Wembanyama. I'm concerned

[dolphinatik]

If you are supposed to be the second coming you should be able to get anything you want. Living up to unreal expectations Shaq did it Lebron did it. I dont see Wemby doing it. He may have a great career and it might take a while before he can get to a all star level. The problem are us fans. Imagine if we did this to Giannis he would have never developed. It may take a few years to get him right.

[Johnny Bball]

He doesn't seem to have the personal characteristics to be great. By that I mean, he doesn't seem even slightly "crazy". Not sure how you can be great without being a bit off and having that hole that must be filled. By that I mean Jordan, James, Kobe, Kareem, Bird... that overwhelming drive/need to prove it.

[KodiakBear]

Once he realizes he can be aggressive and get whatever shot he wants close to the rim and quits hovering around the 3 point line taking bad shots he'll be much better

[hickfromfrenchlick]

Can I have less than zero concern? Because that's where I am.

[Domejandro]

The bigger concern is that I don't understand why Gregg Popovich is negatively impacting Victor Wembanyama's on-the-court performance by continually trotting out the disastrous Jeremy Sochan Point-Guard minutes. I get wanting to develop Sochan and all, but his minutes at Point-Guard are horrifically undercutting the team's ability to function (which is wild, when you are trying to develop a generational talent).

[_jin]

If you are supposed to be the second coming you should be able to get anything you want. Living up to unreal expectations Shaq did it Lebron did it. I dont see Wemby doing it. He may have a great career and it might take a while before he can get to a all star level. The problem are us fans. Imagine if we did this to Giannis he would have never developed. It may take a few years to get him right.

Shaq was dominant from the start but he didnt improve as much later in his career. You seem to have forgotten how Lebron struggled early on, there was less noise because of no social media but there are a lot of similarities between Wemby and Lebron after their first dozen career games.

[JLM]

A real PG and time and he’ll easily be a mid-20’s scorer combined with DPOY candidate every year.

It’s other teams should be concerned.

He is close to being that at 19(!!)

[TimDunkin]

Yeah it was 2 feet closer and that's why college players struggled to hit 3s as rookies. They were adapted to a shorter distance.

I'm pretty sure it didn't move to 20' 9" in NCAA until after Durant. He was shooting threes in college from 19' 9". Seems odd to say we knew he could be a great three point shooter because he hit 40% from that range but we know Wemby won't be because he hit 27.5% from 22'. Not really an apples to apples comparison.

The percentage for NBA guys isn't that different from 20 feet compared to 23 feet. There is a range adjustment that's necessary but in general, you're going to hit a 20 footer at about the same percentage you'll hit a 23 footer (unless you're Demar DeRozan):


Now, FT % prior to the NBA (for NCAA guys) tends to be a better predictor of NBA 3pt shooting vs 3pt %, however, the combination of FT% and 3PT% as percentiles has shown to be an even better predictor. Durant was elite at both in college.


At the end of the day, the point is that coming from college to the NBA requires an adjustment in range which requires re-training muscle memory a bit while coming from Europe doesn't. KD had shown he could hit at 40% from 20 feet+ in college. Victor was in the .200s in Europe and wasn't particularly better a few feet in either. Doesn't mean Victor can't become a KD level 3pt threat, but the comp to KD just doesn't really work.

Fair enough. It seems like about half of the problem right now is shot selection, but I would throw a party if Chip Engelland came back.

[ForeverTFC]

Fair enough. It seems like about half of the problem right now is shot selection, but I would throw a party if Chip Engelland came back.

100%. His shot selection is awful. I’m pretty confident he’ll get to .350+ behind the line with more shot discipline and lower attempts. Overall, I think Victor will become very efficient as a scorer. He can shoot over anyone he wants and he’s a problem in the paint. Add that to his generational defensive potential and you get all time great potential.

All these posters saying he “doesn’t have it” are just comping him to the wrong players and then act like they’ve been validated when he’s not those players.

[DoctorX]

He doesn't seem to have the personal characteristics to be great. By that I mean, he doesn't seem even slightly "crazy". Not sure how you can be great without being a bit off and having that hole that must be filled. By that I mean Jordan, James, Kobe, Kareem, Bird... that overwhelming drive/need to prove it.

Duncan wasn't crazy and he was great.

[shotsquatch]

Given how fluid his form is, I find it impossible to believe Wemby won't end up shooting better from three than Giannis.

[Bornstellar]

He doesn't seem to have the personal characteristics to be great. By that I mean, he doesn't seem even slightly "crazy". Not sure how you can be great without being a bit off and having that hole that must be filled. By that I mean Jordan, James, Kobe, Kareem, Bird... that overwhelming drive/need to prove it.

Huh? There have been numerous 4th quarters where he has taken over and put his team in a position to win. He definitely has the fire to be great. Not sure what you're watching. Kobes first 11 games look much worse in comparison to Wemby. Would you say Kobe wasn't "crazy" just because he didn't average 25/6/5 in his first 11 games as a teenager? Hell, look at the first 11 games of his second year if you want, still bad. Give me a break with this nonsense.

Judging a teenager after 11 games is ridiculous

[Rafael122]

He's 74'' trying to play like a shooting guard. That's the problem.

[JShuttlesworth]

I don't think Wemby came advertised as an efficient 3-point shooter, I don't know where you got that from. It's not like he was shooting the lights out last year. I can't remember off the top of my head what his shooting percentages were last year, but I don't think they were very good (sub 30% for sure) -- Probably very comparable to his current NBA 3P%.

In terms of his dribbling, and getting his pocket picked, what do you expect from a 7'4 player? That's what's going to happen in this league, he's so big, the ball has a long way to travel, and there are a lot of talented defenders. His turnovers should come down as he gains experience.

[JayMKE]

Not only is the kid a rookie but he’s 19 and still underdeveloped physically, the only people that are disappointed didn’t have realistic expectations to begin with. A taller more athletic Porzingis with elite D is literally one of the best players in the league if they can stay healthy, the issue were the jokers trying to outdo each other with hyperbolic projections and comparisons. Yeah he’s not Kareem + Bill Russell + Giannis + Dirk rolled into one on day 1 but I think he’s going to be pretty good.

[Johnny Bball]

He doesn't seem to have the personal characteristics to be great. By that I mean, he doesn't seem even slightly "crazy". Not sure how you can be great without being a bit off and having that hole that must be filled. By that I mean Jordan, James, Kobe, Kareem, Bird... that overwhelming drive/need to prove it.

Huh? There have been numerous 4th quarters where he has taken over and put his team in a position to win. He definitely has the fire to be great. Not sure what you're watching. Kobes first 11 games look much worse in comparison to Wemby. Would you say Kobe wasn't "crazy" just because he didn't average 25/6/5 in his first 11 games as a teenager? Hell, look at the first 11 games of his second year if you want, still bad. Give me a break with this nonsense.

Judging a teenager after 11 games is ridiculous

You didn't even read what I wrote, do you think I said he's not going to be a very good player? Does he though, because he's nothing like any of them in that regard?

[Johnny Bball]

He doesn't seem to have the personal characteristics to be great. By that I mean, he doesn't seem even slightly "crazy". Not sure how you can be great without being a bit off and having that hole that must be filled. By that I mean Jordan, James, Kobe, Kareem, Bird... that overwhelming drive/need to prove it.

Duncan wasn't crazy and he was great.

I think that's more of an apt comparison. And yes, just not great-est.

[Bornstellar]

He doesn't seem to have the personal characteristics to be great. By that I mean, he doesn't seem even slightly "crazy". Not sure how you can be great without being a bit off and having that hole that must be filled. By that I mean Jordan, James, Kobe, Kareem, Bird... that overwhelming drive/need to prove it.

Huh? There have been numerous 4th quarters where he has taken over and put his team in a position to win. He definitely has the fire to be great. Not sure what you're watching. Kobes first 11 games look much worse in comparison to Wemby. Would you say Kobe wasn't "crazy" just because he didn't average 25/6/5 in his first 11 games as a teenager? Hell, look at the first 11 games of his second year if you want, still bad. Give me a break with this nonsense.

Judging a teenager after 11 games is ridiculous

You didn't even read what I wrote, do you think I said he's not going to be a very good player? Does he though, because he's nothing like any of them in that regard?

Yeah I did, did you read what I wrote? When did I say you said he was not going to be a good player? You called him out for not being "crazy" or whatever and then I pointed out one of the dudes you named that was "crazy" had worse stats than Wemby in his first 11 games in both his first and second season. If you dont think he's like the players you named in that regard then why did you bring them up? What are you even talking about then

[bkohler]

Agreed. Wemby obviously has all the talent and physical tools but I just don t see superstar. Part of his initilal appeal was that he is Kevin Durant but 7 4 insted of 6 10. But Wemby can t shoot which severely limits his upside. Now you might say Giannis can t shoot and he is dominating the league. But Giannis is 6 11 and part of the reason he is so dominant is because he bulked up. Wemby can t bulk up, he is too tall and added weight will significantly increase his risk of injury.

He's literally shooting better than Durant did as a rookie. That didn't seem to limit KD's upside.

I don t see much sense in comparing Wemby's stats to Durant's rookie season in 07/08 when the pace was much slower and the 3 point shot was much less of a factor that it is today

Comparing his counting stats sure… percentages won’t be impacted by pace except to perhaps be lowering Wembys numbers today.

[levon]

He's an ambidextrous sky hook away from 50,000 career points

honestly even just a floater. he doesn't need to hook it at that release point