The issue is, that is so far how he's approached being aggressive. I'd love see him attacking the offensive glass more than he has been this year. If Sochan is going to take the opposing center off the dribble, the glass should be wide open for a put-back.
See to me, him catching the ball so far out is directly related to his usual way of asserting himself. He can't hold post position against a competent defender. He just can't. It's a physical thing, especially since refs let defenders get away with an absurd amount of contact against him in that area (there were multiple times when Brooks was allowed to actually hug Victor for some reason). So the longer Wemby holds position, the farther he'll get pushed. If he runs down the court ahead of everyone and calls for the pass, by the time the pass is ready to be made, Victor would go from the mid-post all the way out to the three-point line. That means Wemby has to wait until the pass is ready to be made to do his seal. In order to prevent teams from setting up on him, he should spend the intervening time setting screens to generate movement. Once all that happens and guys are out of the way, then he should go 1) Seal, 2) Target 3) Finish. This is totally something that can be schemed up. But it requires guys to buy into it for the sake of it rather than buying into it solely as a means of creating a crease to call for the ball.but part of doing center things also includes getting his ass closer to the basket. yes, holding screens is an improvement, and generally on defense i have noticed he doesnt jump at every pump fake anymore. but im not sure how much he's helping the offense when the other team has a wing on him, and wemby just catches the ball 21 feet out, and cant really do anything with it other than putting up a bad shot or passing it back to somebody else.
One thing I don't see the Spurs do enough is to run a 4/5 screen with Sochan and Wemby. That will either force a switch or force Wemby's man into a chasing position, giving him the time to curl and shoot.
I don't know if you remember his pre-season games last year where he was killing it from midrange off screens. But it's exactly as you say. It's very hard to contest a shot in the mid-post if Wemby can get a clean catch. I have no idea why they stopped going to those plays. It's not like they run them and they get snuffed out. They simply don't do them.teams can get away with putting wings on wemby if he's not going to punish them for it with his height advantage. if he catches the ball 12 feet from the rim instead of 22 feet from the rim, he can just rise up for a high percentage shot until the other team adjusts
"maybe I should start Sochan at PG"
Good ol' quintuple team.but it's Wemby who's the problem
No, this roster full of non shooters is the problem. He actually did try to get it to the one guy there who was open and can shoot, but it was picked off. Not surprising when you're quintuple teamed.
Never forget that when Pop decided to replace Sochan as the starting point guard, he didn't turn to Tre Jones, his first choice was Cedi Osman who had to slink back to Europe after nobidy wanted him.
Brilliant coaching mind.
It's sad watching Chet drive all the way to the basket and throw up bull because no one can even double safely off of Thunder players - then get sucked off about it. meanwhile, Wemby can't touch the ball for 2 seconds without literally 5 guys sagging into the paint on him. Could have been more assertive? Certainly, he could have put up shots. But I think the point is both made and fair. He can't go 1 on 3/4/5 and expect anything good out of it. What sop re, even of Wemby's talent, is expected to read triple/quadruple teams excellently?
typical Pop. He only figured it out once Osman was injured. Same with Gasol/Poeltl and a bunch of other rotations back in the day. He must have cataracs for a while now.
Perfectly sums up why VW has been struggling this first 4 games. Dallas, Houston and OKC were sending aggressive and decisive double/triple teams which I think has caught Victor and the coaching staff by surprise.
At least tonight the Spurs are playing the Jazz, which on paper are the easiest opponent the Spurs have had. Hopefully this game is a confidence builder for our struggling team.
Yikes
Everyone likes to on Russell Westbrook for being a bench disaster who can't shoot ..
But sadly Castle has been much worse. 3-12 on three vs 0-8. Half the points, more turnovers, and worse spacing.
Are we doing to start doing this again? I pulled up the game on my DVR, so no YouTube time stamp for this one. This the play where Wemby got the rebound and proceeded to drive into the middle of OKC's defense trying to score on Chet (and shoves him for an uncalled offensive foul). The Thunder send Mic to double, and rather than hitting the wide open Barnes, Wemby decides to dribble behind his back, at which point Mitc digs the dribble and gets the strip.
So the question is: Why did the two Thunder not involved on the play (Williams sank to take Mamu at the dunker's spot when Mitc doubled as part of a pre-rotation). Is it because they didn't respect the other guys? Maybe, but Barnes and Branham are shooting very well this year and shot well in this game. So whether you're talking about the immediate pass out of the double or the eventual swing, sagging off doesn't make sense. The other explanation is because they were confident they could get the ball out of Wemby's hands before he passed to the other guys. That seems more likely.
(AlsoI looked up at my DVR on the other screen to see I just happened to stop the game at literally the same frame as the one in this screenshot. Like I'd watched that sequence through like five or six times writing this, so I didn't intend to do that. Oh well.)
I mean if Castle was a finished product then maybe this would be a good comparison to make but the dude has literally played less than 5 NBA games and is a teen. LOL what even is this? If he could shoot he would not have been the fourth pick.
I haven't played 2K in some years, but that screenshot looks like one of those park games where 60 rating scrubs constantly call for the ball and defenders ignore them because they can't do .
whats really painful/funny about this is last year we would find all these stills of the spurs defense having everybody in the paint and getting mad because we allowed so many unnecessary wide open 3 pointers as a result
but on the other side, teams are able to do that against us but get away with it since we cant knock down 3's
Curious what Castle is calling for here. When he has had wide open 3 point opportunities like this he has either hesitated to shoot, or hit some poor child in the 6th row with his shot
His man has his back turned and is 15 feet away. If Victor can zip the pass to Castle fast enough he might be able to get almost to the rim before anyone can react. Or he could swing it over to Barnes instead.
the ballhandler is getting swarmed and he's making himself an available passing outlet
Shifting gears... I want to talk a little bit about Sochan.
I, like most folks, am impressed with the progress he's shown thus far. He's crashing the boards, playing good D, and has been an offensive threat on cuts, put backs, and close-basket situations.
However, there were a few moments last night that made me still question where this guy is at, mentally. I counted at least two possessions in the first half where Wemby was being guarded b Caruso 1-1, and Sochan was guarded by Chet. Both times, Sochan drove on Chet to disastrous, predictable results. It was the kind of tunnel vision dumb dumb play that we've grown accustom to seeing from Keldon.
Now, I don't entirely blame Jeremy for this... I think it's more a function of the lack of a coherent offensive structure and game plan. Jeremy hasn't had a contingency plan drilled into his head yet. You know, all the the coaches are supposed to be doing with these guys. But this is the kind of that not only leads to bad basketball results, but stunts the progress we're seeing out of Jeremy and the rest of the team.
I was mostly kidding... but it's still a "I'm open!!! OH NO DON'T PASS IT TO ME!" kind of thing.
Don't get me wrong, it's early and Castle deserves the same multiple season window a guy like Wesley does, certainly. Just hate that his skill set only somewhat overlaps with what we need right now. It's more seasons plural of pain for the silver and black, not because of castle, but because we punted on every pick after that had players who could at least shoot straight if nothing else.
a lot of the problems seem to be that we are playing too slow. We are 28th in pace after being 9th last season and when CP3 is on the floor our offense is the worst in the league. Let's just hope these are growing pains, but he really needs to push the ball in transition.
I really like Castle a lot... but we need to be honest. His shot is looking rough
Don't get me wrong, it's early and Castle deserves the same multiple season window a guy like Wesley does, certainly. Just hate that his skill set only somewhat overlaps with what we need right now. It's more seasons plural of pain for the silver and black, not because of castle, but because we punted on every pick after that had players who could at least shoot straight if nothing else.
He's bound to be shooting them a lot before and after games. He was looking alright in the pre-season on a game or two.
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