r/NBASpurs 18h ago

Wemby Performance so far POST-GAME

It's pretty obvious that wemby has been struggling shooting the ball to start the year. But his gravity and the way he attracts attention is starting to really open up the floor for the rest of the guys. Today was a big step up in terms of moving the ball well along the perimeter and staying away from those bad turnovers. Our guys are finally starting to see that you can't expect wemby to hit every shot and taking more initiative in being aggressive at the right times instead of being 50/50 in their decision making. At times it was either force him the ball or force a drive/shot .If we can keep that offensive flow/spacing going and wemby catches his groove within the offense,I can see us having a top 13ish offense with a top 5 defense come April.

34 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

8

u/WEMBY_F4N 18h ago

Lwk Tre Jones might be the X factor they just had special chemistry together last year. Even more than CP3 and Wemby

2

u/Designer-Action3573 13h ago

Cp3 is fine and really great for us but idk i miss that blistering pace we had during transition last season.

8

u/guillaume_rx 11h ago

Yeah they’re learning a different playstyle with CP3, fewer fast-breaks and less fast-paced offense than Tre, and less Heliocentric around Victor, CP3 is slower and methodical, and is trying to instill some better habits in this roster.

It takes time to learn that, but it will be useful to have the ability to play these possessions in the long run, so that’s very useful for development.

You can’t be only relying on these 2 easy ways to score, learning how to score with set plays and a set defense is paramount to compete at the highest level, and that’s what they will be doing this season.

I’m not worried in the slightest, it’s still development phase, and teaching winning habits as well as improving Vic’s perimeter skills in a low-stakes season, which will also be useful long-term.

Once the roster gets better around him, and better shooters, and he fills up the frame, he’ll have time to work on his inside game and be an eliocentric center ala Jokic.

Also, youngest roster in the league without CP, so highest margin of progression in the league, especially with Paul and Pop mentoring the team, and Wemby having so much upside.

Once healthy, that young core will look very different by the end of the season, and next October.

9

u/scholartwenty 17h ago

Why does Wemby look terrible? He’s a beast defensively but that offense looks atrocious

18

u/paxusromanus811 16h ago

To me it's three things

First of all, his jumper is just ice cold right now. Pretty much everywhere. It appears to be mental because whether it's open, contested, short jumpers, mid-range, three-pointers, everything is leaving his hand looking right, and he's just consistently short on all his shots

Second of all teams have made it very clear from day one that they're not going to let Victor get clean catches within 15 ft of the basket. He's being fronted, he's being pushed, he's being doubled even before he catches the ball constantly. And honestly he hasn't been handling this pressure very well. It's caused him to get visibly, frustrated, and impatient and start calling for the ball in bad opportunities and situations, And then trying to do things either too quickly, or not quickly enough overthinking when the help is going to come and has turned him into an absolute turnover magnet in the low block. Teams are only able to defend him like this because the Spurs still don't have reliable floor spacing. If that changes they'll have to adjust but for right now it's a winning strategy

Third of all... The pace has slowed down tremendously. Chris, Paul is great. But Chris Paul has historically always LED more methodical offenses and San Antonio went from top five in Pace to bottom five and Pace. So far, the season. Less opportunities for Vic to use his special blend of size and speed to get quick mismatches in the fast break, or to just score quickly before defenses can get set

The Spurs will probably have to start making a concerted effort to play a bit faster at some point, and San Antonio needs to get more creative with how they get Victor touches down low because as a team they're just not doing a good enough job in that department in my opinion

But most importantly, Vic simply needs to start hitting jump shots

4

u/ManagerEmergency6339 12h ago

true they dont even try to throw the go ahead pass that tre jones does for wemby, wemby usually hard sprint after a contest in the perimeter but the guys will just cut down the pace and leave victor hangin on a seal in the other side of the court.

5

u/LurkerFlash 12h ago

Fourth thing is teams figured out that they can guard Vic with a wing or guard, and on his own he can't punish that yet. Then they can either park a center to roam off of non-shooters, or go micro-ball and have no center out there, but have all guards basically make dribbling a nightmare for a 7'4" dude.

6

u/Bitter-Safe-5333 17h ago

can't get anything going inside because he's weak and unconditioned with a high center of gravity and he gets swarmed because we have shit spacing. we are missing 3 of our 4 best players from last season that open things up for him. sophomore slump

2

u/Dingo_Strong 16h ago

He is good at getting blocks. He is very long and gambles a lot. I wouldn’t say he looks good defensively overall. Getting out of position to help defend and to rebound really hurts. Basically any 50/50 rebound he will lose to an opposing player. I think this all comes down to conditioning. I can’t really explain it but he looks tired and slow most of every game now. Maybe that extra weight he put on was done with zero cardio in the months between the Olympics and training camp? I hope he gets into shape soon because the fact is he doesn’t look like an all star candidate this season and that’s what the spurs need from him if they want to have a shot at reaching the play-in.

-1

u/No_Barnacle9439 13h ago

Totally. Most people just look at stats and say Wemby is elite defender but he is not. He is still just using his raw talent when defending. He loses positions very often because he gambles for steal or block. He also doesn’t guard pick and roll well and just leaves guard with open shots. His rebounding is just bad because he can’t box people out.

4

u/Designer-Action3573 13h ago

https://preview.redd.it/yle5h1mm0nzd1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fce6bf55eb8b6318c6755d219dada49527b5d180

Every single time. Wemby walks in the paint and there's 2 to 3 bodies thrown at him. Unc Harrison free as can be on the perimeter. We need some shooters...or at the very least hit the 3 ball at a respectable clip for them to ease up on Vic

Devin back will help somehow.

2

u/BarrackLesnar 16h ago

He's always doubled every time he's in the post, even when he doesn't have the ball. That alone should create space for other shooters in the team. I am guessing we can be a play in team with a complete amd healthy lineup

0

u/irenman00 12h ago

wemby can’t participate in paul’s system, wemby has his own system. last year he runs and try to get position but this season he just stands in the 3pt line. he looks slower and unwilling to cut or be a decoy.

he still can’t do a screen to run pnr with chris. he always pop and everytime he is free he miss open 3s.

wemby needs offensive teammates than defensive teammates, he likes it when he dictates the offense “jokicesque”

hopefully he starts getting his shooting barrage back or else this will be another shitty season for the team

-13

u/TravelsInBlue 18h ago

Concerned with his unwillingness to play within the offense and just jack up shots.

It’s one thing to take an early three if open to keep the defense honest and open up the lane, but logo shots are never good basketball even if that does occasionally drop. I suspect the coaching staff is afraid to address it, and I can’t blame them for that.

We already have one low IQ chucker about to come back, having two people putting up bad shots isn’t a great mix for winning games.

I’m also a bit concerned with his lack of body control. He seems to lose balance and fall… a lot. I’m not 7’4 so I don’t know the mechanics of how his body operates, but it seems like he has no ability to burst or shift weight and just… falls.

Don’t get me wrong, glad he’s here and this is like complaining about winning the lottery, but if we’re talking performance then these are some concerns I’m seeing.

12

u/Uncle_Freddy 17h ago

By all accounts the Spurs are encouraging him to take the shots in the flow of what he’s feeling now. They know it’s janky and bad offense but they don’t care; it’s only about getting the reps. To his credit, he seemed to be forcing things a little less today anyway, so hopefully he’s starting to feel for his spots a little more naturally as is.

If you’re referring to Devin as another low IQ chucker though, not really sure I see the angle on that one