Did the Spurs Make a HUGE Playoff Mistake? Thinking Ahead...

This episode gets REAL as we break down the Spurs playoff situation, controversial coaching decisions, and whether playing it safe actually hurt their chances. From Wemby debates to matchup strategy, things got heated fast — and not everyone agreed.

🎙️ In this episode:
 • Spurs playoff expectations and concerns
 • Blowing leads and coaching accountability
 • Should Wemby have played vs Denver?
 • Risk vs reward in playoff positioning
 • East vs West playoff predictions
 • Underrated players who could step up
 • Shooter vs playmaker debate (Harper vs Knueppel)

🧠 What you'll learn:
 • How playoff strategy can make or break a run
 • Why matchups matter more than seeding
 • The real impact of coaching decisions in crunch time
 • Why role players are KEY in championship runs
 • The difference between “safe” and “smart” decisions

⏱️ CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS
 00:00 Intro
 00:20 Spurs playoff concerns
 01:00 Blowing leads discussion
 01:40 Coaching vs player responsibility
 02:30 Wemby vs Denver debate
 04:00 Playoff strategy & matchups
 06:00 East playoff predictions
 07:50 West playoff predictions
 09:10 Breakout player predictions
 10:00 Harper vs Knueppel debate
 11:30 Three-point shooter argument
 14:30 Outro

📢 About the Podcast
 A real, unfiltered podcast where sports, real life, and opinions collide. Hosted by Matt Reyna, bringing authentic conversations, debates, and insight you won’t get anywhere else.

📌 Connect With Matt Reyna
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#podcast #nba #spurs #nbaplayoffs #basketballtalk #sportsdebate #wemby #mattreyna #hoops #nbapodcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Okay. Um so did you answer what how far the sports going? Man, okay, cool. I'm glad to ask that because man, dude, I I want y'all to go far, man, but I don't know, dude. I don't know. This is the first time. Like, there's been a lot of times that I'm like, nah, we we just can't do it.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

You know, like I don't I don't like you, I don't like seeing you guys blow those big leads. That's the thing. Like seeing you guys, you can't do that in the playoffs. If you do in the playoffs, man, you're fucked. How many times?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

No, we can do it, man. How many times is he?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

I'm not gonna go go too far as as to say, what's that? How many times this year did the Spurs prove you wrong?

SPEAKER_02 0:38

How many times did they give you a heart? I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. That you know what?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

I think because you say, I don't know, I don't know. Stevie won't did you know that they're gonna do anything they did this year?

SPEAKER_02 0:48

No, nobody did.

SPEAKER_03 0:50

But again, like I said, nobody caught 60 wins. My big thing is again, those blowing those leads is big, man. If you if you blow those leads, that's the only thing that makes me uncomfortable. Like you know, and I'm a you know I'm a betting man, but that makes me uncomfortable to see those long, big.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

That's why I asked is it more on the coach, more than the player. That's why I asked that question.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

So okay, so your your coaches put you in position to win the game, but it's on you to actually take care of the ball, not take a stupid shot. So then you take a stupid shot, then you're down two possessions. Now the coach has to bail you out. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

You know what I'm saying? So if you if you're if you're one of our starting five and you're fucking up, I'm gonna be like, nah, I don't want to pull a mask like I don't I don't trust my guy. I don't trust my guy like your boy.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

I don't see Mitch stop the bleeding when stuff like that happens. Like when it's he's done way better, he's done way better. But he it was one of those where he's like, oh shit, like dig yourself out of it. I'm like, call a timeout, motherfucker.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Speaking of that, your boy, they're putting him on blast because they said that JJ should have taken out Luca and he should have taken out Reeves. Oh, yeah, a thousand percent those whole times, and that they they both got injured because JJ was playing him. That's the coach's fault. The the the the the guys are gonna they're gonna want to play.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Well, you said you would have played Wimby the last game against Denver. Yes, why stupid shit for what? I would have what do you mean?

SPEAKER_02 2:03

So that way we don't have to play them in the second round.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Okay, but what if we got hurt?

SPEAKER_02 2:07

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

What do you mean what I mean? I just said what if we got hurt.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

What if he gets hurt? Oh, so okay, English. So so what if he gets hurt game one? What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_01 2:16

It's the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

What if he gets hurt game one? So we're what like yeah, you know what? Milo just not playing cool, bro. So they put in Booby Miley.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

So if Luca and Reeves never got hurt, JJ would have never been his fault.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

No, it wouldn't have been his fault. Yeah, okay. These guys were hurt during the game. That's the difference.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

They got hurt in the game.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Wimby's yes, Wimby's in the game. Wimby's 100%.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

I think he could play. I'm not saying he can. Can he play?

SPEAKER_02 2:37

But Luca and Reeves could play. They just don't need to. Luca and Reeves, they played. If we would have got that win, Drew, we wouldn't, we wouldn't be fateful.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

That that may be a thousand percent understand. I guess.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Okay, guys, that may be why we don't win the championship, bro. It's possible.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

What I'm trying to say is Luca and Reeves. Why wouldn't you want to dodge Denver? And they kept them in there. They were able to play, just like Wimby is able to play.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

No, but they were hurt the same games, geese. They got they got hurt like uh quarter one, and then he put them back in there. As soon as Wimby says, hey, not you, you know, I'll put it this way. As soon as Wimby says, nah, you know what? My hamstring's tight. Get out. He's talking about risking it, and I get where you're coming from, too. I mean, you G guy. That's the way that it goes.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

I wouldn't play Wimby.

SPEAKER_02 3:21

Wimby played for uh Wimby didn't play for load management. That's what that did. They thought, they thought that you know what? We could beat Denver without Wimby. That's probably what they thought. Chill out, bro. And they didn't, and and then that end it it may end up biting us in the ass. Why would you want to play Denver second when you have the opportunity to beat them right here, right now, and then not play them until the Western Conference Finals?

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Also, to you, it's just that you said chill out, right? I heard I'm trying to remember why were the reason what supposedly Denver wanted to lose as well. I uh something like that. I'm trying to remember the reason. The Spurs, I know the Spurs wanted to win because Denver would have been on that side, and Denver wanted to lose, supposedly.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Wards were saying what I guess it comes down to what's more probable, Wimby getting hurt that game or us winning that game.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Us winning that game.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

And that was the risk, that was the risk that you were willing to take to say, cool, we won't risk it. We're good enough. I think we can beat them. And I'm you know, and I get that, but you're right.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

You're right. But doc, I'm not risking risking rewards.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

So you're gonna see them anyways, you still believe you can beat them. That's why they that's why they did that because they still believe that they can beat them even if they see them.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

I understand that point. And a lot of people are saying, hey man, we ain't we ain't scared of Denver. Who cares? We'll see them second round. You better fucking exactly, exactly. I'm like, bro, I have total confidence in the Spurs, but there's a thing as not making it harder on yourself. Why would you want to do that? Yeah, you take the opportunity that you have. Look, Drew, we went all the way to get to second, right? And then we just didn't finish the job. We went 98%.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

It's like me restarting my child support willingly right now.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Just be like, yeah, yeah. Why not? Or you could do something to like not ensure or make sure that you don't pay X amount more, and you're like, ah, I'll just roll the dice. And you're like, no, I'll just take care of it now.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Here's my account number. Just take it anyway.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Okay, so then um it was to avoid Minnesota in the very first round. They they would have Mini. Boom. Yeah, you know what?

SPEAKER_02 5:19

That's what it was. They didn't want to play Minnesota. It worked out for everybody. They should have just blew the game against us.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

And it's funny, right? Because I mean the guys that are playing, I mean, the the teams that are playing right now, as far as playoff wise, like mini's mini's dangerous.

SPEAKER_02 5:31

Or did we, as the Spurs, say, hey, you know what? They don't want to play in Minnesota. Fuck them. Have them play, then have them play Minnesota. And then we'll and then we'll take them after the uh Minnesota beats them up.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

So if it goes if it goes if it goes six, seven games, Denver, Minnesota, like we want, uh-huh, the Spurs losing might have been better because they might be banged up and hurt and tired. Versus if it was Minnesota playing a team not as good as Nuggets and they sweep them or they go five games and they're a little bit more fresh playing the Spurs in the second round.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

Fresh. Uh I don't. Yeah, you're right. You're right. When I saw it, I I forgot when I saw the bracket. It was like we're gonna play the uh the winner between the Lakers and the Rockets, I think.

SPEAKER_03 6:20

Or something like that. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

I might have it messed up. There you go, kid. Okay, so who do y'all see coming out of the East? Real quick. We got about 10 minutes left. I got nobody in the case. I got three teams.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

You don't think so? Boston, Cavs, and uh Hoistons. Those are my three teams.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

I think Boston, Boston with the injuries that they had is gonna kind of it's gonna be an issue. Cavs are aggressive and still pretty young. They got they got it, they're a well-rounded team.

SPEAKER_02 6:45

Um okay, we we all put a hundred bucks in the pot, and whoever gets the most wins right by series takes the 100 bucks. Magic can't get the other.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

So those are two young teams. Pistons are coming out of there. Pistons are coming out of there for sure. Those two teams are just too young. Cavs will beat the Raptors, Knicks. Okay, I'll tell I'll tell you, man, I hate, I hate cat. I can't stand cat.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:07

I hate, I hate cat.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

I'll tell you what. Okay, so but I got the Knicks.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

I'll take the Knicks. You know what? I'll I'll go off on here. I'll go Knicks and I'll see Pistons at the end.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

So who do you not want to play if we go to the finals?

SPEAKER_03 7:20

You don't want to play the Pistons. The Knicks, I think you'll be okay with.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

I don't know, man. I think we match up well against the Pistons.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

I think the Celtics and the Pistons are gonna give you the most shit.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

I think the Celtics and the Knicks. Personally, I don't like the way we match up against the Pistons.

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Y'all fucked up the Pistons in the regular season, right? Gotcha. Y'all smashed them. That's right. I like the Pistons, man. I think that they're they're getting healthy all at the right time, too. So that's that's me. I'm just throwing just a just to throw a little something special out there. Nothing because then it'll be the same thing. Knicks and Celtics, Knicks and Celtics, Knicks and Celtics.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yeah, I got Thunder beating whoever it is, Warriors of Suns. I have I have the Rockets being the Lakers.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

Man, I the thing. I hope the Lakers get slapped. I think the Thundermen are a playoff team that's well rounded and is knowledgeable enough to give y'all some shit. And they've been y'all fucked them up, but they're gonna they're gonna if you see them, it's gonna be a problem.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

I don't think it's gonna be a cakewalk either, bro. I really do not.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

I like how Wemby's confident about it, but like well and I hate and I fucking hate the way SGA plays.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Yeah, he's a he's a he's a he's a foul.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

They're gonna let him play though, dude. I know yeah, they did that, they did that to a couple games in the playoffs. I'm like, let me see this go, bro.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

You know who I think's gonna have a breakout playoffs? Um, Castle. Castle. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

But he's just got that mentality though, dog. Like that dude is just a dog, like a straight dog.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Man, oh I was telling you in college. I was twice, right? I was telling Xavier, I was telling Xavier, man, you know what? During this run, we're gonna need like us like those special games, bro. Like a Steve Kerr game, a patty game, a Dan, a Danny game. We're gonna need one from Champaign. We're gonna need one from Barnes. We're gonna need, you know what I'm saying? Those games that come from people that you do not expect. We're gonna need a couple of those, bro. A couple of the like a game three win, like you know what I'm saying? Like game three, Patty, game three, uh, Danny.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

It's over. I think I put this in the group. Who would you rather shoot the three ball, wide open shot, last shot, Castle or Harper?

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Conkinaple. Uh Carver Castle.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

He said Castle, right? I said Castle.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Castle's getting better.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

I no, I think I think Harper's getting better. I would say Harper. I think they're both. I think they're both.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

I think he's a better shooter than both than both of them is Carter.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Oh, I think he's Carter is a better shooter.

SPEAKER_03 9:39

No, bro, he's been hitting some of the things. He's looking clean, man.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

I want to see his field goal percentage since he started playing. Dude, he looks great.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

He looks great right now, man. He's playing awesome. You know who's just playing? Been playing like lights out too. KJ Dog, sixth man of the year, baby. Matt just likes Harper that much because his mom is hot. That too. But holler at me, girl.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

What's that?

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Call me. I think Harper's shot is getting a lot better. Sky's the limit with him, bro. Oh, and you know what chat was saying about them too? It's um, it's way harder to find a Dylan Harper, which is somebody who could create their own shots, somebody who could finish this and that. It's way harder to find that for a team than it is to find a con Kanipple lights out shooter. I think it's true. Say it again. It's something to think about. I mean, it's it's saying it's just more rare to find a player like Harper than a con Kanipple shooter. Because the only thing is, no, no, no, no. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Shoot. Harper does everything better, in my opinion, whether it's a little bit or a lot.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

Shoot as well as con. That's a tough different story. But you could just get a lights out shooter, like a um what's his name?

SPEAKER_03 10:52

Name the last lights out shooter that came that's recently has come around.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Name the last one. Who's the last lights out? Like, holy shit, this kid can knock it down from anywhere. Who?

SPEAKER_02 11:04

Um, like lights out, like he's he's just a shooter. That like that's all he does.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

Oh, because that's what you're making it seem like Khan is he's just a shooter. So tell me who's the last six, I'll give you 10 years, last 10 years. Corbett. Who's the Kyle Corbett? That was fucking like 15 years, 20 years. Was it for two? But Kyle Corbett's 50, dog. Now that's holy shit. That's that's a good question. 10 years ago. Um Luke Connard. Luke is yeah, Luke. Luke Connard when he was from Duke 2. Um, that's what you know. Grayson Allen, I think, also was a high percentage three-point shooter. This last one's also from Duke.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Um, but what about uh uh Jimmy Buckets from Miami JJ Reddick?

SPEAKER_02 11:46

JJ Reddick Roberson, Robertson, white dude oh yeah, oh that's it. Tyler, maybe Tyler Hero?

SPEAKER_03 11:52

No, no, and they're all white guys.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Well, I mean it kind of like tailors to like the way that they play. Oh man, like we had good because I was a black if I'm no well because I was gonna say, you know, you have your stephs, you have your um that's another reason.

SPEAKER_03 12:06

Oh, you don't you don't I mean you don't go did that to make an example you're saying it's easy just to come across a three-point shooter that's just lights up, and we couldn't really name that many.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

No, but like we're talking about like a three-point specialist.

SPEAKER_03 12:16

That's what I'm saying. We can't name that many. There's not that many guys you're like, dog, this dude Steph isn't Steph is up there and Steph's shooting in the 40s, right? No, but we're talking about guys statistically over the years.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Well, we're talking about like you can find a shooter in the league, like a Buddy Yield, or like a uh Middleton or like uh you know Grayson Allen, or you could find jump shooting guys, something something like that.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

That's what I'm saying is that again, for somebody that shoots that high percentage, I'm not a big fan of the three-point shot, anyways. Uh, get to the bucket, high percentage, that type of stuff. Because even shooting at 40% is amazing for somebody in the league. Yeah, period. Just anybody in general, but it's not that easy. It's not it's not an easy thing for as many threes as these kids are taking nowadays, it's not that easy to find. It's not that easy to be that good at it, not that easy to break records at it. We gotta look, I gotta look up to see when's the last time the rookie record was broken for fucking three-point shooters. Steph.

SPEAKER_01 13:05

How long ago was that? Let me ask you this other question. 2007? Who's the better shooter? Kanipple or Champagny?

SPEAKER_02 13:10

Kanipple. Knipple.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Okay. If you plug Knipple in every shot opportunity that Champagne had, how many more points would the Spurs have and more opportunities for the Spurs to win a game? Way more.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

But then you'd be taking out uh yeah. Now, no, but no, but that that doesn't work, Johnny, because then you'd have Harper and Knipple. What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yes, we're a better team like that. Yes, you still take Harper out, Foxy has more minutes, Castle has more minutes, Fort Cell has more minutes, more minutes because they could all drive it in.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Well, yeah, we're gonna be better with Khan Kanipple on our team, yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

That's what I was arguing the whole fucking time.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

No, not over Harper. That's a different argument. I like how y'all changed it. That was kind of cute.

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Hey, go fuck yourself.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

But if you're saying like that, oh it's like saying this are the Mavs better? Are the Mavs better with Khan Kanipple? They're better with the whiskey. Was South Sand better with Matt Reina? Oh, yeah. Fuck no without question. What it means? They'd rather have him than not have him.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Oh, not trade Matt for Santa Cruz.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

I think uh Johnny, didn't we have the best record? Uh 30 and 6. Yeah, but you're like a 2A school. It didn't really count.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Y'all did afterwards my year ago.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Still had it. Play Carizo screen. It's in the record book now.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Yeah, they lost the dove.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Oh no, don't even bring that up. All right, guys.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

Let's get the fuck out of here.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Uh, episode seven in the books playoff edition. Thanks for tuning in with us. Happy birthday, Druski.

SPEAKER_03 14:38

Appreciate you, man. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

We have uh 137 subscribers. Johnny, you're not one because I checked.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Hey, hey, hey, you gotta be careful, dog.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

You kicked that dog and we lost two. Here we go. We'll get into that story too. We'll get into that story some other time. But I appreciate it for everybody who's tuning in. Thank you very much for all the subscriptions until episode eight. Hit the like button. Peace.