Victor Wembanyama

[bileever]

Who's watching the Spurs game tomorrow (Wednesday)? I'm excited to watch Wembanyama play. Everyone says he's better than advertised.

 

[TwistedHusky]

He has teammates taking 2x more shots than he is. Far too passive. Saw it in summer league and in his France games. When he didn't do that (preseason), he was exceptional.

Could be an incredible player and put up #s that dwarf even Durant's. But to do that, he has to take shots and force his way through a defense. He often passes to teammates that give 10-20% worse chance at making the shot than he does. Needs to be much more selfish, but instead defers relentlessly.

He won't win with that Spurs roster. It's garbage. Yet he plays like he is the 4th or 5th best scoring option on the team. And that passive energy impacts his defense too.

He'll be good. Maybe fantastic. But to be great, he needs to put his foot down and be the #1 option, taking more shots than the rest of his teammates.

He clearly comes off as someone who wants to win. But I'm not sure he hates to lose. That's needed if you want to be a great player, not just a gifted/talented one.

We will see. One bad game isn't a death knell. Scoot had a bad game too.

 

[bileever]

He has teammates taking 2x more shots than he is. Far too passive. Saw it in summer league and in his France games. When he didn't do that (preseason), he was exceptional.

Could be an incredible player and put up #s that dwarf even Durant's. But to do that, he has to take shots and force his way through a defense. He often passes to teammates that give 10-20% worse chance at making the shot than he does. Needs to be much more selfish, but instead defers relentlessly.

He'll be good. Maybe fantastic. But to be great, he needs to put his foot down and be the #1 option, taking more shots than the rest of his teammates.

He clearly comes off as someone who wants to win. But I'm not sure he hates to lose. That's needed if you want to be a great player, not just a gifted/talented one.

I agree. He played like he was a polite 19-year-old among grown-ups, like he didn't want to assert himself or upset his teammates. Once he stops being so timid and play more aggressively, he'll figure out how he fits in.

 

[Lagartixa]

He's built like Shawn Bradley was when he started in the league in the early '90s. Can his body take the kind of pounding frontcourt players' bodies take in the NBA?

 

[Crizilla]

Yao Ming 2.0

 

[bileever]

Yao Ming 2.0

Completely different player. Wembanyama has better ball skills, is a better outside shooter, much better court awareness.

 

[m0ng0]

I just watched Scoot Henderson last night ..very similar, ESTABLISH YOURSELF, it's your team. TAKE IT!

 

[TwistedHusky]

Yao Ming was physically dominant. Just driven into the ground by being forced to play in China and then come here and play. He was overworked before the NBA seasons started. Even so, he could dominate players like Shaq. And did. He wasn't passive.

Wemby (what a stupid nickname) wasn't bad because of foul trouble. He only took a few shots in the 1st half, mostly 3s, and he had only 2 fouls most of that. In the 4th, with 5 fouls, he almost carried the team to a win - making key shots in a tight game. Then his teammates started to believe they were more than roster fodder, taking and missing shots, and that was that. Did he even get the ball in the final 2 mins? Or did other guys take shots instead? It hardly matters, the Spurs aren't winning anything but if he wants that team to win...he better figure out he will have to carry it.

He's passive. Deferential. Almost polite, even though he can be a handful in end of games if given the chance. As he grows up, maybe he will realize he has a right if not obligation to demand the ball from his teammates. Until then, not sure it makes sense to expect much this year. Some of the people penciling him in for awards like ROY or DPOY might want to slow their roll. You likely won't win DPOY with that mentality, and even ROY will be tough if you don't put up the numbers.

Again, he needs to go to the Barkley Ball Hog School. Maybe with decent teammates, that passing could be dangerous. The Spurs have the delusion that guys like Sochan and Zach Collins are above-average players. But that makes sense, because most of the rest of the roster is so much worse (Vassell is OK, not sure I would use words like 'good' but maybe one of the few guys w/ upside on that roster vs say, Keldon Johnson, who should be limited to carrying luggage on team trips). In that environment, most decisions Wemby makes to pass likely result in a worse scoring opportunity. But he's 19, how can he force it? Hopefully, his coach does.

 

[knownone]

It'll take him time to adjust to the speed of the game. But he looked great for his first start in the NBA.

 

[IndyHawk]

Yao Ming was physically dominant. Just driven into the ground by being forced to play in China and then come here and play. He was overworked before the NBA seasons started. Even so, he could dominate players like Shaq. And did. He wasn't passive.

Wemby (what a stupid nickname) wasn't bad because of foul trouble. He only took a few shots in the 1st half, mostly 3s, and he had only 2 fouls most of that. In the 4th, with 5 fouls, he almost carried the team to a win - making key shots in a tight game. Then his teammates started to believe they were more than roster fodder, taking and missing shots, and that was that. Did he even get the ball in the final 2 mins? Or did other guys take shots instead? It hardly matters, the Spurs aren't winning anything but if he wants that team to win...he better figure out he will have to carry it.

He's passive. Deferential. Almost polite, even though he can be a handful in end of games if given the chance. As he grows up, maybe he will realize he has a right if not obligation to demand the ball from his teammates. Until then, not sure it makes sense to expect much this year. Some of the people penciling him in for awards like ROY or DPOY might want to slow their roll. You likely won't win DPOY with that mentality, and even ROY will be tough if you don't put up the numbers.

Again, he needs to go to the Barkley Ball Hog School. Maybe with decent teammates, that passing could be dangerous. The Spurs have the delusion that guys like Sochan and Zach Collins are above-average players. But that makes sense, because most of the rest of the roster is so much worse (Vassell is OK, not sure I would use words like 'good' but maybe one of the few guys w/ upside on that roster vs say, Keldon Johnson, who should be limited to carrying luggage on team trips). In that environment, most decisions Wemby makes to pass likely result in a worse scoring opportunity. But he's 19, how can he force it? Hopefully, his coach does.

He is who he is..He's going to be a polite,timid and docile type of a player
You can't change that as much as people think they can.
The Bradley comp above is not far off..I'm not sure Ming is in the area.
Anyone remember Ralph Sampson?Such a nice guy and that might be the
ceiling for Wemby.

 

[knownone]

I don't know about Bradley or Ming. This kid is much smoother athletically. He looks and plays more like 7'4 Durant.

Opposing teams don't know what to do with this guy so far. I understand the hype. If he figures out how to avoid foul trouble and create space, he'll easily average 25 and 10 while being one of the best defenders in the league.

 

[Maulbert]

I haven't paid one iota of attention to the NBA since Stern ****** us. I will piss on his grave if I ever end up in driving distance.

 

[m0ng0]

I haven't paid one iota of attention to the NBA since Stern ****** us. I will piss on his grave if I ever end up in driving distance.

Thanks for sharing

 

[QWERTY]

Yao Ming 2.0

2 different players.

Yao would shoot the ball 20x while Wembly would pass it up.

 

[QWERTY]

Completely different player. Wembanyama has better ball skills, is a better outside shooter, much better court awareness.

Not a better outside shooter.

But he would get killed by Shaq or Yao or any modern day center.

 

[knownone]

Wemby put up 38 points and 10 rebounds on the Suns in his fifth game. I can't remember the last rookie who immediately lived up to the hype.

 

[QWERTY]

Wemby put up 38 points and 10 rebounds on the Suns in his fifth game. I can't remember the last rookie who immediately lived up to the hype.

Jeremy Lin

 

[Threedee]

I haven't paid one iota of attention to the NBA since Stern ****** us. I will piss on his grave if I ever end up in driving distance.

Just remember not to record the deed and upload it to the internet. Some Browns fan got in trouble for pissing on Art Modell's grave, and letting everyone know about it.