More than one thing may be true about the Spurs’ experience at Point Sochan

The geographic focus of the Spurs’ culture war right now is Gregg Popovich’s decision to install Jeremy Sochan as the team’s nominal point guard. The coach has already bristling with questions about it, and fans online and (presumably) offline have strong feelings about whether this setup is best for the team’s early success, Victor Wembanyama’s development, or both.

Because emotions run high in this discussion, below is a list of notes that all relate to what we’ve seen or heard so far. Some lean toward one side; some lean towards others; I hope they can collectively show the bigger picture and tackle what is a nebulous and hilariously inflammatory topic.

• The Spurs offense has been much better with Tre Jones on the floor.
• Spurs offense was at its worst with Jeremy Sochan on the floor.
• Tre Jones helped Victor Wembanyama more than any other Spur.
• Sochan and Wembanyama shared the floor for a total of 60 minutes in 4 matches.
• Jones and Wembanyama shared the floor for a total of 53 minutes.
• There is no guarantee of trading Jones (best plus/minus of the team) and Sochan (worst plus/minus among rotation players) will be a net positive result.
• The league has put a renewed emphasis on size, at all positions.
• The Spurs probably like to start big, for several reasons: Playing big allows the Spurs to pass 1 Wemby on defense and limit the number of mismatches created when teams rush rebounds and/or turnovers. This may also limit the amount of drop exposure Wemby would face when facing larger rim rollers.
• Starting Tre Jones would mean they probably won’t be able to do that.
• The NBA has become increasingly “positionless.”
• By the way, what is a point guard?
• What are the words?
• You still need lineups with sufficient organization and playmaking/advantage, which is what the team is considering, at least in the short term, with the Sochan-Jones compromise.
• Theoretically, a more aware Wembanyama and Devin Vassell could serve as offensive anchors, limiting their need from the nominal point guard position.
• Tre Jones is, for all his strengths, still a below-average three-point shooter.
• Tre Jones is quite young (23 years) to further progress by three, as his older brother has done in recent seasons.
• Tre Jones is 6’1”, which probably won’t change.
• In year one, Victor Wembanyama had and will likely continue to have a high assisted field goal rate. (depends on the table setting of others).
• With more minutes, Tre Jones can absolutely set him up for more buckets.
• We can’t expect Jeremy Sochan to do the same.
• If Tre Jones was considered the team’s long-term starter, there probably wouldn’t be a Point Sochan experience right now.
• If Tre Jones as a starting point guard isn’t in your long-term future around Wembanyama, the best thing to do might be to see what could be and work your way toward that goal.
• Tre Jones will likely finish many more games this season.
• Jeremy Sochan is young (20 years old).
• Victor Wembanyama is young (19 years old).
• The season is young too (4 matches).
• That doesn’t mean it will work
• There are worse things than being bad for one more season.

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