Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs!

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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#361 » by Bob Ross » Thu Nov 9, 2023 1:45 am

Wemby is a dumb nickname
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Post#362 » by Special_Puppy » Thu Nov 9, 2023 2:29 am

SNPA wrote:
BrooklynDynasty wrote:
JeffReal wrote:Wemby’s own teammates are his strongest opponents. They play like they are still tanking.

every rookie except MJ and Kareem get humbled in this league. It's a tale as old as time

Bird.


Jokic was a top 15 player in the league his rookie year according to most advanced metrics
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#363 » by Im Coming Home » Thu Nov 9, 2023 3:06 am

MItchell Robinson hit Wemby with his welcome to the NBA kid moment today.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#364 » by KnixtapeH20 » Thu Nov 9, 2023 3:14 am

Im Coming Home wrote:MItchell Robinson hit Wemby with his welcome to the NBA kid moment today.

As I said would happen :D


KnixtapeH20 wrote:Mitch gona officially welcome Vic to the NBA and it's his **** block party :rockon:


Battle of the boards gona be fun Mitch should dominate with his final form body :D :lol:
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#365 » by DoctorX » Thu Nov 9, 2023 3:27 am

BrooklynDynasty wrote:
JeffReal wrote:Wemby’s own teammates are his strongest opponents. They play like they are still tanking.


we're not really going to do the lebron "he needs more help" act with him for years and years and years are we?

every rookie except MJ and Kareem get humbled in this league. It's a tale as old as time


That's a gross exaggeration. Magic, Hakeem, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Shaq, Isiah, all got to be the man from day 1. Hell, even second and third tier great players like Grant Hill, Glen Robinson, Derrick Coleman, Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson got to be the guy from day 1. What's going on with Wemby getting froze out by his teammates reminds me a lot of what happened with Yao with Francis and Mobley during his first few years in the league. Wemby's teammates are a bunch of knuckleheads.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#366 » by FrodoBaggins » Thu Nov 9, 2023 3:38 am

Mitchell Robinson is an old-school physical beast. What is he weighing these days? 285 pounds?
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#367 » by SNPA » Thu Nov 9, 2023 3:49 am

Special_Puppy wrote:
SNPA wrote:
BrooklynDynasty wrote:every rookie except MJ and Kareem get humbled in this league. It's a tale as old as time

Bird.


Jokic was a top 15 player in the league his rookie year according to most advanced metrics

https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_1980.html
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Post#368 » by FrodoBaggins » Thu Nov 9, 2023 5:23 am

Some cool buckets. His lack of strength, power, lean body mass, and endurance is limiting his potential to get easy buckets and influence as many plays as possible. That'll come with age. Some great players are close to finished products from day one while others take a few years to get there. I think Wemby will follow Giannis' progression.

;ab_channel=ASDF%E2%84%A2Goal
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Post#369 » by Phreak50 » Thu Nov 9, 2023 5:37 am

The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.
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Post#370 » by KG Leonard » Thu Nov 9, 2023 5:58 am

Phreak50 wrote:The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.
I think it is like 30% he is raw, "bad" as the usual 19 year old rookie. 70% Spurs first 5 other than Wemby, Vassell isnt good enough to help a top team. They are playing too many tanking level rotation level players. There is no way Holmgren isn't as raw rookie but he has a superstar PG, great young playmaker in Giddey, all nba defender like Dort.

Bad team around him is making him look younger, more years off than he really is imho.
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Post#371 » by SNPA » Thu Nov 9, 2023 6:03 am

FrodoBaggins wrote:Some cool buckets. His lack of strength, power, lean body mass, and endurance is limiting his potential to get easy buckets and influence as many plays as possible. That'll come with age. Some great players are close to finished products from day one while others take a few years to get there. I think Wemby will follow Giannis' progression.

;ab_channel=ASDF%E2%84%A2Goal

He is really good with his left hand.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#372 » by FrodoBaggins » Thu Nov 9, 2023 6:20 am

KG Leonard wrote:
Phreak50 wrote:The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.
I think it is like 30% he is raw, "bad" as the usual 19 year old rookie. 70% Spurs first 5 other than Wemby, Vassell isnt good enough to help a top team. They are playing too many tanking level rotation level players. There is no way Holmgren isn't as raw rookie but he has a superstar PG, great young playmaker in Giddey, all nba defender like Dort.

Bad team around him is making him look younger, more years off than he really is imho.
Phreak50 wrote:The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.

He just doesn't have the shooting and ball handling to play the way he's trying to. At some point - if he doesn't develop his perimeter game - he's going to have to accept that he can't play outside-in. That he's not Kevin Durant. Chet's that guy, not Victor.

But I think there's definitely an ego element involved. A lot of bigs want to prove that they're more than a traditional big; that they're a "modern" big that can play like a guard. Doing what looks cool instead of what's effective. It's the Chris Webber syndrome.

Could he become a better shooter and ball handler? Absolutely. But I wouldn't be surprised if he never does. At least not to the extent that justifies how he wants and is trying to play. Hopefully, he embraces strength and conditioning and becomes a dominant paint threat like Giannis and AD. An inside-out approach is more realistic in my opinion.
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Post#373 » by KG Leonard » Thu Nov 9, 2023 6:45 am

FrodoBaggins wrote:
KG Leonard wrote:
Phreak50 wrote:The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.
I think it is like 30% he is raw, "bad" as the usual 19 year old rookie. 70% Spurs first 5 other than Wemby, Vassell isnt good enough to help a top team. They are playing too many tanking level rotation level players. There is no way Holmgren isn't as raw rookie but he has a superstar PG, great young playmaker in Giddey, all nba defender like Dort.

Bad team around him is making him look younger, more years off than he really is imho.
Phreak50 wrote:The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.

He just doesn't have the shooting and ball handling to play the way he's trying to. At some point - if he doesn't develop his perimeter game - he's going to have to accept that he can't play outside-in. That he's not Kevin Durant. Chet's that guy, not Victor.

But I think there's definitely an ego element involved. A lot of bigs want to prove that they're more than a traditional big; that they're a "modern" big that can play like a guard. Doing what looks cool instead of what's effective. It's the Chris Webber syndrome.

Could he become a better shooter and ball handler? Absolutely. But I wouldn't be surprised if he never does. At least not to the extent that justifies how he wants and is trying to play. Hopefully, he embraces strength and conditioning and becomes a dominant paint threat like Giannis and AD. An inside-out approach is more realistic in my opinion.
Chet is better 3p shooter, easier to handle the ball right now because he is closer KD lenght than Wemby, his size. Sure Chet is very skilled making guard plays for himself but he has ocean of space to work with. He never gets defended by the best two defenders of opponents like in Spurs, they defend Wemby like he is SGA level star because who fears Sochan, Collins etc. It is easy being "that guy" in Thunders when you are defended like a roleplayer.

Wemby knows he can play with his ego because Pop doesn't care about winning this season, he is experimenting. It is not smart to limit what Wemby does right now, he and the coaches must find out his best moves, grow his best skills. Playing him like Giannis like he did vs Suns when he scored 38 mostly in the paint isn't the best move. Giannis could never shoot 3s potentially like Wemby, Wemby avg midrange is elite % already.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#374 » by FrodoBaggins » Thu Nov 9, 2023 7:03 am

KG Leonard wrote:
FrodoBaggins wrote:
KG Leonard wrote:I think it is like 30% he is raw, "bad" as the usual 19 year old rookie. 70% Spurs first 5 other than Wemby, Vassell isnt good enough to help a top team. They are playing too many tanking level rotation level players. There is no way Holmgren isn't as raw rookie but he has a superstar PG, great young playmaker in Giddey, all nba defender like Dort.

Bad team around him is making him look younger, more years off than he really is imho.
Phreak50 wrote:The stats flatter him. 4 rebounds came in one possession and the points, well he missed bad shots that should never have been taken.

As I said before preseason even started, he is years away from what most of this forum have already pencilled him in for.

He just doesn't have the shooting and ball handling to play the way he's trying to. At some point - if he doesn't develop his perimeter game - he's going to have to accept that he can't play outside-in. That he's not Kevin Durant. Chet's that guy, not Victor.

But I think there's definitely an ego element involved. A lot of bigs want to prove that they're more than a traditional big; that they're a "modern" big that can play like a guard. Doing what looks cool instead of what's effective. It's the Chris Webber syndrome.

Could he become a better shooter and ball handler? Absolutely. But I wouldn't be surprised if he never does. At least not to the extent that justifies how he wants and is trying to play. Hopefully, he embraces strength and conditioning and becomes a dominant paint threat like Giannis and AD. An inside-out approach is more realistic in my opinion.
Chet is better 3p shooter, easier to handle the ball right now because he is closer KD lenght than Wemby, his size. Sure Chet is very skilled making guard plays for himself but he has ocean of space to work with. He never gets defended by the best two defenders of opponents like in Spurs, they defend Wemby like he is SGA level star because who fears Sochan, Collins etc. It is easy being "that guy" in Thunders when you are defended like a roleplayer.

Wemby knows he can play with his ego because Pop doesn't care about winning this season, he is experimenting. It is not smart to limit what Wemby does right now, he and the coaches must find out his best moves, grow his best skills. Playing him like Giannis like he did vs Suns when he scored 38 mostly in the paint isn't the best move. Giannis could never shoot 3s potentially like Wemby, Wemby avg midrange is elite % already.

I agree that this is the time for Wemby to experiment. I just won't be surprised if his perimeter game (shooting, ballhandling) never develops to an efficacious level that justifies its usage as an offensive priority. But we'll see. Impossible to know what'll happen.

His mid-range percentage was strong in France and in the preseason but I don't think it has been in the regular season so far. It's hard to gauge his skill right now because his biggest problem is just his physical conditioning: strength, power, endurance, weight. We'll be able to better assess once he improves physically to better handle the demands of NBA ball. Everyone's skills look sloppy when they're tired and weak.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#375 » by lambchop » Thu Nov 9, 2023 7:22 am

FrodoBaggins wrote:Some cool buckets. His lack of strength, power, lean body mass, and endurance is limiting his potential to get easy buckets and influence as many plays as possible. That'll come with age. Some great players are close to finished products from day one while others take a few years to get there. I think Wemby will follow Giannis' progression.

;ab_channel=ASDF%E2%84%A2Goal


Yea strength will definitely come, but I think it might be more gradual than Giannis progression, due to Wemby's shooting. If he were to bulk up as quickly as Freak did, he would lose his shooting touch, unless he also extreme amounts of shooting which is very difficult to do even for those with great work ethics.

So I expect nice strength and mass gains with improved shooting too, but over a longer period of time than it took Giannis (keep in mind he never figured out the latter).
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Post#376 » by FrodoBaggins » Thu Nov 9, 2023 8:07 am

lambchop wrote:
FrodoBaggins wrote:Some cool buckets. His lack of strength, power, lean body mass, and endurance is limiting his potential to get easy buckets and influence as many plays as possible. That'll come with age. Some great players are close to finished products from day one while others take a few years to get there. I think Wemby will follow Giannis' progression.

;ab_channel=ASDF%E2%84%A2Goal


Yea strength will definitely come, but I think it might be more gradual than Giannis progression, due to Wemby's shooting. If he were to bulk up as quickly as Freak did, he would lose his shooting touch, unless he also extreme amounts of shooting which is very difficult to do even for those with great work ethics.

So I expect nice strength and mass gains with improved shooting too, but over a longer period of time than it took Giannis (keep in mind he never figured out the latter).

There's no evidence lifting weights and adding lean body mass influences shooting. That's a myth.

Karl Malone was a better shooter when he was bigger and more muscled up later in his career. When asked about it, he thought lifting weights made him a better shooter. LeBron was a much better shooter in Miami than when he was a younger player early in Cleveland despite adding size. Steph Curry has added visible mass to his frame and it had no effect on his shooting. In fact, he's shooting the best of his career ATM. Dirk also became a better shooter as he added size and strength.

ALSO: Giannis' weight progression was slow and steady. He was 6'8.5" tall and 190 pounds on draft night in 2013. By the end of his rookie season (June 2014) he had grown taller to around 6'11" and weighed 217 pounds.

He came last September he was 6-9, 190 (lbs.) and today he's almost 6-11, 217 pounds.


He then reached 222 pounds by 2016, 230 pounds by 2017, and 242 pounds by 2018.

That's 25 pounds over four years. Something that Victor can mimic.

2023-24: 230-235 pounds
2024-25: 235-240 pounds
2025-26: 245-250 pounds
2026-27: 255-260 pounds

Those are reasonable goals that, at his height, he can reach. Slow and steady, focusing on developing strength and power and gaining the associated muscle mass that comes along with those qualities. Maintaining a lean and athletic body fat percentage while doing plenty of flexibility work to maintain range of motion while growing bigger and stronger.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#377 » by WestGOAT » Thu Nov 9, 2023 8:11 am

Wembanyama got figured out, that was actually faster than expected tbh, it's Chet's league now.
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Re: Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread Part Two: Repurposed for your Wembanyama needs! 

Post#378 » by HotRocks34 » Thu Nov 9, 2023 10:24 am

He's very thin and I am not sure whether his body will ever be able to hold much mass.

As has been said before, he's got the Ralph Sampson feel.

I think Ralph topped out at maybe 240 pounds and the lack of mass always limited him. Ralph was incredibly strong, he simply couldn't increase his bulk.

Because of how trim Sampson was, he struggled with post ups, both on offense and defense.

Guys were able to muscle Sampson around and it looks, so far, that Wemby could struggle with the same dynamic. This also reminds me of Porzingis, who is still an excellent player despite his slight build.
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Post#379 » by hardenASG13 » Thu Nov 9, 2023 1:34 pm

I've seen 4 of his games, missed last night and the Toronto game. It seems like Sochan refuses to pass him the ball. Anyone else notice this?
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Post#380 » by _jin » Thu Nov 9, 2023 2:05 pm

hardenASG13 wrote:I've seen 4 of his games, missed last night and the Toronto game. It seems like Sochan refuses to pass him the ball. Anyone else notice this?

I dont think Sochan or any other Spur is deliberately refusing to pass the ball to Wemby as a lot of Spurs fans are speculating.
First of all, it's mostly on Wemby, he has been struggling to get into favorable positions, especially those past 3 games. And the few times he does, his teammates dont see him or are unable to pass to to him at the right time. Tre Jones is the only playmaker on this team and while he's decent, he's not a starting caliber PG. Sochan, Vassel and Collins in particular are good passers but they're not really good at setting up plays.
And while it has brought a generational talent to the Spurs, tanking has also given a lot of bad habits to that young squad. It shows on the offensive end but it's glaring on defense, most of those guys have no idea what they're doing. If they see someone driving to the rim, everybody is going to move towards him and leave 3 shooters wide-open, when they have a guy who can defend the rim by himself. Opponents are feasting from the 3pt line because they're constantly left on an island. It's mind-blowing at times how bad most, if not all, of them are defensively.
That team needs some vets, they're way too young and inexperienced but we dont know what their plans are and if they are tanking for another high draft pick, only the Spurs FO and Pop know.

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