Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is on the verge of pushing his way to the fringes of the MVP conversation with the way he is playing. Early in the season, the only issues were turnovers – which are still a problem, especially when he puts the ball on the ground in a crowd – and three-point shooting, which seemed excessive for a player of his seven years. foot-3 size.
The latter has changed in an important way. Since December 1, Wembanyama is making 37% of his 3s on more than nine attempts per game. Couple that with his 77% finishing rate at the rim, which ranks Cleaning the Glass in the 86th percentile of all majors, and Wembanyama is already one of the most dominant inside-out scorers in the league.
Although he finished with just 10 points, he showed the full range of this scoring repertoire at all levels with a pair of circus shots in San Antonio’s 121-105 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.
First it was a one-legged three-pointer after hitting Andre Jackson Jr. had pumped to the front row.
What’s almost as crazy as a 7 foot 3 human looking so fluidly and making a 7 yard runner (which, to be fair, has become an increasingly popular shot these days, but we usually see it from a smaller player with who we more often associate with skills like Trae Young or LaMelo Ball) is the fact that Jackson was so concerned about Wembanyama pulling up the catch from more than 9 yards that he would react so extremely to the fake. It’s justified. We’ve seen that Wembanyama has unlimited range and isn’t afraid to use it.
Next was a show-and-go along the baseline to an up-and-under finish at the edge that qualifies as one of the toughest finishes you’ll ever see.
Here’s a closer look at the absurdity of this finish:
That’s nonsense to anyone, but for a player of Wemby’s stature it’s almost unfathomable to go up and down from that angle and drop it through the net without using the backboard.
Honestly, it was probably an accident. There’s an element of Wembanyama hanging in the air and just having to throw something up, but to have the kind of improvisational skill and feel to even make a shot like that, let alone make it, at 7 feet shows you how special Wembanyama is as a goalscorer who can dazzle defenses with theatrical action, both inside and outside.