The San Antonio Spurs have been one of the NBA's best teams this season. They are second in the Western Conference with a 31-15 record, but they do have some problems from time to time.
This includes their latest loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. It was a 104-95 loss for the Spurs, as they struggled against the Pelicans' physicality, spearheaded by Zion Williamson's physical brand of basketball.
Vassell admits the Spurs' problem with physicality
Devin Vassell made his return after nearly a month away from the Spurs' rotation. He played 25 minutes, which is not as long as his regular stints. During those 25 minutes, he saw that the Spurs were having trouble with the Pelicans' physicality.
It has been a long-standing problem for the Spurs because they tend to get bullied by their opponents who do that. This is a red flag that the Spurs must be fixing ahead of time.
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Victor Wembanyama is the Spurs' superstar. He is one of the most imposing players in the league, as he stands at 7'5" with the skill set of an elite guard. He is one of the biggest mismatches in NBA history.
However, it has become known that playing hard and physical basketball against him and the Spurs can work out for teams. The Pelicans did just that, as they dominated that part of the game, which led to the upset victory.
"It's just a mental thing. We just got to go in knowing that's how teams are going to approach it. We knew that's how New Orleans was going to play this game... It was going to be because they were crashing glass and being more physical," Vassell said after the loss to New Orleans.
"That's what they did. So just going forward, we just got to have that mindset. We can't be kind of a finesse team or somebody who's just going to let somebody just get pushed around."
It will be a challenging problem to resolve, but the Spurs are focused on doing so. With the talented players they have, this can be done well. Head coach Mitch Johnson also has to contribute by spearheading the positive adjustments.
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