Victor Wembanyama Mega-Thread - For all your Wembanyama needs!

[penggemar]

American media by a wiiiiide margin. There is some excitment here, and some journalists of mainstream media are doing their job presenting him for the people who don't know him (and yes, that's the majority of the people here..) yet.
If it was football (soccer), he would be much more notorious but things might really change if he is drafted #1. But most of all, just like many european people, what matters are FIba tournaments results.

And on top of that, him and Mbappe are representing the part of the french mindset that is missing here : the concept of "sky is the limit", "you can be whoever you wanna be", "believe in your dreams", ... This whole situation with young kids being so talented and presented and projected as genius isnt a french thing.
We like to be cautious, we dont like to put the lights on somebody too quick in sports in general.

But this situation with Wembanyama and Mbappe, the french medias can draw a story abt young kids, representing france all around the world for their talents.
Football is so different than basketball here, so the treatment that receives Mbappe is way more tough and heavy than what Wemby receives, mostly bc his carreer wont be in France but over there.
But here, its mostly the art side of Wemby, the maturity that the medias are highlighting not so much the basketball talents.

Wemby does seem so mature and chill for a 19 year old. It was cool seeing him just chill in a cafe sipping on Espresso

I like his characterization in the poundingtherock.com site - Charismatically goofy (yet competitive)

[ghillphx]

You won the lottery. Funny.

No, what's funny is how sure you were and how wrong you ended up being. Hopes definitely are not in the trash

I was wrong. Don't care though, **** random. Spurs are lucky AF, again. All good.

[_jin]

Wemby is a great prospect but are people ignoring his ugly 3 pt%? Every other draft eligible player would get criticized for a sub 30% stat.

i don't ignore it, I've pointed it out a couple of times and got told off by many because they are missing my point.
My point is to weed out the unreasonable expectations, like the parallels to KD's shooting. He's not a KD type shooter.

But, it is also important to understand that his shooting % is down because he takes a bunch of crazy shots in France, like contested turnaround threes and things like that. He doesn't need to take those to be a massive offensive player, and he probably won't under Pop. Really the only thing he needs to do is make a few wide open ones (which he does) so that people learn to respect his shot and don't sag off him like they do with Giannis. Then he will get his space to go past his defender, and once he's in the paint with a bit of momentum is where he's truly lethal. Pop will sort all that out for him, no problems.

More important for him is to learn to read the open space and find the open man when doubled, because there will be a lot of that in the NBA. It's a different situation than Europe because of the size of the court, different rules with the illegal defence, and more athletic defenders.

This. A lot of people dont know that a little over a year ago the Mets survival was in doubt because of financial problems and bad results. The main reason Wemby went there is because they told him the team would be constructed around him and he'd be the #1 option and allowed to do whatever he wants on the court. The team this season is only about developing Wemby, the fact that they managed to have good results and ended up in the playoffs was just a bonus (and a testament to how good Wemby already is). That's also why Vincent Collet, the national team coach, accepted the job, to help with Victor's development since he'll obviously be a big part of the french NT moving forward. He's allowed to do a lot of things he wouldnt do on another french team or even a NBA team. He's experimenting and limit testing his own game while trying to improve, he knows it and I dont expect him to do the same things (like the bad contested shots and the iso plays) in the NBA.

[Castle Black]

Watch on YouTube

Really good video, recommended.

Finally some common sense. Everyone needs to relax and temper their expectations with this kid. He’s 19 years old and going to a bad team, he’s going to have his fair share of struggles. It’s all part of the process. Spurs are nowhere near contending for anything right now. We’re extremely young and this will take time. But, it’s really exciting to get a prospect of his caliber and it’ll be fun to see how he blossoms in the Spurs system. I think going to a franchise like ours that has stability with Pop and a track-record of developing big men is a great thing for him. More importantly, I’m just hoping the kid can stay healthy. There isn’t a good track record with guys his size having long careers, but I’m praying he breaks the mold. Here’s to hoping. Go Spurs Go.

[Lockdown504090]

How do you see him creating efficient offense on his own? I’m curious because I didn’t see it in France. The dirk and kd comp doesn’t reach me. He doesn’t have the touch or shooting those guys did yet. Maybe the free throws were there a bit. Idk, coach going t on have to get creative moving him around the court.

[Bornstellar]

How do you see him creating efficient offense on his own? I’m curious because I didn’t see it in France. The dirk and kd comp doesn’t reach me. He doesn’t have the touch or shooting those guys did yet. Maybe the free throws were there a bit. Idk, coach going t on have to get creative moving him around the court.

Kevin Durant shot 47% with UT on 53.6 eFG% (shot 40% from three but the three point line back then in NCAA was closer than now)
Wembanyama shoots 47% with Mets92 51.4 eFG%

Durant shot 43% from the field and 28% from three as a rookie in the NBA, so it's not like he came in shooting lights out. Give Wemby some time. I have no doubt he will acclimate given enough reps

[Lockdown504090]

How do you see him creating efficient offense on his own? I’m curious because I didn’t see it in France. The dirk and kd comp doesn’t reach me. He doesn’t have the touch or shooting those guys did yet. Maybe the free throws were there a bit. Idk, coach going t on have to get creative moving him around the court.

Kevin Durant shot 47% with UT on 53.6 eFG% (shot 40% from three but the three point line back then in NCAA was closer than now)
Wembanyama shoots 47% with Mets92 51.4 eFG%

Durant shot 43% from the field and 28% from three as a rookie in the NBA, so it's not like he came in shooting lights out. Give Wemby some time. I have no doubt he will acclimate given enough reps

Not talking about threes. Those are just reps, I agree. I’m talk about 8-14 feet away, that stuff on the move, in the post, I didn’t see that I’m the film. I saw him take lots of fades, but it’s not soft like Yao fade or lamarcus was. It can come with time, I just don’t see the shot creation year one like at all. They’ll let him do it, but I’m expecting 44 percent fg in the post. Love Vic, but he need to be in that lab like a rat. All that guard stuff don’t matter if you can’t make guys like say Andrew wiggins a mismatch

EDIT: every time i zero in on a weakness, he starts doing it within 24 hours, no lie, this kid a demon

IDK, but i havent seen his left hand or post game yet though. maybe in a couple years

[Luv those Knicks]

Watch on YouTube

Really good video, recommended.

Finally some common sense. Everyone needs to relax and temper their expectations with this kid. He’s 19 years old and going to a bad team, he’s going to have his fair share of struggles. It’s all part of the process. Spurs are nowhere near contending for anything right now. We’re extremely young and this will take time. But it’s really exciting to get a prospect of his caliber and it’ll be fun to see how he blossoms in the Spurs system. More importantly, I’m just hoping the kid can stay healthy. There isn’t a good track record with guys his size having long careers, but I’m praying he breaks the mold. Here’s to hoping. Go Spurs Go.

I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert, but I have a tough time seeing Wemby is that good a prospect. This video said "best ever" . . . i mean, better than LeBron? Better than Shaq? Those guys were absolute monsters entering the draft. Wemby is skinny. Not all top draft prospects make it and I'm not talking about #1 picks in weaker drafts because . . . that's a whole different thing, but Greg Oden was a once or twice in a decade #1 talent who never panned out. I'm ready to believe that Wemby is going to be very good, but I'm just not feeling the Shaq or LeBron level hype when they were drafted. Maybe Greg Oden hype and I don't mean that as a negative. It's still very good, but it's not Shaq or LeBron.

[_jin]

Watch on YouTube

Really good video, recommended.

Finally some common sense. Everyone needs to relax and temper their expectations with this kid. He’s 19 years old and going to a bad team, he’s going to have his fair share of struggles. It’s all part of the process. Spurs are nowhere near contending for anything right now. We’re extremely young and this will take time. But it’s really exciting to get a prospect of his caliber and it’ll be fun to see how he blossoms in the Spurs system. More importantly, I’m just hoping the kid can stay healthy. There isn’t a good track record with guys his size having long careers, but I’m praying he breaks the mold. Here’s to hoping. Go Spurs Go.

I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert, but I have a tough time seeing Wemby is that good a prospect. This video said "best ever" . . . i mean, better than LeBron? Better than Shaq? Those guys were absolute monsters entering the draft. Wemby is skinny. Not all top draft prospects make it and I'm not talking about #1 picks in weaker drafts because . . . that's a whole different thing, but Greg Oden was a once or twice in a decade #1 talent who never panned out. I'm ready to believe that Wemby is going to be very good, but I'm just not feeling the Shaq or LeBron level hype when they were drafted. Maybe Greg Oden hype and I don't mean that as a negative. It's still very good, but it's not Shaq or LeBron.

The big difference between Lebron and Wemby is that Lebron came in at 18 with a body ready for the NBA but he had a lot of room for improvement as a player. Wemby is much more advanced in his development as a player but he's still growing and his body will probably look a lot different 5 years from now. So I'd say Lebron was a better prospect as a "man" but Wemby is a better prospect as a "player" if that makes any sense. Shaq was NBA ready physically and skillwise but he could have improved a lot more if he wanted, he's one of the few ATG who kinda didnt reach his potential imo so he's kind of in the middle.

[Pachinko_]

I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert, but I have a tough time seeing Wemby is that good a prospect. This video said "best ever" . . . i mean, better than LeBron? Better than Shaq? Those guys were absolute monsters entering the draft. Wemby is skinny. Not all top draft prospects make it and I'm not talking about #1 picks in weaker drafts because . . . that's a whole different thing, but Greg Oden was a once or twice in a decade #1 talent who never panned out. I'm ready to believe that Wemby is going to be very good, but I'm just not feeling the Shaq or LeBron level hype when they were drafted. Maybe Greg Oden hype and I don't mean that as a negative. It's still very good, but it's not Shaq or LeBron.

Well you've probably only seen highlights and maybe some stats, right? The problem is that both those things are notorious for telling you little to nothing about defense, and that is actually VW's biggest selling point, he's pretty much guaranteed All Defense from very early in his career (as long as he's healthy). So if you have a guy like Gobert making All Star just because of defense, and you take that and add 25-30 points on top, maybe that starts to put it into perspective. But you gotta look at defense first otherwise you're missing the point with this player.

[Castle Black]

Wemby finished with 23/14/3/2 today in a buzzer-beating loss.

Watch on YouTube

[Luv those Knicks]

I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert, but I have a tough time seeing Wemby is that good a prospect. This video said "best ever" . . . i mean, better than LeBron? Better than Shaq? Those guys were absolute monsters entering the draft. Wemby is skinny. Not all top draft prospects make it and I'm not talking about #1 picks in weaker drafts because . . . that's a whole different thing, but Greg Oden was a once or twice in a decade #1 talent who never panned out. I'm ready to believe that Wemby is going to be very good, but I'm just not feeling the Shaq or LeBron level hype when they were drafted. Maybe Greg Oden hype and I don't mean that as a negative. It's still very good, but it's not Shaq or LeBron.

Well you've probably only seen highlights and maybe some stats, right? The problem is that both those things are notorious for telling you little to nothing about defense, and that is actually VW's biggest selling point, he's pretty much guaranteed All Defense from very early in his career (as long as he's healthy). So if you have a guy like Gobert making All Star just because of defense, and you take that and add 25-30 points on top, maybe that starts to put it into perspective. But you gotta look at defense first otherwise you're missing the point with this player.

I'll repeat that I'm not an expert, but I'm skeptical. That said, I'd love to be wrong. Generational talents are fun to watch.

Patrick Ewing, coming out of Georgetown was supposed to be the best defensive center in years. His college track record and how he affected other team's shooting percentage was impressive, but in the NBA, he was very good on defense but didn't really live up to his draft expectation. I think he just dominated college talent, but wasn't very good, but not a game changer against NBA talent . . . my 2 cents. He was also asked to play PF when he joined the Knicks which might have messed him up a little, but I think the problem was, he wasn't as elite as people thought he was.

I don't think anyone can look at a still developing kid and know for sure.

I'll repeat, I'd love to be wrong, but I have my doubts on Wemby being a once in a generation player. I'll eat crow if I'm wrong.

[Pachinko_]

I'll repeat that I'm not an expert, but I'm skeptical. That said, I'd love to be wrong. Generational talents are fun to watch.

Patrick Ewing, coming out of Georgetown was supposed to be the best defensive center in years. His college track record and how he affected other team's shooting percentage was impressive, but in the NBA, he was very good on defense but didn't really live up to his draft expectation. I think he just dominated college talent, but wasn't very good, but not a game changer against NBA talent . . . my 2 cents. He was also asked to play PF when he joined the Knicks which might have messed him up a little, but I think the problem was, he wasn't as elite as people thought he was.

I don't think anyone can look at a still developing kid and know for sure.

I'll repeat, I'd love to be wrong, but I have my doubts on Wemby being a once in a generation player. I'll eat crow if I'm wrong.

Yeah... I mean, if you think about it No1 picks are usually crap compared to expectations. Almost always actually. And sometimes they are so crap that they're out of the league by the time their rookie contract is finished. So yeah based on history you're probably gonna be right one way or the other. The odds are always against expectations being met.

Having said that, did 19 year old Ewing average 3 blocks a game? It's hard to compare with these older guys because back then they were coming into the league as 22-23 year olds.... But as a more recent reference point, Rudy Gobert in the same league as Wemby was averaging 2 blocks, and he was actually a year older. The dude really is different, people are not making it up.

[Ugly Duckling]

wemby + health = goat C, potential goat at any position

[Raps in 4]

Who will get past the second round first, Wemby or Embiid?

[Vampirate]

Wemby is a great prospect but are people ignoring his ugly 3 pt%? Every other draft eligible player would get criticized for a sub 30% stat.

i don't ignore it, I've pointed it out a couple of times and got told off by many because they are missing my point.
My point is to weed out the unreasonable expectations, like the parallels to KD's shooting. He's not a KD type shooter.

But, it is also important to understand that his shooting % is down because he takes a bunch of crazy shots in France, like contested turnaround threes and things like that. He doesn't need to take those to be a massive offensive player, and he probably won't under Pop. Really the only thing he needs to do is make a few wide open ones (which he does) so that people learn to respect his shot and don't sag off him like they do with Giannis. Then he will get his space to go past his defender, and once he's in the paint with a bit of momentum is where he's truly lethal. Pop will sort all that out for him, no problems.

More important for him is to learn to read the open space and find the open man when doubled, because there will be a lot of that in the NBA. It's a different situation than Europe because of the size of the court, different rules with the illegal defence, and more athletic defenders.

For Wemby there's probably only 3 things that will hold him back.

1. Injury
2. His frame
3. Exactly how much he wants it

His actual hypothetical offensive ceiling is limitless, however wherever he lands is anyone's guess as it depends on luck and exactly how much does he want to improve. How obsessive is he to get better.

Due to his frame, the likes of Jokic, Giannis will destroy him early on as they are too skilled and built for him to handle at this stage in his career.

He's obviously going to have a big impact early on until he runs into a Center of which he probably can't handle right now.

[D.Brasco]

Watch on YouTube

Really good video, recommended.

Finally some common sense. Everyone needs to relax and temper their expectations with this kid. He’s 19 years old and going to a bad team, he’s going to have his fair share of struggles. It’s all part of the process. Spurs are nowhere near contending for anything right now. We’re extremely young and this will take time. But it’s really exciting to get a prospect of his caliber and it’ll be fun to see how he blossoms in the Spurs system. More importantly, I’m just hoping the kid can stay healthy. There isn’t a good track record with guys his size having long careers, but I’m praying he breaks the mold. Here’s to hoping. Go Spurs Go.

I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert, but I have a tough time seeing Wemby is that good a prospect. This video said "best ever" . . . i mean, better than LeBron? Better than Shaq? Those guys were absolute monsters entering the draft. Wemby is skinny. Not all top draft prospects make it and I'm not talking about #1 picks in weaker drafts because . . . that's a whole different thing, but Greg Oden was a once or twice in a decade #1 talent who never panned out. I'm ready to believe that Wemby is going to be very good, but I'm just not feeling the Shaq or LeBron level hype when they were drafted. Maybe Greg Oden hype and I don't mean that as a negative. It's still very good, but it's not Shaq or LeBron.

Not to mention Shaq and LeBron despite being only 20 and 18 respectively had already man developed bodies when they entered the league, true freaks in that regard. So they could contribute heavy minutes right out the gate. Wemby makes rookie Kevin Durant look beefy in terms of his body development.

I hate to keep harping on this but his body type (extreme height, slender build) and perimeter oriented playstyle do not seem suited at all for a healthy career. I hope I'm wrong I just can't see it yet.

[donkki]

All these negative takes in this thread remind me of when Doncic came to the league. A lot of people who did not know better were saying he is too slow, not athletic enough etc, even though us who follow basketball in a more global level knew he will do great. Same story again, people who really don't know the player are making assumptions based on basically Youtube videos. I have high expectasions for Victor and expect him to be a beast at both ends of the floor from day 1, no matter his slender build at the moment. No reason to think he is not NBA-ready. I think you non-believers will become believers after Victor takes over at the World Cup.

[Ayt]

Are we SURE he’s good?

Do you have a functioning brain?

[Pachinko_]

I hate to keep harping on this but his body type (extreme height, slender build) and perimeter oriented playstyle do not seem suited at all for a healthy career. I hope I'm wrong I just can't see it yet.

I'd say slender is definitely better than overweight, less weight and pressure on knees/lower back/feet.
Muscles can be strong enough and supportive without necessarily being massive, so strength exercises are important, but aimed towards strength and flexibility rather than bulk. Landing technique, stretching, rest and recovery routines are also important. Wemby is known to be working on all the above even though he doesn't try to bulk up, and that is intentional because he is targeting a playing style that is based on agility, imagine more like KD rather than Shaq or even Giannis.

Bottom line is, if there is one guy who is fully aware of the risks of injury to big men is Wemby and his group of trainers and doctors. And so are the Spurs by the way, after all it's them who invented load management exactly for this reason.