Tag: Jeremy Sochan

Draymond Green gives Jeremy Sochan stamp of approval as instigator

Golden State Warriors veteran Draymond Green gave San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan his stamp of approval.

As the years roll on, the San Antonio Spurs will have to work hard to put a complete team around Victor Wembanyama. While most of this will involve careful on-court considerations, it’s also important to have the right personalities around him. And while it may not be completely necessary, having an instigator could be useful. Perhaps Jeremy Sochan could fill that role.

Though the Sochan-at-point-guard experiment from earlier this season failed, he has played well since moving back to his natural position at forward. And he plays with an intensity that a lot of players around the league don’t match.

After the Spurs’ recent win over the Golden State Warriors, one of the best instigators ever, Draymond Green, gave Sochan his stamp of approval. (H/t Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express0-News)

“All of us can’t be the most loved,” Green said.

Green believes in Sochan in this role.

“Not caring what anybody thinks, that’s a skill in this league,” Green said. “Jeremy, he don’t give a [bleep]. You can tell.”

If Sochan can be as positively annoying as Green is on a nightly basis, that would be a huge win for the Spurs.

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Devin Vassell praises Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan after Spurs win

After the San Antonio Spurs’ win over the Toronto Raptors, Devin Vassell praised Victor Wembanyama and Jeremy Sochan.

Heading into their Monday night contest against the Toronto Raptors, the San Antonio Spurs were looking to snap a seven-game losing streak. And thanks to a dominant performance from Victor Wembanyama, they did just that, earning a 122-99 victory over the Raptors, who seriously changed their roster with trades this season.

Wembanyama became the youngest player ever to post a triple-double with blocks, but he wasn’t the only player who put on an impressive showing against Toronto. Devin Vassell also added 25 points, and Jeremy Sochan had 16 points and six rebounds as well. Plus, Keldon Johnson, Malaki Branham, and Blake Wesley came off the bench and played well, too.

After the game, Vassell praised the Spurs’ performance, showing love to Wembanyama and Sochan, in particular.

“I feel like we fed off of Vic [Wembanyama] and we came out on both ends of the floor,” Vassell said via Jeremy Brener of Inside the Spurs. “Knocking down threes, blocking shots. He was just all over the place. Passing the ball. He was really carrying us through the first quarter. Jeremy [Sochan] was playing tremendous defense going against Scottie [Barnes].

“The way we were all together just on the defensive end and getting out and running was huge. It just shows when we’re playing together like that, we’re just connected and making shots and getting stops we can be a great team.”

The Spurs will be back in action on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.

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Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan added to 2024 Rising Stars games

The San Antonio forward will replace injured Portland guard Shaedon Sharpe.

The San Antonio Spurs will have a player in the thick of one of the NBA’s more interesting events for the 2024 All-Star Week festivities slated to take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, next week, according to a recent release circulated by the NBA’s official communications channel.

Per the league, “San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan will replace injured Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe on Team Jalen in the 2024 Panini Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.” Sochan will join his San Antonio teammate Victor Wembanyama in Indianapolis for All-Star Week, putting two Spurs into the action ahead of the 2024 All-Star Game.

Wemby will be there to participate in the league’s 2024 Skills Challenge with Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic.

Wembnyama will be participating in the Rising Stars contests with Sochan as well.

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Gregg Popovich furiously defends Jeremy Sochan after recent snub

Following Jeremy Sochan’s snub from the NBA Rising Stars roster, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich furiously defended his guy.

As soon as they selected him with the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, it was clear that Victor Wembanyama would be the star of the show for this season San Antonio Spurs season. And so far, that’s been the case, as the rookie has been impressive both on and off the court.

But just because Wembanyama has been the best player and main attraction for the Spurs doesn’t mean they don’t have other reliable youngsters on the team. One guy who has stood out has been Jeremy Sochan. While the team’s experiment with him at point guard early in the season failed, he’s been solid ever since.

However, Sochan was left off the NBA’s Rising Stars roster, which was recently announced ahead of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich furiously defended his player when he was asked about the news. (H/t Jedd Pagaduan of Clutch Points)

“I don’t know who chooses these things or what the criteria are, anything like that, but he’s been great for us,” Popovich said via Nate Ryan of KENS 5. “He’s been a two-way player, which [is] very few and far between in this league. He’s played well [on] the defensive end [and] the offensive end. He’s really grown. Nobody would’ve believed he’d shoot the three the way he’s shooting it right now. So I think he should be there.”

Sochan just had an impressive game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. He put up 18 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 1-of-3 from deep.

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Gregg Popovich discusses flaw in Jeremy Sochan’s game

After the San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the Orlando Magic, Gregg Popovich spoke about one of the flaws in Jeremy Sochan’s game.

The San Antonio Spurs welcomed Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic to town on Wednesday night. They were looking to get back on track after dropping a rough game to the Washington Wizards. Despite taking an early lead in the first quarter, the Magic climbed back and ended up handling the Spurs in the second half.

Orlando was up by as many as 25 in the third quarter, and it looked as though they would cruise to a victory. However, the Spurs fought back in the fourth, but it just wasn’t enough, as the Magic ended up holding on to earn a 108-98 win in San Antonio.

Jeremy Sochan had a great game, but he did most of his damage in the first quarter. After the game, head coach Gregg Popovich spoke about one of the flaws in Sochan’s game.

“He goes too fast sometimes, and we’ve just got to get him to slow down,” Popovich said via ESPN. “He gets rolling and skips a few steps in there, but he’s an aggressive kind of player. I think when he learns a little bit more about pace, meaning you don’t have to be at full tilt the entire time, he’ll make some better plays.”

Sochan finished the night with 18 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks while shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 1-of-3 from behind the three-point line.

However, he had nine points, six rebounds, and two blocks in the first quarter alone, meaning the Magic held him at bay for the final three quarters.

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Wembanyama, Spurs teammates getting new string of H-E-B commercials

H-E-B is releasing a new string of commcercials that will feature San Antonio Spurs players, highlighted by Victor Wembanyama.

Though they haven’t been winning many games this season, the San Antonio Spurs have plenty of things to be excited about. Victor Wembanyama is the headlining story coming out of San Antonio, but on top of that, they have a great group of youngsters such as Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Keldon Johnson.

The last time the Spurs were relevant enough to make national news on a nightly basis, which is the case with Wembanyama at the helm, it was Tim Duncan and company leading the charge. And when they were in town, they were so popular that they had a string of commercials for H-E-B, a Texas-based grocery store.

Well, it looks like Wembanyama and his teammates are going to be getting the same star treatment. H-E-B is releasing a new string of commercials that will feature a bunch of current Spurs players.

They have already released two featuring Wembanyama, Vassell, Sochan, and Johnson, and there will likely be more to come moving forward.

The impact Wembanyama has had on the San Antonio market is vast, as he’s bringing a ton of attention to a team that hasn’t been in the spotlight in years.

Not only that, but he has the talent to carry this team into the future. If they can put the right talent around him, they should be able to compete for some deep playoff runs with Wembanyama leading the charge.

For now, they’ll settle for some national exposure and funny commercials, but Wembanyama and the Spurs are coming.

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Victor Wembanyama credits Jeremy Sochan after Spurs loss to Hawks

After the San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Victor Wembanyama praised Jeremy Sochan.

The San Antonio Spurs’ game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night was nearing disaster. By halftime, they were down by 35 points to Trae Young’s squad, getting absolutely outplayed. Things got so bad that head coach Gregg Popovich decided to bench his starters to begin the third quarter.

Popovich was upset at the Spurs’ effort in the first half, so he put in the bench, and they actually provided a nice spark. However, he did leave one starter in the game to begin the second half – Jeremy Sochan. The second-year forward was having one of his best games of the season.

After the game, Wembanyama praised Sochan, stating that he was glad Popovich left him in the game. (H/t Jeremy Brener of Inside the Spurs)

“We probably had the worst first half so far and he (Popovich) wanted to change the lineup in the second half,” Wembanyama said. “We wanted to put players he can trust to give 100% on the court. I appreciate also that he put Jeremy in the starting lineup.”

Sochan finished the game with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks while shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 2-of-4 from behind the three-point line.

He helped lead the charge in the second half. Sochan had eight points, five rebounds, and four assists in the final two quarters alone.

Wembanyama building up his teammate and showing him some love after the game despite the loss was fun to see, and it’s a good sign for their chemistry moving forward.

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Jeremy Sochan point guard experiment will help Spurs’ future

The Jeremy Sochan-at-point-guard experiment failed, but it will benefit the San Antonio Spurs’ future.

At the start of the season, head coach Gregg Popovich revealed that the San Antonio Spurs would be testing out a new starting lineup – Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Victor Wembanyama, and Zach Collins. Rather than rolling with a traditional point guard, they’d have Sochan running the show.

Unfortunately for the Spurs, the experiment failed. They stopped using Sochan as the primary point guard in the middle of December. During his time at point guard, Sochan even admitted to being uncomfortable with the role, as it was something he had never done before. Now, Vassell, Sochan, Malaki Branham, and Tre Jones are sharing the ball-handling duties.

But while Sochan at the one didn’t work as well as the Spurs may have hoped, it will benefit the team in the long run.

Yes, Sochan playing point guard failed to help the Spurs this season. But winning games was never going to be their primary goal. Would they have liked to make it back into the playoffs this season? Absolutely. But with a young roster and a rookie leading the way, that was never a likely reality.

Instead, the Spurs should be prioritizing player development. Sochan isn’t going to be their point guard of the future, but by playing the position for a couple of months, he at least got familiar with the role.

At just 20 years old, Sochan has tons of time to develop his game, and during his time at point guard, he got a better feel for how his teammates play. Where to find them, where they like to be on the court, and who wants to the ball when.

He won’t have to deploy that knowledge at the point guard spot anymore, but having it will be invaluable as he and the rest of the Spurs continue to grow.

Plus, running Sochan at point guard gave the Spurs a chance to have all of their most promising players on the court at the same time.

So, Sochan’s time as the Spurs’ full-time point guard may be done, and the experiment wasn’t necessarily a success. It wasn’t a failure, either.

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Jeremy Sochan point guard experiment is finally over for Spurs

According to a recent report, the San Antonio Spurs no longer plan to use Jeremy Sochan as their full-time point guard.

Heading into the season, the San Antonio Spurs decided to roll with an interesting starting five that included Jeremy Sochan running the point guard position. The second-year forward had never played the position before, but the move was done in an effort to keep the team’s best guys on the floor at all times.

Sochan struggled with the role, even stating his discomfort at the position. He’s always been a forward, and being the team’s full-time point guard was a huge adjustment for him. And with the team losing 17 straight games, it was clear that the experiment wasn’t going well.

Now, it seems to be over. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Spurs are moving on from Sochan as the full-time point guard and instead plan to use him as one of a group of ball-handlers moving forward.

“Jeremy Sochan is making the transition from being San Antonio’s full-time point guard to one of the ballhandlers in the Spurs’ rotation moving forward,” Charania wrote.

“On Friday against the Bulls, coach Gregg Popovich started Malaki Branham and Devin Vassell to play more on the ball, with No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama shifting from power forward to center in the starting lineup. The Spurs had experimented with Sochan playing as the sole point guard, providing him a pathway to develop his playmaking and ballhandling skills. San Antonio is in the midst of a 16-game losing streak and hasn’t won since beating Phoenix on Nov. 2.”

Sochan will still be an important part of the Spurs’ rotation, but the days of him controlling the offense as the point guard seem to be over.

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Spurs’ Jeremy Sochan gets brutally honest about switch to point guard: ‘There have been moments where there isn’t confidence’

San Antonio Spurs sophomore Jeremy Sochan recently spoke up about his move to the point guard position.

While Victor Wembanyama has stolen most of the spotlight for the San Antonio Spurs this season, they have also made a major change to the starting lineup in an attempt to maximize their team’s potential around the star rookie. Jeremy Sochan has made the jump from the power forward position to point guard.

The swap hasn’t come without struggles. Tre Jones, the team’s go-to traditional point guard, has played great in a bench role, and Sochan hasn’t lived up to expectations at times. After a solid rookie season, he’s had to adapt how he plays, and that’s not an easy change to make both mentally and on the court.

Sochan recently opened up about the struggles that have come with the move. (H/t Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News)