It is time to address Wembanyama’s occasional soft and lazy play…

[Joseph Kony]

Spurs trying to give one to chicago to help their record for det pick

[John B]

This post I agree with 200%. I don't ing care about era, we drafted the guy to be a 7'4" Olajuwon or Duncan, and he's been putting up those numbers on the surface, but the problem is that today's NBA is ed and un able, thanks to gots like Curry, Durant, and Silver having completely ed the league permanently into arcade skittle mode chuckball. That's just about every player today, not just Wemby, unfortunately.

Silver, today's NBA, honestly the 90s and 00s were great but if we're going to bring back the early 80s tempo then it's time to get rid of the three point shot now tbh.

Whatever era, I think Wemby still shoots the 3. Imagine the Bad Boys Laimbeer and Mahorn guarding him on the post. And the lanes are clogged because they didn’t space out as much back then.

Wemby is not a finish product. I don’t know if he could bulk up like Giannis, but it took Giannis years or about 5-7 lbs increase in weight every year. And Wemby is sooo tall, his dribble is too high going through traffic. Nor he has low center-gravity like Duncan to backdown defenders. But Wemby has the height to shoot open shots, every time so why not maximize that?

[Joseph Kony]

Do agree though somewhat. Wemby is obviously a special talent and i have no doubt the kid works his ass off but he definitely has a tendency to sleepwalk thru the first quarter and obviously we'd all like for him to be more aggressive in trying to get to the paint so he can maximize his greatest advantage. And as good as he is on defense he coasts on that end a lot too by virtue of just being tall but that doesnt always work. i'm hoping this is just a case of him bringing himself along slowly and gearing up for the long season. but these games where he chucks endlessly from three after going like 0-5 or 1-5 to start instead of trying to get some easy shots near the bucket are getting frustrating. his lack of FT attempts is kind of alarming also

[TrainOfThought5]

Do you even watch games?
Before this one, out of his last 8 games 20/10/2 with 4 blocks was the worst statline.
31/11/4.5 with 3.4 blocks in that stretch, 54/43/78 shooting splits.
If that's "one ggame he's great and then sucks ass on the next one", then I honestly don't know what to say without using insults.

Some of you people are completely delusional, there's just no other way to say it.
Or you're just trolling and baiting on purpose.

everyone knows that even when Wemby isn’t good, he’s still good. Some of this is Tim Duncan’s shadow of consistency.

[John B]

Wemby out tomorrow against the Bulls with back soreness. People es Wemby’s not playing enough minutes, pacing himself, not attacking the paint more, etc . This guy plays both sides of the court

[Spurs Homer]

he was 7/7 from 3 in that game. Huge stat line obviously with 20+ points. Anybody saying Devin should go to the bench has lost their mind.

Hasn't it been kind of nice to have devin come in and provide some scoring punch?

I like keeping the starters intact - more balanced and castle excels as a starter...barnes or champagnie can alternate as starters but having vassel come in after vw rests is better imo- so the offense doesnt have to depend on zollins and other streaky offensive players...

[The Truth #6]

I'm torn. Start Devin and make him play less hero ball, or come off the bench with more freedom. I'd prefer him starting IF he can play within the system. To his credit, he's been playing a better brand of basketball lately.

[exstatic]

I'm torn. Start Devin and make him play less hero ball, or come off the bench with more freedom. I'd prefer him starting IF he can play within the system. To his credit, he's been playing a better brand of basketball lately.

His USG% is 27.3, higher than at any point in his career.

[polandprzem]

Wemby out tomorrow against the Bulls with back soreness. People es Wemby’s not playing enough minutes, pacing himself, not attacking the paint more, etc . This guy plays both sides of the court

He should have every 2nd week off. He plays he shoots, defense offense ... let him sit more

[z0sa]

Our biggest issue is that we got very little self-creation across the roster.
Yeah, sharing the ball and not isoing is nice, but most of our bad possessions come down to noone being able to penetrate the paint or create an advantage by themselves.

CP3's legs are gone, he legit never attacks the basket.
Castle is probably our best paint penetrator, which says a lot. But his shot is unreliable and opponents will just sag off, making the drive a lot harder.
Keldon can get to the rim, but he's got a serious case of tunnel vision and his drives are so random, can't be relied on.
Others aren't even worth mentioning when it comes to giving them the ball and hoping they'll create an advantage.

Aside from Wemby, obviously. But he's really inefficent in isolation because of his turnover ratio.

We need a player who can score from tough situations without having to give the ball up. It's not something we should base our offense on, but we can't just keep passing it around if the play is broken, we don't get good shots like that.

Agreed for the most part. Wemby is turning a corner already, I feel, despite the Suns debacle. Versus the Kings, he was punishing mismatches in the post late in the game. It was a thing of beauty, for instance, when he spun on the rookie Ellis I believe to score a super easy 2 in the guts of the game.

But, much seems predicated on his 3 falling. He did have a stretch @ Suns at the start of the 3rd where he banged out a quick 12 points in less than 5 minutes (I remember Sean talking about it at the time). They were almost entirely looks in the paint, but we started chucking again and the momentum was lost.

As for CP3, I brought this up just before pre-season. Much, too much, is riding on him being not only healthy, but playing at a high level (if a play-in spot is the goal). CP3 is nifty with passing in the screen and roll but you're totally correct when you say his legs are, for the most part, gone. There's stretches where he channels 30-year old CP3 but they're understandably few and far between.

Agree as well with Castle. It's only a pyrrhic victory at this point if he shoots well in one game, because then it seems already like he wants to overrely on it to give him space in other games where it isn't falling. He needs to learn how to make defenses pay even if he isn't shooting from outside, which by itself is a monumental task for most players much less a rookie. We can't rely on him to be The Guy (in terms of that crunchtime/playoff atmosphere) in year 1 - it's not reasonable nor fair for his development.

Keldon, well we've talked long about KJ. He is who he is at this point. I'm with baseline bum in thinking that we should have traded him early in Wemby's career when his stats/trade value were at their highest and gotten value. He'll never replicate 2022-23 production, it's clear to me at least, and he's not high IQ enough to consistently impact games positively. I think though, something telling that isn't talked about much is how often CP3 gets after Keldon for his defensive lapses. He often has this offended look too if you watch closely. He's one of those who gets sick of CP3 quick and eventually gets him run off (if CP had much more time left in the League).

Vassell really is our only hope in terms of a player besides Wemby who you can simply run off screens or hand the ball to and expect results. Castle needs time, CP3 is simply way past his prime, and KJ isn't smart enough basketball-wise to be a guy who just gets you buckets. Out of those 3, I'm putting my faith in Castle since his IQ is already higher than Keldon's, if not his experience, of course.

[Amuseddaysleeper]

He is so incosistent tbh. One quarter he’s great and then suck ass on the next one

Fixed

[SouthernFried]

Castle shows more Poise than Wemby. , Castle shows more Poise than everyone on this team except Paul and Harrison. When those 3 are on the court, I enjoy watching the game. May not be the most talented combo...but, it's a high BBIQ combo. Which is what I love to watch.

When everyone else is on the court...I cringe at the Low BBIQ.

[The Truth #6]

His USG% is 27.3, higher than at any point in his career.

Well, I guess he can stay on the second unit. Ha.

[MannyIsGod]

Lazy is a word I'll never use in reference to wemby and I think you using it makes it hard to take this post seriously.

[exstatic]

Well, I guess he can stay on the second unit. Ha.

Highest USG% isn’t the counter argument to hero ball. People here listen to the NBA talking heads too much. Barkley says that he takes too difficult of shots, but he’s shooting a TS% of 65.5 taking those shots. That’s elite, so maybe he’s just that good?

[Brazil]

Lazy ?

Victor has still to build stamina, in a context where he plays both end fully, it is quite normal for him to try to pace himself during the games.

[100%duncan]

I'm more worried about Wemby's rebounding than his shot diet tbh. He has quietly developed some quick post moves and it's obvious he's chucking 3s in the first half to preserve for the 2nd half. Besides, he's @ 34% on threes on a million attempts, league average is 36%. We just have to live with this for now.

His rebounding otherwise have much to be desired for. The pels big missed an easy put back late in the game cause Wemby didn't rebound.

I know he's averaging a double double but I feel like those 10 boards can be around 12-13rpg tbh.

[itzsoweezee]

I'm more worried about Wemby's rebounding than his shot diet tbh. He has quietly developed some quick post moves and it's obvious he's chucking 3s in the first half to preserve for the 2nd half. Besides, he's @ 34% on threes on a million attempts, league average is 36%. We just have to live with this for now.

His rebounding otherwise have much to be desired for. The pels big missed an easy put back late in the game cause Wemby didn't rebound.

I know he's averaging a double double but I feel like those 10 boards can be around 12-13rpg tbh.

He doesn’t get offensive rebounds anymore because he’s out on the perimeter. Earlier in the year, the difference in offensive rebounding between last season and this one was stark. I assume it hasn’t gotten much better.

[100%duncan]

He doesn’t get offensive rebounds anymore because he’s out on the perimeter. Earlier in the year, the difference in offensive rebounding between last season and this one was stark. I assume it hasn’t gotten much better.

He's subpar (compared to his potential and size) on defensive rebounding as well.

[TheBallsbreakers]

He's subpar (compared to his potential and size) on defensive rebounding as well.

You'd think Wemby is Ben Wallace when you check Holmgren's rebounding numbers.

[exstatic]

He's subpar (compared to his potential and size) on defensive rebounding as well.

His defensive rebounding % is 27.4. If you don’t understand that stat, when he’s on the floor with 9 other guys, and an opponent shot misses, he gets slightly more than 1/4 of those boards. That’s pretty elite.

[polandprzem]

His defensive rebounding % is 27.4. If you don’t understand that stat, when he’s on the floor with 9 other guys, and an opponent shot misses, he gets slightly more than 1/4 of those boards. That’s pretty elite.

#9 in the league

[itzsoweezee]

#9 in the league

He’s also #1 in block percentage by an extremely high margin. Having to attempt so many blocks, it’s not surprising he’s out of position to defensively rebound. Nevertheless, he’s still elite at defensive rebounding.

And whether the added benefit of his increased three point shooting offsets the reduction in wemby’s offensive rebounding is hard to tell, but it’s very possible it’s worth it given how little three point shooting there is in the rest of the roster.

[scott]

Wemby has an elite rebounding % because he has elite size, but fundamentally he's not a very good rebounder. That's mostly a function of his frame though, as he's easily pushed off the blocks, which he compensates for by just reaching over smaller dudes. But someone like Jonas or Steven Adams (or CBass) is going to easily be able to beat him to rebounds. Just something we'll have to deal with as a trade off of his size.

Also, itzsoweezee's point about Wemby being out of position because of blocks is a very good one.

It's a bit of a stretch to call him soft or lazy because of this, but it definitely puts us at a disadvantage at times, which is why it's important for our PF to be a strong rebounder. Sochan has significantly improved this year, not just in his raw REB numbers, but if you look at his REB% he's gone from 11.0 and 11.7 in his first two years to 16.0 this year.

[polandprzem]

He’s also #1 in block percentage by an extremely high margin. Having to attempt so many blocks, it’s not surprising he’s out of position to defensively rebound. Nevertheless, he’s still elite at defensive rebounding.

And whether the added benefit of his increased three point shooting offsets the reduction in wemby’s offensive rebounding is hard to tell, but it’s very possible it’s worth it given how little three point shooting there is in the rest of the roster.

blk% he is 2nd to Kessler