Victor Wembanyama went 1-for-13 while shooting from the field in the Spurs’ season-opening loss against OKC. In fact, he didn’t score a bucket until the last few seconds of the third quarter. He’s also the same player who may be the MVP favorite, so where is he going wrong?
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In a recent episode of Run It Back, Michelle Beadle asked fellow basketball pundit Chandler Parsons whether consistency was Wembanyama’s biggest enemy. Parsons explained that he has seen similar issues in Jayson Tatum and Luka Doncic’s play.
“Whoever is guarding him is already a mismatch,” Parsons said, praising Wembanyama’s scoring ability. “So he doesn’t need to be waiting for everything. And I think like this when I watch Tatum and Luka play. These guys are so gifted, and they can score in so many different ways. But sometimes they let the defense off the hook, and they don’t get to the right spots, and they don’t get downhill, and I think Wemby is a product of that where he just settles too much.”
Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum are both elite scorers. They can throw the ball from just about anywhere on the court and hope to make the basket. Victor Wembanyama also possesses brilliant scoring abilities; however, his playstyle is different.
At seven feet and four inches, nobody is going to have an easy time guarding the French icon. He can rush to the rim and make a play, pushing the defense into a tight corner. However, according to Parsons, he just seems to have settled against OKC.
Instead of rushing the rim or playing in the paint, Victor Wembanyama focused on making field goals and three-pointers. That did not work out very well for him this time against the team’s sworn rivals, as he ended the game going 0-for-4 on 3-pointers.
The comparison between three of the league’s best scorers comes down to how they attack the defense. They can indeed score brilliantly, but as offensive geniuses, they often don’t let opponents’ defenders force them into mistakes. This was on full display when Wembanyama played against OKC.
Parsons was blown away by the fact that he did not have a single field goal until the third quarter. However, he also gave OKC credit where it’s due.
“Yes we can credit OKC’s defence is great, they’re physical, they switch, they pushed him out. Chet did a great job challenging him last night, but that shouldn’t affect zero field goals for, arguably, the MVP favorite of the league on opening night.”
Thankfully, Victor Wembanyama isn’t oblivious to his performance against his greatest rivals. He acknowledged later in the presser that he was indecisive and hesitant. In fact, he went as far as to saying that this wasn’t the sport he liked playing, not like this anyways.
“I’ve got no reason to be hesitant. It’s as simple as that. I’m good when I have fun. I was indecisive. I might be overthinking it,” Wembanyama admitted. So, perhaps fans can now expect him to go back to his tactical basketball approach where he plays in the paint and protects the net like the unguardable player he is.