Casey Coggins

Creative Writer | Spurfect Contributor | Formerly at Pounding the Rock

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Didn't get these up yesterday, and no, last night didn't change anything.

My 2025-26 Season Predictions:

Awards:
MVP: SGA
DPOY: Wemby
ROY: Flagg
MIP: Mathurin
6MOY: John Collins
COY: Mike Brown

Couldn't convince myself of non-chalk.

I think Luka leads the league in scoring.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Can anybody tell me what Keldon has done in this game to warrant play time over Carter?
It's pretty clear that Keldon and Barnes just aren't providing much.
Keldon will have a moment, I'm sure, but he's been pretty bad.
Just please, I am begging, for Mitch to try playing Carter 20 minutes.

If you're gonna go down, at least go down swinging.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Tony Brothers saying "the contact was unnecessary" is definitely going into a gif.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Like this is a gray area for me.
It's not a flagrant.

But it should be something. Because Hart trips Vassell when the ball is nowhere near them.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Those are the sequences that kill you.
Castle biting on the late clock pumpfake for a foul.
Fox missing a pretty easy 8ft jumper.
Deflecting the pass but it still winding up with KAT.
Crashing hard to give up a wide open corner 3.

And in the blink of an eye, it's a 3pt game.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

1) SGA missed 16, 12, 11, 9, 12, 12, and 9 shots against this Spurs defense. And he's a more efficient scorer than Brunson.
2) They played KAT tight so he wasn't hoisting 3s.
3) Hart isn't the right guy to point to with shooting. He's been their worst 3pt shooter.

[Skip Bayless @RealSkipBayless]

Wait, Wembanyama said he's not worried "in the slightest"? The Knicks will play - and shoot - much better in Game 2 than they did in 1. Brunson missed 19 shots. KAT: 0 of only 2 from 3. Josh Hart: 1-5, 3 points.

[Blake Griffin @blakegriffin23]

This ain’t it. @wingstop would never #notapaidpost

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Matchup data from last night against Jalen Brunson.
That Champagnie line is rough.

[Cryptid Politics @CryptidPolitics]

The Dallas Mavericks drafting Luka Doncic AND Jalen Brunson in the same draft AND not having either one of them now is generational incompetence.

[Deep Singh Badhesha @DeepNotShallow]

Xcel Energy made nearly $1 Billion in profit last year

Why in the hell do we allow a private company to make profit out of public infrastructure.

[Carolina Teague @CTtheMicSlayer]

Oh dang it already aired! Shoutout to @InsideEdition

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

The group he had out there went 6/20 (2/9 from 3) with 4 turnovers in the 4th.
But the biggest thing is that Fox didn't look good all game, but played 10:57 of 12 4th quarter minutes.
Even the "vibes" said to have Harper out there.

[Matt Guzman @mattgzman]

Mitch Johnson says Dylan Harper not finishing the game last night was no reflection of his performance. He acknowledged there being “logic” to having him out there, but liked the group he had closing.

“It wasn’t something that (Dylan) did … it was a decision I made.” #PorVida

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

I've questioned Mitch not rolling the dice with a fresh lineup when things fall apart all season. Sometimes you just gotta try something new.
That's exactly what Mike Brown did last night.

[Michael Pina @MichaelVPina]

when the spurs took their largest lead halfway into the third quarter, mike brown went to a lineup that's basically never played before: brunson, mcbride, towns, shamet, and hart.

four minutes later, the game was tied: https://t.co/gxcLp3N8SX

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

@UrameshiCdd Right. Harper needed to be in for Fox in the 4th. But Carter needed to be in for Champagnie.
The heater went cold and he was targeted just like Carter by Brunson.
But at least with Carter, you get a bit more energy, size, athleticism, and defensive ability.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Carter Bryant was only given 4 minutes of run tonight. Going to post the 6 plays he was actually involved in during that run.
These are the 3 plays where Brunson scored.
1 was a tip in on his own miss where Bryant ends up boxed out (Fox needs to crash harder)
1 is Brunson hitting a contested off-hand layup.
1 is Brunson hitting a contested floater.

I wouldn't say any of these are terrible defensive plays.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

@UrameshiCdd But the point is he didn't play poorly enough to warrant being put on ice.
When the Knicks went on their run in the 3rd that changed the game, adjustments needed to be made on the Spurs end, but nothing changed.

[Casey Coggins @caseylevane]

Spurs were 2/20 on Open 3PA and 8/19 on Wide Open 3PA.
So 39 of their 43 3PA were Open or Wide Open and they shot 25.6% on them.

Knicks went 8/15 on their Open 3PA and 3/14 when Wide Open.

[Hardwood Paroxysm @HPbasketball]

15 potential assists for De'Aaron Fox in Game 1, only five converted. The most potential assists of any player in Game 1

[Hardwood Paroxysm @HPbasketball]

15 potential assists for De'Aaron Fox in Game 1, only five converted. The most potential assists of any player in Game 1

[Jon Healy @JonHealy]

Could ESPN really not find a genuine shot of Tony Parker as they cut to an ad break? Just had to use AI

[ALL NBA Podcast @ALLCITY_NBA]

The Spurs scored just 0.85 PPP in the halfcourt in Game 1 of the Finals, their worst mark of the entire season. Their second-worst halfcourt game, on a points per possession basis, also came against the Knicks.

[Texas Democratic Party @texasdemocrats]

Texas ranchers are already struggling, and a potential New World screwworm outbreak could devastate Texas’ $15B cattle industry, and disrupt our nation’s beef supply right before the 4th of July.

[Sean Grande @SeanGrandePBP]

The last three teams to win Game 1 of the Finals on the road all went on to lose the series.

The last team to win Game 1 on the road and win the championship?

The 2004 Pistons.