[Highlight] For your viewing pleasure: Wembanyama’s dominant night v. the Detroit Pistons
You can tell how hungry he is to win every single night
He’s making improvements on his decision making and it’s scary to watch
It makes it even more startling when he says fuck it and does something insane. Seeing him let the game come to him and now and then just take what he wants is a lot of fun
Yep, and it makes him fun to watch because you know youre getting max effort from him.
His defense is incredible. And it’s not the blocks, the rebounds that are the most impressive with him, it’s his Defensive IQ. It’s like he knows before the ballhandler what he’s gonna do. He’s always excellent at defending mismatchs too. And he always was basically since the youth competitions. Even in an “off night” offensively, he was still the most dominant player in this game IMHO.
If you watch him long enough, you’ll know that he would set traps on defense. He would turn his back a bit, or step away a bit to make you think you can make the layup or floater, or that you can shoot over him. And then he’ll reveal his hand - pun intended - and show you, “Nope”. Turns out his outstretched arm is longer than you think, and he can turn faster than you expected.
He’s not only a player with insane length and hops. He also has insane spatial awareness of his limit, and can play mind games with you. This is one of the less mentioned part of his game. It also makes watching him in focus very enjoyable, especially on the defensive end.
Wemby’s just like me in 2k when I’m trying to farm defensive stats.
Wemby consistently utilizing mind games against NBA level talent on defense is a little too spooky for me.
On top of that once he has a block that way it mind fucks the other team into a bunch of other mistakes. I’ve seen so many people drive into the paint, see Wemby lurking, and then just forget how to play basketball. It’s wild.
That’s the coolest thing and I wish there was a way to quantify it lol
To use an overused term, his “aura” does a lot of defending on its own. Reminds me of watching prime Virgil Van Dijk in soccer where people just won’t even try
That’s a great way to put it. With the talent in the NBA even a small hesitation can doom you. It’s like he gets blocks without touching the ball.
I think I saw someone here call it NFTpm “naw, fuck that”s per minute lmao
I’ve been watching a lot of you guys this year and it’s a genuine noticeable thing that people will go to drive, see Wemby, and then force a bad kick out because they panic.
I genuinely think within the next few years we may say that Wemby is better defensively than any player has ever been on offense or defense
Lmao at the NFTpm, I’ll definitely use that!
I called those negated drives, “NOPE” Negating Offensive Penetration Entirely.
It’s the best I got lol
That block on a Cade floater at 88-75 (I think) is a good example - Wemby turns away from Cade so he decided to attack & go off the backboard but Wemby was waiting for that
One of the best sports things is when someone baits a steal or a CB/safety baits an INT, and Wemby is turning that into an every-possession thing. It’s really unbelievable how much he disrupts even an elite offense.
And what you mentioned is why he trained with fucking monks — that kind of perfected spatial awareness elevates athletic ability.
He baited Cade into a block by crouching. At that position, his hand is probably like only 3 feet off the ground then he just jumps straight up and he blocks your shot in under a second. So it’s like his hand teleported from 3 feet to 10 feet off the ground to a spike block that’s controlled enough to gain possession as well
He’s crazy good and he’s actually likeable
I like that he embraces the rivalries. Doesn’t try to be friends with dudes on the other teams. Another guy like that cooper flag. Its up to them to bring back the fire in these new players
Us based players all grew up playing aau with each other and going to the star camps, fiba tourneys etc, wemby has no connection to them
I think the league will be in good hands
Most stars are until they actually start winning a lot. Then the first slump they have after everyone will pile on them, then once they’re towards the end of their career people will like them again. There are rare exceptions where people have hated them since the start but this is the common path of the top 5-10 player.
The most impactful defensive player I’ve ever seen.
Yeah I remember hearing somewhere that when he’s on the court, it’s statistically the greatest defensive team of all time
It’s that Shaolin Monk training man.
When I heard he was playing pickup soccer with locals and then did the Shaolin Monk retreat, I knew this was the year he’d make a leap.
This guy is so much fun to watch
Area 51 is an elite nickname for him and Castle
One of my favorite “I was there” moments. Some dude on the spurs sub first said it and did a fan art thing for the name. Then social media did its thing and the spurs ran with it
I hope so much that he stays healthy enough to have the career he deserves.
When he first got in the league I was dismissive because it doesn’t seem possible for his body to hold up year after year.
But whether or not he ends up with availability issues, now I think it would be such an incredible loss for the NBA overall if something happens to him.
You can almost sense how he single-handedly gets more people watching games.
And while he’s obviously such a ridiculous outlier physically, I think what’s surprised me most is his maturity, intelligence, and competitive fire.
He’s a competitive psycho
Wemby is such a dynamic player and I love watching his highlights.
I just hold my breath every time I see him do anything on the floor.
Source: Yao fan growing up.
Stephon Castle is crafty AF with the daggers and lobs too.
Wemby wouldve been good if he was 6’5 lol add a foot the league is cooked
Victor is basically a 7’ 5” shooting guard, so you’re not wrong.
Did he even jump on that last dunk?
The smoothness of his catch and dunk skill is impeccable.
Let’s hope if it isnt your favourite team, spurs and pistons make the final.
Basically turns high low passes into alley oops while being flat footed. It helps that he can dunk on his tippy toes as well
Pistons are overrated
So overrated that they are one of the best teams in the league. Figure it out, dummy.
Come playoffs you won’t be singing the same tune. Dummy
Resorting to insults? Okay. Its not complicated. Pistons are closing in on the best record in the nba. Come playoffs its different. All I was saying was the level of competition and the fact its a new match up would be refreshing. You must be a Laker fan, or a Curry dickrider.
Gtfo with your dense perspective.
did you not call them a dummy first..?
Lmao, you acting like a victim about repeating the same thing you said to me? “You MuST be…”. Yeah okay bud
A victim? Im not the one acting out over someone else’s opinion. Youre not making sense. Stay in school. Stop the meth.
this isnt devin vassel
This shit did not look fun at all for detroit. Wembert is a demon!
MVP
Wembanyama may be the first 3 peat MVP.
Imagine how good his defense would’ve been in the 80’s, 90’s, and to some extent the early 2000’s, when the game was played mostly within 15 feet of the basket. He’d average 6 blocks a game. The league’s focus now on three point shooting unfortunately minimizes to some extent how many blocked shots he can get. Mark eaton (Utah) averaged more than 4.1-5.6 blocked shots / game during a four year stretch in the mid 80s, and that guy was slow and lumbering (but talented). Wemby would be crazy defensively in that era.
Immediately hate-downvoting this
Can not wait for yall to start hating the spurs again. The north (West) remembers
he was kinda ass on offense for most of the game… But yeah his floor is being the best defender in the league by far
right, a floor of best defender and 7’5 three point threat is crazy. even if you don’t allow him to dribble the basketball he would still be one of the most impactful players
To be fair everyone on the field was, apart from Devin Vassell. Nobody was watching that game for the offense though lol
This is awesome but the way he moves makes me wonder if he’s going to get some big injuries
Rather take cooper over him
Elaborate
Can you post a Wemby flop highlight reel
Lmao. He got fouled so many times without a call. If they want flopping to go down they have to call the obvious calls.
I strongly believe the Spurs will win the title if they get past the Lakers.
I strongly believe lakers can get to meet the Spurs if they are able to get past 1st round
We believe
Bro. I try to be humble as much as I can but WTF you talking about lol.
I’ve seen worse takes, I guess. I saw somebody make a whole thread about how the Magic would beat the Celtics in a series in the playoffs, and that sure as hell isn’t happening. Still no shot that the Lakers are a threat though.
Thanks
dominant night shooting 6-16 come on
Average Sengun shooting night
with none of the defense
So offense is the only part of basketball?
21 / 17 / 4 with 6 blocks is crazy tho
Still dominant.