Wemby Watch: Victor Registers 1st Triple Double in 21 Minutes Against Pistons

Story of the Game

When Victor said every game was a statement game from now on, he meant it literally.

Victor stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in just 21 minutes as he recorded his first career triple-double despite the arbitrary minutes restriction Pop has in place.

Also nice was the Spurs got a rare victory over the league worst Detroit Pistons. The Pistons were missing Cade Cunningham. Isaiah Stewart remained out.

Victor Stats

16 points, 10 assists, 12 rebounds, 0 blocks in 21 minutes

6–16 fgs, 0–4 3 fgs

Quick Thoughts

While the win is nice, this Detroit Pistons team is completely lost. I would have liked Cade to play to get a look at the Pistons’ star, but I don’t think he would have tilted the outcome of the game.

Because the game got away from the Pistons so early, my thoughts drifted to the possibility of the Spurs trading for Cade Cunningham, but I ran away from that idea when I saw the Ringer’s excellent Cade Cunningham breakdown.

Basically, the advanced stats and the eye test say to stay away; he’s good in a sense but he’s very inefficient and not worth acquiring when you start running down the numbers.

Back to the game, while Victor showcased some award winning passing, he also had some bad spots.

One thing I noticed is that Victor doesn’t palm the basketball that often during in-game play. I caught this because the ball usually seems unsettled coming off his hand around the basket and if he palmed the basketball he would retain much more control.

Victor’s hands are huge so that can’t be the problem. Maybe his grip is weak. Who knows, but if he started palming the basketball during game play, I bet it would open up a lot of possibilities for him. Much the same way Chris Webber and Michael Jordan were able to leverage their large hands.

Another detractor was Victor was rushing shots down low, going up weak on post ups, and taking poor angles off the glass. Victor’s made shot count (6) was actually on the higher side because he had two wayward attempts fall in after favorable rolls.

What was great to see is his teammates actively looking looking for him, but they still haven’t leveled up their competency in effectively getting him the ball; the Spurs had a couple of turnovers and broken up plays because the Spurs can’t lead and/or put the ball in good positions.

Still, the willingness to pass is a huge win.

One other note I had was Victor uncharacteristically gave up on a fast break, but I can’t remember the play. I think this was on defense and I remember being surprised that Victor didn’t make the effort.

Last, Victor did look worn / fatigued on two separate occasions. It also crossed my mind that there could be an ankle flare up, but this is just my mind wandering as I watched him looking subpar at different junctures. Keep in mind that he still completed dunks later in the game.

On a whole, this was a very easy win for the Spurs. They were never challenged so they get a +1 and move on to Charlotte on Friday followed by Chicago on Saturday.

Per the arbitrary mandatory minutes restriction, Victor should be out for the Bulls game.

Pre-Game Setup

The Detroit-Spurs matchup is game #36 for the Spurs.

Betting: Spurs -2.5, Over/Under 238.5

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

Betting Record going into the game 22–21–1.

The Spurs travel to Detroit for this contest.