2024-01-16 02:36:34
His large frame painfully seated on the bench, Victor Wembanyama watches in disbelief as his team resumes the second half without him. Totally silent during the first act, 0 points and a few offensive failures, the Frenchman had never been placed on the bench by his coach Gregg Popovich, apart from injuries or the usual rotations. Want to pique your ego or desire of the staff to change habits? “The starters (Editor’s note: Tre Jones and Devin Vassell had also been replaced) needed some sort of message or to be shaken up,” Popovich justified afterwards without any malice. When they returned to the floor, the incumbents fought the way they are paid to do. »
The method worked: the San Antonio Spurs, trailing by 35 points at the intermission, gradually came back and Victor Wembanyama then made his contribution. “At halftime, I’m talking about embarrassment, shame,” Wemby said of his coach’s reaction. He was quite upset. That’s why he started the second half with a different team. He wanted to start with players who were going to give 100% on the floor, and also to show us how it happens, how we should have behaved. The substitutes, in quotes, showed us how to do it in the second half. I like being challenged, threatened, and even sent to the G-League (the junior championship) if I’m not good. I like my mistakes to have consequences. »
In one half, the second, the number 1 of the last draft scored 26 points, finishing as his team’s top scorer. The Frenchman also accumulated 13 rebounds and 5 blocks, some of which were very spectacular, notably against Tre Young, blocking with one hand a shot that he had tried to intercept with the other, in the middle of the last quarter. Always very dissuasive when defending his basket, “Wemby” also shone offensively.
Even Spike Lee likes it
At the start of the fourth quarter, he started by making a three-pointer, then he took matters into his own hands by dribbling through the defense before slamming down a dunk. Director Spike Lee, present at the edge of the field, stands up and applauds. At the end of the match, his team looked for him, and found him, near the basket. He converted two alley-oops, while the Spurs came back to within 6 points of the Hawks. Twice, the Texans have a ball to get back to 3 or 4 points! We believe in a miracle, but Popovich’s men are finally caught up by their shortcomings and the gap conceded in the first half proves too difficult to make up.
“Victor has progressed in his aggressiveness,” analyzes Gregg Popovich. He goes to the basket more and is less obsessed with his 3-point success. And of course the team is learning how to serve it, it’s not something we were used to. Defensively, he’s becoming a very good protector of our circle, and he’s figuring out how to make it a priority. And everyone around learns how to adapt to him. »
It takes time and some people are still surprised. The opposing leader, Trae Young, did not hide his astonishment at the end of the match: “Sometimes I feel sorry for him, because he is in a good position and he is not served,” he said. -he declares. They did it much better in the second half by throwing those balls high near the basket. »
San Antonio records its 32nd defeat of the season in 39 matches. Dead last in the Western Conference, they begin a road trip of several days on the east coast which will take them successively to Boston, Charlotte, Washington and Philadelphia. A journey during which Victor Wembanyama could finally see his minute limitations be completely lifted by the Spurs staff. The opportunity to savor, in particular, the reunion of “Wemby” against his friend Bilal Coulibaly (Washington) and his partner in the French team Nicolas Batum (Philadelphia).
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