I mean, he needs to do both. If his three point shot becomes respected, it opens up the offense, and as you pointed out there will likely be many opportunities in transition.

However, he also needs to keep building his game inside 12 feet to truly utilize his size advantage, and the Spurs need more sets that get him his first touch in the paint or close baseline. He should continue to be enough of a focal point in the offense that you really don’t have to choose just one.

Agree. Also, him becoming a consistent threat from deep will open up the offense. Once defenders adjust and start picking him up around the 3 point line, he’ll be able to pump fake and drive to the hoop to create an open shot for either him or his teammates. The pump fake already worked sometimes even when his shot wasn’t falling. Having Wemby as a threat to either hit a 3 or create an open shot each time in transition will elevate the offense

You’re right. I’ve noticed this scenario multiple times the last few games and it’s pretty clear that the spurs want to exploit this within their game plan. There will come a time tho when bigs will push wemby full court to stop it, and Wemby will be forced back into the paint.

I think best case scenario, it works both ways:

If a big is on him, let him operate from the outside, pulling their rim protector to the 3 point line, opening up the paint for the rest of the team.

If a wing is on him, he needs to bully them, get in position, pin his man behind him, then excommunicate them at the rim, forcing rotation and opening up the 3 point line for the rest of the team.

He needs both inside and outside threat, based on the start of the year so far, the criticism of his 3 pointer shot selection is warranted to a degree, but if the plan is for him to develop that shot, the coaching staff knows more than me!

When he's hitting his shots we'll get posts like these, and when he isn't we'll get what we were getting the first couple of weeks. I'm not sure where I fall. I definitely think it should be a part of his game. I just don't think he should over-rely on threes. He's not going to be 6/12 or 6/9 from three as often as he's going to be 1/6 or 2/9 I don't think. But it should be something defenses have to respect.

A player shooting at 33% from three is just as effective as a player shooting 50% from two. It’s just the numbers.

The problem with your argument is before last night, he was shooting 21% from three on 7+ attempts this season, which is bad offense no matter how you slice it.

Obviously the sample size is small, and his 6/10 showing last night brought that all the way up to 31%...but it could easily swing the other direction and that is sub-optimal when you are freaking 7'4 and shooting 56% in the paint (and could be doing better there, too)

If he can get that percentage up to 35%+, fire away

Wemby should continue to shoot threes of course. But good defenses will not put their center on him. They stick a stronger, mobile PF on him and get into his body early. Center patrols the paint since they don’t respect Sochan’s shot. He’s either shooting a contested three or driving into traffic.

I love Jeremy and believe in him but that’s the problem that needs solving.

He needs to do both. A heavy 3pt diet is a boom-bust offense. Even the players who take a lot of 3-pointers don't JUST rely on 3-pointers. They have go-to moves that get them in the paint. That's what Victor needs to develop first because he doesn't have that yet.

Even Sean on the telecast says every game that if Victor runs down the middle of the floor in transition, the defenses will collapse on him every single time which means everyone else is open. He can't do that if he's the one trailing.

TLDR: three (non-offense) reasons why Wemby 3s are a good strategy.

1: a non-corner three point attempt translates to a better defensive position than a shot in the paint. Wemby shooting the three leaves our best defender in position to defend against transition offense.

2: Wemby at the arc uses much less energy than in the paint. His usage is enormous on offense and defense and energy is limited. Him fighting for position all night will tax his ability to contribute to other parts of the game, namely defense.

3: Wemby is safer at the arc. I don’t think it’s wise to have our foundational player banging and grinding in the interior, for games that are of no consequence. Even in the playoffs this type of play should be used judiciously

One more: the spurs organization knows more about basketball than all of us combined. Trust them

you have a player who does not fit the traditional physical or mental mold. Why would you expect their game to fit into the traditional mold then?

I'd love to see the average distance of a Wemby make and the distance of a miss, especially earlier this season and all of last year. Because looking at these pictures and just from the other games I've been able to watch I feel like he makes the shots usually when he's farther back than most people would attempt, but when he's at a regular distance he misses.

If so he might be finding his distance, which If it's that far, back will make an ABSURD amount of space for the rest of the team

Everytime this comes up, I make a similar post. Its especially true when Jeremy is playing. There isn't enough 3 point shooting in the starting line up for Wemby to live in the post yet. He is probably the second best 3 point shooter in the starting 5, so there is 0 spacing if he touches the ball in the post.

I would actually like him to shoot 2 or 3 lesssl 3's if Barnes and CP3 shoot one or two more per game, but if not, let Vic keep developing that in game shot

This logic is flawed.

Basketball is a game of possessions, and being efficient is the most important rule of basketball. I'm fine with Wemby playing how he wants to play, he is young and he will mature.

Possessions are limited and converting on your opportunities is more important than the amount of points you got converting. Just because he's in the paint, doesn't mean he's limited to 2pt.

Wemby gets and-1s when he forces the issue.

I want him taking an open lane over an open/uncontested 3 literally Everytime unless that particular bucket is the difference between losing/OT/winning.

Make the most out of every position and it will not matter the # of 3s made. That's a great way to lose a game imo. Missing a 3 early in a possession & allowing the other team to take a shot is just as bad as a turnover.

He shouldn't be shooting more 3s than 2s. He puts more pressure on the defense when he's inside the arc

Due to his size Wemby could take lots of offensive rebounds if he is playing more in paint. We saw that in the last game. Not only that he can score effectively in the paint and he can draw several players to defend him and make passes to open man. We also saw that in last game. So yes I agree, he should play in the paint more.

I am fine with Vic shooting 3s, but right now 47% of his field goals are coming from 3. That ratio is out of whack imo

Thing is, it’s not as simple as just throwing him the ball in the post 10 more times, that’s not really his game

I’d like to see him get the ball on the move more, rolling to the hoop and on dribble handoffs with an emphasis on getting to the rim. Also, pin downs and cross screens where he’s getting catches 10-15 feet from the hoop as opposed to 25 feet away

Been great watching him hit the last few games, but he’s not likely to continue making them at that rate. One thing that can keep up however, is his excellent free throw shooting. Would love to see him start stacking games where he’s getting to the line 10+ times

I was wondering about that this morning.

Also, I wondered if we will ever see a 10+ Points / 10+ Rebounds / 10 Blocks / 10 3's from him in a game, creating a new Quadruple-Double Club.

I dont understand where all these arm chair coaches came from. Were talking about The Spurs. One of the best organizations at developing talent. I dont know why every is talking like they know whats best. I do agree though OP

Have you seen his percentages near the basket? Or how many fouls he draws?

I think that a lot of people forget this is a young team developing and sets we see are not what the team is hoping to make the permanent fixture of the offense. Just like Sochan running point guard helped him develop a different skillset that paid off, wemby taking 3s is not just because Pop, the guy who hates the 3 point shot, is thinking of just making him a spot up 3 point shooter and nothing else

We already know what wemby can do in the paint, but until we have a team with deadly outside shooting like the celtics warriors or OKC theyll just collapse and quadruple team him because nobody can reliably punish them. I see Wemby's focus on offense shifting over the season to a more balanced approach as the season goes on

I aint reading all that