Determining how Keldon Johnson and the rest of the young core fit into the Spurs’ future

Gregg Popovich and Team USA have received a ton of flak for falling to Nigeria and Australia in their first two exhibition games leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Although they turned things around with a massive victory over Argentina, national media talking heads like Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins have continued criticizing the coaching legend.

The early losses are undoubtedly embarrassing for a historically dominant international program. Still, 21-year-old combo forward Keldon Johnson has been one of the few positives from an otherwise rocky start for the United States. His energy has been infectious, and his comfortability operating off-ball has made life easier for his superstar teammates.

Despite being the only Spur on Team USA, San Antonio is home to several promising young players. Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, Devin Vassell, Luka Samanic, and Tre Jones have shown impressive flashes of potential, but can any of them make the monumental leap into stardom that’ll give PATFO a foundation building block?

Cranjis McBasketball, the founder of BBall Index, joins me on this edition of the Alamo City Limits Podcast to discuss Gregg Popovich, Team USA, Keldon Johnson, and San Antonio’s core. We also break down how the Spurs should approach this offseason and how analytics combined with film study can improve our understanding of the game.