Spurs make a new star every night with brutal trend directly causing blowouts

When January began, Spurs fans knew the team faced an uphill climb. The schedule was littered with superstars and all-stars, like Nikola Jokic, Ja Morant, Giannis, etc., so it was always going to be tough. San Antonio had developed a trend of winning the games they were favored to win, and there were plenty of those games early. That's no longer the case, and the record is reflecting that.

When you're up against players that talented, you expect them to go off. A famous Spurs defensive strategy even allows those players to go off to a certain extent because you're focused on containing the rest of the team. But lately, San Antonio is doing the opposite and allowing role players to have star-level impact on top of the actual star's great performances, and it's leading to blowout losses.

Spurs keep allowing big nights from players who shouldn't have them

On January 8, the Spurs were outclassed by the Milwaukee Bucks all game. They got beatdown on National TV 121-105. Now, the Giannis-led ball club was just better that night as they are the better team, and that's fine. But when you lose by a 14-point margin, you expect it's because Giannis and Dame Lillard went off, but they let Brook Lopez go for 22 points when he only averages 12.2.

In the first of two meetings with Memphis, they had Jaren Jackson Jr. in foul trouble, and Ja Morant contained for the majority of the game. Morant only took 13 shots that night, and JJJ was 8/24. But they lost 129-115 because they allowed Jay Huff to score 11 points in 11 minutes and let Santi Aldama drop 20 points on 9/15 from the field. Aldama averages 13.3 points, and Huff averages 8.7.

In the second game against the Grizzlies, Morant didn't even play, but the outcome was worse than before. The Spurs were smacked down 140-112. This time, Huff didn't do as much damage, but Santi Aldama had a career night, going 10/19 for 29 points. Brandon Clarke joined him in the "guys who shouldn't be doing this" party, scoring 12 points on 6/7 FG.

Finally, we get to the Miami Heat, who have so much drama going on that they should be in negotiations with MTV for a reality series. The Heat entered the day on a three-game losing streak but whipped San Antonio 128-107. This game's unlikely hero was Kel'el Ware. He went 10/19 from the floor for 25 points. Ordinarily, Ware scores about 7.3 a game, but he was playing the Spurs, so... yeah.

The trend with all of these games is that they're all versatile big men. Whatever defensive strategy the Spurs are deploying is not working, but they've undoubtedly tried different things, which brings us back to the roster construction.

Why aren't our guys able to make these plays we watch other teams make? Why do we have a constant energy problem? Why do we struggle with silly turnovers? When was the last time somebody unexpectedly exploded, leading to a great win? Stephon Castle doesn't count. He was the number four overall pick in the draft. We knew he would be good.

It's either the coaching or the players or both. They've said all season that their youth is no longer an excuse. Victor Wembanyama played pro ball overseas, and he's an MVP candidate, Keldon Johnson is in his sixth year, Devin Vassell is in his fifth year, and the majority of the players in the rotation have at least three years of NBA experience. Certain things, like effort issues, shouldn't be happening anymore.

There is something broken about this team, and it's since the Coach can't play, I'm looking at the guys on the floor because they need to want it more than what they've shown us so far.