The Parisian Patisserie of Victor Wembanyama

[DAF86]

I dunno, I think worrying about what fans think what position he's to be playing is silly, but you be you.
Worry more what the coaching staff does with him, not what fans dream up.

Just trying to prevent spreading the bumbassery, but folks can do whatever they want, tbh.

[lefty20]

How's that the same as saying his playing style is the same to Durant?

There are lots of players that get high-postups and shoot midrange jumpers over the defense, not just Durant.

The Durant's comparissons come because of the skinny built. It's a lazy, dumb comparisson. The same as when a player gets compared to another because they come from the same country, or are both lefties, or are both whites, etc. It's downright dumb and I'm trying to combat that.

Because Wemby himself said that Durant is the one player he studies the most rn. That turnaround middy at the baseline high-post looks awful lot like KD's.

If it was a one legged fadeaway at the elbow, then we'd be comparing him to Dirk. Especially if Wemby came out and said that he watches a lot of Dirk films

And yes, him having KDs esque build does invite that comparison as well. But don't mean that there ain't any real merit behind it.

[DAF86]

Because Wemby himself said that Durant is the one player he studies the most rn. That turnaround middy at the baseline high-post looks awful lot like KD's.

If it was a one legged fadeaway at the elbow, then we'd be comparing him to Dirk. Especially if Wemby came out and said that he watches a lot of Dirk films

And yes, him having KDs esque build does invite that comparison as well. But don't mean that there ain't any real merit behind it.

It is great that he studies Durant, it is great that he studies all of the all-timers, there must be a lot of things he can learn from them, that still doesn't necessarilly mean he will have the same playing style.

Duncan's favourite player was Magic, he must have gotten a lot of things from him, but that doesn't make Timmy's style similar to Magic's.

[DAF86]

Speaking of studying other players, Wemby should study Giannis eurostep and driving technique. If he can somewhat replicate that, he will trully be unstoppable. Imagine a Giannis' like long ass legs driving/finishing but with a jumpshot.

[lefty20]

Speaking of studying other players, Wemby should study Giannis eurostep and driving technique. If he can somewhat replicate that, he will trully be unstoppable. Imagine a Giannis' like long ass legs driving/finishing but with a jumpshot.

But then he'd need that Giannis bulk up to bounce defenders off him when they read his drives. And his refs to ignore the offensive fouls.


The Timmy watching Magic's tapes is news to me. Having never watched Magic play, did Timmy borrow any of his signature plays to invite such a comparison?


I see Wemby/KD comparison in a similar light as A. Reaves being compared to Manu. Reaves has a similar herky-jerkiness in his drive game that Manu had, along with Manu esque efficiency.


Are their games exactly similar? No. Does it mean the the comparison is not without some merit? Also, no.

[R. DeMurre]

We as spurfans have the obligation of stopping this myth that somebody created, Wemby plays nothing like Kevin Durant.

He's a unique guy, so admittedly comps are difficult. Who are your comps for him?

[DAF86]

He's a unique guy, so admittedly comps are difficult. Who are your comps for him?

Like you said, I don't know if there's really one perfect comparisson, but to me is clear that Wemby resembles a lot more an Anthony Davis type than a Kevin Durant. He's more of a bigman with perimeter skills, than the other way around.

[tonight...you]

Just trying to prevent spreading the bumbassery, but folks can do whatever they want, tbh.

Hey, if you want to be a faction of the fan police, do it to it.
I won't be a hindrance.

[spurraider21]

Speaking of studying other players, Wemby should study Giannis eurostep and driving technique. If he can somewhat replicate that, he will trully be unstoppable. Imagine a Giannis' like long ass legs driving/finishing but with a jumpshot.

No he’s a center he should study shaq

/s

[Brazil]

highly entertaining seeing Spurs fans watching full French league games ! You guys all know now Cholet

Watching full games and not just highlights or scoot reports is essential to understand that he has flaws, he is raw, he is young... don't expect him to be NBA ready.

For the rest I agree with DAF tbh,, the comparison with KD is silly. They both are tall, skinny, fluid with good handles.. that's about it. Victor is not the scorer KD was, he will play closer to the rim and won't shoot that many 3s, Victor is a clear 2 way player. There is no player you can compare him to tbh but if you had to pick one he would certainly not be KD.

Regarding his 3 pts shooting I'm curious to see what Pop is gonna do about it, it exists a scenario where Pop will simply ask Victor to stop shooting 3s entirely until he gets really acclimated.

[exstatic]

highly entertaining seeing Spurs fans watching full French league games ! You guys all know now Cholet

Watching full games and not just highlights or scoot reports is essential to understand that he has flaws, he is raw, he is young... don't expect him to be NBA ready.

For the rest I agree with DAF tbh,, the comparison with KD is silly. They both are tall, skinny, fluid with good handles.. that's about it. Victor is not the scorer KD was, he will play closer to the rim and won't shoot that many 3s, Victor is a clear 2 way player. There is no player you can compare him to tbh but if you had to pick one he would certainly not be KD.

Regarding his 3 pts shooting I'm curious to see what Pop is gonna do about it, it exists a scenario where Pop will simply ask Victor to stop shooting 3s entirely until he gets really acclimated.

I think Pop might ask him to stop shooting the one foot runner 3s, but as an 83% Ft shooter, he needs to be putting up 3s with good form from a balanced 2 foot base.

[Brazil]

I think Pop might ask him to stop shooting the one foot runner 3s, but as an 83% Ft shooter, he needs to be putting up 3s with good form from a balanced 2 foot base.

I can see it indeed. Regardless it is going to be interesting, this season he had 5 attempts per game converting 1,5. We know how much Pop dislike low % shots, iirc Tony was shooting quite a bit from 3 during his first seasons until a point when Pop just asked him to stop, I always thought Tony should have shot more 3s, this would have opened up his game a bit more, around 0,3 efficiency was not great obviously but not dramatic, maintaining 2 or 3 attempts per game would have been enough.

As many have said, nobody knows exactly what to do yet with Victor and that's probably the greatest challenge for him and the staff, as he can do all how do you find dat balance between offense and defense, between playing near the rim and away from it ala Dirk, between handling the ball or playing off the ball. I mean possibilities are endless, his capacity to take the good decisions and read the game are gonna be fundamental for him.

[JPB]

highly entertaining seeing Spurs fans watching full French league games ! You guys all know now Cholet

Watching full games and not just highlights or scoot reports is essential to understand that he has flaws, he is raw, he is young... don't expect him to be NBA ready.

For the rest I agree with DAF tbh,, the comparison with KD is silly. They both are tall, skinny, fluid with good handles.. that's about it. Victor is not the scorer KD was, he will play closer to the rim and won't shoot that many 3s, Victor is a clear 2 way player. There is no player you can compare him to tbh but if you had to pick one he would certainly not be KD.

Regarding his 3 pts shooting I'm curious to see what Pop is gonna do about it, it exists a scenario where Pop will simply ask Victor to stop shooting 3s entirely until he gets really acclimated.

I can see it indeed. Regardless it is going to be interesting, this season he had 5 attempts per game converting 1,5. We know how much Pop dislike low % shots, iirc Tony was shooting quite a bit from 3 during his first seasons until a point when Pop just asked him to stop, I always thought Tony should have shot more 3s, this would have opened up his game a bit more, around 0,3 efficiency was not great obviously but not dramatic, maintaining 2 or 3 attempts per game would have been enough.

As many have said, nobody knows exactly what to do yet with Victor and that's probably the greatest challenge for him and the staff, as he can do all how do you find dat balance between offense and defense, between playing near the rim and away from it ala Dirk, between handling the ball or playing off the ball. I mean possibilities are endless, his capacity to take the good decisions and read the game are gonna be fundamental for him.

I disagree with a lot of that. I expect Wemby to More NBA ready than any other rookie, with his two seasons as a pro vs adults (MVP) and PO games... He'll have an impact his first season, first on defense and precisely because, trust me, spurs have a very clear idea of how to use him (they've been following and preparing for him for years), and because he'll simply have much better players around for pick&rolls lobs and just to set him... The way he's ignored on his Mets team on some plays is brutal, and he should get 6-8 pts/game just out of lobs in the NBA... He dropped 72 pts in his first two games in NBA configuration vs Ignite last summer, scoring in every possible way, step back 3s, fadeways, posting... He'll be ready.

[Brazil]

I disagree with a lot of that. I expect Wemby to More NBA ready than any other rookie, with his two seasons as a pro vs adults (MVP) and PO games... He'll have an impact his first season, first on defense and precisely because, trust me, spurs have a very clear idea of how to use him (they've been following and preparing for him for years), and because he'll simply have much better players around for pick&rolls lobs and just to set him... The way he's ignored on his Mets team on some plays is brutal, and he should get 6-8 pts/game just out of lobs in the NBA... He dropped 72 pts in his first two games in NBA configuration vs Ignite last summer, scoring in every possible way, step back 3s, fadeways, posting... He'll be ready.

I'm all for it, I just don't see it. He will have an impact right away but Pop won't give him the minutes to put ROY kind of stats imo. NBA is very different, yes he will have more opportunities to score and shine BUT its 48 mn games 82 of them. You can see moments during french POs that he seems gassed at times... Spurs are observing him for a while it's true but they don't know how Victor game will translate, the 2 games vs Ignite are nice and reassuring but thats not representative.

Hopefully I'm wrong

[DAF86]

I'm all for it, I just don't see it. He will have an impact right away but Pop won't give him the minutes to put ROY kind of stats imo. NBA is very different, yes he will have more opportunities to score and shine BUT its 48 mn games 82 of them. You can see moments during french POs that he seems gassed at times... Spurs are observing him for a while it's true but they don't know how Victor game will translate, the 2 games vs Ignite are nice and reassuring but thats not representative.

Hopefully I'm wrong

I hope he does, tbh. If not, that could be the easiest way to alienate your star player. Imho, Wemby should play, AT LEAST, 30 mpg. We are seeing him constantly play 35 mpg every other day on these French playoffs. I know it is not the same as an 82 games season, but there are other ways to rest Wemby without impacting his per game stats and minutes. The simplest way is resting him for entire games, don't play him in B2Bs, don't play him 3 games in 4 nights, etc.

I always thought "in-game minutes restriction" was detrimental. One, because of a stats thing, which, granted, is nothing more than an ego thing, but it is something that you have to consider if you want to keep your star pkayer happy and don't suffer another nephew incident. And, second, and most importantly, because it doesn't allow you to build in-game stamina. If you are used to play 25 mpg for an entire season, your body will inevitably notice the difference in a much more marked way when you suddenly need to increase that playing time.

Tl;dr: Just play Wemby 30 mpg and rest him on B2B's. He's a kid, he will be able to handle it. At 18 years old I could go all-night, tbh.

[Extra Stout]

He’ll play enough minutes in enough games to be eligible for ROY and deliver the numbers to win it.

[DAF86]

Another thing to consider is, I don't how much more, if any, physical the NBA is compared to the French league.

[Brazil]

I hope he does, tbh. If not, that could be the easiest way to alienate your star player. Imho, Wemby should play, AT LEAST, 30 mpg. We are seeing him constantly play 35 mpg every other day on these French playoffs. I know it is not the same as an 82 games season, but there are other ways to rest Wemby without impacting his per game stats and minutes. The simplest way is resting him for entire games, don't play him in B2Bs, don't play him 3 games in 4 nights, etc.

I always thought "in-game minutes restriction" was detrimental. One, because of a stats thing, which, granted, is nothing more than an ego thing, but it is something that you have to consider if you want to keep your star pkayer happy and don't suffer another nephew incident. And, second, and most importantly, because it doesn't allow you to build in-game stamina. If you are used to play 25 mpg for an entire season, your body will inevitably notice the difference in a much more marked way when you suddenly need to increase that playing time.

Tl;dr: Just play Wemby 30 mpg and rest him on B2B's. He's a kid, he will be able to handle it. At 18 years old I could go all-night, tbh.

As others said, priority for next year is 1. physical conditioning, Victor is a freak of nature.. his body especially the first years must be the clear focus, he is very conscious about it, this is one of the reason he and his family are so thrilled to end up with the Spurs and not say Houston, Spurs won't take any risks and 2. locker room, he needs good influence and smart people around him to help him figuring out how to use his massive tool sets. Getting ROY numbers is not a priority neither for him or the Spurs imho.

Now you are also right he can maybe play 30 mpg but as you said not all the games... so maybe 60 games ? won't be enough to put ROY kind of numbers

[Brazil]

Another thing to consider is, I don't how much more, if any, physical the NBA is compared to the French league.

NBA is more demanding in terms of endurance, 8 minutes more, more running as NBA pace is faster. Besides in French league you are not bodied by dudes of the size and weight of jokic, giannis, embiid etc..

[Extra Stout]

Now you are also right he can maybe play 30 mpg but as you said not all the games... so maybe 60 games ? won't be enough to put ROY kind of numbers

The league high in minutes this year was 37. Playing a rookie 30 minutes in this NBA hardly even qualifies as load management anymore.

I would be shocked if Wemby plays less than the 65-game minimum to qualify for Rookie of the Year, unless he gets injured.

One can say it’s not a priority, but to go so far as to render him ineligible for the award simply out of an abundance of caution? I just cannot believe it. If you insist, maybe I could just chalk it up to a different value set where he’ll sacrifice all manner of individual accolades in the pursuit of a long career full of championships. But no American player would put up with that.

[buttsR4rebounding]

The league high in minutes this year was 37. Playing a rookie 30 minutes in this NBA hardly even qualifies as load management anymore.

I would be shocked if Wemby plays less than the 65-game minimum to qualify for Rookie of the Year, unless he gets injured.

One can say it’s not a priority, but to go so far as to render him ineligible for the award simply out of an abundance of caution? I just cannot believe it. If you insist, maybe I could just chalk it up to a different value set where he’ll sacrifice all manner of individual accolades in the pursuit of a long career full of championships. But no American player would put up with that.

Unless he's injured there is no way Wemby misses more than 17 games this year. There will be lots of people buying tickets all over the association to see him play. If the Spurs start sitting him every 4th game out of an abundance of caution there will be lots of blow back. I don't see him missing more than 10 non-injury games max. Probably less than that.

[exstatic]

I hope he does, tbh. If not, that could be the easiest way to alienate your star player. Imho, Wemby should play, AT LEAST, 30 mpg. We are seeing him constantly play 35 mpg every other day on these French playoffs. I know it is not the same as an 82 games season, but there are other ways to rest Wemby without impacting his per game stats and minutes. The simplest way is resting him for entire games, don't play him in B2Bs, don't play him 3 games in 4 nights, etc.

I always thought "in-game minutes restriction" was detrimental. One, because of a stats thing, which, granted, is nothing more than an ego thing, but it is something that you have to consider if you want to keep your star pkayer happy and don't suffer another nephew incident. And, second, and most importantly, because it doesn't allow you to build in-game stamina. If you are used to play 25 mpg for an entire season, your body will inevitably notice the difference in a much more marked way when you suddenly need to increase that playing time.

Tl;dr: Just play Wemby 30 mpg and rest him on B2B's. He's a kid, he will be able to handle it. At 18 years old I could go all-night, tbh.

If he rests on all B2Bs,he won’t hit the new CBA requirement of 65 games played to qualify for awards like ROY.

[Brazil]

Unless he's injured there is no way Wemby misses more than 17 games this year. There will be lots of people buying tickets all over the association to see him play. If the Spurs start sitting him every 4th game out of an abundance of caution there will be lots of blow back. I don't see him missing more than 10 non-injury games max. Probably less than that.

If he plays more than 70 games it won't be because Spurs or him are afraid of the blow backs

Porzingis played 72 games in his first year, Yao played 82 80 and 80 games in his first 3 years... that ended well for them

[Brazil]

The league high in minutes this year was 37. Playing a rookie 30 minutes in this NBA hardly even qualifies as load management anymore.

I would be shocked if Wemby plays less than the 65-game minimum to qualify for Rookie of the Year, unless he gets injured.

One can say it’s not a priority, but to go so far as to render him ineligible for the award simply out of an abundance of caution? I just cannot believe it. If you insist, maybe I could just chalk it up to a different value set where he’ll sacrifice all manner of individual accolades in the pursuit of a long career full of championships. But no American player would put up with that.

Again if he feels great and gets acclimated fast sure he will play but I don't believe getting ROY award is his priority neither the Spurs.... People seems to forget but this year has been his first season free of injuries, he had a variety of injuries over the last few years: fibula stress fracture, psoas injury, shoulder contusion, finger stress fracture...

He has a very unorthodox body and suffered freak injuries. People who believe dude is coming playing 82 games putting 40 mpg ala Lebron are just insane.

[rjv]

using a strawman to prove a point is never a good look, especially when it isn't even necessary.