[Highlight] 2 minutes and 30 seconds of Wemby’s defensive masterclass last night
I would crash out too if I was Cade. You finally go by Castle and you have this fucker waiting behind.
Cade, after blowing by Castle for once: You can’t defeat me Castle: I know, but he can
b̴̢̻̭͉͙͇͕̭̼̰̞̊͐̔͘o̷̤̮̖̺̞̒̀̆̀̓͂͆̎̄̚͜ṉ̴̻̪͑̒̃̂̑̆̕j̸̥̬͔̟͛̓̅͛̅͐̿̈̄̓͘̕͠o̵̢̡̧͚͉̫̯͓̊͒̇͒̅̿̆̚͠u̶̢̻̦̜̳̓͂̆̔r̸͉̰̤̼̩̭͍̻̖̟̙͙͂̊̂̃͆̀̔̈͆͐͝͝ͅ
And then if you stand there for a bit Castle shows back up again
Castle is a solid defender who becomes elite because he has Wemby back there.
Nah Castle is def helped by Wemby but he’s pretty great in his own right. There’s a comp posted here of him sticking onto Cade last night
Tons of shots altered not even including blocks - sickening
Yea when Wemby is on the floor layups aren’t an option. All these shots are awkward floaters or midrange jumper
Calling it now, Wemby is going to single-handedly force all the big men to develop their hookshots.
Honestly that would be cool. Wish the hook shot would come back.
He probably can block that. He’s blocking floaters , three pointers , it’s crazy.
Curry was feared for his offensive gravity. Wemby will be for his defensive anti-gravity.
He’s repulsive, if you will
He’s just fr*nch geez
You can’t use that word anymore 😱
I won’t
Wemby going for advanced defensive strats by not washing his armpits.
It’s funny you bring up curry because he’s the only guy I think I’ve seen have sustained success against this Wemby led defense
It’s cuz they thrive on 3’s and pulling Wemby out is key to beating Spurs
Yes pulling Wemby out of drop negates his otherworldly rim protection, and pull up 3s are the easiest way to destroy drop coverage.
There was that one freaky possession where Wemby had enough and ended up chasing Curry… that was hilarious to watch.
Why doesn’t everyone just shoot like Steph? Are they stupid?
Detroit is Wemby’s dream matchup. Their offense is iso-centric without a lot of spacing and do most of their work in the paint. San Antonio has amazing perimeter defenders that get in ball handlers face and funnel everything to the center of the floor where Wemby can just go to work.
Pistons scored 62 points in the paint last night, being 7⁄36 from 3 while San Antonio had their best perimeter shooting night of the season is what cost Detroit the game.
It genuinely wasn’t Wemby it was the shooting.
The notion that any other player has a DPOY case is laughable to me.
Their only case is if Wemby doesn’t play 65 games, but he has a good chance to make the cutoff
Thunder fans said Chet should win DPOY yesterday 😂
Lol. I understand bias but that’s just ridiculous
Yeah he’s just simply going to win it every season he’s eligible to win it.
Id honestly take 60 games of Wemby’s defense over the field. The gap between him and the second best defender is not close.
Unless he goes out for another 5 games he should make the cutoff, but yeah, I agree. In principle I agree with the games played requirement, but in practice it is leading to a lot of arbitrary disqualifications. Like you said, I’m taking Wemby for DPOY playing 60 games with unmatched levels of defensive impact vs someone like Gobert for 70 games (not to diss Gobert, his defensive impact is also huge, but Wemby’s is unreal). I think it should either be lowered, or there should be tiers. Like MVP and first team 65 games, 2nd team 60 games, and 3rd 55 games, or something like that.
Something like this would be good, and some of the podcasters have brought up similar ideas
Scottie is in consideration
After Wemby I definitely think it’s either him or Gobert
This is cheating without actually cheating. Like, spurs fans can only hope the NBA won’t make some dumb rules that would limit his unprecedented defensive abilities.
Definitely a unique challenge to play against. Even just watching on TV you could feel the impact he has on defense. Like you feel an anxiety as guys try to score on him. It’s like the Spurs have a goalie on defense lol.
But also I’m not panicking after one game. Really looking forward to the rematch next week to see if we can adjust. Duren had success and Stew will be back too. Wemby didn’t dominate offensively fortunately but still interested to see if Stew can impact the game
This is why a seven game series fascinates me. Im not sure there’s a solution to the Wemby defensive problem 4 times in 7 games. Thats my hypothesis anyway. But I have no proof.
I wouldn’t panic either. If the Spurs had one of their more normal games shooting from 3 this would probably have been a one-possession game.
And if the Spurs could hit a free throw to save their own lives it might not have… 12⁄19 is miserable.
So long as Beef Stew doesnt start throwing hands.
Ridiculous. Must be frustrating as hell for players driving in the paint when Wemby’s there
I think as Spurs fans we see it every night so we understand how many shots he impacts, how many “business decisions” are made because of him, how teams avoid paint attempts altogether when he’s on the floor. What I’ve learned over the course of the season is that for fans of other teams, they have to face him to understand it. Almost everytime all it takes is one game and they get it.
There’s two things that stand out to me:
A true alien.
Zach Lowe pointed out the one block he had on Cade, where he was in a crouched position as Cade was going for his layup, but somehow managed to do a 180 from there to blocking the ball against the glass. His reflexes are probably the most underrated aspect.
Yeah he is so quick, just in this video there is a number of times when I thought he was beaten and then he still touched it
In a season or two all basketball will be is 3s and high rainbow floaters as teams adjust.
I love how he looks off the shooter expecting them to pass to get them to shoot so he can just farm the blocks. Such an amazing defender!
That thing he started doing this season where he ducks down real low to encourage them to try to shoot and give them a false sense of security, only to lunge up and inhale the basketball as it leaves the opponent’s hands.
He’s can’t win DPOY right?
Edit
If he’s eligible he’s DPOY then
He is still eligible as of now
Thanks for the reply
DPOY is wemby’s award to lose every single season of his career.
I think there is a stronger case for him being DPOY his rookie season than not.. Yeah, the team as a whole sucked defensively, but the difference between his time in the floor and off was staggering.. His last few games gotta rookie year, they were top 3+ defense with him on the floor and 25th or worse without.. I think the wolves were 1st with Gobert on the floor and 2nd or 3rd without..
Heck, I think he would have had a case his second year of there wasn’t the 65 game rule.. Dude win blocks champion even sitting for 36 games AND would have actually still won if he’d only played 35 games.. Blocks aren’t everything, but it’s just one example of his defensive dominance.
Of course, he won’t win every year because the m league hates giving the awards to the same guy too many times even if they are more deserving.. Plus, they loath giving out 2 awards to one player (wemby was never going to be DPOY and ROTY, and is unlikely to be both MVP and DPOY in the same season even if he did deserve it..)
Just a matter of if he plays enough games in a given year
Chet will according to Thunder fans 😂
the play at 1:40 is just absurd. i can’t stop watching it. he denies the dish to duren then crouchbaits cade into thinking he out of the play then springs up like a jack in the box and swats that shit into oblivion. his ability to cover so much space really does make it feel like 6v5 on that end of the floor.
Just commented about this above! That was really insane.
Thats why you see slim bigs like Mobley, Ware, Chet, so that they can switch.
And its rare to have a #1 option big since they need to defend too while carrying the offense.
Its not the 90s where you just camp in the paint and rest.
He’s the most impactful defensive player I have ever seen. He has negative gravity on defense
I love how he tries to make himself as short as possible. Often getting near eye level with them. Just to gogo gadget on them and grow a few once they take a shot.
I feel in the future the eastern conference finals champion, and the western conference finals runner up should have a series for second place.
It would be interesting to see what percentage of shots players are turning down just from his presence
His existence on the court is just a cheat code it’s crazy
My favorite genre of Wemby block is the “how was it possible to block that at the apex of the shot”
I for one am glad we don’t play in the West.
Genuinely has the opportunity to become the greatest defender in NBA history