'A Little Better': San Antonio Spurs Working to Turn 'Individual Effort' Into Team Wins

The San Antonio Spurs haven't won a game since knocking off Phoenix in a road back-to-back, but that doesn't mean they've stopped trying. In fact, they're working harder than ever to get back on track.

SAN ANTONIO — Devin Vassell said it best: "The schedule isn't getting any easier." 

A simple, yet all-too true statement is enough to make fans of a struggling team worry — and that's before looking at the stretch of the season that was implied to be "easier."

Through 13 games, the San Antonio Spurs are sitting at an ugly 3-10 record. Despite adding a rookie the size of Victor Wembanyama — he's supposed to be pretty good at basketball, too — not much has seemingly gone right for Gregg Popovich's young Spurs. But while that was to be expected, it doesn't make the losing any easier. 

But the players won't let you know that. 

Nov 17, 2023; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) takes a break during the second half of the game against the Sacramento Kings at Frost Bank Center.  / © Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

"It's not a big deal," Wembanyama said of his team's losing streak following San Antonio's 126-105 loss to the New York Knicks. "We're learning. As a young team, and any team really, we're going to go through losing streaks at some point during the season and have tough times. It's going to happen, but the most important thing is how we bounce back.”

Well spoken from a rookie completely new to the NBA — and that was when San Antonio's losing streak was sitting at three games. Now, it's eight. 

Yet, the sentiment remains. 

"We know it's going to be a process," Spurs shooting guard Doug McDermott said during team shoot-around Monday morning. "[We're] the youngest team in the NBA. We're doing a lot of film work trying to correct our mistakes ... [but] we've got to try and flush whatever happened the night before."

Flushing a loss is one thing, but flushing enough losses to make the franchise leaderboard for longest losing streaks? That's another altogether. And seeing as such, it's been the same story after each game. 

"We're close." "We're young." "We're learning."

The latter especially rings true. San Antonio has the youngest squad in the league, and it has shown, but what the majority of the Spurs' non-supporters and critics don't see is how the players carry themselves during practice. 

“We have a very healthy locker room, healthy [relationships] with each other," Wembanyama said. "This is not an issue at all. When we're losing, we’re losing together. When someone puts their head down, we go help them. When someone falls on the court, all of us rush to help him up.”

That was evident during practice. Between Keldon Johnson high-fiving Wembanyama as the pair got up free-throws, Collins working rep-after-rep on his moving 3-pointer until he got one to fall — still with a smile on his face — and Johnson dancing at mid-court while his teammates got shots up around him, the Spurs are happy. 

They're happy because they are in fact learning. Both individually and as a unit.

“It starts with individual effort," Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said during practice. "We all have to know our assignments … [but] then, individual effort turns into team effort. [That's when] we're all on the same page [and] all in sync. And that starts somewhere. We've just got to keep getting better at it."

The idea of self-improvement has been a reoccurring theme for the Spurs dating back to last season, when they ultimately fell low enough to earn the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. That being said, adding Wembanyama has changed the ceiling and potential of the franchise, but not the immediate result. So, the development continues.

"We're going to continue to grow, continue to learn from our mistakes, and keep pushing forward," McDermott said. "It's a great conference ... We're going to get great teams every night, and we need to go out and compete." 

But still, competing as a team — to put it in Champagnie's words — starts somewhere.

"It comes down to everyone doing their job a little better," McDermott said. "We all have certain roles on this team, and we know what they are. We need to look ourselves in the mirror before each game and do them a little better because it hasn't been good enough."

San Antonio doesn't just need to be "good enough," however. That's just the first step in their eventual goal of being better than they were before, and better than the other teams in a "difficult" conference and division. They're far from that point, yes, but the goal is not only attainable, but it's in sight.

And to get there, the team will continue to grow individually and rally together, turning singular effort into team victories. They just hope that starts soon.

"Every game you have to take as a lesson," Champagnie said. "Whether we win or lose, you've got to take the bad from it and turn it into a positive. That's been our focus. 

"We're going to keep our spirits positive going through this rough patch."

Victor Wembanyama Reveals Reason Behind Losing Streak