Analysis How Does the Offense Change When Wemby Returns?

[Area 51.247]

The OKC matchup revealed our serious business rotation with only 9 players getting in the game, and even this was with KJ capped at 14 minutes.

Minute allocation. Note to self to compare Dec 23rd and 25th games.

37 - Fox
34 - Castle
25 - Harper
32 - Vassell

14 - KJ
27 - Champ
27 - Barnes

24 - Kornet
21 - Wemby

Was KJ out there for a few minutes as the small ball 5? Or was it HB?

 

[Guru of Nothing]

Last night Mitch closed with the greatly anticipated (by me) lineup of Wemby/Fox/Castle/Harper/Vassell. I've wanted to see this lineup for the action, but more pragmatically I heard Zach Lowe point out that with this lineup, it should force the opposing center to guard Wemby, which sounds promising.

 

[ambchang]

Problem though is that it puts quite a bit of pressure on wemby to protect the entire paint area and get rebounds. The four guards had to be very diligent in sealing the perimeter to stop penetration and cuts, as well as box out their man.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

Problem though is that it puts quite a bit of pressure on wemby to protect the entire paint area and get rebounds. The four guards had to be very diligent in sealing the perimeter to stop penetration and cuts, as well as box out their man.

Yeah there are some rebounds where Fox and Harper are not bothering to box out anybody and just ball watch

 

[BSfromTX]

Rebounding killed us in that last game. Unacceptable, even for a small line up. You can always at least box out..

 

[bozhemoi]

Fox is a nullity on rebounds, just too small. Harper needs to get better. Castle seems to have really gotten better, but that lineup is a drag on the boards. Not every team is the Knicks, though.

 

[RC_Drunkford]

"How will the offense change? We'll just bring Wemby off the bench instead of Jeremy, so we don't disrupt the flow."

 

[Robz4000]

Bump.

 

[STAT88]

This team doesn’t need Wemby to be a 25 point scorer and force feed him as the initiator/creator. Have him play off Castle, Fox, Harper in pick and roll, pick and pop, off the ball in the dunker spot, mix in some high post and low block isos sure but don’t over do it. Wemby averaging 20 a game and fitting in on offense while dominating on defense is best for the team.

Bump

 

[Ice009]

Not sure what is going on. Victor getting more court time and back to starting and suddenly the Spurs are looking terrible. Not sure if just a coincidence or a legit worry.

I can't comment much as I only watched about 10 minutes total of this game in bits and pieces, but I do know one thing, a lot of the passes he delivers are very awkward. Some are thrown too hard, off center, not in the right place. It's usually off of a terrible drive to try an bail himself out of a turnover. A shooter really needs to get the ball in the right place for the shot to be in rhythm. Victor needs to learn this as it's a huge part of being a good passer/valuable skill to help set up your teammates. It lowers their chances of making a shot if they're not getting the ball in the right place, and with the streaky shooters the Spurs have, that is not a good thing at all.

 

[couchman]

I’ve said it more than a few times:
I don’t believe Wemby should be a primary on ball creator. He’s not good enough at it, especially compared to the excellent offense we get when going through our guards.
Wemby can feast off ball and still lead the team in scoring

 

[RC_Drunkford]

Kornet was a +10, Wemby was a -17. The offense clearly works much better with Luke in the middle. It's on Mitch to figure this out.

 

[Sugus]

It's a long season, and it's hard for young people to consistently apply what they've learned, but he seems to have strayed from the "Leverage First" mentality that he came into the season with after the Hakeem workouts, and that worked so well for him.

I can only assume and hope that they're not heavily using Wemby on the PnR to "save it for the playoffs" and not have so much film on it for teams, but at some point it's like..... Even secret weapons need maintenance checks, right? Why not have a string of 4-5 Fox-Wemby PnRs to get him some lobs, get him going? It's maddening to see it working each time they do it........ And never coming back to it.

Ultimately, it definitely looks like the criticisms about lacking go-to moves and "nothing is easy for him on offense" were right, and it's on Wemby to develop past those. He's obviously young as fuck, and we're all impatient fans, but I'm already dreading the playoff series that he needs to get beaten up in so he can refocus and get the fundamentals down.

Until then, can he please stop asking for the ball in post-ups..... IDC if it's high post, low post, 3pt line. Don't fucking ask for it - have it sent your way because you've created a good leverage opportunity for yourself instead, JFC.

 

[Mugen]

3pt shooting will even out eventually, not worried about that.

But we need to correct Castle and Wemby pounding the ball for half the shot clock before either putting up a tough shot, flopping, or turning it over tbh. That's been the major killer these last 2 losses.

 

[scott]

It's a long season, and it's hard for young people to consistently apply what they've learned, but he seems to have strayed from the "Leverage First" mentality that he came into the season with after the Hakeem workouts, and that worked so well for him.

I can only assume and hope that they're not heavily using Wemby on the PnR to "save it for the playoffs" and not have so much film on it for teams, but at some point it's like..... Even secret weapons need maintenance checks, right? Why not have a string of 4-5 Fox-Wemby PnRs to get him some lobs, get him going? It's maddening to see it working each time they do it........ And never coming back to it.

Ultimately, it definitely looks like the criticisms about lacking go-to moves and "nothing is easy for him on offense" were right, and it's on Wemby to develop past those. He's obviously young as fuck, and we're all impatient fans, but I'm already dreading the playoff series that he needs to get beaten up in so he can refocus and get the fundamentals down.

Until then, can he please stop asking for the ball in post-ups..... IDC if it's high post, low post, 3pt line. Don't fucking ask for it - have it sent your way because you've created a good leverage opportunity for yourself instead, JFC.

PnR to Wemby has been really successful the last two games, to your point... it's when Castle and Wemby go full Kobe Mode that things seem to fall apart.

 

[DTW]

If the Spurs tried to convert Wembanyama into a more traditional finishing big, he'd request a trade.

These things have to evolve organically over time, like it did with Duncan in the mid-late 00s as Ginobili and Parker emerged as stars or Antetokounmpo in the '21 playoffs after being down 2-0 to the Nets. Instead of trying to be James or Durant, he became more of a big man and allowed for Middleton and Holiday to have more creative agency.

This will probably work the same way as Wembanyama, Castle and Harper get closer to their collective prime. Right now, he wants to test his limits, be a Curry like entertainer and accumulate individual accolades. It's all part of the process.

 

[Snaq O'Meal]

Kornet was a +10, Wemby was a -17. The offense clearly works much better with Luke in the middle. It's on Mitch to figure this out.

Kornet plays like a traditional big man with his screens and box-outs, while Wemby plays with a guard's mindset that doesn't really help in freeing up the other guards. Having gravity is one thing, using it properly within an offensive scheme may be another matter altogether.