Victor Wembanyama has jumped to the 3rd best player in the league (by EPM) after tonight's performance.
I think if in July 2024 someone told me the Spurs would be 15 and 13 the weekend before Christmas, I'd have considered that very optimistic.
He has good odds of winning Player of the Week, methinks.Victor Wembanyama has jumped to the 3rd best player in the league (by EPM) after tonight's performance.
Certainly a lock for the ASG if he keeps this up.
You know? This is one thought experiment that I don't find fun at all, actually, for any team, not just the Spurs. Let me explain.
There's just so much that we as fans aren't privy to regarding FO workings. And this is not just a "cop-out" answer - we've actually seen, countless times, teams pulling off trades that NOBODY saw coming, no one could've predicted or explained, but that were possible and desirable due to a FO's inner machinations and planning. This season's KAT-Randle trade is a good example; I don't think anyone at all could have seen it coming (yes, KAT or someone had to go for cap reasons, but the reasonable assumption was to run it back at least one more season). So your entire premise (building a hypothetical trade scenario or simulations, based on a very incomplete set of facts) is already not good for me.
And, on the other hand but still very relevant -- I was watching the Hawks-Spurs highlights, and all I could think about was: the Doncic Trade. What a colossal, monumental failure for Atlanta! They even tried for years to delude themselves into thinking Trae was the better player, and then, that even if he wasn't, the extra pick they got made it "worth it" to lose out on a true Superstar talent.
Why do I bring it up? Because I see many ATL fans now complaing about their "bad luck" having their #1 pick fall in the non-Wemby draft..... But that's not all that happened. They had a superstar fall to their laps - and traded it away. A move SpursTalk would've, rightfully, never ever forgiven. And they would be in SUCH a better place today (they probably don't make the Dejounte trade at all, with Doncic being such a heliocentric player), it's ridiculous to think about. And yes, it's too easy to say "well the Spurs would've never traded Wemby away so whatever!!" but I would've said exactly that about Luka, pre-draft. Truth is, nobody in' knows.
So there you go. My point: being a good FO is not only about the plans that work out, and the trades you make - it's just as much about the trades you don't make, keeping the powder dry, and waiting for the right chance then going all in on it. And that's exactly what I applaud the Spurs FO for -- not the "getting lucky with 14% odds" part. That's only the tip of the iceberg that is FO work, IMO.
A lot of starter games missed,too. We should have been compe ive in those Laker games,but weren’t with Sochan sidelined.
I've said it even before that draft, anyone employed by an NBA franchise who even thought Luka wasn't a clear #1 in that draft should've been immediately fired and banned from working in the league ever again.
Suns and Kings are two other franchises that passed on him, two franchises that never won a championship and have been horrible for many years.
As for Wemby, I might sound like a homer, but I'm not sure I'm taking anyone other than Jokic and Giannis over him right now, if we're talking current ability. Maybe Luka, SGA and AD.
He's averaging 3.8 blocks while being actively avoided by everyone, beyond ridiculous.
We're talking about Champagnie as a great 3-D role player, but Wemby is shooting the same percentage on higher volume than him.
We'd obviously want him to be more active in the paint, but he's at 72% inside!
You can't tell me that Celtics wouldn't be doing even better if they replaced Tatum with Wemby.
Most of us in here watched Timmy's 19 yeras of defensive greatness and to say that Wemby can easily surprass him as a defender sounds preposterous, but it's a fact.
I still remember this board's reaction when the Spurs drafted Josh Primo over Sengun, and that was a decision that definitely shook my faith in the front office at the time. But compared to passing on Luka for Bagley or trading him for Trae Young, it looks like a huge nothing burger. This board might have crashed for weeks if that had happened.
Man, the stat lines Wemby is producing in what is often barely 30 minutes on the court are ing ridiculous.
I was almost wishing the game were closer so he could get the points/blocks/rebounds trip doub.
Only prblem now is his rebounding
Not really because every game there are a couple of rebounds he just pushes to his teammates or even doesn't go for because the ball is clearly ours.
There aren't many situations where he doesn't get the rebound that should've been his.
For me personally the only actual issue are those sequences when he's out of rythm and isos result in dumb turnover, but there haven't been many of those as of late.
He’s half a rebound below last year, and Sochan has certainly picked up that and more with his improvement.
From a stats perspective yes, but he's not in the classical center position during these moments. Jokic is a statistical anomaly, he does everything and does it extremely efficiently and extremely well. Victor is in year 2, and he's deciding if he wants to focus on rebounds. I do feel like the Spurs allow too many offensive boards, but this NBA isn't the same as it was even 5 years ago. Teams stopped going for offensive boards so defenders maybe stopped boxing out.
He is at 14 place now in the NBA. It's not that big of a problem since he got better in assists and overall placing on the floor. He is mostly outside the basket area and yes he is not great rebounder and ppl pushing him of some positions and he do not have that good feel for rebs.
But to say it's a problem?
He is not that great at everything yet.
With 341 Victor is now tied with Pascal Siakam for total career blocks, Siakam a 9 seasons NBA veteran Power Forward with multiple All-Stars & All-NBA.
He also passed Bruce Bowen (336) for total career blocks.
Okay, so you don't like having to use your imagination. You could have just said that.
Last year the Spurs averaged 44.23 reb/gm (11th in the league), this year we're at 44.89 (1oth in the league). Wemby doesn't need to individually collect all the rebounds to pad his stats... we're doing fine (though I'd love to see us be a Top 5 rebounding team).
A more important stat is Team REB%, and we were 8th in the league last year and are 8th in the league this year. Sochan's improvement on the boards and Bassey eating up Collins minutes are helping overall team rebounding. We just need to avoid those handful of lineups where our team rebounding takes a nosedive.
Wemby is all time elite, so I think he is gonna break some records statistically
Man, if only he boarded better!
lost opportunity for his quad dub
He was close to double rebounds with 7, but had only 3 assists and 0 steals, so I don’t see a close call on a quad doub.
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