I know most fans are ready to die on the hill of “Wemby isn’t a 5” etc etc but in the modern game the 5 isn’t what it use to be and Wemby being the defensive anchor against the P&R will shut down 99% of every opponents go to play (look at Luka/Kyrie and Van Fleet/Greens/Senguns go to plays) and putting him at the 4 spot on offense where he isn’t catching the ball 3 feet behind the 3pt line gives him so much more freedom (watch the 4th and OT) Sochan being able to cut and give and go let’s him play to his strengths so much better. I know many want point Sochan and SF Wemby but their gifts are wasted on many possessions playing out of position.
Wemby can probably be a 5 one day but like JJJ or Giannis, at least for the time being , his games is best suited as a four. He can roam and be a ridiculous help defender while Collins bangs with other bigs so wemby doesn’t risk injury and focuses on boards.
W/ sochan it’s tough; mainly cause if we play him and Tre our spacing suffers and it seems we really need Tre right now to have a remotely competent offence. Probably best to stifle their minutes as much as possible and due to our lack of ball handling that usually means point sochan
I guess it really comes down to the match up, so far I’m noticing teams (understandably) want no part in Wemby being able to be a help defender so they play small and have a shooter at the 4 to take Wemby away from the paint or at least pay for helping by kicking it out. In the limited minutes he got at the 5 in both games he completely stopped all P&R play by Luka kyrie and van fleet and made all of them abandon it and start chucking up threes. I just see it being so deadly I want more. As for sochan him and tre definitely leave something to be desired at the three I agree 100% hoping both can continue to shoot at least 30% to minimize the damage.
Sure. I think everyone knows long term he’s likely better as a 5 (or 4).
It’s game 2 in a hopefully very long career. We can relax a bit and let him build skills.
I think one thing to keep in mind is that having 2 versatile bigs on the court (Wemby, Collins) creates huge mismatches at the 4. For example, with Wemby at the 4 you’re usually gonna have a PF in the 6’6 - 6’10 range guarding him rather than a 6’11 - 7’+ center who has 10lbs - 30lbs more pounds on him. Even in matchups where Wemby can play the 5, the team might still be better served by keeping Collins at the 5 and Wemby at the 4 because of the mismatches it creates.
Wemby is already a mismatch against most centers, but it’s a HUGE mismatch against most PFs, and as Wemby develops that Spurs are going to be able to feast on the advantages that mismatch creates for the rest of the offense.
Usually I’d agree but watching how teams attack Collins it makes me prefer Wemby 5 sochan 4…. Luka and kyrie were cooking Zach alive and I’m sure you saw what sengun did to Zach Friday 🙃 as soon as Wemby slid to the 5 in both games they immediately stopped running the P&R and started jacking up threes. I never send Zach look that bad tho hopefully he bounces back but that’s the main reason I made this post.