It's not because Victor Wembanyama has finished his season, that he is less in demand by the media. The Spurs pivot can now take the time to answer questions and take stock of his exceptional season. Speaking to The Ringer, he explains that he receives text messages from players who want to play with him!
“Indeed, I receive messages, even from prospects” admits the Frenchman. “But I chose to stay in my role. But it's a whole new world for me. It’s a whole new world that I can’t wait to discover. But it’s certain that one day or another, I will have to get involved in this.”
Like the biggest NBA stars, “Wemby” will one day play the role of recruiter, but in the meantime he first has individual challenges. To the French press, he explained that he was at 15% of his capacity, and his room for improvement is therefore enormous. First, on offense where he wants to work on his moving shot.
Taking inspiration from Wilt Chamberlain
“I feel more comfortable when I have momentum. Sometimes when I'm just catching and shooting without dribbling, I feel like my arms are so low and my hands are so big that I feel like I'm stuck in a box.” he explains. “You know that Wilt Chamberlain was very bad at free throws? On the other hand, he was so good at hook shots and finger rolls because he had momentum. …I kind of feel the same way because there's so much you can do with such a small basketball, and so I feel a lot more comfortable when I can take my shot while already in motion. »
Among the summer work, there will be work on strengthening the lower body, and more specifically the calves. “Often, when I have the advantage over my defender after a fake or a support, I go to the basket. But when the defender comes back, he can destabilize me a little, make me lose my balance,” explains Wembanyama. “If I work on this, my finishing will improve considerably.”
Still on attack, he wants to steal a move from Kevin Durant. Something very “subtle” in the way he moves, and makes the difference on a defender. A tenth of a second where Durant pretends to stop to better get away from his defender, or accelerate. “There's something that KD does, and I don't know if you've ever noticed it, and it's in everything he does, even without the ball. It's that microsecond – it's not really a hesitation because it's so quick – where he stops but it's enough to get the edge on the defender. He never sprints. But he moves very quickly and he has 'KD timing', as I call it, on every one of his movements… I'm trying to do it but I'm going to work on it this summer because it's very difficult to do. »
Prevent alley-oops
On the other side of the field, Victor Wembanyama gave himself a challenge: annihilate the alley-oops! To do this, the Frenchman intends to prevent lobbed passes by placing himself between the passer and the dunker. “I'll try, and sometimes it won't work. But when it works, I'm just going to keep doing it.” he warns. “If I keep doing it, I'm obviously going to get dunked on it for a while. But the alley-oop is one of the shots with the highest success percentage. If I can stop him as best as possible, that will be great. »
One thing is certain, he is not short of challenges, and he says he is ready to defend from position 1 to 5. “Defense has always been an aspect of the game that I have felt comfortable in. I'm curious to see this. And I'm waiting for my coaches and teammates to challenge me to play new, bigger roles. Maybe by being able to defend on all positions… But also, maybe on the last possession of the match because currently, when the opposing playmaker has the ball, I'm not going to defend him. But, yes, there are a lot of possibilities and some unconventional ones, just like in attack. »
