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Tom Orsborn: Devin Vassell said it was tough watching Jalen Williams go down last night: "You don't wish that on nobody. Prayers up to Jalen Williams and his family. ... He's a hell of a competitor, great person."
Tom Orsborn: Devin Vassell says after practice #Spurs have to "become the hunters again." "I think we're a little bit drunk off the success of last year and we have a lot of room to grow. So trying to just put that (last season) behind us ...because we're a new team. This is a new season..."
Tom Orsborn: Those stitches inside Keldon’s mouth did not quiet him down this morning, Devin Vassell said: “I love KJ. He's still KJ no matter what. If he has broken ribs, broken bones, it don't matter. He's still the loudest one out here. You got to love it.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson on Friday squashed any suspense going into the season by announcing his three-guard lineup will start in Tuesday's opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder. "We're planning on starting that same crew [in the opener]," Johnson said. San Antonio first deployed its three-guard starting lineup of De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, alongside Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama, in a preseason win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, when the Spurs finished at plus-10 in the trio's 11 minutes together on the floor. The Suns rested most of their rotation players in that outing, which started with the Spurs shooting 1 of 10 from the floor.
Tom Orsborn: Devin Vassell on #Spurs' three-guard starting lineup: "You don't know who to pick up. It's Fox, it's Dylan, it's Steph. We have five ball handlers that can come down and attack the basket and make a play. I think it's going to be tough for other teams."
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Tom Orsborn: #Spurs will be without the following players tonight at Utah: Carter Bryant, Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Tobias Harris, Jayden Quaintance, Devin Vassell, Victor Wembanyama & Malik Williams. Team planned before preseason started to rest a lot of regulars in the 3rd preseason game. Bryant (ankle) is likely to return soon.
Victor Wembanyama: “Devin’s increasing leadership role coincides with our increase as a contender. He embodies our progress and with Keldon, they are the oldest Spurs here. They know it. They know the power they got on this. They know how much they can make us better and they do it very well and very intelligently.”
Jared Weiss: Mitch Johnson says he is starting the three point guards De’Aaron Fox, Steph Castle and Dylan Harper with Devin Vassell and Victor Wembanyama. Didn’t clarify if this is the expected starting lineup for the regular season.
The reference—to the prize awarded to the best player who comes off the bench—is surprising; only a month earlier at a press conference after the Finals, teammate Devin Vassell suggested that Harper had been frustrated with “playing time and different roles that he was in.” “I’m going to win Sixth Man of the Year,” Harper insists. “You’re not going to be Sixth Man,” Castle says. “Who are you going to be Sixth Man for?” “I don’t fucking know—God?” Harper answers.
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What’s your expectations on what the Jamaican national team can do going forward? Norman Powell: “It’s about retooling and seeing what we need to do. We have a lot of interest from NBA guys – Devin Vassell, the Thompson twins, the Champagnie brothers, Isaiah Stewart and a couple of other guys that want to play. So it’s about figuring out how we can get as many NBA guys and top-talented guys that are a part of the team. Jamaica is in a tough spot because they have that rule with FIBA where you have to have your Jamaican citizenship or passport the time you’re 16 to 18 years old. We’re trying to get FIBA to get the rules changed. A lot of the guys that have Jamaican descent or heritage are being penalized for something that their parents didn’t do or their grandparents moved away from Jamaica. They didn’t know the national team was a thing since it’s been 15 years since we first played a game. So we’re trying to work with FIBA to get it changed or altered. It’s putting a damper on what Jamaica is able to do with being able to compete at a very high level because a lot of these guys’ parents didn’t get their dual citizenship. That’s tough.”
Tom Petrini: Devin Vassell: "First off, to the fans, just thank you guys so much for supporting us, especially in my journey, being here six years from where we started, from the 20 wins that we were at to being in the Finals, they've been loyal, and I just want to say thank you to them, because without them, and the noise, and them having our backs, we're not in this situation, we're not in this position. So, just thank you to them."
Defensively, should the Knicks put OG Anunoby on Wemby? Coach 1: “Yes, I like that a lot. But one thing interesting with that is where do you put Towns? And I think the simple thing would be to put him on [Julian] Champagnie. But the Knicks don’t like to crossmatch that much. Good, bad or indifferent, they like to let Towns play through normal pick-and-roll coverages. I don’t know if he’s in shape enough to expend himself like what [Isaiah] Hartenstein was just doing with the Thunder — where he was bodying up Victor and also having to guard the pick-and-rolls and navigate screens and stuff like that. Karl has to be really disciplined if he’s guarding Champagnie. If you watch him to start these games, Champagnie gets crossmatched in transition quite a bit and gets wide-open 3s. And he’s a plus-40 percent 3-point shooter. You got to make sure you’re disciplined. I think they would probably put Brunson on [Devin] Vassell, and then [Mikal] Bridges and Hart on [De’Aaron] Fox and [Stephon] Castle.”
