Frustrated NBA analyst levies aggressive accusation at Spurs after Celtics loss

Spurs fans have grown accustomed to frustration with this team over the past few seasons. Rebuilding is not fun, and after a two-decade-long run of excellence, it's a shock to your system to see your team at the bottom of the standings. It's even a bit cruel when you start the season like we did—playing .500 basketball—only to nosedive again in 2025, but here we are.

San Antonio has a locked-in fan base that pays close attention to the team's decision-making. It makes Spurs Nation critical of every move the team makes as they try to recapture the success they once had. So, the constant criticism from fans is not abnormal. However, the national media is usually indifferent to our team.

Since Victor Wembanyama arrived, that's changed, and now that De'Aaron Fox is here, the eyeballs watching SAS are increasingly strained. They want to see a team with Wemby and Fox play better than they have, and now they're echoing the same things the fans have.

The Spurs keep making confusing rotational decisions

Their decision-making lately doesn't seem to make sense unless you accept one of two things: either the coaches don't know what they're doing, or they're intentionally tanking the season again. That may sound harsh, but there's no other reason for rolling out these lineups. Everyone from the fans to national media analysts who probably only watch the occasional Spurs game can see the issue.

It sounds like lip service. You shouldn't need the All-Star break to see that Stephon Castle should be starting next to De'Aaron Fox. We knew that from the very beginning. Air Alamo even wrote an article predicting that would be the case because it seemed so obvious.

When they walked onto the floor with Chris Paul starting, I almost lost it. But I hoped that there would be an offensive advantage that made up for the defensive deficiencies that would inevitably show up. That hasn't happened, and it's only exacerbating the rotational issues this team had from the start.

Last night, Victor Wembanyama played 8:07 in the second quarter. That seems like it's a good thing, right? Your best player is on the floor for most of the period. The problem comes when you take him off the floor with just under four minutes to go, closing the first half with Wemby on the bench. That should happen exactly zero times throughout the season.

Your best players should be closing the first half and closing the game, and they should have plenty of time to impose their will. There have been other nights when Vic goes out of the game with 7 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, re-entering the fray with less than four minutes left. That's not enough time for him to dominate the end of the game.

These funky rotations make the Spurs seem unserious in their alleged pursuit of the postseason. Player performance aside, the coaching staff needs to put the guys in the best position to win, and that hasn't been happening. It's laughable to think otherwise and disrespectful to the fans to believe we don't see what's happening.