Studs and duds: Castle's thunderous poster in preseason a taste of what's coming

Preseason is one of those things that requires either an abundance of nuance or none at all. Some trends have no meaning, but it all depends on several factors—one of them being where your team is in their journey to relevance. If you're already considered a contender, the preseason is mostly meaningless, but for teams like the Spurs, there's plenty to take away, but again, nuance is required.

With so many players out, it was anyone's guess who Coach Pop would start, and he didn't disappoint. He rolled out a starting five of Tre Jones, Julian Champagnie, Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes and Jeremy Sochan—a lineup exactly nobody predicted.

What followed was a fairly exciting game where a shorthanded San Antonio squad fought all night, and several players were key to an impressive performance.

Castle, Johnson, Mamu and Champagnie were standouts

Stephon Castle was true to who he’s always been as a player: composed. The black eye of his performance was the six turnovers he had, but you have to grade rookies on a curve when it comes to turnovers. He played within himself, defended, made plays for his teammates on the ball and provided fans with his first NBA poster. He’s going to be a star.

When Keldon Johnson said he felt more explosive after dropping weight in the offseason, he wasn’t lying. His first bucket came on a drive down the baseline, and his first step was lightning-quick. He missed his only three-point attempt, but it’s a small sample size. He went 3-6 and made good decisions with the ball while competing with energy. He also only had one turnover.

The two most important aspects of basketball Mamu and Champagnie need to master are shot-making and defense. Both players did a terrific job in both of those areas. Champagnie was 6-13 from deep, while Mamu went 3-4. If they continue shooting the ball like that and competing hard on the defensive end, Pop’s job to find minutes becomes that much more difficult.

Honorable mention: Blake Wesley

When Blake Wesley spoke to the media, he said he had been working hard on his three-point shot over the summer, and in the first quarter, he drilled one. Wesley used his speed well, pushing the pace even when the Thunder made baskets. It forced mismatches, and they were able to capitalize off some of those actions. Not to mention, he’s still a menace on defense.

We need to see more from Branham and Cissoko

Branham’s first claim to the NBA is his ability to fill it up. Putting the ball in the basket is supposed to be his specialty. So, it was disappointing to see him go 5-14 from the field and 2-8 from deep. This is where nuance comes in. It’s been a long summer, and game action is different than practice. Branham deserves the grace to see if he can pick up his offense, but he’s off to a poor start.

Sidy Cissoko makes this list because his talent level suggests he should be able to do more. He made a couple of good passes, but sometimes his pass-first mentality gets him in trouble if he feeds a guy who shouldn’t get the ball in a particular spot. He’s so athletic, he should be wrecking the rim, but something hasn’t translated. It would be nice to see him make more of an impact.

San Antonio dropped the game 112-107, but overall, the team put forth an impressive effort. They were never expected to win, but they made the Thunder work for it. That's how you pass the Spurs basketball character test.