The bizarro world of Spurs basketball

…where big men handle the ball, wings dive and roll, and old heads are left scratching their old heads.

Photo courtesy of Spurs Sports & Entertainment

The optics don’t look right because history tells us they don’t, that there’s no real precedent for the type of basketball we’re watching. Welcome to the bizarro world that is Spurs basketball, where 7’5 aliens are facing up and handling the ball, wings are diving and rolling, and old heads are left scratching their old heads.

In spite of the various viewpoints from the outside world, San Antonio has continued to employ a unique strategy as it pertains to its 20-year-old megastar Victor Wembanyama: Take the tallest man on the court away from the rim and let him operate in space. It seems crazy, but there’s sound logic and reasoning behind the decision. And by the way, it’s created a warmly welcomed byproduct on the side.

Per Synergy data, the Wembanyama post-up offense (including passes) generated a pedestrian .97 points per possession during the 2023-24 season, which wasn’t even good enough to crack the 40th percentile of NBA block dwellers; whittle that down to possessions during which Victor attempted to score out of the post, and that number dropped to .885 points per trip (29th percentile) and included a whopping 18.1-percent turnover rate.

It’s seems counterintuitive. A guy that tall should be more efficient utilizing a play type that often rewards size. But unfortunately for him it’s not as easy as just camping under the rim and waiting. In addition to the pesky presence of physics, there’s an entire defense ready to play spoiler.

One of the game plans teams have deployed against Wembanyama as they’ve become familiar with his game has involved the usage of sturdy wings as his primary defender. Yes, Victor is taller than everyone and stronger than he looks, but his high center of gravity provides virtually no leverage against many of the bodies that are thrown at him.

Whether it was PJ Washington in Dallas, Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason against Houston, or Jalen Williams and Lu Dort in Oklahoma City, they all had the advantage in a game of push-and-shove. Low man always wins those (especially when they’re all built like tanks), so the Spurs have opted for a different approach while Wembanyama continues to find his legs.

“Before the Utah game, (Gregg Popovich) came in the locker room and said how he would like us to play and keeping Vic facing the basket instead of with his back to the basket as much as possible,” Chris Paul said. “Obviously, he’ll still post up here and there, (but) these first few games have sort of been like training camp for us. Like I keep saying, you want to win and learn at the same time, so that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Through six games, Wembanyama has averaged 1.267 points per possession on 15 scoring opportunities out of the post — a nice uptick from those 2023-24 numbers, albeit at a more selective volume — and he’s been at his best in that range whenever San Antonio has run little quick-hitters using pin-down and cross screens to dislodge him from his man and clear space from the block to the mid-post. But these instances have thus far represented only 12.4 percent of Wemby play types, with the remaining 87.6 percent being distributed fairly evenly among the remaining categories.

In short, they’re using him in just about every way imaginable, and they’re doing so in balanced fashion. But as Paul mentioned, they’re not abandoning the post game, they’re just putting Victor in the spots where he and the team are most comfortable right now.

“We tend to stop the ball less, and also I can see the court better. It just gives us better momentum and it's something we need,” Wembanyama said of the face-up approach. “We don't do iso-ball all the time like some teams.”

But as both Victor and the Spurs patiently await the consistent return of his jumper — he’s shooting just 22 percent from 3 so far — perhaps the more interesting development has been the one taking place for his frontcourt running mate.