I'm not just seeing it here on Reddit. I'm hearing it from other NBA boards, people I play ball with, fantasy basketball people, etc, etc.
I have no idea what the expectation was for this guy in his rookie season, but I think anyone who had half a semblance of knowledge knew what we were getting when he came in. Wemby was a defensive prospect first and foremost who has the chance to grow into one of the most impactful defenders ever due to his size and mobility, who could also put up 20+ points in the near future.
He wasn't great overseas offensively because he was still raw. He's still only 19 years old, in his first season in the NBA on a team that for all intents and purposes is still on a quest for more #1 picks. Wemby was a project from the very first day, albeit a very high ceiling project. Everything we talked about, both offensively and defensively was all about how he's going to look in year 5/6/7/8 of his career.
The dude is 7'4 and learning how to use his size while still picking up a lot of basketball fundamentals. I see a lot of posts saying how the Spurs should do this, or do that, or get this player, or bench that player. So much news for a team that is still far, far, FAR away from any hope of a ring. Why do we care so much that Sochan is getting burn at the PG spot? There seems to be so much focus on a team we knew was going to suck and a prospect that we knew was going to take years to learn the NBA and learn what he can do.
The fact that this kid has had some of the performances that he's had, and that he's even approaching 19-20 points a game regardless of efficiency at this point should be a win. I was expecting a lot less considering how much he had to learn, and how bad some of his performances overseas were. Wemby is arguably ahead of schedule at this point, and it should only get better with more reps, a better team, and more size.
Let him take all the 3s, mid range fade aways, etc that he wants. Let him make every mistake he can make this year to learn for the next year. This is a throwaway year for the Spurs that should be used just to evaluate and develop for the future. Some of you look incredibly silly bagging on a rookie on a below average team, expecting him to be the next Wilt from day 1. He's an incredible PROSPECT, key word there being prospect. Lets see where other 19-20 year old bigs were (Jokic, Giannis, Embiid) before we start complaining about Wemby not being LeBron, or blaming the Spurs for not putting together the perfect team around him when he's not even ready to lead a team in the first place. Stop being weird.
Honestly, there's never been a shittier time to be a touted athlete in his rookie year than this era of NBA. Wemby could be dropping consistent triple-doubles and one off-game will just INCENSE the public against their previous take. Wemby is experiencing this doubly because of how dominant Joker's first decade in the league has been (MVPs within five years and then a first ring for Denver to follow up shortly after) then further compounded by Giannis' first ring/Finals MVP/All-Star MVP all happening in the same year (directly after two MVP years) being hyper-focused on in spite of how long he's been at Milwaukee.
That Pop & Spurs are choosing the push forward and block out the noise at first seems obvious, but it is a smart decision when you take into account how others (i.e. Embiid's neutrality during the Harden/Sixers Saga) have been forced to take the sheer brunt of public opinion