VW = ? (Rookie Season Thread)

[eminence]

Too often early in the season he is turning into a spot up 3 guy (like down the stretch vs Toronto here).

[rk2023]

It’s a game like this that shows the Spurs are still pieces away (factoring in the ceiling of those future NBA players as well as the current core).

[SNPA]

Watch on YouTube

;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

It is his league now.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Watch on YouTube

;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

It is his league now.

Give it some time lol

[SNPA]

Watch on YouTube

;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

It is his league now.

Give it some time lol

I know what I’m watching.

He might get hurt. He is young and makes rookie mistakes. He needs to get stronger. All true. Means little. Watch him. It’s unbelievable, Gobert got treated like a junior varsity player in some of those clips.

VW is next level.

[WestGOAT]

Did he impact the game defensively? My biggest concern is that he ends up like jump-shooting soft big like KAT, which wouldn't be too bad of a return for a regular #1 draft pick, but you would hope for something more given the hype.

[FrodoBaggins]

Did he impact the game defensively? My biggest concern is that he ends up like jump-shooting soft big like KAT, which wouldn't be too bad of a return for a regular #1 draft pick, but you would hope for something more given the hype.

That is my tentative concern too. It's early so he's experimenting and trying different things, however, I hope he doesn't become too obsessed with settling for jumpers. We've seen just how strong of a paint threat he can be, especially vertically.

Who knows how he physically develops? I hope he follows Giannis' trajectory, puts on 25 pounds of solid muscle over four years, and becomes unstoppable going to the rim. And fully embraces his 7'5" Anthony Davis pick-and-roll, lob-catching game. His perimeter shooting should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

[AdagioPace]

Did he impact the game defensively? My biggest concern is that he ends up like jump-shooting soft big like KAT, which wouldn't be too bad of a return for a regular #1 draft pick, but you would hope for something more given the hype.

That is my tentative concern too. It's early so he's experimenting and trying different things, however, I hope he doesn't become too obsessed with settling for jumpers. We've seen just how strong of a paint threat he can be, especially vertically.

Who knows how he physically develops? I hope he follows Giannis' trajectory, puts on 25 pounds of solid muscle over four years, and becomes unstoppable going to the rim. And fully embraces his 7'5" Anthony Davis pick-and-roll, lob-catching game. His perimeter shooting should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

I remember you posted spurs drtg with him on and off somewhere else. Small sample but wasn't he having already visible defensive impact? I don't think there's anything to worry on that side of the floor (just by simply considering his size and agility). Offense, on the other hand, is work in progress because it's a mix of what your coach wants, what you feel comfortable with and how much you can learn once the league adapts to you.

[FrodoBaggins]

Did he impact the game defensively? My biggest concern is that he ends up like jump-shooting soft big like KAT, which wouldn't be too bad of a return for a regular #1 draft pick, but you would hope for something more given the hype.

That is my tentative concern too. It's early so he's experimenting and trying different things, however, I hope he doesn't become too obsessed with settling for jumpers. We've seen just how strong of a paint threat he can be, especially vertically.

Who knows how he physically develops? I hope he follows Giannis' trajectory, puts on 25 pounds of solid muscle over four years, and becomes unstoppable going to the rim. And fully embraces his 7'5" Anthony Davis pick-and-roll, lob-catching game. His perimeter shooting should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

I remember you posted spurs drtg with him on and off somewhere else. Small sample but wasn't he having already visible defensive impact? I don't think there's anything to worry on that side of the floor (just by simply considering his size and agility). Offense, on the other hand, is work in progress because it's a mix of what your coach wants, what you feel comfortable with and how much you can learn once the league adapts to you.

The two losses brought the on/off number down a lot but it was a small sample. Currently, he's a -11.0 on/off DRtg and +2.2 on/off ORtg for a total of +13.1 on/off net rating. So he improves the defense substantially (Rudy's best year was -12.7 in 2021) and also the offense a little bit.

So, fantastic numbers still. Don't ask me why it's not 13.2; the numbers must be rounded here and there.

[FrodoBaggins]

Did he impact the game defensively? My biggest concern is that he ends up like jump-shooting soft big like KAT, which wouldn't be too bad of a return for a regular #1 draft pick, but you would hope for something more given the hype.

That is my tentative concern too. It's early so he's experimenting and trying different things, however, I hope he doesn't become too obsessed with settling for jumpers. We've seen just how strong of a paint threat he can be, especially vertically.

Who knows how he physically develops? I hope he follows Giannis' trajectory, puts on 25 pounds of solid muscle over four years, and becomes unstoppable going to the rim. And fully embraces his 7'5" Anthony Davis pick-and-roll, lob-catching game. His perimeter shooting should be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

I remember you posted spurs drtg with him on and off somewhere else. Small sample but wasn't he having already visible defensive impact? I don't think there's anything to worry on that side of the floor (just by simply considering his size and agility). Offense, on the other hand, is work in progress because it's a mix of what your coach wants, what you feel comfortable with and how much you can learn once the league adapts to you.

The two losses brought the on/off number down a lot but it was a small sample. Currently, he's a -11.0 on/off DRtg and +2.2 on/off ORtg for a total of +13.1 on/off net rating. So he improves the defense substantially (Rudy's best year was -12.7 in 2021) and also the offense a little bit.

So, fantastic numbers still. Don't ask me why it's not 13.2; the numbers must be rounded here and there.

[WestGOAT]

Chet vs Wemby might start to look like Duncan vs Garnett team success-wise. OKC look like a upcoming dynasty, whereas Spurs look like they are going to be baaaad for a while.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Chet vs Wemby might start to look like Duncan vs Garnett team success-wise. OKC look like a upcoming dynasty, whereas Spurs look like they are going to be baaaad for a while.

Worst year to tank too lmao

[eminence]

I'd say yes, he'll be close enough to good enough at least, and it seems likely he'll have the necessary star pull.

This was about his all-star potential 1.5 months ago.

Would say I disagree with past me at this point.

Defensively he looks great, with unbelievable potential (not close to a DPOY contender this season), but offensively he's somewhere between below average and outright bad. Can't generate good looks for himself or others. Team isn't exactly generating him good looks, but he's underwhelmed as a play finisher as well (strong around the rim, but has trouble getting himself into position, poor elsewhere).

Chet a pretty clear ROY so far imo.

[WestGOAT]

I actually have to take it back that Wemby's ceiling on offense is KAT 2.0, his shooting doesn't look anywhere close to KAT, was KAT actually this bad on offense as a rookie as Wemby currently is?

[The-Power]

I actually have to take it back that Wemby's ceiling on offense is KAT 2.0, his shooting doesn't look anywhere close to KAT, was KAT actually this bad on offense as a rookie as Wemby currently is?

Towns was excellent as a Rookie on offense. One of the best young offensive bigs in recent memory. Being worse than Towns on that end is really not a problem. Victor is still figuring things out. He'll be a passable shooter but for him to reach his offensive ceiling, he can't be reliant on it. But it's difficult for him to not do that right now because there's nobody to reliably set him up closer to the rim and he lacks the strength consistently dominate there. But both of that will change in the near future, along with his shot becoming more reliable.

[zimpy27]

I actually have to take it back that Wemby's ceiling on offense is KAT 2.0, his shooting doesn't look anywhere close to KAT, was KAT actually this bad on offense as a rookie as Wemby currently is?

No he wasn't and people need to remember that Wemby has far more experience than a one and done.

He had the Luka pre-NBA experience, 4 years of professional Euro experience. Not as much game time as Luka because he wasn't as good.

I think the offense expectations were way too high. He should start in a Gobert like role with a look to expand to a Porzingis type offensive role.

[The-Power]

He had the Luka pre-NBA experience, 4 years of professional Euro experience. Not as much game time as Luka because he wasn't as good.

No he did not. Victor hardly played in the Euro League, whereas Luka did consistently. Luka also played in a better domestic league, and had more international tournament experience. And then, of course, there's the fact that Victor is a 7'4'' super thin player. That makes him very different than someone like Luka in terms of NBA-level physicality and development curve.

He should start in a Gobert like role with a look to expand to a Porzingis type offensive role.

Doesn't make any sense to me at all. Victor is clearly skilled. Much more skilled than Gobert, and more skilled than young Porzingis, too. The way to develop is to let him learn what he can and cannot do in the NBA in a primary role because you expect him to be a high-level offensive player down the road. He's also not any worse offensively than Porzingis was in his Rookie season.

[zimpy27]

He had the Luka pre-NBA experience, 4 years of professional Euro experience. Not as much game time as Luka because he wasn't as good.

No he did not. Victor hardly played in the Euro League, whereas Luka did consistently. Luka also played in a better domestic league, and had more international tournament experience. And then, of course, there's the fact that Victor is a 7'4'' super thin player. That makes him very different than someone like Luka in terms of NBA-level physicality and development curve.

He should start in a Gobert like role with a look to expand to a Porzingis type offensive role.

Doesn't make any sense to me at all. Victor is clearly skilled. Much more skilled than Gobert, and more skilled than young Porzingis, too. The way to develop is to let him learn what he can and cannot do in the NBA in a primary role because you expect him to be a high-level offensive player down the road. He's also not any worse offensively than Porzingis was in his Rookie season.

As I say, Luka got more minutes and played on a better team because he was better at that age. They stop both got the training and were taught how to be professional.

Porzingis was ahead of Wemby.

They both had TS% of 52% but league TS for Wemby is 58% and it was only 54% for Porzingis as a rookie.
Porzingis rookie equivalent this year would be 55.4% TS

[Colbinii]

Do you guys even watch Wemby? Serious thought.

Or do you just post random numbers?

[Cavsfansince84]

Personally I don't think rookie seasons mean much. LeBron as a rookie was like a light year behind what he became in year 2 and then year 3. Wemby either will or won't make that much of a jump but as a rookie I think he's doing about what was expected of him. He's also going to be more dependent on pg play as others have mentioned here. If he still isn't a top 15 player by year 3 though then he just isn't progressing the way he should be and prob just lacks whatever it takes to be a generational kind of player.