In his own way, Victor Wembanyama responded to Joel Embiid's advice

Joel Embiid has clearly studied the case of Victor Wembanyama after the Spurs rookie's first two months of competition in the NBA. If the young Frenchman already displays impressive statistics, the efficiency leaves more to be desired with a small 43.3% shooting skill, insufficient for an interior, and 27.8% at 3-points.

For the Sixers superstar, “Wemby” must now make one of the most important choices of his early career, and decide on the player profile he wants to become. With his exceptional offensive range, the number 1 in the Draft is capable of doing everything. But now he needs to develop a strong weapon to work on, whether it's outside shooting or more play near the rim.

“Right now there's so much hype around him that I think he's trying to live up to it all. That's what I see, and I watch a lot of games.”, he confided. “I think, first of all, he has to figure out where he wants to play, whether he wants to play as a fullback or a center. The question isn't necessarily whether he wants to be a fullback or an inside, but rather what he wants to become. Do you want to become KD or do you want to become me? Not KD, more of a version of those guys, who want to combine everything. Right now, I feel like it's all a bit forced, in the way he plays. Which is not a bad thing. The only way to improve is to play and learn. It is the only way. We make a lot of mistakes and we learn.”

“Wemby”’s response to Portland

From his experience, Joel Embiid would tend to suggest the second choice, and to take advantage of his size to dominate in the paint. This is also what Gregg Popovich would tend to think, after having definitively placed him at the center position at the beginning of the month.

Wemby's 3-point skill has so far been his Achilles heel since apart from his very first season with Nanterre (36.4% skill in 2.4 attempts on average over 18 games), he has not never exceeded 30% success behind the arc over a season. For now, Victor Wembanyama continues to make his mark, and Spurs are giving him time to make mistakes to progress and better assess his strengths.

“What pleases me is that they allow him to make these mistakes and learn from them. But I think there is good and bad in all of this. The good thing is that you learn from your mistakes. But the bad thing is that it feels a bit forced. On certain shots, for example. He can make his job easier. He is 2.24m tall. Sometimes, and this is something I'm learning too, you just have to go inside and shoot over someone. Sometimes you don't have to work so hard. I'm still learning about this. We all have the same problem”he added.

Asked on the subject at the start of the season, Victor Wembanyama saw no limits to his role on the field, and he, in a way, responded to Joel Embiid last night with a complete performance in the victory won in Portland (30 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 7 blocks). Only two other rookies had achieved such a performance: David Robinson and Tim Duncan…

Impeccable on free throws with a 10 out of 10, but also in his role as a scarecrow, “Wemby” also displayed solid external skill (2/4), but also a significant contribution to creation with six assists. How to prolong the debate?

How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.