I’m not just seeing it here on Reddit. I’m hearing it from other NBA boards, people I play ball with, fantasy basketball people, etc, etc.
I have no idea what the expectation was for this guy in his rookie season, but I think anyone who had half a semblance of knowledge knew what we were getting when he came in. Wemby was a defensive prospect first and foremost who has the chance to grow into one of the most impactful defenders ever due to his size and mobility, who could also put up 20+ points in the near future.
He wasn’t great overseas offensively because he was still raw. He’s still only 19 years old, in his first season in the NBA on a team that for all intents and purposes is still on a quest for more #1 picks. Wemby was a project from the very first day, albeit a very high ceiling project. Everything we talked about, both offensively and defensively was all about how he’s going to look in year 5/6/7/8 of his career.
The dude is 7’4 and learning how to use his size while still picking up a lot of basketball fundamentals. I see a lot of posts saying how the Spurs should do this, or do that, or get this player, or bench that player. So much news for a team that is still far, far, FAR away from any hope of a ring. Why do we care so much that Sochan is getting burn at the PG spot? There seems to be so much focus on a team we knew was going to suck and a prospect that we knew was going to take years to learn the NBA and learn what he can do.
The fact that this kid has had some of the performances that he’s had, and that he’s even approaching 19-20 points a game regardless of efficiency at this point should be a win. I was expecting a lot less considering how much he had to learn, and how bad some of his performances overseas were. Wemby is arguably ahead of schedule at this point, and it should only get better with more reps, a better team, and more size.
Let him take all the 3s, mid range fade aways, etc that he wants. Let him make every mistake he can make this year to learn for the next year. This is a throwaway year for the Spurs that should be used just to evaluate and develop for the future. Some of you look incredibly silly bagging on a rookie on a below average team, expecting him to be the next Wilt from day 1. He’s an incredible PROSPECT, key word there being prospect. Lets see where other 19-20 year old bigs were (Jokic, Giannis, Embiid) before we start complaining about Wemby not being LeBron, or blaming the Spurs for not putting together the perfect team around him when he’s not even ready to lead a team in the first place. Stop being weird.
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Bc he ain’t jaquez
No one in this league is going to the playoffs without a star guard who can score and pass. Even Denver is way less effective without Murray and has a center with guard skills. Wemby needs trial and error until he figures his game out. I think the main issue is Chet. People have been comparing these two since u19 basketball. Chet’s offensive maturity isn’t mirroring well juxtaposed to Wemby’s. But Chet’s 2 years older and playing with a star guard that attracts an enormous amount of attention. Chet’s shot has been figured out years ago and is respected so he can pull off more moves off the dribble with better spacing
People hate it when a player is overhyped by the media before he even does anything. Same thing happened with Zion and it’s the reason why Luka became so beloved, because the media paid very little attention to him in his rookie year, until he started playing like a veteran.
Wemby is the opposite. It’s not that he’s playing like shit, but by the media’s narrative and standards, he should be a borderline MVP candidate right now. I mean, that’s what people were saying after the draft, that he’ll be an MVP in his first few seasons.
Overhyped and now reality is sinking in.
Dumb fucks.
I’m more down on Pop
Nobody who knows anything about basketball is down on Wemby. However they’re outnumbered by the sheer mass of idiocy.
Ya, came here to say that if you’re down on Wemby you just don’t know hoops, simple as that
That constant, and not quite yet earned hype is exhausting.
People are way too reactionary and short sighted
This is always how it was going to be. I remember a certain youtuber(can’t remember who) saying that wemby’s hype would die down somewhere during the season and people would start having the “is he even going to be that good” debate. The media and fans are fickle.
Before the draft, the talk was that he was a) a game changing player who b) could be one of the greatest of all time. He’s been the first, but nowhere near the second. People see that the Spurs are losing and take that as confirmation that he’ll never be the second.
Also controversial takes like “Wemby’s a bust” get a lot more people interacting with them compared to more nuanced takes, and thus get a lot more circulation due to algorithms
Because they’re not watching him play lol
All he does is lose
Because the spurs are in last place lol?
This thread is crazy.
Wemby still looks like the first player I’ve ever seen who could become the GOAT defensive player.
The problem is that he is being completely mismanaged by Pop and the Spurs. What the fuck is the point of being 7’4 and coming off a DPOY year at age 18 in France as a Center if they’re gonna play you on the perimeter defensively?
I don’t wanna hear bullshit about extending his career. Opponents take like 50% fewer attempts at the rim when he’s there. Nobody in history has this effect. Playing Center is not gonna cut his career length in half, and if it does but he’s among the greatest defensive players ever during that time - so be it.
I thought KD sucked his rookie year. Only watched a few games but wasn’t impressed. And look how that turned out