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

[sikma42]

Wembanyama is the only player in basketball history who has the assets to surpass MJ.

Nobody else had the tools until now.

Wembanyama if he stays healthy has a big big chance to become the GOAT basketball player

I'm 47.

Last night, I told my 13 year old son that i wasn't sure Jordan could score 1-on-1 with Wemby and he told me I was crazy

Wemby is amazing and one of the most talented players to ever touch a ball. But right now he couldn’t sniff guarding Jordan, it would get ugly really quick. Maybe once his body develops but you can’t just give that to him before it happens.

Overall his talent is amazing and I felt like a kid watching him out there. He has such a good disposition too, sky is the limit.


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[UcanUwill]

I’ll continue to get flamed but there is simply no need for a 7’4 guy to dribble drive and shoot low percentage fadeaway. None.

You’d want to use his shot the same way Aldridge did, who is probably one of, if not the very best mid range shooting big men.

You also don’t want him shooting five threes a game, no matter how open he is off screens.

It’s all exciting to see a guy do stuff we've never seen from someone so tall but at the end of the day it’s fundamentals and high percentage plays that will get it done on the offensive end.

If he takes the same shots tonight all season he will shoot 40% from the field and be a waste on offense.

Defensively was the impressive part tonight.

You’re going to see him have no block games and the opposition shooting high 30’s or low 40’s and wonder what happened, only to watch the game and see he scared players off attempting anything near the rim.

Aldridge shot those midrange jumpers cuz he had nothing else in his offensive arsenal barring an occasional 3 or a seldom post up in the low post. He was not even half as mobile as Wemby. If you turn Wemby into an Aldridge, you’re negating his physical tools and basically rendering his potential as a hybrid forward useless. Wemby is a freak of nature who has size and mobility. Heck, he was bringing up the ball on a few occasions last night. You let the boy develop a multi-faceted game so he can be your go-to guy in crucial moments that can score in multiple ways. Look what happened to Giannis. He doesn’t have a jumper so if a team really clamps down on him defensively and takes the driving lane away, Giannis is largely negated as a go to guy. You don’t want to do that to Wemby when he has multiple ways of scoring on you.

Looks like a 5 inch taller KD with a better handle on briefly watching highlights. I don't see why he shouldn't try the KD approach in preference to the LMA approach.

I understand complaining about his shot selection, he is super tall, super athletic and fast, he can get a better shot any time, but just like Wemby himself said in post game, he gets bored doing same thing, so he mixes up and tries ridiculous stuff just for the sake of it. I mean he is not Dillion Brooks, he actually capable of making those shots, but man, cut of some of the stupid 3s and pull up shots, try to get near the basket, which he can do at will, and he could be efficient 25 ppg scorer soon. Right now, his shot selection can be hatable, I mean last night he hit some of those shots, but often he doesn't and it looks worse because of it. For starters, he should just never shoot 5 threes per game, thats just stupid.

[greenbeans]

I’ll continue to get flamed but there is simply no need for a 7’4 guy to dribble drive and shoot low percentage fadeaway. None.

You’d want to use his shot the same way Aldridge did, who is probably one of, if not the very best mid range shooting big men.

You also don’t want him shooting five threes a game, no matter how open he is off screens.

It’s all exciting to see a guy do stuff we've never seen from someone so tall but at the end of the day it’s fundamentals and high percentage plays that will get it done on the offensive end.

If he takes the same shots tonight all season he will shoot 40% from the field and be a waste on offense.

Defensively was the impressive part tonight.

You’re going to see him have no block games and the opposition shooting high 30’s or low 40’s and wonder what happened, only to watch the game and see he scared players off attempting anything near the rim.

Your team lucked into the best prospect in 30+ years and you're sweating the small stuff. Kick back and relax, see where he goes because trying to put him in a box of what's been done historically is only doing him a disservice.

They could tighten the leash and worry about efficiency, and be on his a**, and make him an All-Star this year, OR they could give him the keys and see how many floors there are before we find a ceiling.

[Chinook]

I’ll continue to get flamed but there is simply no need for a 7’4 guy to dribble drive and shoot low percentage fadeaway. None.

You’d want to use his shot the same way Aldridge did, who is probably one of, if not the very best mid range shooting big men.

You also don’t want him shooting five threes a game, no matter how open he is off screens.

It’s all exciting to see a guy do stuff we've never seen from someone so tall but at the end of the day it’s fundamentals and high percentage plays that will get it done on the offensive end.

If he takes the same shots tonight all season he will shoot 40% from the field and be a waste on offense.

Defensively was the impressive part tonight.

You’re going to see him have no block games and the opposition shooting high 30’s or low 40’s and wonder what happened, only to watch the game and see he scared players off attempting anything near the rim.

Aldridge shot those midrange jumpers cuz he had nothing else in his offensive arsenal barring an occasional 3 or a seldom post up in the low post. He was not even half as mobile as Wemby. If you turn Wemby into an Aldridge, you’re negating his physical tools and basically rendering his potential as a hybrid forward useless. Wemby is a freak of nature who has size and mobility. Heck, he was bringing up the ball on a few occasions last night. You let the boy develop a multi-faceted game so he can be your go-to guy in crucial moments that can score in multiple ways. Look what happened to Giannis. He doesn’t have a jumper so if a team really clamps down on him defensively and takes the driving lane away, Giannis is largely negated as a go to guy. You don’t want to do that to Wemby when he has multiple ways of scoring on you.

Aldridge was an amazing scorer in the low, mid and high post. WTF? He shot a lot of mid-range shots because that's what he wanted to do -- and that he was so obstinate about it was a flaw -- but it had nothing to do with his talent to score from other places. He basically had the perfect body for post-ups (heavy base, long arms but still relatively tall). The constant jabs at HoF candidates like Aldridge and DeRozan just shows how lucky Spurs fans are. Those are guys who are in the Mount Rushmore of their original teams. Just because the Spurs have had players with more accomplishments doesn't mean those guys weren't still very good or great. Yes, I hope Wemby is better than Aldridge. But if he were even 80 percent of LMA on that end while living up to his defensive potential, he'd be a HoFer and obvious franchise player. The potential to be something more is there, but it's still a high mark to reach.

I actually sympathize with Phreak when it comes to shot selection. Just as LMA and DMDR showed, a player shouldn't fall too in love with the midrange. That's why stars need to show their ceiling, but the foundation is on high-percentage shots. That includes many of the plays that Wemby did score on last night. He should take open threes when his body is set. Right now, he's not waiting for that second part to happen. It will come in time. But I'm totally okay with him getting the strong majority of his buckets on open threes and at the rim. When it comes time for the Spurs to contend, though, he'll be well served to have that mid range in him. Even Tim had dribble pull-up game in his bag for big moments.

It's very possible that Wemby will shoot poorly from mid-range for a while once real defense get a crack at him. He needs to balance that out by getting easy buckets. Being able to hit from the mid-range will help him score from other places, as teams have to account for him at every level. He's going to score no matter what they do, so I don't think they're going to consider giving him the mid-range area a viable long-term strategy when he's still dunking and knocking down threes despite their defense.

[G R E Y]

Read on Twitter

We need to stop thinking of comparing Wemby, a phenom unlike we've seen before with but two pre-season games into his NBA career and already showing things we've not seen done before, to players who worked to establish their games in eras with styles of play the league has trended away from.

Pop said the purpose of pre-season (with respect to Wemby) is to give Wemby a lot of leeway to see how he plays, how we can best accommodate his game and ours. That he'll likely play the 4 and some 5 depending on situations and opportunities, but he's also brought up the ball and initiated the O (like when he passed the ball to PG Tre Jones coming off the right side and rolled to finish the alley oop with a dunk):

Read on Twitter

What's an inefficient shot for another player is not the case for Wemby because he can do what other players can't:

Read on Twitter

And that's just one example. Beating defenders off the dribble, creating space, and shooting over them is fine with a 5 at the rim for clean up if necessary. He showed an ability to score in just about every way. And the attention he gets creates open shots for others. He's creating his own uncharted path and he's been green lit to do so. He'll refine it and get better along the way. This is unparalleled territory and Spurs and Wemby and basketball fans are here for it.

[levon]

If I'm gonna be honest, the step back jumper stuff seems more like something for highlight tapes, and I don't entirely disagree with Phreak mainly because I'm not sure I want this guy's body to be doing changing-direction stuff like a guard for 15 years. We bring up Durant, but Durant's been injured every year from his age 30-35 season now.

The truly transformational stuff will be the defense and rebounding. He's rebounding regularly without jumping and with minimal effort, or tipping to a teammate. He's already warped the floor on day one. He's going to get 3 DPOY's in a row.

Also, I disagree with the "Giannis with a jumper" comp. Giannis is a bulldozer. Wemby's center of gravity is set higher than most players' heads. I'd be surprised if he ever becomes a "go through you" player, and he obviously doesn't need to be one because he can go over.

[WillyJakkz]

Aldridge shot those midrange jumpers cuz he had nothing else in his offensive arsenal barring an occasional 3 or a seldom post up in the low post. He was not even half as mobile as Wemby. If you turn Wemby into an Aldridge, you’re negating his physical tools and basically rendering his potential as a hybrid forward useless. Wemby is a freak of nature who has size and mobility. Heck, he was bringing up the ball on a few occasions last night. You let the boy develop a multi-faceted game so he can be your go-to guy in crucial moments that can score in multiple ways. Look what happened to Giannis. He doesn’t have a jumper so if a team really clamps down on him defensively and takes the driving lane away, Giannis is largely negated as a go to guy. You don’t want to do that to Wemby when he has multiple ways of scoring on you.

Looks like a 5 inch taller KD with a better handle on briefly watching highlights. I don't see why he shouldn't try the KD approach in preference to the LMA approach.

I understand complaining about his shot selection, he is super tall, super athletic and fast, he can get a better shot any time, but just like Wemby himself said in post game, he gets bored doing same thing, so he mixes up and tries ridiculous stuff just for the sake of it. I mean he is not Dillion Brooks, he actually capable of making those shots, but man, cut of some of the stupid 3s and pull up shots, try to get near the basket, which he can do at will, and he could be efficient 25 ppg scorer soon. Right now, his shot selection can be hatable, I mean last night he hit some of those shots, but often he doesn't and it looks worse because of it. For starters, he should just never shoot 5 threes per game, thats just stupid.

And I cram to understand how you all are replying to a guy who says a young Wemby (who has the skills of a PG thru PF) should play more like a LaMarcus Aldridge who had the game of a PF C.

Once Wemby puts on more mass and then gets near the end of his career then he can transition to that style similar to '21- present LeBron.

Until then swipe left on those ridiculous "look at me I'm here" attention seeking posts.

[Homer38]

Read on Twitter

[Homer38]

For his shot selection...I am sure that he will become better with that with the time

[JeffReal]

I’ll continue to get flamed but there is simply no need for a 7’4 guy to dribble drive and shoot low percentage fadeaway. None.

According to the shot chart on Yahoo, against Miami Wemby took 3 shots from the area along the free throw line. He hit all three.

Perhaps a person should wait to call a shot low percentage when he actually misses one.

You also don’t want him shooting five threes a game, no matter how open he is off screens.

Yes, you do, for team reasons. Wemby isn’t out there by himself. It’s beneficial to the team when Wemby is known as a threat from 3pt range.

Wemby is a good passer. If Wemby can draw a defender out to the arc, it opens up the middle more for him to pass to a cutter, for one thing.

Specifically, looking at a particular play, people have probably seen the lob from Sochan to Wemby. It’s a highlight play.

That play began at the arc. Wemby had a defender close to him, right up against him. Wemby passed over to Sochan, raised his hand to call for the lob, and ran by the defender to the basket.

That play worked because a defender came out to pressure Wemby at the arc, so that Wemby could get by him on a run to the basket. If the defender had kept his distance, dropping back to the middle, it would likely have taken away that lob.

Wemby should definitely keep shooting 3s as long as he can maintain a respectable percentage. Four or five attempts a game, or six, should be fine, on average. It isn’t just the points he could score, himself, by shooting 3s, it creates other opportunities for him and the team.

(Edit - beg pardon, on the lob the other player was Jones.)

[1993Playoffs]

Ok I’m officially intrigued

[damanick10]

If I'm gonna be honest, the step back jumper stuff seems more like something for highlight tapes, and I don't entirely disagree with Phreak mainly because I'm not sure I want this guy's body to be doing changing-direction stuff like a guard for 15 years. We bring up Durant, but Durant's been injured every year from his age 30-35 season now.

The truly transformational stuff will be the defense and rebounding. He's rebounding regularly without jumping and with minimal effort, or tipping to a teammate. He's already warped the floor on day one. He's going to get 3 DPOY's in a row.

Also, I disagree with the "Giannis with a jumper" comp. Giannis is a bulldozer. Wemby's center of gravity is set higher than most players' heads. I'd be surprised if he ever becomes a "go through you" player, and he obviously doesn't need to be one because he can go over.

Those rebound tips are huge. He doesn't always have to grab it he can easily just tip it off to one of his guys without even jumping lol...

[Lakers In 5]

How about we let the kid figure out in what areas of the NBA game he excels at and what makes him comfortable, as well as see what areas of his game need work or just straight up need to be thrown away, before we conclude how he should or should not play. He is tall, like Aldridge, therefore he should play like Aldridge. What if the turn around turns out to be his most efficient shot?

Let him play, let him cook and above all and most importantly, let him make all the mistakes he can make. You learn the most by doing, so let him do it. If Wembanyama does certain things that have been proven to not work three years into his NBA career, then you can start thinking about writing an epistle of what he shouldn't do.

[Lakers In 5]

That being said, I have listened to several interviews with Wembanyama and the thing that impresses me the most of his qualities so far is how intelligent, eloquent and mature he is for a 19 year old. He knows very well where he wants to go, and he (thinks he) knows how to get there. Whether he is correct is something we'll see in the future, but I'll take his opinion - and thereby his play style - before an anon on an internet message board if you don't mind.

[GameChannel]

I’ll continue to get flamed but there is simply no need for a 7’4 guy to dribble drive and shoot low percentage fadeaway. None.

You’d want to use his shot the same way Aldridge did, who is probably one of, if not the very best mid range shooting big men.

You also don’t want him shooting five threes a game, no matter how open he is off screens.

It’s all exciting to see a guy do stuff we've never seen from someone so tall but at the end of the day it’s fundamentals and high percentage plays that will get it done on the offensive end.

If he takes the same shots tonight all season he will shoot 40% from the field and be a waste on offense.

Defensively was the impressive part tonight.

You’re going to see him have no block games and the opposition shooting high 30’s or low 40’s and wonder what happened, only to watch the game and see he scared players off attempting anything near the rim.

Aldridge shot those midrange jumpers cuz he had nothing else in his offensive arsenal barring an occasional 3 or a seldom post up in the low post. He was not even half as mobile as Wemby. If you turn Wemby into an Aldridge, you’re negating his physical tools and basically rendering his potential as a hybrid forward useless. Wemby is a freak of nature who has size and mobility. Heck, he was bringing up the ball on a few occasions last night. You let the boy develop a multi-faceted game so he can be your go-to guy in crucial moments that can score in multiple ways. Look what happened to Giannis. He doesn’t have a jumper so if a team really clamps down on him defensively and takes the driving lane away, Giannis is largely negated as a go to guy. You don’t want to do that to Wemby when he has multiple ways of scoring on you.

Aldridge was an amazing scorer in the low, mid and high post. WTF? He shot a lot of mid-range shots because that's what he wanted to do -- and that he was so obstinate about it was a flaw -- but it had nothing to do with his talent to score from other places. He basically had the perfect body for post-ups (heavy base, long arms but still relatively tall). The constant jabs at HoF candidates like Aldridge and DeRozan just shows how lucky Spurs fans are. Those are guys who are in the Mount Rushmore of their original teams. Just because the Spurs have had players with more accomplishments doesn't mean those guys weren't still very good or great. Yes, I hope Wemby is better than Aldridge. But if he were even 80 percent of LMA on that end while living up to his defensive potential, he'd be a HoFer and obvious franchise player. The potential to be something more is there, but it's still a high mark to reach.

I actually sympathize with Phreak when it comes to shot selection. Just as LMA and DMDR showed, a player shouldn't fall too in love with the midrange. That's why stars need to show their ceiling, but the foundation is on high-percentage shots. That includes many of the plays that Wemby did score on last night. He should take open threes when his body is set. Right now, he's not waiting for that second part to happen. It will come in time. But I'm totally okay with him getting the strong majority of his buckets on open threes and at the rim. When it comes time for the Spurs to contend, though, he'll be well served to have that mid range in him. Even Tim had dribble pull-up game in his bag for big moments.

It's very possible that Wemby will shoot poorly from mid-range for a while once real defense get a crack at him. He needs to balance that out by getting easy buckets. Being able to hit from the mid-range will help him score from other places, as teams have to account for him at every level. He's going to score no matter what they do, so I don't think they're going to consider giving him the mid-range area a viable long-term strategy when he's still dunking and knocking down threes despite their defense.

No one dissed Aldridge's accomplishments. My response was to a guy who wanted Wemby to ignore his physical tools and skillsets to play more like Aldridge who was nearly not as talented and Mukti skilled as Wemby.

As for Aldridge being an amazing low post scorer, I have seen enough Spurs game to challenge that assertion. Dude mostly just wanted to shoot midrange Js. Even when he'd post up, barring an occasional post move or hook shot, he'd mostly shoot turn around J or face up and shoot that J. Let's not pretend Aldridge was a dog and lived in the low post who would eat defenders babies cuz he was not. Yes, in his first couple of years for the Spura he played closer to the basket more than he did in his latter years but he was primarily content with shooting that midrange J.

Wemby is a totally different player. You can't have him play the same way Aldridge did.

[DwayneSchintzus]

It takes a special ego to see all this going on, for all of two games, and think, “I know what to do with him better than Gregg Popovich”

It takes complete DELUSION to think “he should play more like LaMarcus Aldridge”

Wemby will be 20x the player Aldridge was.

Imagine looking at a Ferrari- no, a flipping UFO - and thinking, “we should swap in a Volkswagen transmission.”

[WillyJakkz]

It takes a special ego to see all this going on, for all of two games, and think, “I know what to do with him better than Gregg Popovich”

It takes complete DELUSION to think “he should play more like LaMarcus Aldridge”

Wemby will be 20x the player Aldridge was.

Imagine looking at a Ferrari- no, a flipping UFO - and thinking, “we should swap in a Volkswagen transmission.”

Exactly!

The only thing Wemby needs to add to his game (and I'm not sure the Spurs have that) is an enforcer to protect him from the inevitable elbow or "I'll teach you a lesson welcome to the NBA dirty play" from a Dillon Brooks Morris Twin Draymond Green etc type of jackass that's getting cooked and can't mentally handle the embarrassment.

[MrBigShot]

Best thing for Victor this season offensively is to give him the reigns to do whatever he wants. Should/shouldn't he be taking long 2s off the dribble is a question for down the line.

[DoctorX]

It takes a special ego to see all this going on, for all of two games, and think, “I know what to do with him better than Gregg Popovich”

It takes complete DELUSION to think “he should play more like LaMarcus Aldridge”

Wemby will be 20x the player Aldridge was.

Imagine looking at a Ferrari- no, a flipping UFO - and thinking, “we should swap in a Volkswagen transmission.”

Exactly!

The only thing Wemby needs to add to his game (and I'm not sure the Spurs have that) is an enforcer to protect him from the inevitable elbow or "I'll teach you a lesson welcome to the NBA dirty play" from a Dillon Brooks Morris Twin Draymond Green etc type of jackass that's getting cooked and can't mentally handle the embarrassment.

Spurs got Zach Collins and Sochan for the enforcer role.

[DCasey91]

If I'm gonna be honest, the step back jumper stuff seems more like something for highlight tapes, and I don't entirely disagree with Phreak mainly because I'm not sure I want this guy's body to be doing changing-direction stuff like a guard for 15 years. We bring up Durant, but Durant's been injured every year from his age 30-35 season now.

The truly transformational stuff will be the defense and rebounding. He's rebounding regularly without jumping and with minimal effort, or tipping to a teammate. He's already warped the floor on day one. He's going to get 3 DPOY's in a row.

Also, I disagree with the "Giannis with a jumper" comp. Giannis is a bulldozer. Wemby's center of gravity is set higher than most players' heads. I'd be surprised if he ever becomes a "go through you" player, and he obviously doesn't need to be one because he can go over.

It’s the modern 7ft or 7ft plus skill set from Dirk to Durant and now Wembanyama.

Don’t care for flash because Dirk had better offensive effect by virtue of keeping it simple.

At the end of the day a 7 footer is going to get their shot whenever they want, it’s what they do beforehand is ultra important imo.