Bruno Altieri
Close is responsible for the basketball section at ESPNdeportes.com. He has worked since 2003 for ESPN. He covered, among other tournaments, the 2013 NBA Finals, the 2011 FIBA Americas Pre-Olympic, the 2009 NBA All-Star, the 2009-10, 2011-12 Americas League, Argentina’s preparations for the 2004, 2008 and 2012, and for the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. He is also a regular columnist on NBA and FIBA topics. You can follow it on Twitter.8 the one, 2024, 12:18 PM ET
The San Antonio Spurs won only five games out of 30 played. They are in the basement of the Western Conference, but the signs are nevertheless encouraging. How is that? They have Victor Wembanyama. The French unicorn improves night by night and is on his way to becoming what he promised.
The last two minutes of the game that San Antonio lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers were a free sample of what this young man can do. On both sides of the court. His plasticine arms were twigs for defenders, and his ability to get to the rim is increasingly profound. Bill Russell once said: “It’s not about the blocks you place, but whether the opponent always feels that you are going to block him.”
Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs makes a dunk during the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on January 7, 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavs defeated the Spurs 117-115. Jason Miller/Getty Images
Wembanyama intimidates. He is, since the year before he arrived in the NBA, the man-of-expectation. He is Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, stretching his arms and legs to cover spaces and obtain revenue. It is not only his 2.24 meters, a surreal height for this game, but his movements that make his presence something never seen before. On Sunday afternoon, San Antonio lost the game. However, he gained something important: Gregg Popovich already knows what Wemby has to play in the near future.
We say Nikola Jokic is the Joker, but this 20-year-old is the real wild card. He is, what they say, a teenager who is getting to know himself. It is the puberty of professionalism, basketball in the diapers of someone extraordinary. Demanding it is a mistake, enjoying it is a pleasure. The nice thing is that we already know that, barring some unknown physical impediment, this boy is destined to be an NBA superstar.
there goes that man ???????? pic.twitter.com/77QtlbObUP
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 7, 2024
Wembanyama still does not know everything he can achieve and it is that pilgrimage that he goes through today in a regular series with the help of his coach.
It’s hard to know what to do when you have the sum of absolute power for this sport. Because Wemby has everything: dribbling, shooting, height and is starting to gain strength. A block by Jarrett Allen on Wembanyama went viral that reflected Allen’s virtue in blocking, but also the Frenchman’s overconfidence in his physicality to not protect a defensive attack from the opposing side. This is learned and corrected.
The public, however, did not keep the most important thing: the belt in the key to reach the position of dumping it with two hands. That technical movement is the wonderful thing about Wemby, and perhaps the untrained eye will not be able to understand it: I dare say that there is no intern in the entire NBA who can do something like that with ten or more seasons under his belt.
Popovich must laugh inwardly at what he sees. He no longer has any doubts that this is not an XXL version of Kevin Durant, not because he cannot, but because it is not in that place where he gets the greatest advantages. He’s not even a polished Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs blocks the shot of Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half at Frost Bank Center on January 4, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. Ronald Cortes/Getty Images
Wembanyama is something else.
The first finding – decisive by the way – after his first 35 games is that Wembanyama must be close to the basket. The real advantages appear in that sector. In attack, he placed a screen on the ball carrier and went like lightning towards the hoop. Or receiving with the favorable pairing in the post, an advantage that he has 95% of the time against any defender in the League. By size or speed. From the outside in, Wembanyama alternates positions five, four, three and at times one. It is clear that for him there are no positions.
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He is, what they say, a 360° player.
On defense, his greatest strength is moving as a floating five. Who waits for the attacker, takes a step forward and turns back. Confuses. Dynamite ideas. It’s maddening to feel that presence near the rim. They are covers or deflected shots. According to ESPN Stats, Wemby has had 19 consecutive games with a cover, the third most important streak by a Spurs rookie in all of history (David Robinson had 46 in a row and 27, in two different streaks).
The interesting thing, beyond this, is the consistent improvement. In the last five games, he had seven blocks against the Portland Trail Blazers, one against the Boston Celtics, four against the Memphis Grizzlies, five against the Milwaukee Bucks and five against the Cleveland Cavaliers. And this is on an evolutionary path.
???? https://t.co/ItYxkPjDGs pic.twitter.com/GD40zaMIdp
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 5, 2024
I’m going to be a prisoner of my words: Wembanyama is a basketball phenomenon that appears once every 20 years. A Halley’s Comet ready to redefine the rules and scope of this sport. And he is going to prove it; it’s just a matter of time.
It may sound contradictory, but San Antonio wins while losing games. We talk here about learning. To observe this diamond in the rough with the meticulousness that Tennesee Williams once noted at the Crystal Zoo. Shelter him, accompany him and protect him for battles that will be much more difficult in the near future.
Wembanyama, in short, does not have to get too attached to his current teammates. The Spurs, today, are a bad team with an extraordinary player in their ranks. Next June’s Draft will arrive, the forced changes and the long-awaited prominence.
The rest of the teams have to take advantage of beating San Antonio now. In a few years, it may be too late.
2024-01-08 17:18:00
#turning #Victor #Wembanyama #NBA #superstar
