Spurs' badly miss Coach Popovich and brutal January slide is proof

I would have thought that it was either Groundhog's Day or that we were all stuck in some sort of time loop after watching the Spurs fold to the Grizzlies last night in the exact same fashion they did on Wednesday. The differentiating factor was that it was so much worse this time. Wednesday's loss was just unfortunate, but Friday's loss was horrendous.

Another game that seemed winnable at halftime turned into San Antonio getting stomped out. What makes it worse is knowing Ja Morant didn't play this time, but no Morant, no problem. That's an issue for the Spurs, who were supposed to be turning a corner only to hit a massive bump in the road.

The January schedule has been tough, but this team is capable of beating top teams. They've already done it several times. So, losing all these games forces us to look harder at acting head coach Mitch Johnson.

Spurs need Coach Popovich back to realize potential

This sounds like a slight to Mitch, but it's not. He's just not experienced enough as the head coach to navigate the terrain he was unexpectedly thrust on. Pop has coached thousands of NBA games, giving him exorbitant knowledge that Johnson is too young to come close to.

The Spurs are 2-5 in January, losing games to Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee, and, of course, Memphis twice. They were winning all of these games at halftime—minus the Bucks game, where they just got smacked up and down the floor all night—but ended up losing them all by double-digits except the Bulls game, but that one was the worst of all. They allowed a 19-point comeback to a team below .500.

That's telling us that teams are making adjustments at halftime, and San Antonio can't react quickly enough to the changes to secure victories. Johnson has been strong at drawing up the occasional play and can even put a solid game plan together to start a ball game, but the quick in-game adjustments seem to be a struggle.

When you watch him on the sidelines during the games, there are a lot of hands staying in his pockets. Other coaches are more vocal and animated, displaying the passion they want their teams to play with. The Spurs have had an energy issue more times than we can count, but when you look at the always calm demeanor of the coach, it starts to make more sense.

We haven't seen Johnson get a tech for going at refs for the blatantly bad calls they've been making all season. He doesn't yell at the players for mistakes right then and there. We've seen Pop tear into guys, and he doesn't have to act exactly like Pop, but he needs to bring more juice.

While other coaches are jumping up and down on the sidelines, encouraging their teams to pick it up, he's often just leaned up against the scorer's table with his hands in his pockets. Maybe San Antonio would show more fight on the floor if he did on the sideline.

That doesn't even get into his rotations that often leave Spurs fans confused. It's a little too much Tre Jones here, not enough Stephon Castle there, but not just for those two.

Last night, Wembanyama played the first five-plus minutes in the second half and was pulled for about 3 minutes. He then played the final 3:40 in the third quarter, started the fourth quarter, and stayed on the floor the rest of the game until the white flag was waved with three minutes left in the game.

Some of that is likely due to a lack of trust in the backup bigs, but overworking Wemby isn't helping this team either. Johnson has deployed Vic in extended minutes more than a few times this season, and it's usually to the detriment of the team.

Mitch Johnson has done a fine job, but he happened upon a road he wasn't meant to travel. Now that San Antonio's schedule has ratcheted up, he's being out-maneuvered nightly, and the Spurs roster is good enough to win at least a few of these games.

We don't know how long it might be for Coach Pop's return, and we hope he takes the time he needs to recover. His health will always be more important than anything. We just also hope that he reaches full health sooner rather than later.