The nearer, the higher for Victor Wembanyama

In my current publish following Monday’s recreation, I discovered myself notably intrigued by the utilization of Victor Wembanyama on the court docket. The sport on Wednesday evening started in an analogous manner, with Victor initially solely netting 3 factors from the charity stripe in the course of the first quarter.

Coincidentally, the Spurs struggled, solely managing to place up 14 factors and discovering themselves 12 factors behind on the shut of the primary quarter. Victor’s first area aim try didn’t come till the beginning of the second quarter, making an attempt a tricky baseline midrange jumper that missed. Regardless of this gradual begin, Wemby ended up with 57 touches all through the sport, a major enhance from Monday evening’s recreation. Extra importantly, 11 of his touches occurred within the paint the place the rookie excels. Victor’s dominance really shines near the rim, resulting in moments like this electrifying dunk:

Receiving the ball within the paint performs instantly into Wembanyama’s strengths, leveraging his distinctive mixture of dimension and ability. This positioning encourages a extra aggressive type of play from the rookie, steering away from settling for three-pointers. Throughout Wednesday evening’s recreation, Victor tied his season low with solely two area aim makes an attempt from past the arc. Whereas he’s undoubtedly able to hitting these long-range pictures, his impression on the court docket is most impactful when he’s in shut proximity to the rim. It’ll be intriguing to see if San Antonio retains using the rookie on this manner shifting ahead.

We’ve witnessed quite a few firsts on the court docket this yr, all because of Wemby’s distinctive dimension and abilities. However final evening was really distinctive—I’ve by no means witnessed a coach seize the mic to handle the gang earlier than. Unsurprisingly, the viewers’s response was lower than enthusiastic, with extra boos directed at Kawhi Leonard. Might it’s as a result of they felt shortchanged by Kawhi, as steered by Ryen Russillo?

Now, let’s delve into the most recent replace on the Wemby-LeBron comparability after 15 video games. The Frenchman continues to impress, main the charts in all main classes besides assists. What’s notably exceptional is his superior area aim share, favoring Victor.

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