Victor Wembaneyama broke the record Thursday night against the Sacramento Kings, coming agonizingly close to becoming the second player in history to win the Rookie of the Year award. sacred 5×5 status line. Wenbanyama had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and used his long arms to block five shots, steal five and deflect six passes. He took six 3-point shots, but only made one of them. He was bullied inside by Domantas Sabonis all night, and the Kings center completed a triple-double on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor. He was one assist shy of making history.
The Kings defeated the Spurs 127-122, dropping San Antonio to 11-45 overall, the third-worst record in basketball. Wenbanyama was still on a playing time limit, so he sat on the bench and stretched in the final minutes of the close game.
This is the 50th game of Wembane Yama’s NBA career, and it’s felt like a good window into his rookie year so far. He was good at times, but his sub-optimal surroundings frustrated others. He was definitely effective even on an off night when he made more field goal attempts than points. Wembaneyama has only scratched the surface of his eventual greatness, but the broad outlines of his future dominance are already easily visible.
Wenbangyama’s incredible rapid growth during his rookie year is widely noted on tape.he Leads the NBA in total blocks Despite playing hundreds of minutes less than most of his rivals. He is the first player to record 75 3-pointers, 150 assists and 150 blocks in a single season. And it took just 48 games to accomplish it.. His playmaking, which was woefully unpolished as recently as two years ago, is quickly becoming a strength. Although his scoring efficiency is still improving, he has been on a roll since converting to center full-time on December 8th.
Wembanayama turned 20 about a month ago and already has a track record as a top 30 player in the world.This is worst The version of Wenban Yama the NBA could see at any point in the next 15 years should terrify and confuse the rest of the league’s teams.
Wenbanyama’s historical tools have always been the basis of his once-in-a-lifetime talent. At 7’4 barefoot with an 8-foot wingspan, Wemby was the tallest player in the NBA and also the longest player from the moment he was drafted. Even a player this big cannot be as light on his feet as Wenbanyama. His physical superiority alone puts him in the league of legends, and the mentality he displays gives him a real chance to stand alongside some of the greatest players in the history of the game.
A year before he was drafted, I wrote a scouting report on the next big thing in the NBA. It included the following line: “The last prospect this big, this fluid, this comfortable with the ball in his hands, was Lou Alcindor, then known as Lou Alcindor. It could be young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was being held in prison. University of California Los Angeles In the mid 1960s. ”
In my opinion, Abdul-Jabbar is the second or third best player of all time. While this kind of comparison is brutally unfair to any player, it felt appropriate to put Wenbanyama’s extraordinary talent into context. He’s still at the beginning of his journey, but what we saw at the start of his NBA career doesn’t deter him from the prophecies of immortality he’s carried for years.
No matter how you look at it, Wenbanyama is obsessed with the pursuit of greatness.At the beginning of his rookie year, he participated in the game Against the Memphis Grizzlies, he ran into opposition from legendary head coach Gregg Popovich, who immediately hired him. It’s the type of story that might seem outrageous 50 years from now, if the Earth hadn’t already melted. Wembaneyama still has a long way to go, but his first season in the NBA is full of signs of even bigger things to come.
It was always expected that Wenbanyama’s defense would reach an elite level faster than his offense, but it would have been a stretch to believe that he would. this good this Quickly. Before playing 50 games in the NBA, Wemby has already established himself as one of the league’s most destructive defenders. Even if he’s not going to win Defensive Player of the Year just yet, he should at least earn recognition from the All-Defensive Team.
Wenby’s league-leading blocks indicate he’s a formidable rim protector, but there’s more to his defense than just hitting. His mere presence on the floor deters many eyes from even going on the floor in the first place. The Spurs’ defensive rating with Wenbang Yama on the floor is 112.6, which ranks him seventh in the NBA. With Wenbanyama on the bench, San Antonio’s defensive rating jumps to 119.9, which ranks 28th in the league.
All-in-one statistics confirm Wenby’s defensive superiority. So far this season, only five players have entered the All-Star break with improved defensive EPM.. Wenbanyama, playing his 48th NBA game, recorded a triple-double with 10 shots and blocks against the Raptors. Watch it all here:
Wenbanyama’s combination of length, closing speed, and ball-getting instincts is completely unparalleled. He can be far beyond the play range of a normal defender and still be able to jump in there to deny or alter a shot. The typical rules for NBA ground coverage don’t apply to him, so he’s everywhere on the floor and lurking on every possession.
On this play, Wenby stuck to OG Anunoby’s great shooter in the corner, diving right in as soon as the ball went to the roll man and obliterating the shot. This is one small example of how the offense must account for his presence, regardless of where he is when the play begins.
This also applies to the outer periphery. Wenbanyama’s length not only blocks shots, but also obstructs driving lanes that would otherwise be open. digging with both hands His performance in the preseason game against the Thunder is proof of how much he has shrunk the court.
Most good offensive players at this level only need a little bit of space to break through the defense. Wenbanyama will make you believe a sliver exists before shutting it down in an instant.
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Photo by Michael Gonzalez/NBAE via Getty Images
The big turning point in Wenbanyama’s rookie year came on December 8th against the Chicago Bulls. At that time, Coach Popovich decided to move starting center Zach Collins to the bench and slide Wenbangyama to No. 5, making him the center of the attack.
Originally, it made sense to start another big man next to Wenby. Playing center in the NBA is similar to playing in the trenches in the NFL. You’re going to get pushed, elbowed, and punched from different angles when you least expect it. Conversely, playing two bigs together automatically wastes space unless one of them is a high-volume 3-point shooter. There was no one to guard Collins on the perimeter this season when he shot just 27.5 percent from three.
This forced Wembaneyama into a floor-spacing role early in his career. Images of Wenby hitting deep threes are fascinating, but they contrast with the fundamental truth of his game. That is because Wenby is so dominant inside that it often feels like his shots from the perimeter are breaking through the defense. When Collins moved to the bench, the floor suddenly became clear for Wembaneyama to clear the wings or attack from the middle of the floor. Since then, both his playmaking and scoring have taken off.
Before converting to center, Wembaneyama’s true shooting percentage was just 51.8 percent, well below the NBA league average true shooting percentage of 58.2 percent this season. Since Collins went to the bench, Wenby’s shooting percentage is up to 58.3 percent.
Surrounded by more shooting, passing, and ball handling, Wenbanyama has gained more space to explore individual shot creation and playmaking. The signs of progress are remarkable and I’m excited to see what he’ll do in the end.
The Spurs’ awful season feels like it was at least partially planned. San Antonio is an in-state rival. dallas mavericks, rushed to build a competitive team around Luka Doncic, the league’s last true rookie sensation. The Mavs are a solid team, 33-23 overall and 6th in the West, but they spent a ton of future assets to get there. The Spurs are looking for something more sustainable, and that starts with adding another high lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Spurs know they need more shots around Wembaneyama. San Antonio ranks 11th in 3-point percentage this season, but last in 3-point percentage at 34 percent. The Spurs need a point guard. More than that, they need a roster full of high-quality players who can consistently deliver the ball to Wenbanyama from a variety of angles. They need some point-of-attack defenders, as they know Wenby will be the ultimate eraser to mop up mistakes on the final line.
San Antonio’s season thus far has been marked by its odd lineup choices, a string of missed threes, and an inability to get the ball to its resident aliens. Meanwhile, Wenby himself is solving problems on the fly at a record pace. Having the best tools in NBA history certainly helps. What the Spurs need to realize is that they can’t keep Wembaneyama around beyond this year. Next season, he needs to get a chance to prove he can play more than the 28.5 minutes per game he currently plays. He needs to play with a true point guard all season, with more shooters and perimeter defenders around him.
Tracing his career from the 2021 U19 FIBA World Cup to two appearances in the French professional league highlights how quickly he has developed in a short period of time. Up until this point, Wembaneyama had given San Antonio every reason to believe he could one day be the best player in the NBA. Origin stories are often the most enjoyable part of a hero’s journey. The first 50 games in the league were such a thrill to watch, and it’s hard to believe that Wembaneyama could improve by leaps and bounds from there.
