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damn the Victor effect pushed Pop from a 3 year deal to a 5 year deal.
Pop knows VW will be special.
damn the Victor effect pushed Pop from a 3 year deal to a 5 year deal.
Pop knows VW will be special.
First David, then Tim, now Wemby…somehow CIA Pop got incriminating pictures of the Basketball Gods!
Interesting to see that he has been asked to dribble a lot, while everyone was blaming him for that.
Great read and encouraging for our future. People harping on his misses have to realize it was his first summer league game and he was told to 'experiment,' which is a great way to learn.
I'll be watching tonight. The following two games are on NBATV which I don't have, so hopefully the semis and finals will be on ESPN.
That explains the dearth of plays run for Wemby. Pretty cool letting him figure out some things for himself.
Thanks Timvp. That’s curious on how that 3 years became 5. I’m sure with a lot of to do with Wemby getting on board and expressing himself he wanted to be coached by Pop. It reminds me of Pop promising Timmy he’ll be there for him. I think 5 years is the most he could promise to Wemby.
I like that they are giving Wemby all kinds of look, then I’m sure they will evaluate from there where he could be most effective at this stage of his career, without risking any injuries. I commented on another thread how I notice a smile on Pop’s face when they brought Wemby back in the last 4 minutes of the gane, as if as approval, “let the kid get the feel of the game.” Pop is obviously enjoying his time now. I’m sure they are working hard planning what’s next. They will roll with the current team, evaluate and then we would see big moves when the time comes. Good time to be a Spurs fan.
Yep, explains a lot.
Awesome read...by all accounts Wemby is eager to learn and grow. Seeing his games in France and his first summer league game he passes the eye test with flying colors. His talent and presence is extremely obvious even when he struggles. Will definitely be a fun season!
Very encouraging…like i told another poster who was not happy to hear Durant comparisons…
wemby got some Durant similarities and allowing him to roam the perimeter and do his own thing is only going to help him expand his game…
i was afraid pops old thinking and short leash on players would put a damper on wembys growth, but thank goodness pop is aware enough and wise enough to adapt and think in new ways!
He did the same with Manu.
Great read! Great insight!
yes he did…but pop (and all of us) are older and sometimes “old” thinking gets in the way as we become sure “our way” is the correct way and it is very hard to keep a fresh mind
kudos to pop!
The unnamed scout counted 8 blocks not 5. I knew when they said he had 3 blocks at half I thought he had 4. Then I remember him being all over a jump shooter who launched an errant shot to where I suspected Wemby got a hand on the ball as he released it. Then the bogus foul call 2nd half where the guy launched into him and he easily rejected the shot. So basically yes, 8 blocks sounds about right.
The refs were very iffy at times, no doubt.
It looks like, while aging, Pop is actually being more and more open to let players do their things and see what happens out of it. I had this feeling last season when he played all these young guys and didn't bench them after a mistake. Obviously that also comes with a tanking season when results don't matter.
The rim protection will be amazing. The layup line of the recent past will be knocked down. Carefree mid-range jumpers will get blocked or influenced.
This guy VW will earn his keep in many ways.
I think it started with Manu, but LMA really opened his eyes also.
Aldridge didn't like Pop pigeon-holing him into Pop's vision as a player and requested a trade.
Instead, Pop figured out he was in the wrong, so to speak, said he will let LMA be LMA and the guy ended up pulling the trade request and signed an extension.
Since then Pop has been much more lax on players and how he has wanted them to do what he wants them to do in comparison to his older self who was very rigid.
To be fair, he's also been adaptable enough over the years to overhaul the team's offense multiple times to fit his players so there's always that as a base also.
A guard driving into a defender and getting the call is 100% how the NBA is called right now. Defense not allowed. It looks like they're going to call them on Wembanyama, too.
Zero doubt. You can literally see the opposing offense change it's complete tone when he's on the floor.
It's almost surreal.
While the refs and stat keepers didn’t quite get it right, they could have been worse, such as calling a foul on that jump shooter he harassed into missing. I am hoping given how high Wembys profile and shot blocking skills are, it will shine a light on this problem of the offensive player launching into a properly positioned defender and drawing a “foul”.
If Wemby starts getting superstar non-calls, i.e. he can block shots without getting called for ticky tack fouls, he could average 4+ blocks per game. At least until opponents stop attempting shots near him, which is even more valuable for the defense.
Really cool article, thanks. Experimentation is great, but we'll see how much his pride is willing to take, he's under the spotlight like few others have been and every mistake will be magnified, hopefully he doesn't take it too hard and is willing to keep trying a la Sochan's FTs.
It's more like Manu broke him and he had to accept defeatNow he's embracing it, he knows there's no point in fighting it.
Assuming the dementia doesnt kick in,lfg!!!
He'll definitely block a lot of shots. I'm just saying that the "guard ramming into a defensive player going to the rim" thing is an automatic foul on the defender in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets over 10 FTA a game doing this. It's ing ridiculous and Wembanyama is going to get fouls called on him for doing so.
I agree on Manu. That was winning basketball. But with LMA, I think Pop just didn’t want to give up on a big signing. Spurs LMA was nothing compared to when he was a force at Blazers. The guy did not want to engage and settled on jumpshots and eventually long range, then aggravated by a mid-range shooting Demar, and the flawed roster continued, putting more shooters to counter, at the expense of defense (Beli/Patty/Forbes). That was Pop adjusting with the flawed roster. Now he’s building from ground up, shooters, ballhandlers, facilitators, players who could play defense and athletic to switch 1-5. Will see the real Pop again demanding tight defense, and awarding players minutes for their hard work… at least that’s what I’m hoping for.
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