2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[Texas Chuck]

oh dude you are going to be so disappointed if you are counting on anything but the occasional shot block from Wood defensively. He can't defend without fouling and he lives out of position.

[Outside]

LeBron don't tolerate no fools.

[ShaqAttac]

oh dude you are going to be so disappointed if you are counting on anything but the occasional shot block from Wood defensively. He can't defend without fouling and he lives out of position.

this gonna age bad btw

[Fadeaway_J]

oh dude you are going to be so disappointed if you are counting on anything but the occasional shot block from Wood defensively. He can't defend without fouling and he lives out of position.

Whether it will continue is very much in question, but that hasn't been the case so far at all.

[Texas Chuck]

oh dude you are going to be so disappointed if you are counting on anything but the occasional shot block from Wood defensively. He can't defend without fouling and he lives out of position.

this gonna age bad btw

I honestly hope it does.

But I'm really not worried about it.

[Special_Puppy]

Median Outcome is probably the Mavs getting the 6th seed this year I imagine

[Colbinii]

I don't gamble but I saw the -9.5 line for the Phoenix/San Antonio game and thought that was horrible. Vegas really disrespecting the Spurs.

[itsxtray]

It's nights like this where you realize Wemby truly does have goat potential. What a game from the kid.

[rk2023]

Read on Twitter

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[Peregrine01]

The Bucks (dead last in DRTG so far) are yet another example of how important point-of-attack defense and coaching is to a team's defense...two things that are highly overlooked on this forum, IMO.

[OhayoKD]

Wemby is exceeding my already high expectations

[Colbinii]

Wemby is exceeding my already high expectations

The crazy thing is he is rapidly improving. He is doing so many things in this game he wasn't in the first game or two.

[The-Power]

For the first time, it's like San Antonio and Victor discovered that he's such a ridiculously tall target around the rim. Those are the easy buckets he should always get. I understand they want him to explore and that's fine. But yesterday I counted maybe 4 ill-advised shots – out of 26. That's way fewer than before and a number you can live with that combines chances of winning and Victor's personal growth by understand what he can and cannot (yet) do on the court. I also feel like he drew a couple more fouls that went uncalled.

But the most ridiculous thing is that teams are legitimately scared to penetrate the paint when he's lurking. And Victor isn't even great yet at quick decisions when it comes to help defense, so you can absolutely find cracks in the defense. But he's a deterrent like we've hardly ever seen before. In the end you'll see only two blocks and even the number of non-blocked but challenged shots wasn't all that crazy. But when you watch the game, you can just see how he's in players' heads and completely changes the geometry of the game by pushing everyone away from the rim when they dare take a step towards it like he's some kind of insect repellent.

[WestGOAT]

For the first time, it's like San Antonio and Victor discovered that he's such a ridiculously tall target around the rim. Those are the easy buckets he should always get. I understand they want him to explore and that's fine. But yesterday I counted maybe 4 ill-advised shots – out of 26. That's way fewer than before and a number you can live with that combines chances of winning and Victor's personal growth by understand what he can and cannot (yet) do on the court. I also feel like he drew a couple more fouls that went uncalled.

But the most ridiculous thing is that teams are legitimately scared to penetrate the paint when he's lurking. And Victor isn't even great yet at quick decisions when it comes to help defense, so you can absolutely find cracks in the defense. But he's a deterrent like we've hardly ever seen before. In the end you'll see only two blocks and even the number of non-blocked but challenged shots wasn't all that crazy. But when you watch the game, you can just see how he's in players' heads and completely changes the geometry of the game by pushing everyone away from the rim when they dare take a step towards it like he's some kind of insect repellent.

Those easy buckets coincided I think with him paying more minutes with Tre Jones and less with Sochan. Imagine if Spurs manage to draft or get their hands on proper playmaker.

[Colbinii]

For the first time, it's like San Antonio and Victor discovered that he's such a ridiculously tall target around the rim. Those are the easy buckets he should always get. I understand they want him to explore and that's fine. But yesterday I counted maybe 4 ill-advised shots – out of 26. That's way fewer than before and a number you can live with that combines chances of winning and Victor's personal growth by understand what he can and cannot (yet) do on the court. I also feel like he drew a couple more fouls that went uncalled.

But the most ridiculous thing is that teams are legitimately scared to penetrate the paint when he's lurking. And Victor isn't even great yet at quick decisions when it comes to help defense, so you can absolutely find cracks in the defense. But he's a deterrent like we've hardly ever seen before. In the end you'll see only two blocks and even the number of non-blocked but challenged shots wasn't all that crazy. But when you watch the game, you can just see how he's in players' heads and completely changes the geometry of the game by pushing everyone away from the rim when they dare take a step towards it like he's some kind of insect repellent.

I would safely say defensively he is like nothing we have ever seen before.

It's like making Andrei Kirilenko 6-7 inches taller and just as spry/quick.

Most of the ATG defensive anchors weren't nearly as spry/fluid, especially lateral movements and moving out onto the perimeter. Q

[eminence]

For the first time, it's like San Antonio and Victor discovered that he's such a ridiculously tall target around the rim. Those are the easy buckets he should always get. I understand they want him to explore and that's fine. But yesterday I counted maybe 4 ill-advised shots – out of 26. That's way fewer than before and a number you can live with that combines chances of winning and Victor's personal growth by understand what he can and cannot (yet) do on the court. I also feel like he drew a couple more fouls that went uncalled.

But the most ridiculous thing is that teams are legitimately scared to penetrate the paint when he's lurking. And Victor isn't even great yet at quick decisions when it comes to help defense, so you can absolutely find cracks in the defense. But he's a deterrent like we've hardly ever seen before. In the end you'll see only two blocks and even the number of non-blocked but challenged shots wasn't all that crazy. But when you watch the game, you can just see how he's in players' heads and completely changes the geometry of the game by pushing everyone away from the rim when they dare take a step towards it like he's some kind of insect repellent.

I would safely say defensively he is like nothing we have ever seen before.

It's like making Andrei Kirilenko 6-7 inches taller and just as spry/quick.

Most of the ATG defensive anchors weren't nearly as spry/fluid, especially lateral movements and moving out onto the perimeter. Q

I expect some of that is an age thing. We don't think of Russell/Hakeem/KG at 20 when we think of them, but they were all moving very spryly, not so differently than Victor (somewhat estimated on Russell, but I expect). I expect Victor will lose spring as he ages like all the rest of us.

[Colbinii]

For the first time, it's like San Antonio and Victor discovered that he's such a ridiculously tall target around the rim. Those are the easy buckets he should always get. I understand they want him to explore and that's fine. But yesterday I counted maybe 4 ill-advised shots – out of 26. That's way fewer than before and a number you can live with that combines chances of winning and Victor's personal growth by understand what he can and cannot (yet) do on the court. I also feel like he drew a couple more fouls that went uncalled.

But the most ridiculous thing is that teams are legitimately scared to penetrate the paint when he's lurking. And Victor isn't even great yet at quick decisions when it comes to help defense, so you can absolutely find cracks in the defense. But he's a deterrent like we've hardly ever seen before. In the end you'll see only two blocks and even the number of non-blocked but challenged shots wasn't all that crazy. But when you watch the game, you can just see how he's in players' heads and completely changes the geometry of the game by pushing everyone away from the rim when they dare take a step towards it like he's some kind of insect repellent.

I would safely say defensively he is like nothing we have ever seen before.

It's like making Andrei Kirilenko 6-7 inches taller and just as spry/quick.

Most of the ATG defensive anchors weren't nearly as spry/fluid, especially lateral movements and moving out onto the perimeter. Q

I expect some of that is an age thing. We don't think of Russell/Hakeem/KG at 20 when we think of them, but they were all moving very spryly, not so differently than Victor (somewhat estimated on Russell, but I expect). I expect Victor will lose spring as he ages like all the rest of us.

You're probably right about that, but he is also 3-4 inches taller than them.

[The-Power]

Those easy buckets coincided I think with him paying more minutes with Tre Jones and less with Sochan. Imagine if Spurs manage to draft or get their hands on proper playmaker.

Yeah, Sochan doesn't yet understand how to use Victor (or he doesn't want to). But I don't recall Victor being in these close-to-the-rim positions as frequently as he was during this game. I do believe there was an emphasis on him posting up deep as well as rolling a bit more this game, and his teammates were clearly instructed to look for him in those situations (with Jones being the most adept at it).

[Colbinii]

Those easy buckets coincided I think with him paying more minutes with Tre Jones and less with Sochan. Imagine if Spurs manage to draft or get their hands on proper playmaker.

Yeah, Sochan doesn't yet understand how to use Victor (or he doesn't want to). But I don't recall Victor being in these close-to-the-rim positions as frequently as he was during this game. I do believe there was an emphasis on him posting up deep as well as rolling a bit more this game, and his teammates were clearly instructed to look for him in those situations (with Jones being the most adept at it).

It's important to remember Sochan is learning the PG position on the fly.

I don't expect Sochan to be a long-term PG piece but I think it expedites on-ball growth when tasked with those responsibilities.

But yeah, his gravity is already being seen offensively. I expected him to have some gaudy on/off numbers prior to the season but he could easily approach +15-20 On/Off.

[The-Power]

Wemby is exceeding my already high expectations

The crazy thing is he is rapidly improving. He is doing so many things in this game he wasn't in the first game or two.

To me, the sign of a truly great player (and team) is that they learn from what they see and can react to it with success. And there's no better opportunity than to play the same team twice in a row to put this to the test. Well, let's just say that the last game bodes well for Victor. Of course we'll have to see more of the same before we can reach any conclusion but it's good to see that Victor had more success adjusting to the Suns than the Suns had adjusting to him.