Wemby & The Spurs Look Playoff Ready | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix

Wemby & The Spurs Look Playoff Ready | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix

We got to talk about San Antonio, dude. And what Victor Webbyama is doing right now. The reigning Western Conference player of the week through three games had the kind of numbers that we’ve literally never seen before. Yep. In the NBA, averaged 33 points, 15 uh rebounds, or was it 13 rebounds and averaging six blocks per game. He is the first player in NBA history to score a 100red points and block 15 shots in the first three games of the season. So, he’s already etching his names his name into the history books three years into his uh NBA career. Uh he’s freakish out there. That game against the Nets on Sunday, he had that sequence that went viral where he blocked Noah Clowney, he blocked Terrence man, he got the ball, took like three dribbles, pulled up just in front of the logo. Yeah. And knocked down a three. Like I put on Twitter there. It’s definitely hyperbole, but he is the uh his DNA is that of Bill Russell and Steph Curry. Yeah. Like that that’s the kind of player he’s looking like this early in the season. What’s impressed you the most about Victor Webmanyama? I I mean just that his development as fast as we all thought it was going to be is already ahead of schedule. Obviously, the muscle he put on has really shown in the way he is playing, right? He took a lot of more long range shots. Everyone’s throwing the numbers up. I don’t know what the numbers are this morning after that game, but that, you know, he’s I I think his percentage of shots uh has just kind of doubled in terms of going, you know, close to the basket inside the line. Yeah. Right. And that like he has just he he’s got muscle in the lower half of his body that has allowed him to just attack, attack, attack. And of course, that’s going to be a huge strength. Yes, he can, you know, hit a three from the logo, but I want to see him pushing his way in. When he’s dunking on Zion Williamson, that gets my attention, right? I just, you know, look, I have sat here with you for the last year and a half. I have sat at my gig at Fox Sports for the last three years saying this guy is going to be a top 10 player of all time. before he was drafted. I said he is going to be a top 10 player of all time. Between the physical body he has, the skills he was brought up with, and the fact that his mindset and ethic was so clear even from his time in France, I think after watching these first few games, did I undershoot it? Did I underall it? Is he going to be a top five player of all time? He’s already in the MVP conversation. It’s his third year in the league. What What do you think? Yeah. I I hesitate to be as grandiose as me. Yes. Yes. I I I mean I’m just so I’ve watched every single one of these Spurs games. And by the way, more impressive, they’ve won all three. Like these aren’t empty calorie statistics. They are helping his team win games. So he’s he’s producing on a winning team right now. Uh, I think you can certainly make the case that based on what we’re seeing at the start of year three that a top five all-time player is not out of the realm of possibility because, you know, when I when I talk to people in San Antonio, I I called a couple over the last few days. They tell me a few things. One, the the offensive development has been really impressive, not just with the decision- making, playing inside the three-point line, using force, you know, like you said, he’s he’s doing that Giannis stuff. He’s dropping that shoulder and he’s ragdolling guys when when he’s in motion. You get him in motion now and he is impossible to stop the size length and now power impossible to stop. But over the last couple of years, one defensive strategy that’s been kind of effective has been playing a small on him. You know, you could play like kind of this burly PJ Washington PJ Tucker. Am I out of PJs? like these kind of smaller guys that that were more physical that could bump him out in the perimeter and force him into a low percentage shot. He’s adjusted. He’s he’s better in those situations. You mentioned the Pelicans game. The Pelicans they I think they started Sadi Bay on him. I just I saw some sequences that where he was on during that game. In the past, a player like Sadi Bay might have caused some problems for Webanyama, but he’s so much more patient now in year three that he’s bidening his time. He’s dissecting the defense. He’s making the right play and he’s using his physical tools. He’s not he’s not getting sped up. He’s not getting rushed. He’s just really patient in those type situations. If you can’t put a small on him, you can’t put anybody on him. Like, he’s going to go right around your bigs. And if he’s patiently overpowering your smalls, you’re just in a lot of trouble on the um on the offensive end of the of the floor. And defensively, like the shot blocking is ridiculous. Six blocks per game. Good lord. I was looking up the team stats versus him. Yeah, he if he was just his own team, he’d be sixth in the league in block shots. Amazing. I mean, he just him he had like he’s blocking more shots than 24 other teams in the league as as a whole. Incredible. And like Zion’s a powerful guy. Um he was getting his stuff swatted back left and right in that game. Um you see the blocks and the contest. I think he’s like top six or seven in contest. Well, around 10 per game. Um, but what I hear is, you know, not not just the stuffs you can statistically account for, but he has teams so afraid of his presence that they’re not even putting up shots. Like, he would be by far and away the leader in contests if teams put up shots they would ordinarily put up. I mean, I was watching that Nets game. Like, Cam Thomas put up a couple of runners that were ceiling scrapers. like just the kind of of putting the kind of arc on the shot that you never see in the NBA. That’s because anything less than that is going to get sent back by Victor Webbyama. So, he’s doing that. He’s become a better team defender. And the other thing was intangibles. Like you’re seeing some of this in some of the clips like in between the huddle. He’s more vocal. He’s talking. He’s taking more of a leadership role with this team on the floor. But what I hear is it’s the same in the locker room. He he is he is taking ownership of this team in his third year in the NBA. That’s a great sign for a young player. Yeah, absolutely. And he’s got a better team around him, right, than he’s ever had with the Spurs. You know, you and I sat here in these preseason podcasts talking about what the Spurs might do this season, and I kept saying, “Hey, Victor Webbyama has expectations.” Talking to people around him, talking to people on the Spurs, he does not see this coming season as another development year he wants to make and expects to make the playoffs. I can definitely see them being in top six in the West if he keeps playing like this. Now, if he keeps playing like this is dependent on a couple things. First of all, he can’t suffer a major injury. That is always a concern with anyone. I feel like everyone around the NBA just gets injured all the time. Now, we just talked about two huge stars who are injured. Um, but also, is his stamina sort of playing this big a role on both ends of the court? Is that something that can keep up not only through an entire 82 game season, but then also making a playoff push? I don’t know, man. He’s young. I I think when you’re young, you can do this kind of thing. You know, we talk about a rookie wall is not a rookie anymore. And so, I really have super high expectations for this team. I’m excited. They’re so fun to watch. It’s fun to watch these young guards developing, you know. So, let’s talk about them for a second, especially Dylan Harper, the rookie point guard, who was as much a reason that they beat Brooklyn as anybody. Like, he took over in the second half of that game and was was making plays uh for the Spurs. Uh he is like what we saw in the preseason, he just looks so advanced for a guy his age and at his position playing the most complicated position in the NBA, he has been able to step in and play right away. Stephen Castle proven commodity as well. Um I thought it was notable Mitch Johnson who is I wouldn’t say is prone to hyperbole as a uh pop disciple. Uh he he said that Kell Johnson, who’s been a Spur for a long time now, is impacting winning more this season than he has at any point during his career. That that’s that speaks volumes for a guy that grew up under or came up under Pop and Mitch Johnson and has seen a lot of Kell Johnson. So if you’ve got Harper and Castle playing at that level, if you’re getting great play from Kell Johnson, Deon Vel is putting up points. Yep. still need to have D’Ang Fox back and work him back into the mix. That that’s a playoff team. Like that’s not team. They’re a playoff that’s a fullon playoff team. Well, who’s going to want to play them either? Like who is going to want to touch that team with Victor Wimyama all the way through year three, right? And you know, look, we see guys who raise their level in the playoffs, right? We know that there are playoff performers. Steph Curry obviously is fantastic in the reg regular season, but he’s exceptional in the playoffs. Tyresese Hallebertton has raised his game in the playoffs. Jimmy Butler historically has raised his level in the playoffs. I can see Victor Webbyama as exceptional as he is throughout a season being one of those guys who even, you know, comes through in the playoffs even more. So, I totally agree with you. You know, it’s interesting with Dylan Harper for what, the two, three weeks before the draft, there was so much conversation about will the Spurs make a play for Giannis and will they use that number two pick to make a play for Giannis? And can you imagine Giannis and Victor next to each other and all of that? And they were pretty steadfast saying they weren’t going to do it. And I think they had their eye on Harper. We obviously knew who was going to go first, so they knew who who they had their pick of at second. And man, if you look at Victor and everything he can do now, I think it’s a better play to have gone with a guard of the caliber that Dylan Harper seems to be turning into. And I also think it’s an interesting meditation on like sons of NBA players, right? Um, when a son of so and so comes into the league, you never really know what you’re going to get. It partly depends on just genetically. Did they get more of their mom or their dad? It also depends on the dad and how much they’ve been sort of a presence in terms of working out with their son and teaching him all the little NBA tricks because that is a huge thing when you’re a rookie. You don’t know all the tricks. You don’t know where guys grab you. You don’t know where there’s a little window where the refs won’t see. You don’t know all the little, you know, things out of a timeout. Dylan Harper knows those things because Ron Harper obviously invested in teaching him those things. And then obviously it depends on the kid too. Does he want to be a sponge? What’s his work ethic? Obviously, most NBA kids grow up so rich that they don’t sometimes have the motivation that their fathers had. Dylan Harper seems to have it. And it’s fun for me uh just on the side when one of those stories works out because, you know, from a feature perspective and as an NBA fan perspective, it’s cool. I covered Ron Harper and it’s great to see the family doing so well. It’s also great to see Luke Cornett doing so well. Like I I I that was I thought they might have overpaid for Cornet this off season, although the deal wasn’t quite what it was reported as. It’s more of a two-year deal with some non-G guarantees, but he’s been getting minutes alongside Webbyama and been valuable as that kind of physical presence to playing alongside him. Well, look, we I always talk about Steph Curry as a multiplier, right? There’s guys who aren’t just great in themselves, they make everyone around them so much better because of the gravity of what they can do. Victor Webbyama is obviously a multiplier. So you take guys like Luke Cornet or you take guys like, you know, look, if you stick Dylan Harper on another team, maybe he’s that doesn’t have a first impressive few games, but Victor Webbyama commands so much of the floor. It gives guys the opportunity to show what they can do with a little more breathing room. And I think you have to take that into account, too. At what point do you think the Darren Fox is he going to get traded conversation starts happening? It won’t be till if it happens. Yes. It wouldn’t be till the offse like they’re going to give this a go. And look, this as you know, this is I’m not saying from the Spurs. I mean from everyone else. Yeah. But this this is the year this is the fun year for San Antonio. Like let’s get into the playoffs. If we can get to the second round, more power to us, but there’s really no pressure on us. This is like Oklahoma City from a couple of years ago when they got in. It’s the next year when all these guys are a year older that the pressure starts to pick up. But this this team’s looking like a real threat to do something in the playoffs. That’s for sure. Even in a conference as good as the

Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols break down Victor Wembanyama’s historic start to the season and why the Spurs look ready to compete in the playoffs

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Wemby & The Spurs Look Playoff Ready | Rachel Nichols & Chris Mannix
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