Spotlight: San Antonio Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan; Looking at the first 10 games of the regular season
Spurs Jeremy Sohan got some constructive criticism from a fellow Polish big man and let’s predict how the Spurs are going to start the season. You are Locked on Spurs, your daily San Antonio Spurs podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Happy Monday. Welcome back to Locked on Spurs in the Lock NBA network. I’m your host, Jeff Garcia, sports runner for Ken 5 San Antonio. Glad to have you all back. Hope you had a great weekend. And as always, we thank you all for making lockdown on sports your first listen each and every day. Free available where we get podcast, iTunes, Spotify, Kiss 5 plus app, YouTube. You know what to do. Go subscribe ASAP. We definitely appreciate it. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner. Visit the FanDuel app today and start planning your future bets right now. So, what are we talking about on today’s episode, kids? We’re going to be looking at Jeremy Sohan and what fellow Polish big man, remember this guy, Marcen Gortat, the Polish Hammer? Well, he had some tough love, some constructive criticism for Jeremy Sohan as he enters year four, I believe. So, we’re going to be diving into that. Is Gortat right? Is he wrong? And just what do we expect from Sohan uh next season? And then we’re going to look at the Spurs schedule. It came out last week. We’re going to look at the first 10 games. We’re going to try to predict that 10 games start. Yeah. So, we’ll we’ll definitely love to hear what our guest thinks about that and more. Let’s go to bring him on guest back. Look who’s back everybody to kick off a week here at Lockdown Spurs. Mr. James Pledger with San Antonio Sports Star. He is on X at I am Pledger. Pleasure. Welcome back to Lockdown Spurs. What’s happening my man? How you doing? We’re doing good. As y’all can tell, he’s busy at work. So, we’re gonna we’re gonna be like, um Tony Parker racing down to the paint. We’re gonna ride through this right now. So, uh always make sure to check out 94.1 San Sports Star from the Blitz to his show, Mr. Pleasure Show. Uh extra innings. You do that ASAP. All right. Pleasure. Let’s dive into it. We’re trying to respect your time here. So, let’s kick on that afterburner right now. So, uh in a Polish interview, Marcen Gortat, remember him? big man uh played with the Wizard, played several teams. Well, he had some very tough love, some tough words, you know, out of the heart though for Jeremy Zohan as he enters year four uh next season with San Antonio. In a nutshell, he touched on the obvious. You know, that outside shot has to improve. Okay, so Marcen, we got that. Yay, we understand that. I think Sohan knows that. But he kept on. He just stopped there. He said that someone has to realize he’s not the go-to guy. That what’s going to make him valuable player on the Spurs roster is that he has to do a lot of everything. Now, he did give so had the benefit of the doubt. He said, “Hey, he been at point guard. He’s been in and out of the rotation, hurt, starter, bench.” So, he gave him a pass on that. But as the Spurs are getting better, he feels that So is going to fall down deeper in the I guess the importance level. So because of that, he says that he needs to just go ahead and just do a little bit of everything. What do you think about that? Do you think that Sohan just has to, you know, play and, you know, whatever he does, if he gets two points, well great, but you better be out there playing defense. I guess what Marcen Cortana is trying to tell Sohan Pledger is, hey man, you got to know your role and that knowing your role is going to get bigger as far as accepting what they’re gonna have to do next season because this team is loaded. Pleasure. Sure. Sure. Um I’m unaware that Sohan thought he was the guy on this team apparently. So according to Has come across has has the way he has ever played come across like that to you? Never. Never. So, I don’t get the criticism from Marcine Gorta. I understand the shooting the ball. I don’t understand because everything he gets doesn’t feel like he’s taking away from anybody. He kind of feels like a garbage guy in a lot of senses when it comes to how he gets his points or he’s left wide open for three because they don’t, you know, nobody is scared of him out there. So like while we may not like him shooting when he’s open a lot of the times it’s the best shot. So I don’t I’ve never felt like he was a hindrance to the offense the same way I do Devin Bell is sometimes like that there are times where I feel like Deon Vel doesn’t understand his role on the team. I’ve always thought Jeremy Sohan understood his role on the team. He’s the three he’s a defensive guy. He’s a spark plug. He’s a a cleanup guy down low inside, you know, five feet. Like I’ve never once watched a Spurs game and went, man, Jeremy Sohan is really trying to take over this game. Yeah. You know, I’ve never felt that. So like part of Marcine’s comments don’t hit with me because I don’t see that in his game. Yeah. And and and look, I had this conversation with Locked on Fantasy NBA a couple weeks ago about Sohan and I was asked in that show, so is he a five, is he a four, is that a few years, is he who is he? And we were kind of fumbling through it and we just said, you know what, he’s just a baller. That’s it. There’s really no way to say, “Okay, he is this and that’s it.” I think he does he’s going to have to do a little bit of everything, right? Sure. Yeah. Since they moved him to the one, and I’ve always felt this is probably the most apt description of Jeremy Sohan, just kind of in a different vein. He’s he’s a hyper athletic Draymond Green. He’s Yeah, he he can push the ball up the floor for you. He can, you know, not so much initiate the offense the same way Draymond does, but like off a rebound, he can freaking take it the other way and all of a sudden you’re off to the races, right? That’s kind of game. He’s he’s like as another Spur who used to wear tin and have funky hair. Dennis Rodman, but like Dennis Rodman with the Bulls. Nobody ever thought Dennis Rodman was trying to insert his way into the offense or take away from Jordan or Pippen or you know he he’s just he’s a guy that’s gonna get under the guys that he’s guarding skin and the other team and he’s going to you know lay out into the crowd to save a loose but like that’s that’s who Jeremy Sohan is his greatest achievement I think is being like a hybrid between Draymond Green and Dennis Rodman because that’s the type of player he is. He’s an annoyance on defense. He’s going to poke the the other team and hopefully make them do something stupid and getting them to retaliate. And he’s going to take the offense as it comes to it. He’s not searching it out. Like that’s who he is. And I think that’s like the ultimate Charizard form of of Jeremy Sohan. Love how uh Pleased dropped the Pokemon reference here. I think that’s the first time ever we had a Pokemon reference on Lockown Spurs. Hey, you know you know what though, you know, and we’ll hit a break coming up soon real fast. But but am I wrong? No, you’re not wrong. You’re not wrong. And it kind of leads into what I was going to say right now is you know it’s one of those things that you look you’ve seen the box scores last year. I know I’m in press row and we see them and we’re we’re talking before the players come out. Let’s just say Sohan’s going to be one of the guys coming out and we look at a stat sheet and we’re like, “Oh man, you know, we jump to the points, right? Oh man, he just had five points.” We’re like, “Come on, Sen.” But then you read the stat line. Oh, he had 11 rebounds. Oh, he had two steals. Oh, he had four offensive rebounds. Yeah. Oh, he had three blocks. And I think that’s how he has to move forward, like doing that kind of stuff. And look, I get what Marcine’s trying to do. Maybe he’s trying to light a fire under his fellow Polish big man guy there. You know, that’s you know that weird way to do it. Okay. But it I mean, yeah, he he has some harsh I mean it was it was more I felt I read it more like tough love. Just like some tough love. But man um yeah Marcine has some stuff for him. But you know we’re not done talking about Sohan. When we get back we’re going to continue talking about Gortad and his comments regarding the Spurs forward. That and more right here on Lock Spurs with James Pledger. He is on X at I am pleasure. Hey, I want to talk about FanDuel. August 26th is officially FanDuel’s futures day. 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We’re back right here on Locked On Spurs, joined by Mr. James Pledger. He’s with San Antonio Sports, host of Extra Innings. He’s going to brag about that in just a few seconds. We’re talking about Marcine Gort. Remember him? Well, he had some tough love for Jeremy Sohan regarding his play and entry year four. Now, you look at the stats, pledger, you know, you’re you’re seeing incremental growth. you’re not seeing dramatic big steps. So, what I mean by that with Sohan is this. So, everybody points at his shooting, right? Oh, the shooting is horrible, and it is. But last season, for his standards, he shot a career-high 59% from the two-point range. He had a career-high 57% effective field goal shooting and a career-high 71% shooting at the rim. He also gave you 11 points per game and a career-high 2.4 offensive rebounds. So you look at that like you just see that he is effective but he’s just not going to be effective in one stat category. Let’s just say like Wimi with blocks or Fox with points you know he’s going to affect the game in every facet not one. And it’s not going to be domination in every or one facet. It’s just going to be a little bit here a little bit there a little bit. You’re just he’s he’s what I like to call a a box score compiler. Yeah, exactly. You know, he’s he’s going to tick every check on the box score. Absolutely. Now, next season though, it’s going to be interesting because obviously they got Dylan Harper, Castle’s on the rise, when B Fox, etc., etc. How do you see him fitting in next season? Is he going to be valuable in that starting five or in that second unit? um because it it’s hard to decipher because we don’t know what lineup Mitch Johnson really wants to go with, right? And so for me, I think much like he was at Baylor, coming off the bench may very, very well be a good spot for him. For some reason, I have this feeling deep in my gut that the Spurs are gonna do a starting lineup that is Fox, Castle, right? Bel, Barnes, Wimi. [Music] Interesting. You know what? I I have Sohan in the starting unit, too. So, that would have Barnes coming off the bench, then. Yeah. Yeah. Who would you rather have with Wimby on the floor? Someone that spaces the floor. I know. Exactly. Yeah. I just thought about that random. You want I mean Castle’s not floor spacer. Fox in the floor spacer. Wendy can space the floor, but you want to space it for him as well. You just need you need someone just for the dichotomy of the rotation. Like just best player doesn’t mean, you know, deserving of spot. you know, you you have to build this team as a team. And I think a lot of that gets lost in the shuffle a lot of the times as we’re trying to put the best five on the floor and roll the ball out. That’s cool in theory, but those people have to play each other. And there are certain there’s a reason why you know for a period in time Julian Champini was a starter. Mhm. On this team because you just you needed somebody that could space the floor at an effect clip and at least with Harrison Barnes and we saw it last year the effectiveness of Wimby grew because of Barnes ability to pull big men out from the paint. And it also helps out guys like Fox when he penetrates and castle and you know you you need people that can be a threat from outside to open it up for everybody else. And I think that’s the biggest question mark going into this season that I have is is Mitch Ro Johnson going to base his rotation on his best players or the best fits with each other because that’s going to be very very important and I think fit has as much to do with winning as anything. Look at the year Giannis won a NBA championship. It was him and a whole bunch of shooters. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And Middleton you could consider a star at that time point in time I guess but he was a floor spacing star you know he was a three and D star like other than that you have Bobby Portoris. You have Brook Lopez all of them shoot over 33% from three. Like they they brought in PJ Tucker who is a three and D guy. Like all they did was unclog the lane so Giannis could do work. Yeah. And that’s kind of what the Spurs have missed in different iterations of this team. And I think, you know, it would it shock me if, you know, Kelly Olen maybe is in the starting line? No. Because it would, you know, he he I don’t need them to be a 20. I don’t need seven 20 point a game scored starting, you know. I need two or three and I need two other guys that know what their role is to take their shot when it’s their turn and they’re wide open. Um, that’s the importance of basketball and that’s that’s probably the most important aspect that I feel the Spurs have lost more than anything. Much like, you know, the Spurs, Tim Duncan era, you know, they were bringing in different guys, but they were all guys with a purpose that made sure to fit in the overall Yeah. welloiled machine that was the Spurs offense. You know, you had the the big guy down low, whether it was Nervich or Malik. uh um Rose Rose or uh Yaka Purle or you know um Thiago Splitter, whoever it was, they had a big this role was to do big things down low and take pressure off Tim Duncan and then they surrounded him with guys like Brent Barry and Steve Kerr and and Stephen Jackson like shooters to space the floor to unclog the paint so Tim could work. Like those are important aspects of building a roster. And I think the Spurs have have been so hellbent on finding talent that they have bypassed the other necessary parts in building a functioning team that can win at the NBA level. And they’ve started to fill some of those holes, whether it’s Zack Cornet or Co Kelly Olen or um uh Harrison Barnes last year. like they’ve started to put pieces that are starting to alleviate some of those issues. We don’t lack for star power. We lack for role players or we lacked four role players and we’ll see if the role players they bought in help fit into the system that can make this the welloiled machine offensively that it can be. Yeah. Then you know you you we talked about this last week a lot on Spurs like are there any holes on the roster right now? And I still think there are holes and one of them is lack of perimeter shooting from their guard core. From the guard core we, you know, hopefully some of these guys, I think Fox is Fox, you know, he’s gonna that’s who he is already. Yeah. But I think with Castle, hopefully Harper, maybe Carter Bryant, you know, we’ll see, you know, they can take up um, you know, take a step as far as alleviating uh the clogging of the lanes with their perimeter shooting. Circling back to Sohan, he is technically in a contract year. As of this recording, the Spurs have not extended him. Um, that’s got to play a huge factor in how he performs next season. That’s got to play a huge factor because you have in the wings, as we mentioned, you know, Carter Bryant there, you have Dylan Harper there, you know, could So be expendable on this team. So, what do you think about that? The the whole contract situation he’s in. I mean, everybody’s expendable at some point because you got you just signed Darren Fox to his massive deal. You know, you’ve got Victor Winyama coming. Those are two massive deals that you’re not going to uh nothing’s happening that’s going to deter you from those two contracts moving forward. Does Stefon Castle continue on his trajectory? Then that’s another one um that you’re going to have to pay. And we don’t know what Dylan Bryan is yet. Hopefully. uh or Dylan Harper uh hopefully. But you know, at some point you’re going to make tough decisions. You’re either going to pay those aprons or you’re going to move on from players that are a part of your team, a part of your core, a part of what started. But I mean, look at the spurt. Like they they had a core, but their core also knew like the core was the core with those three. And then, you know, Matt Bonner became part of the core. Patty Mills part of the core, but they were never max money guys, right? And you’re either going to be willing to accept what your perceived value is to the Spurs or you’re going to test the open market and try and make as much money as you humanly possibly can. Right. Yeah. Exactly. But um circling back to Gortad and his comments regarding Sohan, he he did he did in his opinion, he considers um year four for Sohan a prove it year. So uh man, I guess those Polish guys, man, they they man, they don’t hold back. They’ll let their buddies know, man. he might have huge expectations for him and to be, you know, a star player in the league and to do these different things and not to be, you know, what it looks like the Spurs may have envisioned him to be when they drafted him, which is, you know, kind of a jack of all trades kind of guy. And I if he wants to be a superstar and, you know, he’s going to have to go somewhere else to be that, that’s for sure. So, but you know, I don’t I don’t need him thinking about his contract thinking I’ve got to score 25 points a game. I need him to continue doing what he’s done. The money will come with your production. Absolutely. He is James Pleasure with San Antonio Sports Star. Make sure to follow him on I am pleasure. And we got to hear from y’all. What do you think about Marcine Gortat’s uh you know, tough love, constructive criticism for Jeremy Sohan? Agree or disagree? You know, let us know. Again, pledgers on X at IM Pledger. I am onX at JeffG Spurs. When we get back, we’re going to look at the first 10 games and get pledges predition how the Spurs are going to start coming out of the gates next season right here on Locked on Spurs. This is where we’re the first time. We’re back right here on Lock on Spurs. Joined by James Pledger of San Antonio Sports Star. Make sure to check out all the shows on the Star at 94.1 or on YouTube. basically wherever you listen to lots on Spurs. You’re probably gonna find San Antonio Sports on all the shows there as well. So, make sure to do that ASAP. All right, pledgers. Time to put you in the hot seat. So, the Spurs uh 25 26 regular season schedule came out last week and you know, everybody rushes like, “Hey, who are they playing? Who this and that?” You know, and so we’ve you had some time to digest it. You had some time to look at the roster. It seemingly seems like the roster we see right now is the one they’re going to go to war with to start the season. So, let’s see what you think. How will they start off the season with the first 10 games? What are you going to do? You gonna you’re going to read off the opponents and I just go win loss or Yeah. Yeah. Simple as that. Okay. So, they start off on the road at Dallas. Is that a win or a loss? Uh, I’m writing them down. I’m imagining I’m imagining outside of Kyrie Irving, the Mavs are fully fully functioning. That was a playoff team that just happened to fall out of the playoffs and into the number one overall pick. Um, I’m gonna go loss. Okay. I’m going to go win. I’m gonna go win. I think the Spurs get a W there. All right. Next one on the road at the Pelicans. That’s a win. That’s a win. And I got a win, too. All right. Up next. And they finally come home for a four no say a three-game home stand. That is. And they host the Nets. What do you got? Win. Win. I’m right there with you. I got to win, too. All right. Then they host the Raptors. Win. Win. All right. I got a win, too. All right. Then they host Miami. Win. And I got a win there, too. All right. So, so far we’re almost there. Then they go to Phoenix. Win or loss? Win. Good pleasure. I got a win, too. Then they go to the Lakers. Loss. Yeah, I I got for me, I got the first loss right there. For you, that’s their second loss. Then they come back home against Houston hosting the Rockets game, by the way. NBA TV, too. A first one on prime, too, for the Spurs. Uh, that’s a loss. Woo! I gotta win. Okay. And then uh up next they host the Pelicans. It’s a win. It’s a win. Yep. And then finally for the first 10 games they go to Chicago. That’s a loss or that’s a win. Sorry. Sorry. That’s a win. All right. And I was looking ahead at the backtoback with the Warriors. Yeah. Yeah. We you get that one in there. I got a win, too. So I have them five, six, seven, five. Seven and three. Yeah. You got them seven and three. I got them at nine and one. It feels like either way they should come out to a great start next season, right? Cuz this you got a good start. It gets hard after that. Yeah, they got to take advantage of that. You got the Warriors, you got the Grizzlies, you got the Hawks, you got the Nuggets, the Timberwolves. Like it you got some road to hay after that after that 10 game start. Spurs and you’re listening, take advantage of that hot start or that easy, should I say, start of the schedule. He is James Pledger with San Antonio Sports. He is on X at I am pleasure. Hey, Pleasure, can you brag about the Star for us, please? I can uh at the Star, we’re going to shoot it to you straight. Uh missed anything this week? You missed some great interviews like uh Councilman Mark White, uh Ron Nerburgg, who talked Project Marvel. Ron Nerburgg was great the other day. Uh man, God, I I wish he hadn’t have turned out. He is great mayor. Great mayor. Good dude. Yeah. Um but you know, all that on the Blitz, you got the morning huddle with AJ and Rob from 6:00 to 10. The Blitz of course 2 to 6. And of course my show from 6:00 to 7:00 wrapping you up and getting you ready for your evening. And of course, you know where your home for everything that is starting right now. And that is football season. And that means we got the Cowboys every weekend for you from here until the season ends, whenever that may be. We’ll be your home for Thursday, Monday, Sunday Night Football. Um, we’ve got it all for you. So, if you need sports in your life, San Antonio Sports Star is the way to go. Absolutely. Don’t forget to check out Extra Innings. That’s the show that Fledger hosts as well. By the way, I heard that you can outlift Mayor Ron. I heard that’s true. Uh, that is absolutely categorically false. I would love if there’s a man I don’t if there’s a man I want to throw weights with but like will never beat him in the gym, it’s Mayor Ron. That dude lives in there. He’s in there more than we. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what how it is. Yeah, I would love to work out with him as well. As well as you, Fletcher, as well. All right, Fledger, thank you so much for joining us here on Lockdown Spurs. I know you got to get back to work, so we’ll let you go right now. Everybody else, thank you all for making lockup. Spurs your first listen every single day. Free available podcast, iTunes, Spotify, Kid Plus, that YouTube. We’ll be back later on this week talking all things Spurs as the offseason continues. But for James Pledger, I am Jeff Garcia. We’re going to put a lock on this episode of Lock on Spurs. [Music]
Ex-NBA big man Marcin Gortat’s tough love for Jeremy Sochan sparks debate. Is the young Spur on the right track?
The San Antonio Spurs’ roster puzzle takes center stage as the new season approaches.
Host Jeff Garcia and guest James Pledger of San Antonio Sports Star dissect Sochan’s role, react to what former NBA player Marcin Gortat said about him, and predict the Spurs’ starting five. The duo analyzes how Victor Wembanyama’s arrival reshapes the team’s strategy and explores Sochan’s contract situation.
Plus, get game-by-game predictions for the Spurs’ first 10 matchups.
0:00 Intro: Spurs and Jeremy Sochan discussion
3:47 Analyzing Marcin Gortat’s criticism of Sochan
7:38 Sochan’s role and impact beyond scoring
10:08 Sochan’s statistical improvements and fit
16:14 Roster construction and shooting needs
20:47 Predicting Spurs’ first 10 games of season
23:45 San Antonio Sports Star programming highlights
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