Wemby Watch: Spurs Escape Rockets with Important Win, Victor Out of Shape

I feel like I missed something. Since when did Victor become Joel Embid?

Apparently, he’s completely out of shape and is battling fatigue for most of his court time. That’s what Ryan Hollins (Rockets color guy) kept relaying throughout the game.

Showing up unprepared doesn’t sound like Victor at all, but it would help excuse some of the poor play from tonight and the season opener.

Anyway, the Spurs really did escape with a win. If this game extends to overtime, the Spurs likely fold in the extra period. The Rockets hammered away at a 21/22 point deficit until they were within one point, but some mistakes on their end helped the Spurs get the W.

I had many thoughts throughout the game.

Chris Paul

1. Chris Paul has lost a step. He labored to bring the ball up against pressure multiple times. That’s not the Chris Paul I remember.
2. Paul also had a few uncharacteristically bad passes that missed the mark and led to turnovers.
3. Despite all of that, I love when he’s out there because I know he’s the one guy who actually knows what to do. I was definitely hoping that his brief seeming injury wasn’t serious.
4. Why didn’t Paul come get the ball during crunch time rather than Stephon Castle? It was nice that Castle hit 3/4, but I’d much rather Paul shoot the free throws.

Victor Wembanyama

1. I really wish the Spurs would flex Victor out of center when a thick bruiser like Jock Landale is in the game. Victor’s not really a center when you think about his body type and these guys can take years off his career.
2. Victor fell down yet again while dribbling. The dribbling needs to become a nice potential out rather than a feature for Victor. He’s simply too tall to be handling the ball on the perimeter. The falling is a result of him trying to move faster than his body will allow.
3. The Spurs need to advance the ball quicker and run more to get Victor in open space. The half court post ups clearly don’t work, especially against a savvy team like the Rockets. When the Spurs force the ball to Victor on the post, it just takes them out of rhythm and the rest of the team mostly watches as Victor tries to figure out how to maneuver against defenders who will always have a base advantage over him.
4. Victor had a much better game tonight, but he still wasn’t dominant.

Stephon Castle

What was with the complete Stephon Castle iso at the middle of the court with less than a minute to play?

Castle running down the clock with the ball in his hands is a weak option unless he’s a 1-on-1 killer in practice.

Other Thoughts

Even though this win was somewhat lucky, the Spurs had good stretches that led to the margin that paved the way to victory. And the Spurs needed the W with a second Rockets game on Monday.

I also liked seeing Gregg Popovich actually putting in some energy and intensity on the sidelines. Effort and interest is much preferred over being cool and thoughtful.

I stopped short of calling the victory a big win, but it is an important one because now the team chalks up a win in the win column and gains some confidence going forward.

If they start 0–2 and then face the challenging Rockets yet again followed up with a game against OKC, that’s potentially 0–4.