San Antonio Spurs 'monster rookie' Victor Wambanyama has been described as 'the best talent since LeBron James'.
He has overwhelming physical attributes. He has a great height of 2.24 meters and a wingspan of 2.43 meters. His movement is that of a small forward. For a big man, he has good speed, dribbling ability, and shooting ability.
What he lacks is power. He weighs only 104 kilograms. His shooting balance is often off due to his size. His offense needs work. However, his defense is one of the best in the league. He has an overwhelming ability to block shots.
He blocks shots not only from under the basket, but also from outside.
He's considered the greatest talent of all time, but the NBA isn't easy. He"s a bit behind in the Rookie of the Year race. Oklahoma"s Chet Holmgren has been impressive.
However, he has a chance to rebound. A position change.
On the 16th, ESPN reported, "Victor Wembanyama started this season as a power forward. However, he is embracing life as a center.
Power forward is a position that goes back and forth between the inside and outside. Centers play more under the basket. For a player like Wembanyama, who can play inside and out, power forward is a better fit.
However, he is much more powerful in practice when he plays center.
Wambanyama's move to starting center helped San Antonio to a 135-99 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. In the third quarter, 바카라사이트 Wembanyama scored 13 straight points.
At the start of the regular season, Wembanyama was a forward. He played alongside center Zach Collins. He maximized his time on the perimeter rather than under the basket.
However, both the team and Wembanyama were negative.
Eventually, after a 15-game losing streak, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich started using Wemba as the starting center on December 9 last year.
He had 21 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocked shots against Chicago. Despite the 112-121 loss to the Bulls, Wemba showed that he can be very efficient as a center. He was able to mix small and big lineups at the same time. Wembanyama's style of play allows him to make changes accordingly.
Prior to his NBA career, Wembanyama played the four and five in the French Pro League for Mets 92. Since then, Wembanyama has had fewer ups and downs. This season, he's averaging 19.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 3.3 blocked shots.
Since San Antonio switched him to center, his game has become even more potent. Despite missing time with an ankle injury, he's averaging 20.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 3.8 blocked shots in 26.7 minutes per game over his last 14 games.
His efficiency is evident in his secondary stats as well. According to Second Spectrum's analysis, before December 8, Wembanyama's expected effective field goal percentage was 48.5%. His average shooting distance was 14.6 feet (4.5 meters). After December 8, his expected effective field goal percentage is 52.3% and his average shooting distance is 12.7 feet (3.9 meters).
In other words, as his shooting distance shortens, Wembanyama's shooting efficiency and scoring goes up, and opposing defenses struggle. In modern basketball, where the three-point shot has become so prevalent, a perimeter-oriented offense can be less efficient, but Wembanyama is different. He has monstrous physical specs. In practice, this means that Wembanyama's attacking routes are more powerful when he uses his center's movement to set screens to ball handlers and to run through options like slips, rolls, and pops.
As ESPN notes, "The biggest change from the position switch is Wembanyama's passing. He increased his assists per game from 2.5 to 3.7, and on Dec. 10 against the Detroit Pistons, he recorded his first career triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. It was the second-fewest minutes played by any player in NBA history to record a triple-double. On this night, Wembanya played just 21 minutes.
"I think putting me at center has given me the opportunity to make more plays for my teammates, and it's given the team the opportunity to use me more, and it's been working out pretty well," Wembanya said.
