Victor Wembanyama with a historic night despite the loss: 11 PTS, 15 REB, 5 AST, 12 BLK
Victor Wembanyama with a historic night despite the loss: 9 PTS, 15 REB, 5 AST, 12 BLK
Broke the record for most blocks in a playoff game
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401871152
One of the best and worst playoff performances in history.
12 blocks is absurd. But getting 11 points at 5-17 (0-8 from 3) when you’re supposed to be the main offensive option is also absurd.
12 blocks is the most ever in a playoff game, too
And at least two of them were goaltending.
Two of them for sure. But regardless, it’s gonna be like that with Wemby’s blocks sometimes. SGA and Luka get the benefit of the doubt on questionable ticky-tack fouls, and sometimes Wemby gets the same on blocks
the fuck does ANT get? the worst whistle in the league on the team that gets the worst whistle in the league? At this point I’m convinced the Timberwolves are just head and shoulders above everyone else because they keep winning despite referee bull shit.
You know what, that’s a completely fair take. Wolves has consistently exceeded expectations, and doing it without favorable whistles.
100%. It pisses me off so much when Ant plays through contact and doesn’t get a call. Except against us of course lol. But I respect the heck out of him.
It’s going to ruin him too. Like as a fan of good basketball- everyone should play like Ant
But in the current NBA you’re literally playing at a disadvantage if you don’t learn when to foul bait - so it would literally be beneficial for him to do so
yeah Edwards and Bron get the worst whistles. As a Lakers fan feel the wolves pain.
ant actually plays through contact instead of falling down and he doesn’t get rewarded
He’s gotta develop a signature yell when he drives. So refs know to call the fouls. He’s gotta start screaming and flailing down on his drives like the rest of the superstars!
“EY REF”
I was gonna say. Ant’s got an iconic foul call
hoes
Pretty much. Idk if it’s an Ant thing specifically, or if it’s because hes on Minnesota, but I swear the league has it out for him
Curry’s been dealing with a shit whistle for years too. So stupid to me that there’s inconsistency across the league that’s apparent to everyone watching. It ruins the game.
Lmao most self aware and intelligent spurs fan
Personally, I can’t wait for the “Wemby is only good because refs let him goaltend posts.” That’s my prediction for common absurd take when the sub inevitably turns on Wemby for some silly reason. That or we’ll go back to the “real big men used to post up. He wouldn’t stand a chance against Shaq.”
So are you saying people should stop complaining about SGA and Luka getting questionable calls, or that they should complain about Wemby in similar fashion? Not really a comparison you want lol
And one was a clear foul. No ball. All arm
His wishes to be a three point shooter is sometimes a detriment to his game.
It’ll make him the best version of himself in 7 years if he keeps at it and keeps it as a major part of his game, especially in the modern (and future) NBA. He’s already a 35% shooter anyways, it would be dumb for him to start playing like a 90’s center all of a sudden to avoid a cold game here and there
People hear “Wemby takes too many 3s” and assume I mean that I want him to just be Hakeem in the post all game.
I just think he shouldn’t be taking half of his shots from 3. Sometimes it’s okay to accept the shot isn’t falling that night and he has the skill to create his own shot in other ways.
He HAS to shoot them.
There’s no choice.
Not taking them means he takes insane amounts of wear and tear… especially when he takes no plays off defensively.
Regular season that’s defensible, but this is the playoffs, are we really load managing in the playoffs?
That’s not load management lol
If he doesn’t hit those threes. He doesn’t gain any advantages in his drives and post positioning.
He gets pushed out of position a lot.
And with his injury history, I do not like him taking unnecessary drives while dribbling like he’s KD. I want him to get cleans/simple looks that can maximize his output.
So his offense just isn’t good?
It needs to be part of his game and he has the skills to get there. People do eexaggerate how good he currently is from outside but it’s clearly going to be part of his bag.
They’re treating Wemby like a boss fight in a video game. If Wemby uses up all his MP blocking shots then he can’t score.
Jokic used all his MP trynna score and has no more on the defensive end. Wemby gonna need to fuse with Jokic.
Jokic used his last remaining MP to troll a 19 year old 4th stringer while still down 3-1
It had to balance out against the Blazers in his first game he shot over 80% from 3 point land over quite a few attempts.
This was the universe balancing that out with a 0-8 night from 3.
Yes! This loss is on him.
It’s the 0 of 8 from three that’s the issue. He should be pressuring that interior defense not taking half his shots from three. Yeah, Gobert is a good defender. Make him work down low and get him in foul trouble.
I think if you are that dominant defensively you should expect better than what Fox put out today offensively.
We got away with this one
wasn’t even the worst offensive performance on his team.
fox is being paid 220 million to just score and he can’t even do that
Dude has legs the size of my wrist. It’s hilarious how the NBA changes calls in the playoffs versus the regular season, but this dude is going to always get murdered in the post season if he doesn’t bulk up
And 5⁄17 shooting 0/8 from 3
The 0/8 from 3 is probably the most important stat of the night.
Well yeah I mean, if it was 1 for 8 they win
Big if true
If the wolves hit even a reasonable amount of free throws this isn’t nearly that close
Yeah but if Wemby hit all of his 3s it isn’t close either
And if Wemby got called for all the goaltends it’s also not close
But if the Wolves team got in a fatal plane crash and had to forfeit its really not close
As someone who’s intrusive thoughts sometimes reach this level of toxicity, this got a big chuckle from me lol
Yeah if the Spurs hit all their shots and the Timberwolves missed all of theirs then it would’ve been a blowout
I mean if the Wolves hit their FT they would’ve won by more lol
No, in that scenario the Wolves hit two extra 3s.
Doesnt depict the full picture, he was struggling with getting to his spot in the paint this game which is why he was shooting so many bricks today
Which means Gobert did his job. Not as flashy as Wemby on defense, but arguably more effective. At least in this specific scenario where he is guarding a team’s top scorer. Worked last series too.
It’s not Gobert, it’s Randle, especially in 2nd halves. He plays him extremely hard (foul every time in my opinion but I’m biased) and Wemby can’t even get into the paint.
Randle has a lower centre gravity, and is stronger then wemby. Finch saw what victor was doing to rudy and adjusted. Mitch should have been finding ways to get off of randle.
They did the same thing in the regular season. It’s nothing new.
That’s even worse. Should’ve been prepared
Did you watch the game? You got awarded by someone who also didn’t watch the game. Gobert wasn’t effective at keeping Wemby out of the paint on-ball or off-ball. It was Randle who really had Wemby locked up.
fr. his defense is always amazing but bruh you are 8ft WHY are you chucking 3s
Ant with 0.5 knees holding on by a single molecule of ligament was more of an offensive threat than Wemby tonight
7’4 shooting 8 fucking 3s pissing me off
BasketballGM ass numbers
You’d think he’d be good at threes because he can reach halfway
Imagine shooting at level height to the rim tho. A true alien
Woof.
He was literally the Dude Perfect “tall guy who only shoots 3’s” stereotype tonight.
He’s gonna have to get better and more consistent offensively to even have an argument for best in the world.
Defense was incredible but damn he was taking some bad shots that he did not have to take.
Not even a minute into the 4th quarter he was pulling up from the logo like he was feeling himself. Gave me a good laugh
him and Fox just straight up killed the momentum on offense. we’d be up 6 and then Fox would give it to the other team. We’re up 3, Wemby pulls up when he doesn’t need to.
Tallest man on the court and at the same time attempted the most 3s.
Wemby is going to need to get stronger if he is ever going to get close to his potential offensively. He’s gonna be at the very minimum top 3 player for a long time off his defense alone but the difference between that and him dominating the league is gonna be his growth on offense.
needs either strength for the post or tight handle for the wing (or both) to be a proper shot creator
Focusing too much on Strength is not gonna help him. He needs to look to KD for how to model his game. Physics is going against him when he tries to back people down. Unless he gets Jokic big it’s gonna hurt him more than help.
We saw the same with KP. Randle can get him because he’s heavier and can wedge himself under Wemby so he has more leverage. Wemby just needs to focus on getting his handle tighter. Worst case he’s becomes a play finisher like Pelicans AD.
The big thing tho, is that KD is one of the greatest all around shooters of all time. KD is not only great from 3 but absolutely elite from mid range, which allows him to play the way he does. Wemby would have to improve to that level of shooting.
Pelicans AD averaged 31 on 59% TS in his playoffs career, with 2 of the 3 series he played being against the dynasty Warriors
yeah always being DPOY plus an offensive #2 is really not so bad, especially since he has harper and castle to play on ball (they really gave this dude 2 two-way young star guards)
KD is slim but he’s not weak.
That comes with at least a bit of mobility loss, which would hamper his defense imo
Would hurt his rim protecting/ridiculous blocking, but help his post defense against bigs like Jokic/Embiid.
Tbh I think he can still put on a decent amount of muscle before approaching “too bulky” levels.
Yeah, I guess it’s a tradeoff, but I think his crazy defense stems from his flexibility. He’d lose switch ability if he bulked up, but would be better against big centers. At the same time, it’s only Embiid and Jokic that are elite centers.
I feel like any amount of size he puts on will still not be enough to be a difference against those types of bigs as they will always have a significant strength advantage
Does Rudy look hampered?
I don’t think he could gain much more without serious injury concerns.
Ideally yes in 2k.
Well Julius is a grown man bro like he’s stronger than Gordon and Gordon have Wemby problems Julius is the perfect player to guard Wemby bc he can move him off hits spots all game.
No, don’t wanna add too much to that frame.
I think this had a lot more to do with his complete inability to spread the floor tonight
Bro he just needs to shoot less 3s. I was praying he would tonight because it’s the one thing he’s not otherworldly in.
Become otherworldly in the regular season, not playoffs
Horrific offensive performance from him as great as his defense was
This is why the post-R1 takes about “gap between Wemby and Jokic’s defense is so much bigger he’s already clear” aren’t so automatic he’s not just slightly worse on offense than the top tier he’s WAY worse
Jokic last round was probably the worst offensive series you’ll see from a non-Wemby tier 1 guy and Wemby today was roughly 50 times worse the guy legit looked scared of the ball down the stretch
He had one bad offensive game and you say this relax dude
Dude, Wemby isn’t remotely close to Jokic on offense. At all.
Ok but youre acting like this is a typical wemby game its stupid lmao
It’s not, but he absolutely has this tendency. He needs to knock it off if he doesn’t wanna get upset, because it’s not like the Timberwolves played a good game or are anywhere near full strength.
his defense will always outshine his offense, like by a lot too
70% of his value is on defense
The anti Jokic
or we gotta put respect on Gobert’s name lmao
Isn’t that the problem with Jokic, if his offence is inconsistent a bad offensive game means he is useless on the floor. Wemby with a terrible offensive game is still one of the most impactful players on the floor.
Wemby doesn’t deserve a despite the loss post
He firmly contributed to the loss
It’s really sad to see such a historic game (due to the blocks record) tarnished by the fact that just making even a single one of those threes could’ve won us the game.
or if he could pass to shooters instead it could be a quad
Putting up prime draymond numbers
Dray wouldn’t do that
It would be more like 8/12/9 with 5 blocks and 4 steals
And 5 fouls, 1 tech, and a flagrant 1
2 kicks to the groin, 1 poking an eye, 2 screams at the ref. Dude was invincible after his first tech
I second this
Nah Draymond wouldn’t break 10 points.
Has Draymond ever had double digit blocks lol
No but he has the only triple double ever with steals no points 🤷♂️
You can’t be a MVP level player and score 11 points.
Yeah he’s still too raw to win a championship with this level of offense
Yes you can
10⁄12 of Wemby’s blocks were shots within 5 feet of the rim. He was really able to play a lot of defense around the basket tonight.
Wolves clearly said it’s better to stay aggressive driving at the rim even if we get blocked a lot and they were right
Well it tired him out and prob committed to his bad offesne, wemby has stamina issues idk why we avoid the topic, he’s mentioned himself
I’ve been saying this for the past month. He finally is facing an aggressive defense and it’s showing. The load management they did on him this season is gonna be the reason they lose this series. He’s not conditioned to play against Gobert and Randle for 7 games.
Idk about finally, the Rockets, Suns, Pistons, Thunder, Blazers and even Wolves in the regular season all threw defense like this at him. Sometimes he does better against it than others; he just looked anemic and lacked aggression tonight, especially off ball.
Obviously his shooting also sucked ass too, and I figure he won’t be that bad all series, because he missed some “regular” jumpers in addition to some of his dumber, rushed shots.
Playoff intensity is a different beast though. He also played 40 minutes tonight.. he never played more than 34 in the blazers series. It’s a huge part of the Wolves strategy to wear down opposing teams with out size and physicality.
Wemby is incredible though. He’s just going to have to show he can dig deep to play all these minutes.
On pace for 48 blocks and 4 L’s…. I’ll take it
Wth is this statline
Don’t let the defensive masterclass distract from the offensive assterclass.
Why doesn’t he dunk more like he did in that last point he scored?
He doesn’t have the strength to do that. For someone who is 7’6, his scoring relies in his perimeter game which makes guarding him easier. The stuff that he does in the perimeter is mind-boggling but it’s also so volatile with how much high his dribble is, he needs to go to the post, having a post bag similar to Hakeem or Dirk would unlock so much for his offense.
I understand that. He need not do it all the time. But I think at least 5 times a game is not too difficult? Surely he can get to the post 5 times total despite how good Randle and Minnesota are defending him.
He found the opportunity to drive down into the paint, otherwise there would have been someone there to draw the foul
29% from the field
Bro nah.
That wasn’t a good game.
We are getting swept if Wemby keeps getting outplayed by gobert on offense.
0/8 from 3 HISTORIC
DESPITE THE LOSS
This might actually be the craziest “despite the loss” statline ever witnessed
Wemby is the perfect case study when it comes to measuring how much defense is required to offset a terrible offensive night.
Because even with 12 blocks, I would say he was barely average this game.
Idk if I’ve ever seen a player break an all-time single game record and feel like he cost his team the game before
Congratulations for most blocks in your home loss
Most of them were goaltends and fouls
Not most but a fair share for sure
Maybe one or two. Most is a stretch. He was super ass on offense though
Offense > defense
offense is 50% of the game.
He’s not there yet offensively but he was amazing defensively
Legit 8 blocks.. getting blocks like Stockton got assist. He legit had no ball contact on 2 of them and 2 goal tends
Incredible defense(even with a few missed goaltends), and just putrid offense
Wolves were used to jokic rim protection these last 6 games lmaoooo
One of his worst offensive performances
Rudy “the giant killers” Gorbert.
That statline is Manute Bol level
Wolves defense doing this to him imagine OKC’s.
[deleted]
Wolves want him to stay chucking 3s
As good as the rest of his game was 11 points is not gonna cut it. Too big too talented.
Didn’t break the record, but great game nonetheless. At least 2-3 were goaltends/fouls
“12 blocks”
Despite the loss is nasty work lmao. They lost cause of his offense
Were the Wolves deliberately attacking the paint to tire out Wemby? I don’t know if this is cope or 4D chess, but he didn’t look like he wanted to bang in the paint tonight.
5⁄17 and 0/8 from 3 despite being 7’5”
He missed every jump shot and I think he was 5-6 at the rim that tells you all you need to know
One of his worst offensive games ever paired with one of his best defensive games ever.
Good thing he got that last dunk in to complete the triple double with… 11 points!
For a supposed mvp candidate, he does not seem to have any offensive gravity at all
Julius defense on him was amazing. He completely pushed Wemby out of his comfort zone.
I get he’s a stud defense and rebounding. But 9 points on poor efficiency is rough from your teams star. Hard to win games like that.
I dont give a shit how many blocks he has. That performance on offense from ur best player is atrocious and can never happen. If he continues to play like this they’re getting sent home
historic on the defensive end but terrible on the offensive end
Dude gonna’s be the GOAT defender if he can stay healthy
I like the kid but a franchise star can’t play like that
11 points, 5-17, 0-8 from three. That was a terrible performance
Historic defense but they needed his offense badly
He’s definitely getting a quadruple double at some point in his career.
Everyone gets one
You hope he doesn’t have more of these. Probably won’t
Wemby was incredibly damaging to the Wolves offense, but he was also very damaging for the Spurs offense.
He was not very good despite his defense. At this point you expect the defense from him but he basically let himself get taken out of the game on the other end.
Spurs shot 28% from deep as a team.
Spurs are really missing a strong power forward, someone that can be near the basket and do big man things when Wemby gets pulled away or swarmed, not to mention guard their pf.
Not gonna show the field goals made and attempted?
Would’ve been an all time game if he didn’t do just as much damage to his own team on the offensive end.
I think we will be ok for game 2. I don’t see wemby and fox both having another offensive stinker.
I just don’t understand how Mitch can’t scheme Wemby open for easier shots. Like that is just insane to me. Like he’d rather watch him doink 8 3s than be an actual Coach.
Extremely interesting game for him, horrible offense and record breaking defense
He has to get stronger to establish his position better in the post against smaller defenders he gets pushed off his base too much.
Also needs to tighten his handle through traffic as he tends to lose the ball too much when doing that. Rough game offensively but transformative defensively.
We’ll see how he and the Spurs bounce back Game 2 as this will be battle testing round against this physical, talented and experienced Timberwolves team.
A triple double with blocks and having more blocks than points is just insanity.
Randle had him in cuffs in the 4th.
12 blocks is insane and I love it
If you watched the MIN-DEN series, it was the same story as Jokic. They picked him up really early in the play clock and didn’t let him get deep in the paint. Secondly, he was looking at Rudy, Julius, or Jaden every time he got the ball at the 3. Same reason Jokic struggled.
Thats fkn nuts!
Triple double with more blocks than points.
In wembys defense, every time he battled for position deep in the paint his teammates were scared to entry. Still shouldn’t have settled for 3s, but yeah it was pretty jarring to watch
Buddy is going to be the lord of the quadruple double isn’t he?
victor goaltendyama
Three of those blocks were goaltends and one was a foul. Fraud triple double alert.
We got 10+ more years of this absurdity. Spurs really lucked out getting the number one pick the one season they were bad.
Am I crazy for thinking Spurs should consider trading him the offense is a liability
He had maybe 9 but still insane
Despite The Loss Man
With his shooting tonight he belongs in Orlando. 🤝
I love how we’re leaving efficiency out of those points
Hell never be the goat people want him to be if he doesn’t stop chucking 3s like he’s prime Curry
Generational offensive stinker yet this sub is glazing like crazy. The agenda is real
Wolves masterclass in defense tonight. Wemby was completely blocked tonight.
since wemby got the concussion he is shooting pretty bad. he was shooting the lights out pre concussion
Still a loser.