Murray: We need to communicate
Speaking to reporters before Thursday’s game at Minnesota, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich raved about point guard Dejounte Murray’s “spectacular” play this season.
“We haven’t exactly amazed the world, but if we didn’t have him we would be in big trouble,” Popovich said. “He’s looking for other teammates to join him in playing as well as he is.”
Unfortunately for the Spurs, even Murray struggled against the Timberwolves, who pounded their Western Conference rivals 115-90 in the first of three meetings between the teams this season.
Murray finished the season’s worst loss with a season-low seven points, eight rebounds and a season-low matching four assists after coming in with averages of 18.9, 8.1 and 8.1. He said he and his teammates by and large failed to show up against Minnesota, which improved to 6-9 with their second consecutive win.
“We had probably a couple of minutes where we competed, but other than that, we didn’t compete,” Murray said. “They were physical, pushing guys around, getting fouls. You don’t want to come out and hurt guys with flagrants, but they were just physical and competing. On our end, we didn’t do either.”
Another aspect of the loss that bothered Murray was the lack of communication by the Spurs on the court.
“Like I told my teammates, we talk on the plane, the buses, the locker room and outside of our job, but when we get on the floor, it’s like everybody is scared to talk to each other,” Murray said. “It’s a lot of fixable things, and it’s going to start with us. You get tired to saying, ‘We are right there. We are close.’ And then it’s the same stuff over and over.”
The Spurs have lost five of their last six games, including four straight to match their longest losing streak of the season.
But Murray says he “believes in his group.”
“This is who we are and we have to stick together and grit it out,” he said. “We are going to stick together and I believe we will get it (turned around) because a lot of guys are frustrated and mad.”
Pop praises brass for new facility
Popovich called the Spurs’ planned $500 million-plus facility on the city’s Northwest Side a “commitment on the part of the organization to be at the cutting edge performance-wise.”
Spurs Sports & Entertainment broke ground Thursday on a roughly 45-acre campus that will include a training facility for the team, a research center, a park, an outdoor event plaza and office and medical space.
Popovich also praised SS&E managing partner Peter J. Holt and SS&E chief executive officer R.C. Buford for their work on the project.
“It’s a real tribute to Peter John and the (Holt) family’s commitment to the people of San Antonio, obviously,” Popovich said. “And R.C. is the front man who has spent many, many hours trying to make sure it happens the right way.”
Located at the northwest corner of Interstate 10 and Loop 1604, the sprawling facility has been dubbed “The Rock at La Cantera.”
White and wife are expecting
Spurs guard Derrick White said his wife, Hannah, is expecting to give birth to the couple’s first child May 22.
“It’s going to be exciting,” White said.
White and Hannah Schneider got married this past summer after a nearly year-long engagement, a moment he shared on his Instagram account.