OT: Thoughts on Wembanyama?

[Psubs]

The problem is, he's still growing.

That would likely be a problem for himself.

[Harcore Fenton Mun]

If he's 7'6" now...this is peak.

[Tor_Raps]

Will always haunt me that Masai decided to trade for Poeltl and go for the play-in over tanking for this dude. It doesnt mean we would have gotten him but more so of the logic at the time

How many teams that tanked for Cooper missed out?

How many players tanked for Wemby and misses out?

It's still a small shot in the dark no matter what he did.

Like I said, it doesnt mean we would have gotten him but the alternative of getting beat in the play-in by Demar's daughter was just depressing.

We've had a rough stretch lol. Luckily, things are finally looking up for us again.

[ciueli]

Impressive game but...

That first dunk at 30s in is 100% a travel. He clearly takes 4 steps and dribbles the ball once, completely impossible to do without it being a travel.

[tsherkin]

I feel like his footwork in the post has improved tremendously, but when he tries to dribble through traffic in the lane he can be turnover prone. My favorite stat from that Dallas game was the zero turnovers.

He had some pretty blatant travels in the season opener. They were pretty rough. But he's also 22 years old and he's starting to do things which are newer territory for him. He clearly works on it. And like, it isn't any different than Giannis, you know? Or every Georgetown Shuffle-perpetrating center from the 90s. So it isn't something I want to crack on him too hard about because it's a pervasive issue in the league at the moment, plus he's so awesome overall.

I feel like he just takes very very long strides as opposed to to 3-4 steps but I’m sure there are plenty of examples of him forcing that extra step.

Yeah, it's really blatant stuff, not just long strides. The ground he covers is insane, but if you count steps after he picks up the ball, it's bad. Regardless, his skill is evident, so I don't want to focus on this too much. The handle he has, the jumper, the focus he's starting to show in terms of getting to the mid-post... if he keeps focusing on his Dirk spots, the league is going to have a very hard time stopping him even without the traveling.

[YogurtProducer]

I feel like he just takes very very long strides as opposed to to 3-4 steps but I’m sure there are plenty of examples of him forcing that extra step.

Yeah, it's really blatant stuff, not just long strides. The ground he covers is insane, but if you count steps after he picks up the ball, it's bad. Regardless, his skill is evident, so I don't want to focus on this too much. The handle he has, the jumper, the focus he's starting to show in terms of getting to the mid-post... if he keeps focusing on his Dirk spots, the league is going to have a very hard time stopping him even without the traveling.

Ehhh a lot of it is just not fully understanding the gather and when the "2 steps" start.

Your 2 steps dont start until the "gather". So if his left foot is planted as the "gather" occurs, he still gets 2 more steps. NBA guys are just really good at timing this to maximize it.

[tsherkin]

Ehhh a lot of it is just not fully understanding the gather and when the "2 steps" start.

Your 2 steps dont start until the "gather". So if his left foot is planted as the "gather" occurs, he still gets 2 more steps. NBA guys are just really good at timing this to maximize it.

That is true, but he had some egregious travels in that game regardless. And he drags his feet in the post a lot. Again, a lot of that is common, but no, he definitely traveled a whole bunch that game. "Ball in hand and very much after the gather, three steps after" kind of deal.

[niQ]

If he can stay healthy throughout his career, it's his league now. He's the human cheat code.

[tsherkin]

If he can stay healthy throughout his career, it's his league now. He's the human cheat code.

He's a wild talent. We'll see what kind of consistency he can bring with that jumper, and how his approach goes. If he's healthy, we're going to enjoy watching him for a long time.

[SpiderMunn]

AWE

[nivisi9]

Will always haunt me that Masai decided to trade for Poeltl and go for the play-in over tanking for this dude. It doesnt mean we would have gotten him but more so of the logic at the time

How many teams that tanked for Cooper missed out?

How many players tanked for Wemby and misses out?

It's still a small shot in the dark no matter what he did.

Like I said, it doesnt mean we would have gotten him but the alternative of getting beat in the play-in by Demar's daughter was just depressing.

We've had a rough stretch lol. Luckily, things are finally looking up for us again.

what makes it worse is at the time of the trade we were neck and neck with the Spurs for 5th worse odds, which was the slot that won the lottery of coarse.

In an alternate reality we decide to trade Siakam or FVV or both (instead of acquire Poeltl) and may have won it.

[tsherkin]

Many people confuse this for travelling but it isn’t

Watch on YouTube

That's definitely not what I was talking about at all, no.

I would argue that his footwork is exceptional and he's simply exploiting the way NBA refs currently call the game. Yeah, Wemby travels, but so does the entire league.

Nah, he drags his feet all the time instead of being able to plant and he travels a lot on drives. His footwork is okay. I was definitely being hyperbolic using the word "atrocious," but it isn't clean or high-end at all. "Exceptional" is equally hyperbolic. And like I said, I acknowledge well enough that he's far from the only one doing it.

[YogurtProducer]

Ehhh a lot of it is just not fully understanding the gather and when the "2 steps" start.

Your 2 steps dont start until the "gather". So if his left foot is planted as the "gather" occurs, he still gets 2 more steps. NBA guys are just really good at timing this to maximize it.

That is true, but he had some egregious travels in that game regardless. And he drags his feet in the post a lot. Again, a lot of that is common, but no, he definitely traveled a whole bunch that game. "Ball in hand and very much after the gather, three steps after" kind of deal.

Do you have a link to any of those? From what I have seen (which admittedly, was highlights and not the game) definitely looks like gather, step, step.

[MainEvent]

remember the block party he had vs us last year? he was embarrassing people

[WiggOuts]

How many teams that tanked for Cooper missed out?

How many players tanked for Wemby and misses out?

It's still a small shot in the dark no matter what he did.

Like I said, it doesnt mean we would have gotten him but the alternative of getting beat in the play-in by Demar's daughter was just depressing.

We've had a rough stretch lol. Luckily, things are finally looking up for us again.

what makes it worse is at the time of the trade we were neck and neck with the Spurs for 5th worse odds, which was the slot that won the lottery of coarse.

In an alternate reality we decide to trade Siakam or FVV or both (instead of acquire Poeltl) and may have won it.

I think if there was ever a reason to discourage tanking for us it would be knowing that the Raptors will never land any of these huge names in the draft. The only way we win the lottery is if its a Bargs type draft. I dont even feel confident that if the next big star was a Canadian that we would get him

[Clutch0z24]

The Raptors should of at least tried to be in the sweepstakes for him the year that the writting was on the wall for the Siakam lead Raptors....Just imagine we pivoted in the 2022-2023 Season when we were already on our way to being losers....Even if we didn't land the prize in Wemby at least you give yourself a chance at it and from there on who knows what could have happend if the ping pong balls fall our way we have a potential dynasty in the making with Barnes-Wemby duo...Also Amen Thompson or Brandon Miller would not have been a bad consolation prize if we tanked good that season and got into the top 4.

Also got to think at that time the value Siakam/OG/FVV could of had if we actually tried to deal them instead of waiting their walk years to trade them/Let walk in free agency...We could of got alot more for Siakam thats for sure...

So many people at that time on the Raptors board were saying there is no point going for Wemby and it was a good move by Masai to get Jakob because Wemby will be either a Bust or Injured through his career.....Which imo won't be the case at all and he will prolly go down as an all timer when its all said and done...

I know i was one of the Wemby supporters and advid "Lets tank" for Wemby guys on the board and now you are seeing what he can do while the Spurs tanked and moved on from the DeRozan Play in team they now hit on a few picks with Wemby/Castle/Harper you can say luck was on their side but you have to try to get lucky and they did and succeeded.

[tsherkin]

Do you have a link to any of those? From what I have seen (which admittedly, was highlights and not the game) definitely looks like gather, step, step.

Nope, don't have any video clips at the moment. I'll watch in the future to see if I can snag some if I remember.

[Tripod]

My thoughts have not changed....

....he is great with health being his biggest issue. And glad he is in the West for OKC, Houston, and those tanking teams to have to deal with him, like Utah. Good luck.

[YogurtProducer]

The Raptors should of at least tried to be in the sweepstakes for him the year that the writting was on the wall for the Siakam lead Raptors....Just imagine we pivoted in the 2022-2023 Season when we were already on our way to being losers....Even if we didn't land the prize in Wemby at least you give yourself a chance at it and from there on who knows what could have happend if the ping pong balls fall our way we have a potential dynasty in the making with Barnes-Wemby duo...Also Amen Thompson or Brandon Miller would not have been a bad consolation prize if we tanked good that season and got into the top 4.

There was a greater chance we end up picking someone in the 6-10 range than the 1-5 range. No offence, but I don't think a consolation prize of Anthony Black, Jarace Walker, Bilal, Hendricks, or Cason Wallace is all that interesting to me.

Also got to think at that time the value Siakam/OG/FVV could of had if we actually tried to deal them instead of waiting their walk years to trade them/Let walk in free agency...We could of got alot more for Siakam thats for sure...

IDK how much more Siakam you think we were gonna get above and beyond what we ended up with. Jakobe/Ochai/Ingram/Shead (I think there is another pick or two I am forgetting) is probaby as good as it ever was going to get.

So many people at that time on the Raptors board were saying there is no point going for Wemby and it was a good move by Masai to get Jakob because Wemby will be either a Bust or Injured through his career.....Which imo won't be the case at all and he will prolly go down as an all timer when its all said and done...

Lol I really don't think anyone said there is no point going for Wemby cause he WILL be a bust. It was a way more nuanced discussion that said there is at best a 14% chance of getting a the #1 pick, and the x% of Wemby actually hitting his ceiling.

I know i was one of the Wemby supporters and advid "Lets tank" for Wemby guys on the board and now you are seeing what he can do while the Spurs tanked and moved on from the DeRozan Play in team they now hit on a few picks with Wemby/Castle/Harper you can say luck was on their side but you have to try to get lucky and they did and succeeded.

Yeah, SA got more lucky than anyone else I can think of in recent memory, maybe dating back to BOS with the BKN picks.

But it is a BIT to early to call Castle + Harper hits. Lets give them a bit of time before we jump the gun.

[TheRaptor!]

Only guy currently in the league who has a chance to be in that MJ/Lebron GOAT debate.

The double clutch reverse dunk, and the hezi cross behind the back stepback for the and 1 three... In the same game... Unreal stuff, no one who has ever picked up a basketball has been able to do those two things in that way. The size and skill is inhuman.

Inhuman is also the word i thought of

He was dunking in situations and spots noone has ever been able to. Like AD legit was caught off guard on multiple plays like WTF how?