Victor Wembanyama Mid-Season Report Card: He Was Underhyped

Grade: A

That could have been an A+, but I had to take off some points.

Let’s start with the sea of positives.

Hype and Expectations

Wemby has exceeded all expectations. He actually should have been hyped up more because he’s even better than advertised.

He’s destined to be the greatest player of all-time.

Intangibles

From all appearances, Victor comes across as a great teammate. I’d describe his interactions with teammates as:

• positive
• supportive
• encouraging
• energetic

He loves seeing teammates succeed and is constantly jumping off the bench to cheer them on. When he’s on the court, there are no shortage of high fives.

His overall demeanor and personality are on the exact same wave length, except when it comes to opponents.

Victor has the same competitive gene as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. He wants to “traumatize” the competition (his word, not mine).

Relatedly, he’s ready for prime time. When the score is close near the end of the game, Victor thrives. He not only wants the ball, but has come through repeatedly with big shots down the stretch.

Another pro that stands out: he’s made improvements over the course of the season. He’s already embodied feedback to upgrade his game and curtail and even eliminate some of his flaws.

One last standout: he knows the game; he knows how to play winning basketball. When I watch him, I see someone who has all the right instincts, thoughts, and progressions.

Yes, he makes mistakes and has weaknesses, but he has advanced knowledge of how to play basketball the right way.

Overall, the intangibles are off the charts. Superlatives all around.

Offense

Victor has already done things that nobody in the history of the game has ever been able to do.

His combination of range, touch, athleticism, intelligence, and length has continually overwhelmed opponents on the offensive end.

Victor’s experienced the most success on cuts to the basket and getting out in transition. Whenever he’s been anywhere in the vicinity of the hoop, he’s been cashing.

One very pleasant bonus has been Victor’s passing. He’s not only a willing passer, but an extremely gifted passer. His vision and distribution is already at an elite level.

In just 28.5 minutes per game, Victor is averaging 19.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists and he’s taken it up multiple notches in the games leading up to the halfway point.

Defense

Victor’s impact on the defensive end has been mammoth. In the beginning of the season, opponents challenged him and now they fear him.

And although Victor’s defensive stats are impressive (3.1 blocks, 1.1 steals), they only paint part of the picture — when you watch the games, you’ll see opponents completely change their shots, pass up shots, and change their offensive approach altogether.

Victor’s defensive footprint has benefitted teammates as he’s continuously roaming the paint, ready to help out.

Negatives

The expectation was not that Victor would be the perfect player at 19 years old, but he’s actually been really, really close to it.

What are the weaknesses in his game so far?

Here are the obvious problems I see in his game:

• Doesn’t box out (he relies on his height)
• Too often takes what defense will give him
• Resorts to threes too often
• Doesn’t always have control of the ball on shots
• Turnover prone when dribbling the ball
• Not cognizant of teammate limitations
• Tendency to get out of control on drives

Out of that list, the biggest problem is not boxing out. That’s going to be the one area where I think he’ll take the longest to get to par because he’s developed a bad habit of conceeding position and then relying on his height to get rebounds.

Another very subtle weakness for Victor is his grip strength. My grip strength theory is that he can’t control the ball that well because his hands aren’t strong enough (or maybe his palms are undersized).

If Victor can improve his ball control just 30%, it will work wonders and level up his offensive game to even more dangerous levels.

But none of these bullet points are where I deducted points.

The reason I docked Victor from an A+ to an A is because he has accepted Gregg Popovich’s limitations on his playing time.

Initially, Victor had the right intuition: defy Pop and play anyway.

Yes, he actually did this. Victor checked himself into the Memphis Grizzlies game without Pop’s knowing.

But afterwards, Victor relented and gave into Gregg Popovich’s… tanking or whatever the hell he’s doing.

First of all, this is not Victor’s fault. The blame here rests squarely on Gregg Popovich and then Spurs ownership for not firing Pop.

Victor should never have been put in the difficult position of needing to overrule his own coach, especially a coach he looks up to, a coach with the pedigree and legendary status Pop possesses.

But the tanking and not playing and minutes limitations mess has presented itself and Victor is the next force in basketball history. Something had to give and it should have been Pop’s authority and/or job.

There’s no way a healthy Victor Wembanyama should be watching games from the bench.

The greatest basketball player in the world doesn’t let anybody stand in his way. It doesn’t matter who it is and that includes his own coach.

For right now, Victor’s dominance and progress has been throttled.

Although he just turned 20 years old, I wanted Victor to push past this major hurdle to his success.

Continue with the mid-season report card for the Spurs.