Victor Wembanyama addresses Spurs’ EFFICIENCY in 4-0 start | NBA on ESPN

Victor Wembanyama addresses Spurs’ EFFICIENCY in 4-0 start | NBA on ESPN

No question. How you feeling about the 41 starting? Um, great. I mean, I think uh those are four games that we’re we we’re supposed to win, you know, like if if we lost them, we we would have been disappointed and uh that’s, you know, we need to keep uh the standard. So, but uh say we we’re want to be thing you just said about games we’re supposed to win. Is that kind of a measure of how things have changed over the last two years? There’s more of those games where you feel like you’re supposed to win than before. Of course. Yeah. Uh it is I also mean by that I also mean like say say one day we lose a game and uh the other team made a a record amount of threes and a you know and a field goal percentage and like and we keep the we respect the scouting report. Of course, we it’s never all right to lose, but you know, it’s uh we wouldn’t feel as bad as a team where, you know, we throw it away and uh to lose this game tonight, we would have had to throw it away and uh we didn’t do it. So, it also shows progress. Mitch talked before the game about your efficiency that that’s standing out to him. Then you go seven of eight, 10 of 10 at the line, plus 35. Is that becoming more and more a point of pride just to have that efficiency at a high level? point of pride. Yeah. But also straightforward, you know, the the best way to to help my team. Um sometimes it’s uh easy to underestimate the vow turning down shots. And um you know, I’ve done a lot of work this summer to to recognize the situation and the situations and when to take a shot, when to not. and uh take the the highest quality shots possible. HP said the vibes are really high for the team right now. How are you enjoying this? Yeah, I mean we’re loving it. It’s uh we’re we always love playing basketball no matter what, but it’s a little bit easier, you know, to go to bed at night when you win. It’s easier to come uh to practice. it’s easier to do the the hard things for um recovery or or uh scouting or the little efforts on the court because you have the the results right in front of your eyes. So, it’s uh it’s like um positive cycle, you know. Are you aware of the block shot streak that you have? 89. Yeah, I don’t I don’t know the number, but I know it. like when it gets starts to get late, do you start hunting those at all or is that too simple? I’ve don’t think so because like there’s moments where I’m hunting blocks even when I got six already. So So it’s my job. On that note, are there nights when it feels like teams just aren’t challenging you? And do you get any sense of pride when guys instead of going at you throw the ball out of bounds like like happened a couple times tonight? Is that Yeah. In other words, is your defensive impact in more than just the blocks, but but Oh, yeah, for sure. For sure. For sure. I think I had a solid defensive game um without without blocks or with one block. So, yeah, there’s many more ways to to impact the game. And uh if you know, yeah, it’s going to happen more and more for sure that guys turn down shots. HB had pitched a new stat called he he called it drives derailed. In other words, count the number of times that a player decides not to challenge you. That’s a good idea. Yeah, it’s a it’s a great idea because uh we I we do a lot of video with with Sean Sweeney, you know, to to analyze the situations and many times it’s like Yeah. like before we even get to that to this shot to having to block this shot, you know, there’s stuff we can do beforehand. Congrats on the uh congrats on the player of the week. Thank you. Um wondering if you know we’re if you have any thoughts on you know capturing that the first week of the regular season. A little bit of pride you know and uh but you know I think the most important stat is the three and 0 uh be before uh getting the this player of the week. Three three wins no losses. So this is what I’m on. It’s it was like oh that’s cool. I have a game today though. And now with the 4 and0 Vic, would it surprise you to hear that that matches the best start in franchise history? It matches the best a Spurs team has ever started. Spurs never went five and0. Spurs never went five. No. Wow. Right. I’m surprised. I’m really surprised because Spurs have the highest win percentage in like the last three years or whatever, right? Wow. Well, let’s let’s beat that record. Days away from Halloween. Have you come up with a costume yet? Sorry. Days away from Halloween. Days away, but we don’t get a game on Halloween, so we don’t get to see a this year, unfortunately. Hey, Tony Parker was Tony Parker was at the game today. And do you realize you’re the first bird to average 30 points over the first four games since Tony Parker in ’08? What year was that? 2008. Wow. Okay. I didn’t know. How’s that feel? It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool. It’s a lots of positive things, you know. It makes it reminds me that, you know, collective um results just wrinkled down to individual um rewards, you know. You guys have um you guys are currently undefeated, but each game you’ve had different challenges, but still able to close out. What’s been the biggest sign of growth that you’ve seen, not just in wins, but how your team handles runs, adversity, or execution? Can still get better, especially coming out of second half, but um yeah, I mean, we definitely know ourselves better, know where to get to. Um and also for for me, it’s like recognizing also the game better. like I hear an opponent say they’re gonna do this or that and like immediately thinking okay that means we need to run this. So it’s uh I guess it’s just individual individual growth. It’s uh you know a sum of I mean a bunch of of players you know coming together for the same project. You say um collective results trickle down to individual rewards when you say stuff like that. Is that you or did you read that somewhere? No, that’s that’s for me. Good. You talk about just come up with those. You talk about the vibes being high and 4 and0 start, but how much does Mitch’s mentality to keep y’all focused each and every day help out this run? I mean, Mitch is very purposeful, you know, in the in the way he he speaks and um he manages to, you know, match our energy when it’s going good and and say the right things when it’s going when it’s going bad, you know, when they get on runs or or whatever. So, it’s a it’s I mean, it’s it’s a great quality and I think it’s a a hard one to teach. So, I’m I’m glad he has it. You know, being able to recognize the situation in the moment and say purposeful things. In the moment, by the way, 360 layup. Never worked on that before. I guess that’s a first. Hey. Yeah. Only took two and a half years. Is it hard to believe that in the history of this franchise, four knows the records start? We just looked that up. No. No Spurs team has ever gone five and0. Well, uh that’s a good indication that we’ll get to 50 wins and that’s that’s a good sign. Um but yeah, I mean it’s I think it’s just a testament to each game’s been different, but guys have found different ways to win. People have stepped up at different times and kind of we’ve done it as a group, so it’s been it’s been good. Sort of the flip side of that equation is a lot of the younger kids in that locker room have never had a stretch like this where you even won four in a row. um is is part of the deal now to kind of keep them from getting too excited about that? For sure. I mean, it’s it’s all perspective, right? I mean, technically Dylan’s never lost a game in his first uniform, right? So, it’s like um you know, there’s there’s Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there’s there’s there’s definitely a balance, but I think it’s a lot of the the issues and the things that we’ve talked about in these games, it kind of can sometimes be minimized just because you win, you feel like, oh, okay, you know, this is how it goes. But over the course of the season, I think um focusing on those details, I think guys are seeing that and and hearing that message of uh there’s a lot of errors that we can improve on. You feel like there’ll still be film sessions where we’re going to look at mistakes and look at what we can clean up and Oh, for sure. I mean, I think you know, in the New Orleans game, I mean, there was a few plays like that in the Brooklyn game, obviously giving up that lead and tonight’s game, right? I mean, just a few plays here or there, right? It changes the whole environment, right? So I think for us it’s just a matter of being in a situation that we haven’t been in before, right? Playing with some leads and just having the maturity to to maintain those. What do you feel like your role is when you know you’ve encountered those situations where teams start to make that comeback? Honestly, just to try to try to slow things down, try to get us settled, try to um figure out ways to because you know, Victor is a high volume guy for us. You know, our guards have the ball a lot. you know, what plays or actions can you um call out there to just make it easier for everyone. And I think, you know, obviously we’re still developing, you know, chemistry um just being in some of those different situations about what plays work for us and what don’t. But, um I think guys are doing a great job. Harrison, how about the balance again today? Six guys in double figures, had the balance yesterday as well. Um just everybody contributing not only in the in the point column, but in other areas as well. So far, I think one thing we talked about before the season and we saw it kind of, you know, in our in our scrimmages and just practice and things like that was that um every single night there there’s plenty of offense to go around. You know, we’re always going to have people who can step up, put the ball in the basket, right? But defensively, how can we do that every single night and how can we cheer for each other’s success? You know, I think that’s that’s the biggest thing for us because it’s such a long season because, you know, health is a part of this game that we’re going to need different guys at different times to step up. And I think guys have responded to the call, whoever it’s been, whether it’s been Jordan Mloff, whether it’s been Carter’s minutes tonight, whether it’s been Bismax minutes, whoever it is that maybe was in one role, but then a guy goes down and they have to step up. You guys shot 67 shots tonight. I can’t remember last time I saw a box score with that few field goal attempts. How has I guess the tempo been for you guys of balancing smart half court play and then still getting aggressive in transition? I think honestly the biggest thing for us is just managing turnovers. I think whether we’re we’re playing fast, whether we’re playing slow, I think it’s a matter of can we continue to hit singles, right? Sometimes when we when we play fast, you know, we try to go for the home run play, right? And obviously we have, you know, a lot of players who can make exciting plays, right? But over the course of games, especially when we get to the crunch time, like how can we just value the basketball? And I think um it’s an area that we we we know we have to grow in. We we’ve had some high turnover games and um fortunately that hasn’t come back to bite us. You guys have tried to be pretty patient moving the ball and find wide open shots. So you had you had one shot in the second half. It was kind of like pretty much a contested three, but there had been some possessions of like kind of meandering around. I guess as a veteran, at what point do you just step up? You’re like, I just got to take the shot. We got to just be a little bit decisive. Well, I think sometimes it’s it’s the balance. Do we take, you know, a contested three or a catch and shoot three, right? Where’s a higher probability rebound and a kick out versus do we drive into traffic, either get the shot blocked and or turn it over, trying to make a jump pass, right? Those are the plays that we’re trying to get away from, right? Obviously, it’s good to draw two um make the defense collapse and then kick out andor a victor double team, but how can we minimize kind of those those live ball turnovers um where we’re just, you know, giving a team, you know, 20 extra points at the end of the night. You still notice teams sh like tonight’s a night when Victor didn’t have a block until the closing minutes, but it seemed like there was possession after possession after possession when Toronto was actively avoiding him. Do you still see his presence felt in that way? Absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, teams are literally just driving in there and just not even shooting, right? Which, you know, it’s it’s it’s good and good and bad, right? Um but I think, you know, it’s obviously a credit to to Vic in terms of the presence that he has. I mean, I don’t know if there’s a stat that, you know, derail drives um by just stepping up, but um yeah, he definitely affects the game without having to block a shot. Jar might start that stat, derail drive. Yeah, I’m making good. Harrison, you shot nearly perfect tonight and and had some big buckets in the fourth when Toronto began to close in on that gap. What was your read on those particular possessions and how did you stay efficient under pressure? Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing for us, and I mean, I’m sure you guys have seen it, is just the vibes are high in the locker room. I think there’s a lot of trust to go around. I think there’s a lot of confidence to go around for anybody. And I think for us the biggest thing is just um just shooting with confidence. I think that’s that’s a message that we talk about a lot and um guys body and so I think obviously if tonight it was me and a few those possessions but whoever it is that we want anyone to just shoot those with confidence. Speaking of your teammates, you’ve been around a lot of teams, but what stands out about this particular group’s focus during an undefeated start in the regular season? Well, I think uh the youthfulness of the team helps because I don’t think um we read too much into that. Um I think it’s it’s more of the excite of guys just getting a chance to play and just excited to be playing in front of great fans. I think every night I think that’s more of the that’s more of the focus is how do we not let the excitement of just our games, you know, speed us up or just, you know, make us uh do some wild things out there. But, um, I think, like I said, everyone’s excited to continue to build off what we’ve started these first four games. You talk about the vibes. I know Mitch mentioned you feel like y’all are just trying more. And when it comes to that, like, is that just different with the culture this year? Is that different with the roster this year? Like, why do you feel like you said y’all are just trying more? Well, I mean, I don’t you have to ask him about that, but and just in terms of the vibes, I mean, they’re they’re high. I mean, there’s a lot of, I think, offc court chemistry that is is that has been built over the summer, just, you know, guys hanging out, things like that. And I think that’s showing up on the court. I think the connectivity is showing up on the court. Um, and, you know, whether we’re 4 and0 or 0 and4, I just feel like the um is different. So, I think that’s just the biggest thing that I’ve noticed just in terms of how guys communicate, how guys are connected in timeouts, on the court, during runs, um, positive and negative, all those types of things. Thanks, H. [Music]

Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes speak following the San Antonio Spurs’ win over the Toronto Raptors.
0:00 Spurs’ 4-0 start
5:30 “How does that feel?”
8:00 No Spurs team has EVER gone 5-0?
13:00 Wemby in the paint

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