Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs have lost four straight games, including their In-Season Tournament opener tonight. Hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wemby matched up with his fellow Countryman Rudy Gobert in the battle of the bigs. In their first official matchup against each other, Wemby got the better of the 3x DPOY in their individual matchup, but Gobert took home the 117-110 win.
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In fact, one of his four blocks of the night came against the 7ft 1″ Gobert.
Swat #2 in the 1H for Wemby 🚫🚫
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📱 https://t.co/TSio03riO4 pic.twitter.com/iJ0bNRwh6U— NBA (@NBA) November 11, 2023
After the game, Gobert spoke to the media about the 19-year-old rookie phenom. Gobert raved about his fellow Countryman, as reported by Tom Osborn.
“You can tell he is well coached and also that he is studying the game….He is already a problem, but I think he is going to be a real, real problem really soon!”
Gobert raved about Wemby, including his defense:
“His positioning is way ahead of the positioning of a rookie. You can tell he is well coached and also that he is studying the game….He is already a problem, but I think he is going to be a real, real problem really soon.”
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) November 11, 2023
Rudy also went ahead and complimented Wemby’s mentality of wanting the ball in clutch situations. “He lives for those moments, and he is a competitor, and he is a winner,” said Gobert, talking about Wemby’s poise in the big moments.
Gobert on the poise Wemby has at 19 and how he wants the ball at crunch time: “That’s what he lives for. He lives for those moments and he is a competitor. And he is a winner.”
— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) November 11, 2023
Wemby leads all rookies in clutch stats. Out of the 5 clutch games he’s played, Victor Wembanyama holds a 3-2 record, averaging 4.6 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks in the clutch.
Victor Wembanyama leads the ROTY ladder
Wembanyama has been in the league for just 9 games, and he’s already shown signs of becoming a big problem. So far, he’s averaging 19.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks for the Spurs. His efforts on both sides of the floor have given him the top step on the NBA Rookie Of The Year ladder.
Granted, the team hasn’t been able to capitalize on all of his efforts and holds a 3-6 record. No one thought the Spurs would become a 40/45-win team in Wemby’s rookie season alone. However, his work on the floor has earned him recognition from other legends like Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, and more.
As Wemby gets more comfortable in the league and understands his teammates better, his ceiling will keep getting higher. At this point, we’re all just excited to see what the French rookie has in store for us.
