As the San Antonio Spurs face a pivotal moment in the Western Conference Finals, trailing 3-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the spotlight is firmly on Victor Wembanyama. The young star is likely to reflect on his underwhelming Game 5 performance if the Spurs fail to secure consecutive victories. In what was arguably the most critical matchup of his career, Wembanyama struggled, scoring just 20 points and grabbing six rebounds while shooting a mere 4-of-15 from the floor in the Spurs’ 127-114 defeat. His scoring was bolstered by 12 free throws, masking an otherwise disappointing outing.
Standing at an imposing 7-foot-4, Wembanyama’s mere six rebounds are hard to justify. His four successful field goals highlight a current limitation in his game—despite his towering presence, he’s still in the early stages of developing his basketball prowess at the age of 22.
The critical issue lies in Wembanyama’s inconsistent presence in the paint. It’s no secret that someone of his stature should be dominating closer to the basket, yet this hasn’t been a constant in his play. This inconsistency is evident when comparing his performances: in Games 1 and 4, where he played aggressively inside, the Spurs emerged victorious. However, in Games 2 and 3, and notably Game 5, his impact was less pronounced.
An analysis of Wembanyama’s shot charts from Game 1, where he delivered a stellar 41-point performance, versus Game 5, which was less impressive, clearly shows the disparity in his effectiveness and the outcomes for the Spurs. His immense skill set, which allows him to play a perimeter-focused game, is both a blessing and a curse, sometimes clouding his judgment on the court regarding his optimal offensive positioning.
Unlike seasoned scorers who dictate the game from their sweet spots, Wembanyama is still searching for his. He remains an adaptable but undefined offensive player, often taking cues from the defense rather than asserting his own dominance. As he continues to develop, finding and capitalizing on his strongest areas will be crucial for both his growth and the success of the Spurs.
Great scorers score on their terms, from their spots, but Wembanyama doesn’t have any ironclad terms or spots yet. He is something of an offensive free agent, willing to listen to any and all defensive offers and then accept whatever option strikes his fancy in the moment.
That needs to change. And it will. Wembanyama needs to establish an offensive office — the spots and shots he goes to when it’s time to work. Not because the defense broke a certain way to allow it, but because he owned the possession from the start. This is Kevin Durant at the elbow. Luka Dončić or Houston James Harden getting to the step-back. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander separating in the midrange. Carmelo Anthony facing up. Stephen Curry saying “screw it” when the off-ball movement isn’t working and just running high pick-and-roll for a pull-up 3.
It’s plainly evident in a game like Tuesday night that when the circumstances of an offensive possession don’t play out a certain way, Wembanyama can’t consistently bend them to his will. Defensively, he’s the best player on earth and it’s not particularly close. Offensively, he’s a jack of all trades but master of none. The paint needs to be his point of mastery.
But understanding this need to set up in and operate from deeper positioning is only half the equation. The other half is having the physical force to actually do it. That’s the literal weakness in Wemby’s game right now. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has put Isaiah Hartenstein on him, and the 250-pound Hartenstein is just bullying him farther out on the court. Through the first 19 minutes of Game 5, Wembanyama had two buckets and one rebound. He’s 7-foot-4. That is a guy who is literally being pushed out of a game.
There are different ways to dominate in the paint. Wembanyama is obviously a terrifying roller, but he doesn’t do this consistently enough. He often sets the pick and pops to the 3-point line. Other times, he flares out and simply serves as a floor spacer for the rest of a possession.
When he tries to catch at the elbow and attack downhill from there, he’s often not strong enough to hold his line to the basket. At points, he’s having to resort to firing balls off the backboard intentionally to try to get his own offensive rebound because his initial foray has looked like, well, an extremely skinny guy running into a brick wall.
After the Miami Heat lost in the 2011 Finals to the Dallas Mavericks in a series in which he was exposed, embarrassingly, for his inability, or unwillingness (or probably a combination of both) to punish Dallas for guarding him with small defenders in the post, LeBron James famously spent the summer working out with Hakeem Olajuwon to develop his back-to-the-basket game. It took his domination to another level in the years to come, and it’s still buoying his scoring at 41 years old.
Generally speaking, post-up offense isn’t the way the game is played today. Teams wants spacing. Wembanyama, as a 3-point threat, pulls opposing centers out of the paint, which is good for spacing. He’ll probably never be a guy who consistently plants himself on the block. He shouldn’t be, in fact.
But he needs to develop both the strength and mentality to force his way into the paint when push comes to shove. Be it as a roller, facing up from deeper pre-pass positioning (which requires more strength to earn), or simply attacking quickly with real intent before the defense can get set, good things are going to happen even if Wembanyama isn’t the one scoring because of all the attention his paint presence draws. Like this:
There just weren’t enough attacks like this from Wemby in Game 5. There weren’t enough lobs. Post-ups. Seals. There certainly weren’t enough offensive rebounds, of which he had just one. You just cannot stress the obvious enough: This is the tallest guy on the court by a wide margin. Sure, it’s cool to be able to shoot 3s and show off your handle and pull-up over any contest, but winning is cooler.
And right now, this feels like the difference between the Spurs winning and losing this series. When Wembanyama plays in the paint, they win. When he doesn’t, they lose. This game was there for the taking. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another mediocre night by his standards (32 points, yes, but just 7 for 19 shooting) and Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell didn’t even play.
The Spurs were within eight with seven minutes to play despite shooting 29% from 3 and killing themselves with out-of-control and, at times, just straight-up airhead turnovers. Relatively speaking, Wembanyama didn’t show up for this one when a signature performance would’ve likely led to the Spurs going back home with a 3-2 lead and a chance to clinch an NBA Finals showdown with the New York Knicks rather than on the ropes of elimination.
But it’s still there for the taking. Again, it’s not that Wembanyama never asserts himself inside. He does it about half the time. If Game 6 on Thursday is the right half for San Antonio, we could very well be headed to a Game 7. At which point, throw everything out the window; anything can happen in one game.
Understand, this isn’t so much a critique of Wembanyama as it is an observation. The evolution of a superstar doesn’t happen all at once. Wembanyama has ascended at a meteoric pace, but offensively, he’s not quite at the level of the best players in the world, even though his overall impact warrants inclusion in that conversation.
But he’s a lot better than he was on Tuesday, when he and the Spurs missed a golden opportunity to take control of this series.
