Victor Wembanyama Is In Trouble But So Is The NBA
123,039
Published 2024-03-05
Just 25 games in, Wembayama went from 22% from 3 to 36% in his last 22. He just had a triple double with blocks, but even as he’s getting better, his usage isn’t hasn’t went up.
In the 11 Spurs wins, Wemby’s usage is 34.1, but in losses, only 30.1.
You might say he’s more efficient and that’s partly right, he’s taken a leap mid season like some players would in their 2nd or third season.
And just to understand how crazy this all is, in the 27 years Gregg Poppovich has been coaching the Spurs, they’ve only had 4 losing seasons, which were their past 4 seasons. And their worst record was 22 and 60, drastically worse than anything their next worst season, 34 and 48. Everyone accused the Spurs of tanking to get Wemby and it worked. Right now, the Spurs Are 11 and 44, on pace to win less than 20 games this season. And that’s with Wemby, that’s with Vassell, Keldon, Jeremy all developing under the tutelage of Pop. But that’s exactly what’s their downfall and leading to Victor’s downfall.
So, the Spurs were always known for being the best place for high draft picks to reach their ultimate potential… until now, I guess. But why is that?
Which leads us into piece #2, even Greg Poppovich, one of the greatest coaches of all time can’t fix this, which implies that other teams won’t be able to fix this.
See…
It all started when the Spurs, or Pop, put Sochan in at start point guard back in November… but that plan quickly backfired. Not only was Sochan not built to run point…
He even said straight-up… "It is the first time I have ever played point guard in my life." Pop is seeing something we aren’t because Sochan tried his hand at running this offense and bro what is this, it did NOTHING, well, maybe just one thing…And it’s not like the Spurs were winning off this, no, they had an 18 game losing streak. If the Pistons didn’t exist, we’d be talking about this Spurs team even more as a disappointment.
But look… all of this is making us forget one thing and it’s something that isn’t being talked about enough.
The Spurs can’t win without him.
The Spurs have not won a single game when Wemby doesn’t play. 0-6.
Wemby is fifth in the NBA in usage rate this season. Now, that isn’t just the highest among all rookies this season, no… that’s actually the HIGHEST for any rookie in league HISTORY! **So it’s not a matter of not passing him the ball. Rather, there’s extreme dysfunction. It almost seems like everyone is trying to do their own thing. Whether it’s players trying to get their own touches in the middle of this Wemby madness or Wemby trying to figure things out himself, the Spurs seems more disconnected than ever. Wemby does a whole lot in his 24 minute restriction that only a month ago got increased to 30.
And it’s not leading to wins. Wembanyama is having amazing performances, a triple double, a 5 x 5 game, first player to average 5 x 5 over a 2 game span. We are literally seeing history being made.
But because of that, every other player has had to take a step back for a rookie.
As Jaylen and Jayson have both said, the younger plays wanted more.
And so instead of team success, each player wanted to be the guy as much as possible. And they couldn’t take reduced roles when Kyrie and Hayward came back.
So if we look as the usage of the Spurs players last year, Keldon Johnson at the age of 24 went from 27.8% to now 22.4.
Jeremy Sochan at 20 years old went from 19.8 to 18.6, less than his rookie year. And Devin Vassell has remained relatively the same. Wembanyama’s arrival has stunted the opportunities of all the younger players the Spurs were developing. ****So regardless of speculation, that is a reality. Now how the players feel about it, that’s real speculation.
And that specific story is something we’ve seen years for years, but it’s even worse right now and that’s piece #3. Players want attention, always have, but with social media, now more than ever, need attention because it changes the trajectory of a career.
Think Ben Simmons after failing in the playoffs and deciding to sit out. Even though we had just saw that man was useless on the floor come playoff time and that. He had shown an unwillingness to address those mistakes, his value was so high that he got traded for James Harden. Certain players get more room to fail if they have enough hype.
No one wants a reduced role, especially to a younger player. To most players, it has to be earned through all the practices and their play on the court.
All Comments (21)
-
What do you wanna see next? We about to ramp it up!
-
I’m blown away that no one at the Spurs has decided to go get 20 assists a night with that guy out there.
-
Dallas had to trade everybody in the middle of Lukas first season cause dudes just wouldnt pass him the ball
-
PLOT TWIST: They want another 1st round pick lmao
-
Yo that clip of Vassel was a year before they got Wemby man it was to address comments saying that the Spurs were going to tank for Wemby
-
Bol Bol was hella hyped coming out of high school and that didn't lead to more minutes on the court. Scoot Hinderson had hype. The problem with the Spurs probably has more to do with lack of ability (passing and defense, in particular) and the growing pains that come with playing alongside an alien, than anything else.
-
Wembanyama a real life random in the Rec ☠🤣
-
It’s always Wemby vs. 9 players every Spurs game
-
I completely think that the guys on the spurs are trying to build their own careers instead of buying into the team. I don't think they dislike Wemby, but as young players who have not gotten their big contracts yet they are not willing to sacrifice their production only to end up as like......a 25 win team?
-
Pop is in full tank mode.
-
How the hell spurs players didn't know they get get wemby? They are tanking last year to get him so HOW?
-
I'm so glad somebody is highlighting the spurs woes, this is stressful for us as spurs fans because b4 we lost kawhi as a franchise we've only missed the playoffs 4x n here now we've missed them 4yrs in a row then we finally get a top caliber player n he gets used wrong for probably very dumb reasons when if the guys around him just embrace him they'd get more recognition from the winning, spurs culture is over n now we're in this transition like the patriots it wasn't popp it was the players allowing popp to be popp and that's not going to work with today's young players smh this is a really bad time for our franchise
-
Pops only letting it happen to get the number 1 pick again.
-
NBA acting like the WNBA with that hating-the-new-kids vibe.
-
Ppl who thought spurs were gonna go for it after immediately getting they’re star are used to rooting for crash out teams 😂
-
It's not the NBA it's the players on the Spurs is why this young guy isn't going anywhere.
-
Dude that video of Devin vassel was last year BEFORE we got the #1 pick. He was saying that shit last year during the middle of the season because he ain’t even know we would win the lottery
-
I don’t think they’re jealous or don’t want to pass I jus think they’re bad passers and lack awareness
-
The Spurs are trying to build a dynasty again and they're gonna need a few more drafts/trades to get there. I wouldn't be surprised if Pop rewards the players for every loss and Wemby is one of the few players who is told to put in effort so he improves while still not being good enough to where the Spurs get worse chances in the lottery
-
It would be great if you did a segment on Sabonis and how he's leading the league in most consecutive double doubles, triple doubles, and rebounds yet he gets snubbed from the Allstar game, and rarely gets mentioned on any news casts. Is it a conspiracy theory or facts!
