Wemby Watch: Victor Gets the Highlights, Chet Gets the Win

Story of the Game

Victor looked intense. He wanted to take it to Chet, get the win, and make a statement.

There was one large problem: Victor’s teammates looked like they were ready to watch TikTok reels.

Chet and the Oklahoma City Thunder came in to San Antonio and steadily buried the Spurs into a brutally one-sided 140–114 win.

Watching Victor and Chet go at one another was very entertaining, though. They clearly dislike each other; the animosity and competitiveness is right near hate level.

I love how these young guys are bringing back hate basketball. It’s great for the game. There’s nothing like watching two rivals try to kill each other.

Lebron brought in the hug era and Victor is bringing back the torture era.

On the night, Victor clearly had the upper hand in the showdown, but, again, it’s hard for Wemby to feel too strongly about the matchup given that Chet’s team coasted.

For the future, while these two will always draw attention when they face each other, Victor has a decided edge. The one facet where Chet has a much higher power bar is shooting but, other than that, Victor has him covered.

What’s bad for Chet is Victor has him on body and strength and Wemby definitely showed his willingness to bully ball him tonight.

Victor Stats

24 points, 4 assists, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks in 28 minutes

9–18 fgs, 0–3 3 fgs

Quick Thoughts

Instead of having the pleasure of listening to Bill Land and Sean Elliott, I got stuck with the insufferable Mark Jones and Monica McNutt.

In my notes, I wrote multiple times about the low IQ of the Spurs, but listening to these two call the game might have set me back a few paces.

It got to the point where it sounded like Mark Jones was trying to work in as many sayings that he thinks teenagers are saying into his play-by-play call.

And McNutt’s color commentary was awful. Her best insight was when she read off the stat sheet.

So many of these former players think they can just show up without researching. Speaking of, Candice Parker got completely busted the other day for having absolutely no clue what she was talking about with Jalen Brunson.

Anyways, onto the Spurs.

Victor’s teammates left him on an island.

I’ve defended their abilities (not their play, but their ability to play) all season but, in this game, just about everyone looked horrific.

Horrific as in you should be embarrassed you played this bad.

One of the problems is the lack of accountability.

• I don’t need you to look at your hands.
• I don’t need you to look around for an answer.
• I don’t need you to say, my bad.
• I don’t need you to point to your chest.
• I don’t need you to go low five someone.

I need you to stop making the same mistakes over and over again.

This Spurs team plays some of the lowest IQ basketball I’ve ever seen. Anywhere. At any age.

Example: Jeremy Sochan decides to drive into the paint for a layup against a waiting Chet Holmgren. Jeremy, of course, is rejected.

Here’s what I wrote last game:

Jeremy Sochan makes some really stupid plays (like going up when his shot is certain to be blocked)

Blue nails Blake Wesley played stupid too.

Julian Champagnie also played stupid.

Zach Collins also played stupid.

Speaking of Zach, I said it last game and I’ll say it again now: he needs to go.

His play is so bad right now I don’t think he’s an NBA player anymore. He’s out there playing center and he somehow can’t seem to ever come down with a rebound or contribute during meaningful play.

Cedi Osman can also be shown the door. His percentages look alright on paper (47.7% fg, 37.3% 3fg), but I think he’s getting Dak Prescott empty calorie hoops in garbage time because he’s usually missing open threes when the Spurs are trying to hang in the game.

Victor wanted this game badly. He even snapped at a teammate for doing something stupid (Champagnie, I think).

Victor was serious and had an intensity about him, but the rest of the Spurs were the opposite.

One note on Victor’s play that I really liked was that he moved Holmgren off the block on a free throw attempt.

Victor’s minutes were limited once again. He finished at 28 so I’m interested to hear Pop’s explanation on this one since Victor was supposed to be re-examined when they got back to San Antonio.

Last, one new trend I hate is the built-in back-to-back excuse that announcers bake into every broadcast where a team played the previous night.

I’ve never heard back-to-backs talked about so much.

In the 90s, I never remember back-to-backs being an excuse.

These guys have every luxury and affordance humanly possible. Their only job is to play basketball and most teams have at least 3 months off every year.

Playing two nights in a row isn’t an excuse for losing or poor play and I don’t think they’re warriors for making it to the arena.

Pre-game Setup

The Oklahoma City-Spurs matchup is game #44 for the Spurs.

Betting: Thunder -7.0, Over/Under 241.5

(Guess-Prediction: I’ll take the Spurs and the over.)

Betting Record going into the game 30–27–1.

The Thunder are in San Antonio for this contest.