Wemby Watch: Victor Records First 20–20 Game in Loss to Bulls

Story of the Game

Finally. A game after I wrote about Pop and co. disrespecting the #1 pick in the draft, we saw significant progress:

• Teammates actively looked for Victor
• Victor played more minutes in the second half
• More plays were run for Victor
• More of the offense flowed through Victor

The increased incorporation paid some fair dividends with Victor recording his first 20–20 game.

The Spurs lost, but the game was definitely within grasp until the Bulls pulled away late.

Also, importantly, the Spurs looked like a cohesive team for stretches of the game. The ball was flowing and different players were getting good looks.

Victor Stats

21 points, 4 assists, 20 rebounds, 4 blocks in 32 minutes

8–20 fgs, 0–4 3 fgs

Quick Thoughts

What’s slightly coincidental is Tim Duncan put up 19 and 22 in his third game in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.

Victor didn’t have a monster game, but he did have a solid game. I noticed a number of improvements against past performances.

One was he wasn’t really going for pump fakes. Nikola Vucevic tried to use his craftiness in the post, but he was stuck one-on-one; Victor easily blocked three of his shots.

Another Victor improvement was he was battling and not giving up. Andre Drummond is rotund and past his prime, but he still possesses real power and a willigness to be physical.

However, Victor was up for the challenge and more than held his own.

One more positive was that once Victor was included, he was less antsy to make a play and was passing and shooting more within the flow of the offense.

The one glaring negative is his jumper is still off. He’s leaving it short for the most part.

I was confident the Bulls at home, without Zach Lavine, was a win, but the Bulls were steady and never got phased by the Spurs rhythm early in the game.

Gregg Popovich rolled out yet another new lineup with Malaki Branham in at point with Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, and Keldon Johnson alongside Victor.

Zach Collins came off the bench.

The Spurs played better and looked like a real team for minutes at a time so progress was made.

Pre-Game Setup

The Chicago-Spurs matchup is game #21 for the Spurs.

Betting: Bulls -2.5, Over/Under 225.5

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

Betting Record going into the game 7–7.

The Bulls are in San Antonio for this contest.