Mitch Johnson's reason for benching Castle is as infuriating as you'd expect

If you're like me, you watched tonight's game in utter confusion for the vast majority of it. San Antonio is shorthanded due to their best player, Victor Wembanyama, being out for the season, so you would expect the guys next in the pecking order to step up and be more of a part of the action. But Stephon Castle only played a hair less than 12 minutes tonight.

Now, Castle may be a rookie but he's been one of the Spurs' five best players for most of the season and has cracked top three for several stretches. So, when he wasn't playing, I wondered if he was injured or something. There's just no other rational reason the leading Rookie of the Year candidate should be riding the bench.

Mitch Johnson was asked about it after the second consecutive loss to the Pelicans, and his answer was confusing, frustrating, and nonsensical.

The Spurs should be playing Castle now more than ever

With Wembanyama sidelined, the Spurs should be doing everything they can to develop Stephon Castle. He's shown flashes of stardom this season, so building his confidence and getting him more live reps should be a major focus. This feels obvious, and that's why Johnson's decision-making is confusing.

If mistakes were a reason to bench guys, either there would be nobody playing on this team, or the Silver and Black would be forfeiting a bunch of games. De'Aaron Fox had six turnovers tonight and shot 6/21 from the field, but nobody is considering benching him. Don't get me started on Devin Vassell this year or Keldon Johnson early in the season before his turnaround.

Johnson has been around Coach Pop long enough to hear him preach the need to let young players play through their mistakes. That's where the frustration comes in. He should know better than to bench a rookie for making mistakes, knowing all inexperienced athletes mess up. Playing through it is how they learn how to improve. Benching them can shake their confidence. It's not the right move.

Castle is not above tough coaching, but he needs to learn the tough lessons on the court, too. He turned the ball over a few times, trying to make a play, which is what he's supposed to do. He also fouled a few times due to playing a crafty ball club. If he fouls out, that's a teaching moment. Not letting him try to manage his foul trouble doesn't help him work his way through it when it happens later.

Coach Johnson also claimed that the starters were "rolling," but they only won the third quarter by two points (32-30). They lost the fourth quarter by 10 (30-20) and lost the game. Not to mention the fact that nine players played in the third quarter (Castle was not one of them), and since there are only five starters, that part of his answer is completely nonsensical.

Steph did play in the fourth quarter, but only for three minutes. If tanking is the goal, Fox should be getting that surgery on his hand. He's not himself anyway. Chris Paul played 33 minutes. Do what you will with that information.