3 Hard truths Spurs front office may not want to hear after another collapse

January is starting off colder for the Spurs than any forecast could have anticipated, and it may get worse before it gets better. The schedule was always going to be difficult this month, but regardless of the opponent, you expect San Antonio to put up a fight. They didn't do much of that after the first quarter last night in Milwaukee, getting embarrassed in front of a national audience on ESPN.

Spurs were embarrassed in national TV

The Silver and Black dropped last night's game to the Bucks 121-105, but it wasn't as close as the score makes it seem. Giannis and his crew were running circles around the Spurs for the vast majority of the night. Victor Wembanyama couldn't get it going, and Devin Vassell no-showed. That seems to be his norm now. The good games are the rare occurrences for Dev these days.

The loss isn't completely on the Vassell or Wembanyama, though. This team's flaws are going to be exacerbated against teams with size. Charles Bassey played almost 13 minutes, made two of three shots, and didn't impact the game in any meaningful way other than giving Wemby a breather. Almost the whole team's performance was lackluster, making a few things painfully clear.

3. Spurs were never going to win without Sochan

Let's just get this out of the way. Jeremy Sochan's importance has never been more clear. There are big players who can handle the ball in this league, and San Antonio needs someone to guard them. Harrison Barnes drew the short stick assignment of guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo at the start of the game. He was doomed to fail from the start. Giannis is too big, strong, and skilled.

The Greek Freak is a two-time MVP for a reason, and beating him requires the proper personnel. Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie also took their turns on the Bucks superstar, but he's having another MVP-caliber season, so they also ended up as cannon fodder.

Some of you may believe that if Wemby had another explosive game, the Spurs could have pulled a win out, but that's part of a different issue. For Vic to have a good game, he needs space, and the Bucks denied him that for the entire game. They didn't respect the other players as much, crowding Wembanyama all night and daring someone other than the Alien to beat them.

It would have been nice to have a strong cutter with size that Vic could have easily dropped the ball off to, but unfortunately, that's the same guy who would have been responsible for guarding Giannis. Sochan's value to this team is immense, and without him, playing teams that have star wings/guards with size like the Greek Freak, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, etc., will be a problem for the Spurs.

2. Devin Vassell has been overestimated and may be overpaid

Vassell's shooting has reached alarming levels of poverty and we can be honest about what we're watching. It's gotten to a point where Mitch Johnson sounded like he has to search for a way to compliment the fifth-year shooting guard since there isn't much to compliment.

Yes, sure. He had nine rebounds, but if that's the first compliment we're giving the number two scoring option on the team, that's a problem. Vassell shot the ball much better when he first came back from injury, so this drop-off makes no sense. He's played 22 games of a possible 37 games this season, and in his last ten, he's been shooting the ball atrociously poor.

What's most concerning is how open Vassell has been on his shots. He had one of the highest percentages in the league on highly contested shots, so you would think that he'd thrive when afforded more space, but that hasn't been the case.

The former Seminole has taken 27 open threes (4-6 feet of space) and 19 wide-open threes (6+ feet of space). He's shooting 18.5% on open 3-pointers and 21.1% on wide-open 3-pointers. For comparison, he's only taken 11 tightly-contested threes (2-4 feet of space) and zero very tight threes (0-2 feet of space).

It's hard to tell what's going on with Devin Vassell, but so far this season, Victor Wembanyama is not allowed to have an off night, hoping his number two can pick up some slack. Maybe we shouldn't expect it all the time, but almost never is not going to cut it. If he's going to be this unreliable, he can't be the second option, and his $135 million contract looks like a slight overpay.

Fortunately for him, there are a lot of games left to prove doubters wrong. I've spent a significant amount of time defending him, so I'd like to be wrong for wavering, but that's up to him.

1. Spurs miss Coach Popovich

Mitch Johnson has done a great job getting this team to maintain their level of .500 basketball, but there is something missing from the formula. Coach Pop's ability to get more out of guys has been missing, and as the schedule hits the roughest part of the season, that's needed more than ever.

One of the benefits of acquiring Chris Paul was supposed to be the combining of the genius minds of the Point God and the greatest NBA coach of all time. They didn't get much time together before Pop had the stroke that's sidelined him for over two months now.

Let's be clear: Coach Popovich's health is more important than anything. Basketball is a game that we enjoy watching, supporting, and going crazy over, but nothing is more important than a man's life and well-being. We all hope he takes as much time as he needs to get well, and he should only return if he's healthy enough and still has the desire to coach.

With that being said, it's okay to say that the team misses his presence. Pop is a master of relationships, and sometimes, getting to the root of what's going on is everything to getting them out of the slump. Devin Vassell may need that. He needs something.

Not to mention, some of the rotations have left me confused. Sometimes, Dev plays the entire first quarter, or Wembanyama plays all of the fourth. Guys enter and exit at odd intervals, like when the Alien doesn't re-enter the game until the end of the second quarter at about 2:30 on the clock.

These things are frustrating because you can't do anything about injury taking out Sochan, if Devin isn't who we hoped, that can't be changed, and Pop's potential return must be met with patience. All we can do is hope things get better, and hope is not a strategy, so buckle up.