they need from me, I'm just going to try to get better if that makes any sense.”
Branham, Collins and the Spurs look to avoid setting a franchise record with a 17th straight loss when they visit the Houston Rockets on Monday.
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