After a dominant start to the season, Victor Wembanyama has faced a bit of turmoil over the last two games. The Phoenix Suns opened the floodgates last week by aggressively double-teaming the All-Star big man. And in the San Antonio Spurs’ recent game against the Los Angeles Lakers, JJ Redick took the same philosophy but enhanced it.
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Wemby’s poor performance led to many to argue that his stellar form had to falter at some point. However, NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins doesn’t view this development as a negative but rather a sign of progression.
Just looking at the box score, it would seem that Wembanyama had a decent game. He finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists against the Lakers. But those stats don’t tell the entire story. Wemby shot 35.7% from the field and turned the ball over 5 times. To make matters worse, he wasn’t able to finish the game after fouling out.
Redick and the Lakers knew that even if Wemby was having a bad game for his standards, his presence on the court is enough of a threat. Which is why they tempted the Spurs star into offensive fouls.
Kendrick Perkins, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye all chalked it down to being a learning curve for the big Frenchman.
“This is part of growing pains,” Perkins said. “This is where you start entering that elite company. Jokic had to figure it out. Giannis had to figure it out. Time Duncan, all the great bigs at some point had to experience double teams and then all of a sudden they had to figure it out as a team.”
The Spurs coaching staff will have to do their best to put Wemby in the best positions offensively to succeed. In the Lakers game, they tried to make some adjustments by eliminating the frequent post touches. As it can happen, tactically that played right into the opponent’s hands.
Wembanyama becomes a match-up nightmare in the post, which is why he is receiving double teams. Fortunately for the Spurs, they have another solution tucked in their back pocket. The only problem is they have to be a bit more patient until they can experience it’s benefits.
“They need De’Aaron Fox,” Perkins proclaimed. “Wemby now needs someone to be able to set the table for him and get him the ball in the spots where he could be successful.”
Thankfully, the Spurs don’t have to look for a special talent to pair alongside Wemby; they already have it. This is one of the reasons they traded for Fox. He’s an All-NBA-calibre guard who will demand significant attention on the defense.
Of course, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle also have the potential to demand that sort of attention, but they are not at that level just yet. There’s no confirmation when Fox will return, but it seems it’ll be sooner rather than later. For Wembanyama’s sake, the Spurs are hoping he’ll make his season debut very shortly.
