Victor Wembanyama has been an ELITE scorer this season when he has a PG or plays Center

[CorrectCrusader]

"Wemby's efficiency is bad!" "He takes bad shots!" He's also spending most of his minutes without a real PG.


In the 192 minutes Wemby has spent with Tre Jones on the floor, he averages 26ppg/36 on 58%TS. That's also 33.2p/100 for those curious.
This is actually an astoundingly strong blend of volume and efficiency for a rookie.

What's the other factor holding Wemby back? He's playing PF next to Cs clogging the paint and taking away some mismatch opportunities.
Wemby has only gotten 124 minutes at Center this season, but when he does? He averages a whopping 33ppg/36 on 62%TS. That's with or without Tre Jones at PG even.


These numbers are absolutely absurd.
When the Spurs put him in a position to succeed - either with an actual PG or at his best position - he dominates.
He's already been scoring at an all-star level. If you're down on this kid, questioning his scoring and efficiency, I think you need to watch a bit closer.

Yes. I stole this from reddit

Source (https://www.addmorefunds.com/nba/wowy/)

[onechance87]

if he plays center,Im sure he would get in foul trouble or maybe injured battling against the other bigs...
Our guards cant defend nobody either,So im sure it would be tough on wemby

[CorrectCrusader]

if he plays center,Im sure he would get in foul trouble or maybe injured battling against the other bigs...
Our guards cant defend nobody either,So im sure it would be tough on wemby

I swear y'all on spurs talk treat wemby like he's a made of glass 40 year old

[slick'81]

So your saying hes a center?!

[RC_Drunkford]

good so all we need is a different head coach and we're off to the races

[thiste]

So, what are his stats with Tre & as a center combined then? :D

[Fizziksman]

Needed to trade for a semi-decent veteran starting PG at the start of the season just for the sake Wemby's development. The Sochan experiment is peak hubris.

[SouthernFryd]

You needed Reddit to figure this out?

He's not playing center and Sochan is playing PG...for one reason. And you shouldn't need to read Reddit to know what that reason is.

So, most people are not down on Wemby. Most people worth listening to anyway. And those people worth listening to...are down on POP.

Hope this helps. Maybe Reddit will post it :)

[onechance87]

Needed to trade for a semi-decent veteran starting PG at the start of the season just for the sake Wemby's development. The Sochan experiment is peak hubris.

we just need to play graham more instead of branham....But pop is trying to develop branham and sochan into playmakers,But its
not who they are..Now its affecting wembys potential,And they are making it more complicated for wemby...Like why would the
coaching staff do that

[CGD]

I wonder if it’s more the lack of PG or the fit with Collins to be honest. I know they want to protect him this first year, but the team is just much better when Wemby is the C.

For the draft, my hope is Sarr becomes the consensus 1 so the Spurs get a shot at Holland at 2 or 3. He seems like the versatile, high motor, defensive minded PF that would do well next to Wemby.

[Chinook]

You can't use rate stats to determine trends in a situation like this. You're talking about 11.5 minutes a game for one and 7.5 minutes a game for the other. There's way too much noise in that data. More importantly, situational lineups don't always translate to general rotations. The Warriors had their "death lineup", which was crazy in terms of impact stats but still ran a traditional lineup most of the time because they couldn't get those same results if they were guarding up a position and having to fight extra hard for rebounds for 36 minutes a game. Wemby playing center full time would have consequences in terms of his performance and health, just as playing PF does in terms of his fatigue and rim protection. Him playing it in situations at the end of quarters against backup centers is entirely different than having him start there. Teams will adjust to Wemby. Jokic, for example, will almost certainly try to be more physical with Victor next time they play. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing, but he's probably playing about as much center as he should at this point in his career.

Playing with Jones is something I agree with, though those numbers also include playing with Jones and Sochan (in other words, when Victor is playing center), which likely skew the results a bit. The minutes come in middle-of-half situations for the most part as well as maybe the end of the game. In the middle of the half is very often bench time for the opposing club, and Victor mostly plays at the end of games the Spurs are competitive in, and I'd argue that they're usually competitive because Victor is already playing well.

I don't know that I'd agree with the title of this thread unless we looked at everyone in these bench situations. Victor's Jones minutes are very good -- very, very good considering he's a rookie and hasn't even played 20 games yet. But just to be clear, those are basically what Lonnie Walker is doing in almost twice as many minutes with Brooklyn right now, and I don't think anyone would call him an elite scorer this year. Looking at everyone's per-36 numbers, Wemby's Jones performance would put him in the top-15. But that's comparing him to player being judged in all their situations, in every lineup etc. If this were Wemby without qualification, I'd say he were a near-elite scorer (that is not actually a very good TS%), but I wouldn't be surprised if he'd be closer to 50th if we were comparing apples to apples right now.

[LittleCriminal]

Need to trade/draft players to go along with Wemby.. current roster/starters is not it.
Plus, playing 25 minutes against a championship team is not enough 'mpg' for a 19 yr old rookie imo..

[Chinook]

I wonder if it’s more the lack of PG or the fit with Collins to be honest. I know they want to protect him this first year, but the team is just much better when Wemby is the C.

For the draft, my hope is Sarr becomes the consensus 1 so the Spurs get a shot at Holland at 2 or 3. He seems like the versatile, high motor, defensive minded PF that would do well next to Wemby.

I don't think it's as much Wemby playing center as it is the type of center Collins is. As I've said before, Collins seems like a single big to me. I think Wemby would work okay in a two-big system if that second big was a rim-runner, rim-protector. I think a lot of folks still see Wemby as this one-on-one player who needs the floor to be spaced to give him room to operate. I think at this point, he's a movement player who needs guys with gravity creating openings for him. Collins doesn't do that but a really good PnR diver/dunker would. As I've said enough to be annoying by this point: The Spurs are struggling in large part because they're only spacing in one direction right now. They need to space toward the basket. Wemby can certainly provide this if he learns to set the screen properly and roll with timing rather than constantly trying to slip it to get himself open. Then he and the guard can put defenses in conflict, increasing both of their chances of scoring on that play. Ideally, though, you'd also want Wemby to be able to play that dunker role, which requires a second big who can set good screens and occupy the defense as he moves toward the rim. I've never really liked Bassey like some folks on here have, but his numbers with Wemby do lend credence to the idea that such a player can have more impact even if he doesn't take threes. They need to get a better version of Bassey to truly test this idea, but I don't know who's available who can play that role.

[Vince Carter's ankle]

if he plays center,Im sure he would get in foul trouble or maybe injured battling against the other bigs...
Our guards cant defend nobody either,So im sure it would be tough on wemby
why is Chet not afraid to play center and avoid foul trouble?

[Pauleta14]

Because Chet is more limited than Wemby and isn't a rookie

[Obstructed_View]

It's an interesting thought. How many times have we seen Collins get a perfect pass down low and fumble it away or wait too long to shoot? How many wide open threes has he had? Certainly the most on the team.

If Victor got the same shot opportunities that Collins seems to get over and over and over you'd definitely see his efficiency go up.

I don't love Branham as a starter, but I questioned Collins as a starter before the season started. I know removing him from the rotation will never happen, but there seem to be any number of starting lineups that would be more beneficial to Victor and the team. Also, Collins would probably help steady the bench.

[playbonner15]

https://x.com/N_Magaro/status/1729287097020792942?s=20

Looks like playing Victor at C with a playmaking PG is the best scenario

[spurraider21]

Still think his ability to hold up at C would generally be matchup dependent but I’m in favor of giving him more run there where possible. The PG thing is quite clear and tbh has been since we started watching his French league games

[kxs783kms]

I swear y'all on spurs talk treat wemby like he's a made of glass 40 year old

Sorry but as he is currently, Wemby cannot get away with banging against an Embiid, AD or Jokic for an entire game.

[kxs783kms]

why is Chet not afraid to play center and avoid foul trouble?

Did you not see what Jokic did to him?

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

https://x.com/N_Magaro/status/1729287097020792942?s=20

Looks like playing Victor at C with a playmaking PG is the best scenario

Jones, Vassell, Keldon, Sochan and Wemby is the way we should run the first unit. Collins strengthens the bench, and that second unit becomes pretty potent with him and the other shooters we have. Collins is ok against backup centers, so he should hold his own defensively. Sochan is the only "enforcer" you need out there next to Victor, and he's back to playing to his natural strengths. Add a vet point guard to the second unit, run this starting lineup, and I can almost guarantee we'll see some improvement. It's frustratingly obvious that the Sochan experiment at PG isn't working and that starting 5 is discombobulated whenever the opposing team starts to tighten the screws defensively.

It's hard watching Sochan struggle and the team struggle as a result. He's not happy, and his energy is needed, so we should be playing more to his strengths. Pop's "pound the rock" mentality gets him trouble sometimes. You have be able to read and react when it's warranted, and not keep shoving that square peg in the round hole when it clearly doesn't fit. You can pound the rock until you're insane if what you're actually pounding is a solid piece of iron.

[MultiTroll]

"Wemby's efficiency is bad!" "He takes bad shots!" He's also spending most of his minutes without a real PG.


In the 192 minutes Wemby has spent with Tre Jones on the floor, he averages 26ppg/36 on 58%TS. That's also 33.2p/100 for those curious.
This is actually an astoundingly strong blend of volume and efficiency for a rookie.

What's the other factor holding Wemby back? He's playing PF next to Cs clogging the paint and taking away some mismatch opportunities.
Wemby has only gotten 124 minutes at Center this season, but when he does? He averages a whopping 33ppg/36 on 62%TS. That's with or without Tre Jones at PG even.


These numbers are absolutely absurd.
When the Spurs put him in a position to succeed - either with an actual PG or at his best position - he dominates.
He's already been scoring at an all-star level.
How many year(s) will it be -if ever- until the following individual recognizes and implements?:
https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/Screen-Shot-2019-05-27-at-32305-PM-dd498b9b3fcde42d5ca0e74c80e9ae1b.jpg

[biba]

How many year(s) will it be -if ever- until the following individual recognizes and implements?:
https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/Screen-Shot-2019-05-27-at-32305-PM-dd498b9b3fcde42d5ca0e74c80e9ae1b.jpg

This individual will do it when we'll be ready to win. For that we mean more great pieces. If we switch Victor to C and Tre the starting PG, how many more wins this season ? Enough to get a FR pick in the 10/15th ?
Big mistake.
If we stay the course - just enjoying Victor fooling around - the coming draft we get us one great piece.
After that one everything will be open.

We will compete for a championship in the 2027/28 season.

[spurraider21]

Did you not see what Jokic did to him?
jokic is an all-timer who embarrasses basically everybody he goes up against

[MultiTroll]

If we stay the course - just enjoying Victor fooling around - the coming draft we get us one great piece.
After that one everything will be open.
How are you guaranteeing a continued tank / organic suck coaching continued this year thus getting a chance at #1-#7 pick is going to guarantee another GNob to Duncan type? A legit annual All Star. Ask Detroit how that worst overall record went.
I mean it should if we get #4 on down.
But if you look at the last 5 years #1 - #4 lotto picks it's absolutely no guarantee.

Now if we land a #1 or #2 overall pick then for damn sure it better become an annual All Star or the FO and Brian Wrong would need to resign.

[paperboy77]

Man it really sux that Pop cannot get out of his own way. We should be loving all the positives we expected based on an ok team from last year PLUS Wemby. Instead, there's nothing but misery in here. Honestly, I'm kinda relived there's no games to be depressed about during the last few days. It really sucks that the team sucks.

[Obstructed_View]

Man it really sux that Pop cannot get out of his own way. We should be loving all the positives we expected based on an ok team from last year PLUS Wemby. Instead, there's nothing but misery in here. Honestly, I'm kinda relived there's no games to be depressed about during the last few days. It really sucks that the team sucks.
I love watching Victor play when he has some joy in his game. This last one was fun because he was getting the ball the right way. I hope we see more of that.

[TekXX]

Pop: "That's not who we are"

[TrainOfThought5]

https://x.com/N_Magaro/status/1729287097020792942?s=20

Looks like playing Victor at C with a playmaking PG is the best scenario

https://en.meming.world/images/en/0/08/Always_has_been.jpg

Pop: “Always has been.”

[ambchang]

I’m all for development but staunchly against tanking (unless a generational talent is involved). Tanking breeds bad habits and a losing culture that is extremely difficult to correct. Development though has a goal insight and there are clear steps of improvement that could be shown as successes to young players. The issue though is that the results are shockingly similar and it’s difficult for a casual observer (such as a fan) to tell the difference.


I want sochan to build up Pg abilities but can’t he be with Tre or Devonte on the floor at the same time and share that responsibility? You don’t teach a kid to DI by shoving him on stage with Kendrick Lamar.

[Obstructed_View]

I think putting anyone other than Collins into the starting lineup fixes most of the problem. It's not like the defense is any good right now. Putting Tre in the SL and letting Sochan get his joy back would probably do wonders for the team as well.