Windhorst: Wembanyama Not Thrilled With Where Spurs Are; Doesn't Think Spurs Can Get Away With Slow Build

[exstatic]

what was up with Windhorst today? He sounded like someone who is falling in love with the SA/Austin metro area.

I’d take that as a good sign. Probably vibes he’s getting from the W family.

[NASpurs]

I’d take that as a good sign. Probably vibes he’s getting from the W family.

So when it's something good, he's in tuned with the family but when it's something bad, he's just Lebron's shield. Sniffers are funny.

[exstatic]

So when it's something good, he's in tuned with the family but when it's something bad, he's just Lebron's shield. Sniffers are funny.

So when something is bad, he’s tuned in, but when something is good, we’re just sniffers.

[NASpurs]

So when something is bad, he’s tuned in, but when something is good, we’re just sniffers.

No just taking note of your hypocrisy. Pick and choose a lane sniffer. Either he knows what he's talking about or he's just Lebron's pawn.

[tonight...you]

No just taking note of your hypocrisy. Pick and choose a lane sniffer. Either he knows what he's talking about or he's just Lebron's pawn.

He's a headline maker.
Nothing more, nothing less.
He will make an extreme out of everything he remotely hears.
That's the lane I pick.
He's a male Ramona who doesn't have the Laker connect she does.

[Splits]

Well that Wemby is out with his ankle, no need to pay attention to anything but the offseason.

[Mugen]

He's a headline maker.
Nothing more, nothing less.
He will make an extreme out of everything he remotely hears.
That's the lane I pick.
He's a male Ramona who doesn't have the Laker connect she does.

Big Windy is way more plugged in than Mona the Hut tbh.

[tonight...you]

Big Windy is way more plugged in than Mona the Hut tbh.

I trust you above all others for reasons unknown.

[MultiTroll]

And from my memory, he landed at the corner of the paint by the elbow and then ran out.

It doesn't matter though since I posted the video so we could all see what happened without depending on a dishonest screen shot or a quick description from a poster.

So why in your estimation was "running out" as Wemby was backing the ball in....
The right move by Vassell?
What makes the screen shot dishonest?
Since we have the vid.

[Chinook]

So why in your estimation was "running out" as Wemby was backing the ball in....
The right move by Vassell?
What makes the screen shot dishonest?
Since we have the vid.

We have the video. You should watch it. It doesn't seem like you have if you think Victor is "backing the ball in". Vassell and Wembanyama are running a PnR. Victor short-rolls and gets the pass from Vassell. Devin immediately cuts back out to the three-point line to give Wemby space. Victor is superhuman, so he can just do a single spin-move from the free-throw line and go into a push-shot off the glass. The actual screen shot is taken when Victor is starting his spin to make it look like he's trying to back down his man from like 16 feet or something and is act perplexed about Vassell when whoever took that screen shot should've been able to tell what Devin was doing from the actual clip they took the frame from. Moreover, using these images to represent teams ignoring the other guys because they all looked at Victor once he caught the ball is misleading. All three clips are actually of defenses breaking down. They aren't in the paint because they are only worried about Victor. They're in the paint because they all messed up. You can see in that in some of these clips where the players are yelling at each other afterward.

The screen shots are dishonest, like literally the same as those stupid political gotcha posts from Facebook. The person who made them (whether than be the poster or someone else) knew they weren't representing the reality when they took those shots. They intentionally looked for the frames that painted the picture they wanted and added extremely biased and misleading annotations. It doesn't make sense. You can make the argument that the Spurs need to upgrade their roster without resorting to making up evidence.

[Pauleta14]

Big Windy is way more plugged in than Mona the Hut tbh.

[spursparker9]

[get_mills_out]

[get_mills_out]

EDIT: I'm going to make some changes here for clarity, but I wrote this post originally without seeing the clip, assuming the still image presented was an accurate representation of the defense. I commented in a later post after I saw that and will mostly leave this as it was.

The action you're describing is called a high-low and is a traditional big-to-big pass. Here are highlights to Duncan and LMA running it:



And one of the Spurs running it in general with Tim as the low man:



You should be able to see some differences between those plays and the this one that you believe the Spurs could run that action for. The first thing that stands out to me is that Branham or Wesley is not a big. The reason why the pass comes from a big is to pull the passers' man out of the paint and to create an easier angle for the lob. Even ignoring that the Grizz aren't guarding anyone else (EDIT to say that no, the Grizzlies are guarding their men, which creates the space I assumed wasn't available), Wesley or Branham's man wouldn't be in the paint to pull out. That's not an instant deal-breaker, as the second vid shows wings doing the pass if they're quick enough (which is what happened in this case). But the inside pressure that a second big generates is part of what makes those plays work and why the Spurs shouldn't be so hasty to avoid playing a center if they can find the right one

The next thing I'm looking at is how high Wemby is in his post-up. That's way too high for a high-low, though typically, a player wouldn't front the post that high up, because it leaves open a lob into the open space. (EDIT to say that by the time the high-low actually happens, Wemby is basically under the basket exactly where he should be.)The issue is that Grizzlies are absolutely playing that lob pass. (EDIT to say they aren't, because they aren't quintuple teaming Wemby like the screen shot implied. They basically abandon the paint by the end of the possession.) That's why they can't "just throw it up there" as often as some posters wish. Even after a high-low action, there's a lot of room for defenders to get in the way of that pass and of Victor's path to the basket. One possible solution would be to throw the ball toward the short corner and have the strong side Spurs cut behind their men to the basket. Victor catches the ball, turns and immediately finds a cutter for a score. You do that enough times, and the defenders are going to start staying home, whether they respect the Spurs' shooting or not. (EDIT to say this is likely what Memphis was scared of and why they abandoned the paint the second the Spurs did anything other than trying to force that entry pass).

The biggest thing is that high-lows are timing/chemistry actions often done on the fly to counter certain types of defenses. That second video features Tim as the scorer, and you can see how he is reading the floor and syncing him movements to line up with the passes. Tim reads the floor, sees a high-low needs to happen and stops calling for the ball. As soon as the pass is made to the high-man, Tim seals his man, creates the target window and calls for the ball. Understanding when the windows in the offense are so you can be "open" at the right time is essential to good off-ball play, be it in plays like this, duck-ins, rolls, curls, transition etc. This isn't something Wemby's teammates do for him. It's something he and the other players learn and then watch film, talk it out and practice to get it right. That action isn't as easy to do in general now with the lack of a second big, and it wouldn't be a counter to that tight of a defense that doesn't care about anyone else on the court, but any timing play is worth them learning and incorporating, because teams aren't going to stop defending Wemby this way until it stops working. (EDIT only to say that the way Pop was directing this high-low indeed suggests the Spurs are working on ways to get Wemby the ball besides raw post-ups. You can see from Wemby's reaction that this was an action specifically worked on by the team. It's good stuff. )

[get_mills_out]

[get_mills_out]