Despite not being a major topic of discussion, I feel this is worth addressing and apologize if this should have been posted in another thread. Wemby is Coming. In the near future, he will be an unprecedented force on defense. His length and rim protection will give opponents no chance. Watch the French LNB playoffs to get a glimpse of him in action. It's a shame that Houston will have to face him four times a year, being in the same division. On the Dunc'd On podcast, the French League playoffs were discussed, particularly a problem posed by an older player's post moves. The player managed to push Wemby so far under the basket that he could not block the shot without his hand passing through the net. To do better, Wemby must gain more muscle; however, his slight frame may make it hard to keep up with post-move centers taking him to the hoop and ready to score or set up for an open shot. This is my hope that players like Sengun, who have impressive post-move and passing abilities. Still, he will likely need to make a leap in development comparable to Jokic's to devise a successful counter-attack to the defensive strategies of Pop, Wemby, and Sochan. "Help me, Alperen Sengun. You're my only hope." - Princess Leia "When you play the game of Championships, you win or you die." - Cersei Lannister "A man with no motive is a man no one suspects. Always keep your foes confused." - Stephen Silas
I have set my sight on Wemby vs Chet, a real treat. Maybe Kenneth Lofton Junior can do a trick there.
I get a lot of the hype, he has a genuine skill set. However..... if we are going to closely scrutinize guys like Thompson and Scoot and Miller...... Wemby deserves the same. For all his talent....... and the hype, no one discusses: That he averages more turnovers than assists, he turns the ball over almost as much as James Harden did, but with only 1/4 the assists. That he takes a lot of 3 point shots but that he has a lower % than Amen Thompson...... he only shots 27% on threes. That his overall FG% is only 47% from the floor. That for his flexibility and nimbleness, he really doesn't get a lot of steals. I would take Wemby #1 - he is the top prospect in a LONG time because of potential - and he did a lot better in 2023 in the French League than in 2022, BUT he hasn't done a lot of the things people assume he will do. If you listened to what some say about him, you would assume that he was shooting 40% from 3, getting Jokic level assists and shooting 60% from the floor with lots of steals. Also, he isn't exactly playing against the most talented players in the world. His best teammate couldn't survive in the G-League. I am not ******** on Victor - he is likely going to be special, but he isn't great yet - and he at times had problems in International competition against people like Jayden Ivey and at some points Chet Holmgren - and before he got hurt, Scoot Henderson played at the same level head to head against Wemby when they matched up. Hell, the G-League Ignite won the game when both were healthy.
There is a center in Texas who will produce these numbers. His name is not Wembanyama. His name is Sengun. Alperen Sengun.
I don't think anyone is planning to play Wemby as a Center and even if you do happen to get him in the post for some bully ball - there are probably only a handful of teams who have bigs skilled enough to make that an instant bucket(most NBA players don't have a back to the basket game anymore) and more importantly it comes at the complete detriment of nearly every team's offensive system because no teams plays a post centric offense anymore.
For all you poster for Sengun,,,,, I remind you that Sengun is too short in height and limited in how high he can spring upwards. He will stand no chance against Wenby unless he becomes a great 3 point shooter. I still have hope in him ! Y
Nah, watch tape of Wemby, it's going to take him a few years before he has a hope in hell against Sengun inside. Sengun in year 3 is going to be muscling him around until Wemby gets the strength to not get pushed around. We're not talking a young Yao here where you might as well try and push a tree backwards for most people, this kid gets moved by much smaller players. Sengun's one of the most advanced post players in the NBA already (actually one of the few areas you can say that without bias, it's a fact and has been since day 1) combined with a much lower base of gravity and a lot more strength means Sengun will feast until Wemby catches up.
I wonder if the league knew they were going to give Wemby to the Spurs, so they manipulated the situation for us to get Jabari a year before. maybe they want to see that match up for years to come.
Alpi can easily back him down. But without the explosiveness and the much shorter wingspan, I don’t know that he’s the type of player who will abuse Wemby down low. Sure, if he backs him ALL the way down behind the basket. But that’ll likely take 5 seconds if the double doesn’t come sooner. I am not setting any real expectations or predictions for Wemby until I see him against NBA players in a real NBA game — not summer league. I don’t think it’s guaranteed he becomes the “next guy.” I think there should be serious concerns about his frame. 7’4”. That’s a long way for the ball to bounce up on the dribble, haha. Players will learn to get under him and bully him with their superior weight and strength. Unless he has the wirey Tayshaun Prince strength. wish he would have gone anywhere but SAS so I could actually hope he does well. As it is, I just channel all negative thoughts while he resides just south of me.
If Jabari were 7'2 there might be an argument. Jabari is 6'11 in shoes. Wemby is going to shoot right over him all day.
Sengun is certainly strong enough, but with limited wingspan / range and nonexistent explosiveness, it will be interesting to see how he tries to baby hook / scoop his way over Wemby’s sheer length and height.
You don't have to be a post centric offense to score in the post. There are lots of players that can score inside and even post up. I don't care if they call Wemby a 4 or 5 or even a 2 - at the end of the day it is the same crap as it was with Tim Duncan, he can say he isn't a 5, but he is going to end up playing 5 a lot of the time. It is very unlikely that long term he has a traditional 5 next to him. He is a great shot blocker from behind and when he is untouched and goes up - when he gets body on him he can be moved, even Scoot Henderson at times was creating space.
You body him and get him where he doesn't know where you are going next. He already protects his body, he has learned to not some in and contest on certain angles and that will give you buckets. He is going to block a lot of shots, but going up directly over him or even just shooting over him isn't effective - you have to be on the move like Scoot was with him. Wemby is a vastly better athlete, but it was the same thing that people used to do against Theo Ratliff.
