It’s 30 seconds into the fourth quarter and Victor Wembanyama has to join the bench again. Too greedy, the Spurs rookie was trapped by Luka Doncic while trying to scratch the ball on the Slovenian’s penetration. This is the fifth fault of the Frenchman, who then points to 6 points on 2/4 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 interceptions and 1 block. But also 4 ball losses and therefore 5 fouls in 16 short minutes…
Frustrated by the physical impact of Grant Williams on his positions and the balls which did not arrive, or which arrived poorly, “Wemby” returned to the bench because of the fouls. He may well be the first choice in the Draft, but the monstrous “hype” that surrounds him does not protect him from whistles, NBA referees never hesitating to (over)sanction the rookies who arrive in the Big League. An elbow too high, a poorly placed screen and the Frenchman is forced to watch his teammates continue the match without him.
A big passage in the fourth quarter
“We do our best to analyze the videos before playing him, to understand what he likes and what he prefers to do” explains Grant Williams afterwards about his preparation. “For me, it was mostly about being physical, making sure he doesn’t find his spots, that all his shots are contested, touching the ball to affect his low post shot. And play him energetic and physical, so he feels a little uncomfortable.”
But back in the last seven minutes of the match, despite his five fouls, Victor Wembanyama will ignite the San Antonio public by displaying everything he can bring offensively. While his speed and wingspan continue to pose a constant threat to all opposing shooters.
An alley-oop from Devin Vassell coming out of the timeout, a 3-pointer against Derek Lively II coming off the dribble, a quick take-up with the foul, then a low post shot against Grant Williams.
In three minutes, when he was relaunched as a pivot and with Tre Jones in the lead to serve him, Victor Wembanyama has just scored 9 points and the Spurs, trailing by 5 points (108-103), returned to tie (115-115) entering the last four minutes.
The rest will be more delicate for San Antonio, while “Wemby” tries a too complicated pass for Zach Collins under the circle, and the young Spurs especially struggle to find a single good shot in the “money-time”, Luka Doncic making tell him about his talent to make the difference and win this first match of the season.
Emotions but maturity
“He’s going to be amazing, and he already is.” However, assures the Slovenian about the young Frenchman. “There’s his size, obviously, like everyone says. But the way he moves for someone 2m26 or 2m28 (2m22, without shoes), I don’t really know… But he moves incredibly, almost like a point guard. It’s pretty incredible to see. He has a bright future and it’s going to be incredible to watch. »
For the person concerned, there was thus ” a lot of emotions “. “It would have been perfect with the victory. It seemed quite unreal at the time, and I just felt very lucky to be there.”
Despite everything, Gregg Popovich said he was impressed by his player, and especially this fourth quarter.
“It’s difficult for the players. You have foul problems, you can’t find rhythm, you go in and out. I think we saw his maturity, even though he is very young, when he came on in the last seven minutes. We put things in place for him, he took advantage of them. A lot of guys would have been totally out of it at that point, because of the fouls and lack of rhythm. He put in a superb performance. »
