"Wemby's efficiency is bad!" "He takes bad shots!" He's also spending most of his minutes without a real PG.
In the 192 minutes Wemby has spent with Tre Jones on the floor, he averages 26ppg/36 on 58%TS. That's also 33.2p/100 for those curious. This is actually an astoundingly strong blend of volume and efficiency for a rookie.
What's the other factor holding Wemby back? He's playing PF next to Cs clogging the paint and taking away some mismatch opportunities. Wemby has only gotten 124 minutes at Center this season, but when he does? He averages a whopping 33ppg/36 on 62%TS. That's with or without Tre Jones at PG even.
These numbers are absolutely absurd. When the Spurs put him in a position to succeed - either with an actual PG or at his best position - he dominates. He's already been scoring at an all-star level. If you're down on this kid, questioning his scoring and efficiency, I think you need to watch a bit closer.
Source(free account needed)
All the more reason to put Wembanyama in other positions/roles. For rookies, it's usually not their best skills that limit them, it is their worse skills that need development. It's not like we are putting Wemby at somewhere he'll never play (PG?), he is just playing PF role. They know he can dominate as C, they don't need proof, Spurs aren't winning this year anyway, some extra W isn't going to help Spurs. Fixing Wemby's flaws so that he can have a complete game will only accelerate the whole winning process, it's more like a luxury.
This is also why so many rookies in good teams are more prone to be "bust". They don't have the luxury to fix their flaws, their teams only put the rookies at their best roles to keep the team winning chances.
Id love to see a pg like westbrook on the spurs. I think he’d actually do well with wemby.
I have no issue with this take to be clear. I think that’s valid, and I support the Point Sochan experiment.
My point is more to dispel the anti-Wemby concerns that seem to just be uninformed. People parading around saying he’s not a good scorer, highly inefficient, not living up to hype etc. when it’s just not really true. In reality, when put in reasonable positions to succeed he’s been better than expected which is pretty insane to say.
That being said, I do think there’s room for increased optimization from the Spurs. Wemby averages just 7mpg at Center - I’d move more towards a 50/50 split. We shouldn’t assume he already knows the ins and outs of playing Center in the NBA either. There’s room to grow there too. I’d also increase his portion of minutes with Tre, which can be achieved while maintaining the Point Sochan experiment pretty identically to how it’s been running
Who has said he’s not living up to the hype?
Imo, most of this whining stems from people upset that Chet’s just been better than Wemby for the ~15 games. Wemby’s been playing fine for someone 2 years younger.
I think what he means is that lots of player fans retort to whining about Wemby in order to make Chet standout. It's like they can't enjoy 2 outstanding rookies, one has to be bad and the other has to be incredible
Might be interesting to see point Wemby at some point. He seems to have alright court vision, and further improvements in his passing game would make him dominant in the future.
Thank you lol. I can't believe people get on here and go "huh, I wonder if Gregg Popovich hasn't noticed this super obvious difference in how the Spurs play basketball. Maybe someone should point out to him that they need a better PG or that he shouldn't let Wemby shoot so many jump shots, surely he hasn't thought of that."
I remain unconvinced that the best method to develop players is to simply place them in circumstances that are detrimental to their performance and keep losing.
This is just life and the professional workforce management. For example, When I'm working with a junior, I have 2 choices to make. Do I want this to be done good and fast and do the majority of it myself, or do I want this to be a learning lesson. Product won't have the same "shine", but long term the team gets a bit stronger because the junior is a bit better.
Same concept. You put Wemby in the PF role to develop his PF intuition and skillset. When he eventually goes back to C, he will have a better feel on what the opposing PF role want to do, and how to defend them because he himself was in that role.
It reminds me of my favourite saying "Put yourself in situations where you're not comfortable".
im convinced that the spurs need more high draft picks to win
We do. Our surrounding players are trash
Edit: words
Circumstances detrimental to their performance may be advantageous to their development as a whole. They’re not trying to make him better at what he’s good at, they want him better at what he’s the worst at. As far as winning goes, the whole FO is thinking much further ahead than this season when it comes to Wemby. He’s an investment that will pay off in time, it doesn’t need to right this minute.
I respect your opinion and think you have a completely fair and valid perspective.
But I'm gonna go ahead and continue to believe that Gregg Popovich knows more than you, me, OP, or anyone else on twitter and reddit about how to develop NBA talent.
You cant rule out a possibilty that Pop might be washed. The man is 74 for god sake, there has to be a time when you start losing it.
I can not believe Gregg Popovich has ruined this young talented mans career. He had serious generational talent potential but alas after 16 games it is clear, he is no better than Anthony Bennett.
He's a starving JaMarcus Russell at least
Idek if that's a real name or some 2k character
I think it's great that the Spurs are taking this year to experiment. They own their pick (unlike the Mavs in Luka's rookie year) and can be trusted to not draft a bust (unlike Lebron's Cavs in 04). A golden opportunity to find their Westbrook/Harden.
But I also think they should start trying harder to win games next season. It's very important to not let a losing culture take hold and stunt player development i.e. Detroit, Houston before this season.
I think even in this regard Wemby is a special case.
His competitive priority this season is presumably the home Olympics, it's a much bigger deal than trying to chase a play-in place with this team. And given the season Rudy is having playing PF is incredibly useful for that.
Keeping him happy, keeping him fit and getting a good draft pick is so much more important that sweating for the play in.
I’m really surprised the Spurs haven’t traded for Fournier or Hayes (or even Batum), guys who’s stock is low or are at the end of their careers but will likely be on the French Olympics for Paris 2024
Cheap for Spurs + Build chemistry and in game reps with Wemby to keep him happy and comfortable
I told this before, this year isn’t about winning but about understanding what Wemby can and cannot do.
It’s true that he’d absolutely benefit from better cast, but I shake my head when someone tells that he’s taking too many 3 point shots or does a fadeaway.
well as we all know it's almost impossible to succeed in the future without winning ROTY.
Looking forward to Michael Carter William's 10th all star appearance this year!
Yup, the ROTY conversation has fried people's minds. The amount of people complaining that Wemby didn't play at the end of a blowout to pad his stats because Chet had a great game the other day. Would be cool if Wemby won ROTY but if Chet had a better season it's not a big deal, the point is to build a team that is competitive in a few years.
Rookie KD anyone? They had him playing SG lol.
This is also why it's useful to put Sochan at PG. He won't be the primary ball handler when Wemby is further along, but the Spurs want Sochan to develop a Draymond-like skillset. Draymond handled the ball a ton in his 3 years in college, and he didn't become an All-Star & All-Defensive until he was 25. Sochan is 20. Giving him reps now will pay off.
Spurs are running multiple development projects at the same time. With Vassell and Johnson only being 23 and 24 years old, there are a couple of years to let these guys refine their games. The fact of the matter is that the point guard they need isn't on this roster yet.
Yeah we basically need Vassell and Johnson to be healthy for the offense to run through Wemby. Vassell for his shooting and Johnson for his ability to find Wemby. Those two being injured started off this whole losing streak... Combined with some tanking, of course.
I'm pretty sure you're talking about Tre Jones and he was talking about Keldon Johnson since Keldon and Dev seem to have the the highest ceiling of anyone on the team before last year
Yes, you're right. I read the post wrong and was thinking Tre Jones.
See James weisman
One of the biggest reasons why scouts are so enamored with Wemby is his potential to be an elite shot creator. That's probably what they're experimenting and trying to develop.