There are multiple sides to the rookie experience: the good, the bad, the ugly, the meh — it’s all baked into the cake, especially on opening night. Perhaps that wasn’t the expectation for the nearly 19,000 people who crammed into the Frost Bank Center to witness the professional birth of their franchise’s next savior, but even George Gervin, David Robinson and Tim Duncan had to walk before they could run, jump, shoot and dunk. Let alone win games. Let alone carry a city.
Not even the untethered hype surrounding Victor Wembanyama could prevent the reality of his situation, because it’s difficult for any teenager to handle the NBA — the biggest, most talented, most athletic basketball league in the world.
Despite the relative ease with which he plays, we saw all the real-time undulations any objective viewer might anticipate Wednesday. On one hand, there’s the jump shot, which seemingly can’t be bothered as defenders can only get their hands so close to a line of vision that rests no less than seven feet off the floor; but on the other, we saw the strain physicality can present a human being whose height and leanness give him very little leverage.
Every scouting department and video room across the league is going to be intensely combing film ahead of Spurs matchups this season, simply to find where the advantages exist against a kid who is too tall to defend if he has space. And at least one we’ve already seen identified on both sides of the ball is the impact of attacking his body.
There were a couple of “we’re going to watch this on film tomorrow” moments late in the game, but it was Wembanyama’s foul trouble that most affected his debut. At first, Dallas tried to avoid him, going with a small starting lineup in an effort to coax him away from the paint — a move that surprised plenty of people who thought rookie center Dereck Lively II was essentially their man in the middle from the start. But that approach proved flawed, as Wemby’s length alone can cover roughly a quarter of the half-court, making it difficult to space him out to the 3-point line by “hiding” low-volume offensive threats in the corners.
So the answer for Dallas? Screw this, put the big rookie in. And instead of getting cute or trying to outthink the Spurs’ first-year star, go right at him, take advantage of Lively II’s vertical spacing (the constant lob threat) and try to find different ways to neutralize Wemby’s effectiveness.
Get into his body when he’s protecting the rim rather than look for space to attempt a shot in the short mid-range, because those types of looks are like magnets for his 8-foot wingspan; if he posts, get underneath him with strong wings to keep him off balance and knock him from his base; and if he’s setting screens, crowd the area. He wants to leak out in transition and seal defenders around the basket, so chase him down, do work early to keep him away from his spot, and make the Spurs throw a perfect pass. The Mavericks were very disciplined in this game plan, and it worked.
At least for the most part.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Corporate Knowledge to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.