The Spurs don’t always need a great Victor Wembanyama to win: San Antonio returned to victory, against Portland (118-105) last night, with a more than ordinary Wemby. The Frenchman only scored 12 points, during an evening where his efficiency once again left something to be desired (4 out of 13 including 2 out of 6 from three points). He also grabbed 8 rebounds, stole 4 balls, lost four others, and made 3 blocks.
After nine games this season, defense constitutes Victor Wembanyama’s big success: he already occupies the head of the ranking of the best blockers in the NBA. He is also incredibly dissuasive, as against Scoot Henderson during the second quarter, where the American first turned around to avoid challenging the number 1 of their 2023 Draft, before resolving to try it… without success.
“There is no frustration”
But with the ball in hand, it’s another story. The French interior of Spurs cannot find the rhythm or adjust the sights. There are a few successes, like this slightly unreal three-pointer, where the ball rose very high in the sky before falling back into the net during the first quarter, or another success from far away in the ten last minutes which gave some fresh air and did good to his team. But its percentages remain much too low (30% yesterday). Five players on his team scored more than him last night. Even if he was pleased that “everyone was involved”, he must not be very satisfied with being so indecisive.
He does not appear worried, and explains that this desire to try a lot, without necessarily succeeding in the end, corresponds to a longer-term objective of progression. “There is no frustration from this point of view, because the staff and I know very well that this is the right way to develop,” he declares. I try shots that I will put in the future. It’s the long term goal that counts. After each match, we look and the staff identifies areas for progress very well, but it is not always easy to apply. »
Victor Wembanyama, who is coming off a very long exercise last year, and an intense Olympic Games, must also face attentive and more aggressive defenses this season. As evidenced by this close duel with Jerami Grant, during a throw-in, where Wemby ended up with his butt on the ground and convinced the referees to sanction his opponent. To experience. “In this type of action, we each try to take advantage of the situation,” he describes. The defender is trying to see how far he can go, and my job as an attacker is to make sure the referees see what’s happening. »
The Spurs will continue with four other matches in a row at home, starting with the reception of Utah on Saturday afternoon (11 p.m. in France). It will a priori still be without Gregg Popovich, the coach, for whom no return date has been announced. “We don’t speak to him directly but his frankness keeps us informed as much as we have the right to be,” reveals Wemby. I’m not worried, I know he will be back soon. »
