This is pretty much it; I wouldn't necessarily be worried about Cousins and Gay, either, because they didn't really have the benefit of rest during the offseason. What you have to be worried about, though, is what's happening on the court during these games.
Five games into preseason, Malone should have already figured out that playing the Twin Duplexes at the same time does not work. An ostensibly defensive-minded coach should have already started making adjustments for that playing under the screen problem our guards always seem to have; it's concerning that we keep exhibiting the same poor habits defensively, no matter whether it's Evans and Udrih back there, or Evans and Thomas, or Thomas and McLemore, or Collison and McLemore, or Collison and Sessions, or Sessions and Stauskas. We keep doing the same thing, all the time, and it's distressing.
It's distressing that after over a year, Malone still hasn't seemed to have figured out how to consistently get Cousins the ball in good positions on the court, early in the shot clock. I feel like we should be seeing a rotation at the end of quarters that more closely resembles what we're going to be doing in games that matter. There's a week to go before the season starts, and we're still guessing who's going to be on the court down the stretch of a close game. And, frankly, it looks like Malone is, too; I don't think he knows who his best five is. And, with real games happening in ten days, that's a problem.
Our franchise player is entering his fifth season. His lieutenant is going to be an unrestricted free agent. We've surrounded them with playoff-tested vets. We're not rebuilding anymore; every step that's not forward is a step backward. If it's not progress, it's essentially regression. It's not about wins and losses in the preseason, it's about seeing that good habits are being formed, that good teamwork is being developed, that attention to detail is being paid. This is where it starts.
When you're Popovich and the Spurs, you can get away with dicking around for three weeks in the preseason, because you know what's going to work in the regular season, and you know that everybody on your roster is on board with your system, from the franchise on down. We don't have that luxury.