The San Antonio Spurs started their 2023-24 campaign on a high note as rookie Victor Wembanyama shocked the league in his first couple of weeks. However, they have been on a dry spell ever since and have dropped to an abysmal 7-33 record. It is another lost season for San Antonio as they are in the middle of a painful rebuild during the latter part of the coaching career of Gregg Popovich.
Despite being a decorated and legendary coach, there have been questions this year on how Popovich utilizes Wembanyama because there are a ton of possessions where he is positioned outside the paint despite his towering frame. Issues stem from the plays called for Wembanyama as the other main problems of the Spurs are with their outside shooting and subpar offensive schemes.
Another glaring reason why their outside shooting and playmaking have suffered is due to the lack of a terrific ball handler on the floor at all times. It was expected that Tre Jones would be the starting point guard in the Spurs rotation since their first game, but Popovich decided to go in another direction, which is why Jeremy Sochan is the player on the Spurs roster who must receive fewer minutes for San Antonio.
Why Jeremy Sochan must get fewer minutes
Jeremy Sochan was surprisingly selected to be the starting point guard in the Spurs' rotation on opening day. Sochan was drafted as a combo forward who thrived as an Energizer bunny and defensive force. Popovich intended the Spurs to have switchable guys on defense as Sochan moving onto a big in any screen and roll opportunity will not cause any mismatches for their squad.
On the offensive end, Popovich may have envisioned for Sochan to have mismatches he can attack with ferocity as well. However, that all went in shambles as San Antonio's half-court offense was incredibly terrible for long stretches because Sochan could not execute their plays because of his inexperience playing that position, especially on a stage like the NBA.
Due to Sochan's inability to be an adequate floor general, Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson, and Devin Vassell were not receiving the ball in the perfect spots or in an ideal area for them to be effective. Furthermore, it limited the growth and opportunity for Jones to flourish as the starting 1 on the Spurs roster. Jones is still far from his prime but his flashes of brilliance last year were a clear indication that he deserved the spot more than Sochan.
As the season has progressed, Popovich pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago and started Jones already, which has finally been great for him individually. However, Sochan continues to receive a substantial amount of minutes despite his subpar play. Yes, it is understandable that he was a top-10 pick in 2022, so he is one of the main rebuilding pieces of the puzzle for the organization, but cutting his minutes to around 25 a night seems ideal in this situation.
It may seem like a better approach for the Spurs to start Keldon Johnson and elevate his minutes to over 30 once again, then experiment with either Sochan at the 4 or continue with Julian Champagnie as the other forward in the first unit. The outside shooting will continue to be horrific with either Jones or Sochan at the 1 but having Jones in that role gives them more chances to push the pace and create early offense in transition.
This change does not mean the front office has given up on Sochan, but it is more of altering their approach.
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