Spurs reporter Jeff Garcia spoke with Jeremy Sochan ahead of the Spurs’ game against the Miami Heat. Sochan expressed his frustration with the starting point guard position. For the audio of the exchange click here.
Everyone Needs To Chill About Jeremy Sochan
Despite fan backlash and think pieces on YouTube that all explain why Sochan shouldn’t be playing point guard, he has shown progress over the last few games. There is a ton of room for growth not only as a ball handler but on the offensive side of the ball as a whole. While having Sochan at point guard may not make sense to fans, there is a method to the madness. If you’re a Spurs fan calling for Tre Jones to re-enter the starting lineup, I implore you to stay the course.
How Did We Get Here?
Spurs fans are in a civil war online over who should be the starting point guard. I’ve seen arguments for signing anyone from John Wall to T. J. McConnell and everyone in between. A large segment of the Spurs fan base is calling for Jones to return to the starting lineup. While many stats support this argument, there is a reason things are the way they are.
Tre Jones’ role in the NBA and on the Spurs is best suited as a backup point guard. Last season he was a starter, but that was mostly to ease Josh Primo into the starting lineup and to limit his minutes. It was widely believed that at some point in the season, Primo would take over starting duties from Jones.
Primo’s sexual harassment scandal stopped this plan in its tracks. Jones remained in the starting lineup for the rest of the year, but the Spurs faced a dilemma. What’s the next move? When Jones missed a few games last season due to injury, Sochan filled in for him as a ball handler. Head coach Gregg Popovich saw some flashes of greatness from Sochan as a point guard, particularly a 30-point performance against the Suns
Drafting Victor Wembanyama Moved Jeremy Sochan To Point Guard
It was clear that if the Spurs were to draft Victor Wembanyama or Brandon Miller, Jones would move to the bench. This gave the Spurs all summer to prepare for Sochan as the primary ball handler. Before the season I wrote about how Jones coming off the bench makes the most sense. Essentially, Jones could be subbed in for any member of the starting lineup and they would just adjust accordingly to him taking over at point guard. I did not expect Popovich’s first substitution every game to be Cedi Osman for Wembanyama. But that is where we stand now.
Building An Elite Player
Let’s not forget who Jeremy Sochan is. Last season we saw some great things, like his dunk on Domantas Sabonis. However, when he was drafted he was widely considered an offensive liability. At the time Sochan drew two major comparisons which I covered here. One of those comparisons was to the early career of Kawhi Leonard.
Both players came into the league as defensive-minded players. The Spurs’ development staff worked with Leonard to fix his shot. Famously, shooting coach Chip Engelland wanted Leonard in the draft because he thought he could correct his shot. Engelland was right and after two Championships Leonard is still considered one of the best players in the NBA.
Showing His Confidence
When The Spurs drafted Sochan I thought he was in a better position than Leonard because, even though his shooting percentage was low he had the confidence to take his shots. I wrote:
“The one thing Sochan has over Leonard is that he’s not afraid to take his shots. It’s hard to see a situation where head coach Gregg Popovich is pleading with him to stop passing the ball and take his shots.”
Jeremy Sochan Is Doing The Work
The Spurs have a new development staff now, with shooting coach Jimmy Baron, tasked with helping Sochan improve his shot. We’ve already seen that Sochan is willing to do what it takes to get better. He switched to a one-handed free-throw midseason and he improved his free-throw percentage from the low 30s up to the 70s.
Things aren’t going very well from the fans’ perspective so far this season. Sochan has shown improvement over the last few games. Unfortunately, he is still making several costly mistakes, so his improvements are more of a silver lining, rather than a cause for celebration. But his improvement is there and it shouldn’t be discounted.
In the game against the Knicks when the entire team had an off night Sochan led in scoring. Against the Timberwolves he took better shots and made his only 3-point shot. At the time of this writing, Sochan is ranked 4th in assists.
Sochan and Leonard both went through these growing pains on the offensive side of the ball. A key difference is that Leonard had the luxury of not being the best defensive player on the team and needing to start right away.
Growing Pains Lead To Long-Term Success
If you look back at footage from last season Sochan made a lot of bad basketball decisions on offense. He would take tough shots when there was an open man. Often, he would look to score instead of finding the best shot. Allowing him to play point guard for an extended period gives him a chance to see what happens when he has tunnel vision instead of thinking about the team. While he is still making bad reads and taking bad shots, he is seeing more of the repercussions of his choices. Sochan said, “Sometimes it will look amazing” and “Sometimes it will look ugly.”
This Will Be Temporary
Popovich hasn’t announced what metrics he will judge Sochan’s time at point guard. We only know that Sochan himself would rather not always be the point guard. When asked how he felt about playing point guard over the summer he said he could do it “sometimes.”
At some point, the Spurs will be forced to decide on what they will do long-term for the point guard position. In the meantime, Sochan hopefully uses this time wisely and becomes a better overall player. It will pay off in the playoffs to have someone in the paint who can make the right reads, and find the open man. It will only benefit the team in the long run, if Sochan can be a playmaker when he needs to.
It’s called growing pains for a reason. In this case, sometimes it hurts to watch. But I hope you can zoom out a bit and see the bigger picture. The Spurs believe Sochan can become a dominant two-way player like Leonard before him. His potential is not only seen by the Spurs coaching staff. Patrick Beverly recently compared Sochan to Leonard. Making the point that with time and repetition, Sochan can be an elite player in the NBA.
What are your thoughts on Sochan’s time at point guard? Is it worth it in the long run? Or would you rather they make trades to win now? Comment your thoughts below.
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Keep on working, great job!
I have much less of a problem with Jeremy playing PG than most fans because I wholeheartedly support Pop and any decisions he makes. Jeremy is learning a valuable lesson that will only make him a better player in the long run, as well as learning to see the floor and the whole game from a different perspective. Does his decision making frustrate me at times? Hell yes. But the best way to learn is by making those mistakes and figuring out what to do to reduce them. We aren’t yet in a position to make a meaningful run at the playoffs, so now is the perfect time to go through these growing pains. At the beginning of the season many fans were in favor of another tankish season to get another top draft pick to partner with Wemby, and that’s still a distinct possibility. Does anyone else notice how Pop sometimes calls Victor to the bench right as he’s starting to heat up, or the Spurs are making a run? Pop is a basketball genius, and while it is very hard to watch the Silver and Black lose, he knows what he’s doing and there’s a reason for every little decision he makes. So just sit back, enjoy the jaw dropping things Wemby does occasionally, and expect to lose some games, for the future good of our team. Rome wasn’t built in a day. GSG!!!