So how do you think 19 year old Victor Webanyama's rookie season in the NBA will turn out this year?

SanctionII

The Spurs play the Warriors in a preseason game tonight and I will get to watch it on local TV.

Should be very interesting to see VW play.

He definitely is not your typical 7 foot plus tall, player who has limited skills.

Mickey71

I'm worried that he's 9.5 ft tall and weighs 47 pounds. The big dudes know this and they will take it to him. He will get elbowed, screened, hip checked, undercut on fast breaks...etc. After a few years Ralph Sampson never was the same. Very similar body type.

erikthredd

I don't think we've ever seen a player at his height with his particular skillset,he sort of looks to me like a combination of Ralph Sampson & Kevin Durant. He's got that versatile athleticism in a 7-3/7-4 frame like Sampson had but he also has the handles and scoring ability that KD came into the league with. He's coming into the league with a small forward's game while being the tallest player in the nba.

Seeing some of his preseason highlights shows how special this kid will be. the blocks & rebounding we know will be there just with his height buts its everything else that he can already do at his size at 19yrs old.
:26 the dribble side step pullup
1:26 casually knocking down a 20ft jumper over a 6-10 defender
2:00 doing it again from the 3pt line with a 6-11 defender less than a foot away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0ubnV60X8

Barring injury, I'd say that he averages somewhere in the 20/10/4/1/2 range and takes the Spurs from 22 wins a year ago to around 38-40 wins this season. SA had the worst defense in basketball a year ago and with Victor's 7-3 height w/8-0 wingspan he's going to control the paint although at 210lbs he's going to be tested constantly.

With his popularity i wouldn't be surprised to see him land the most votes for the All Star game. He'll also be a front runner for ROY but Chet Holmgren with an up and coming Thunder squad may give him a run for his money.

I'll definitely be tuning into tonight's SA/GS game but there's also Marcus Smart making his Grizzlies debut that I've been looking forward to as well. I'm just happy that basketball is back.

erikthredd

@Mickey71 said:
I'm worried that he's 9.5 ft tall and weighs 47 pounds. The big dudes know this and they will take it to him. He will get elbowed, screened, hip checked, undercut on fast breaks...etc. After a few years Ralph Sampson never was the same. Very similar body type.

I didn't see your Sampson comparison until after posting it myself lol. There really hasn't been any other player at that heght with mobility & handle and i agree with everything in your comment. He's going to get tested night after night and definitely needs to add muscle to that frame. He also has the herky-jerkiness on his drives that has you wondering if/when he'll land awkwardly.

SanctionII

I remember seeing Moses Malone play an ABA game at 19 years of age in December, 1974. He was a skinny kid then (unlike his bulky frame when he was in his late 20's and 30's). I expect that VW will fill out and eventually tip the scales at 240 - 250 pounds by the time he is around 24-25 years of age. I wonder how slim or bulky his parents and siblings are.

VW will get knocked around this year by bulkier players. Hopefully he will avoid injury and play the entire season.

erikthredd

That tipoff! 🤣😂🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceMFHs5QJZE

SanctionII

Watched V.W. play tonight.

He can play all 5 positions on the floor. He looks very fluid in his movements and is skilled on both offense and defense.

It will be entertaining seeing him play this year.

BLUEJAYWAY

I think he will get a few welcome to the NBA moments. But I don't think he will be treated too harshly. After all he may become the new face of the NBA and increase TV ratings which the NBA can always use

erikthredd

This is pretty nuts for a guy that size flexing like that.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxBmdyCp1Sf/

galaxy27

the only think preventing me from doing something crazy and driving to this game on a Wednesday night is no more physical copies of tickets

Tabe

@erikthredd said:
This is pretty nuts for a guy that size flexing like that.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxBmdyCp1Sf/

That was... incredible. Wow.

How will his season play out? 20/10/5 if he stays healthy.

BLUEJAYWAY

@galaxy27 said:
the only think preventing me from doing something crazy and driving to this game on a Wednesday night is no more physical copies of tickets

Now with these paperless tickets, the people who like to collect the stubs,especially from a historic game, are deprived of a collectible. Progress?

craig44

the issue with these ultra tall players over say 7'2" or so has always been injuries. for some reason, their bodies cannot take the day-to-day grind of NBA games/practices.

erikthredd

@Tabe said:

@erikthredd said:
This is pretty nuts for a guy that size flexing like that.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxBmdyCp1Sf/

That was... incredible. Wow.

How will his season play out? 20/10/5 if he stays healthy.

That's right around what I was thinking. I've read that Popovich plans on playing him at the 4 so that gives him a chance to be more of a playmaker. He may hard time at first chasing down big wings but that wingspan is going to make up for a lot of mistakes.

OT: How cool would it be to see Fanatics release something like this 3way auto of the Admiral,TD & Wemby? Maybe in one of their high end products. (this is some fake Etsy crap floating around)

thisistheshow

We have KP. He'll put a body on this youngin.

galaxy27

@erikthredd said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0ubnV60X8

i watched this and my takeaway was, "what can't he do?" think about it -- you guys are projecting 20/10/5 from a 19-year-old kid who hasn't played a single regular season game. if that comes to fruition, and there's no reason to believe it won't, just imagine what those numbers will look like in his mid to late 20s if he stays healthy. freaking scary dude. his upside is off the charts. and being under the tutelage of Pop is so incredibly huge for his outlook.

to me he looks like the most graceful giraffe the universe has ever seen. he does everything you'd expect from a guy that tall, plus he has a handle, he can dish, he has a sweet looking j from mid-range AND beyond the arc. this kid may make Giannis look like a chump before his career is over.

i need to start thinking about a second mortgage so i can get my filthy mitts on some of his cardboard

erikthredd

@galaxy27 said:

@erikthredd said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0ubnV60X8

i watched this and my takeaway was, "what can't he do?" think about it -- you guys are projecting 20/10/5 from a 19-year-old kid who hasn't played a single regular season game. if that comes to fruition, and there's no reason to believe it won't, just imagine what those numbers will look like in his mid to late 20s if he stays healthy. freaking scary dude. his upside is off the charts. and being under the tutelage of Pop is so incredibly huge for his outlook.

to me he looks like the most graceful giraffe the universe has ever seen. he does everything you'd expect from a guy that tall, plus he has a handle, he can dish, he has a sweet looking j from mid-range AND beyond the arc. this kid may make Giannis look like a chump before his career is over.

i need to start thinking about a second mortgage so i can get my filthy mitts on some of his cardboard

I haven't checked out what his stuff is selling for but if Wemby &/or the Spurs start out hot, I can just imagine how astronomically high his card prices might reach.
I was just thinking what the hype may have been like had he been born in the US. He would have received the same level of notoriety that Lebron saw as HS/early NBA player.

I do think if he can build up his strength like Giannis did he certainly has a chance to be as good if not better. this past season Giannis shot a career high 34% from 3 but with a subpar 64% from the FT line. Wemby shot 27% from three but 82% from the line. Usually a higher FT% is a good indicator, that with repetition, that player could develop into a decent 3pt shooter.

I'm really looking forward to seeing him play tomorrow night, first the C's play the Knicks then the Spurs game should start right around the time that the other ends.

SanctionII

How about 19 year old VW in 2023 playing in his first NBA regular season game being matched up against 20 year old Shaquille O'Neal playing his first NBA regular season game in 1992?

Who would win that match up of #1 draft picks?

erikthredd

20yr old Shaq would have roughly 100lbs on 19yr old Wemby and he'd probably back him down to the rim then dunk on him everytime. VW would at least have the benefit of Shaq having to chase him around on the other end.

I'd have to go with Shaq in that matchup.

SanctionII

Shaq at 20 years old was young, slim (relatively), quick, fast and explosive. He could run and run and run. Just like Moses Malone at 19 years old.

thisistheshow

@SanctionII said:
How about 19 year old VW in 2023 playing in his first NBA regular season game being matched up against 20 year old Shaquille O'Neal playing his first NBA regular season game in 1992?

Who would win that match up of #1 draft picks?

@SanctionII said:
Shaq at 20 years old was young, slim (relatively), quick, fast and explosive. He could run and run and run. Just like Moses Malone at 19 years old.

@erikthredd said:
20yr old Shaq would have roughly 100lbs on 19yr old Wemby and he'd probably back him down to the rim then dunk on him everytime. VW would at least have the benefit of Shaq having to chase him around on the other end.

I'd have to go with Shaq in that matchup.

.....
Shaq's career was obviously amazing. But he didn't even sniff his potential, in my opinion. Slight exaggeration, but still. If he had taken conditioning seriously and learned to shoot free throws, ...

But yes, a young Shaq would seemingly have no problem with this kid.

erikthredd

@SanctionII said:
Shaq at 20 years old was young, slim (relatively), quick, fast and explosive. He could run and run and run. Just like Moses Malone at 19 years old.

He was still listed at 303lbs in his draft profile and the majority of his rookie cards had listed at 295-300. He really was built like a house and his athleticism for a guy that big has really been seen.

Shaq's rookie season was a fun time as a card collector. His sales prices never reached the crazy levels major rookies hit today but it was always great when you pulled one from a pack.

erikthredd

@thisistheshow said:

@SanctionII said:
How about 19 year old VW in 2023 playing in his first NBA regular season game being matched up against 20 year old Shaquille O'Neal playing his first NBA regular season game in 1992?

Who would win that match up of #1 draft picks?

@SanctionII said:
Shaq at 20 years old was young, slim (relatively), quick, fast and explosive. He could run and run and run. Just like Moses Malone at 19 years old.

@erikthredd said:
20yr old Shaq would have roughly 100lbs on 19yr old Wemby and he'd probably back him down to the rim then dunk on him everytime. VW would at least have the benefit of Shaq having to chase him around on the other end.

I'd have to go with Shaq in that matchup.

.....
Shaq's career was obviously amazing. But he didn't even sniff his potential, in my opinion. Slight exaggeration, but still. If he had taken conditioning seriously and learned to shoot free throws, ...

But yes, a young Shaq would seemingly have no problem with this kid.

Those early Shaq & Penny Magic teams were so fun to watch. It really is a shame though because the Penny/Shaq & Kobe/Shaq duos could have really had so much more success if it weren't for Penny & Kobe's egos getting in the way. With Penny it was about the money and Kobe wanting to be_the_ man.

Martin

I think VW will get worn out as the season progresses. He needs to fill out more and will as he ages. I just hope he stays healthy. He’s a kid playing a grown man’s game.

Martin

craig44

@erikthredd said:

@SanctionII said:
Shaq at 20 years old was young, slim (relatively), quick, fast and explosive. He could run and run and run. Just like Moses Malone at 19 years old.

He was still listed at 303lbs in his draft profile and the majority of his rookie cards had listed at 295-300. He really was built like a house and his athleticism for a guy that big has really been seen.

Shaq's rookie season was a fun time as a card collector. His sales prices never reached the crazy levels major rookies hit today but it was always great when you pulled one from a pack.

I agree. the topps gold rookie was in high demand. I had multiple copies of the classic 4 sport LP8 "limited" card. he had a bunch of high demand rookies for sure. fun times.

erikthredd

@craig44 said:

@erikthredd said:

@SanctionII said:
Shaq at 20 years old was young, slim (relatively), quick, fast and explosive. He could run and run and run. Just like Moses Malone at 19 years old.

He was still listed at 303lbs in his draft profile and the majority of his rookie cards had listed at 295-300. He really was built like a house and his athleticism for a guy that big has really been seen.

Shaq's rookie season was a fun time as a card collector. His sales prices never reached the crazy levels major rookies hit today but it was always great when you pulled one from a pack.

I agree. the topps gold rookie was in high demand. I had multiple copies of the classic 4 sport LP8 "limited" card. he had a bunch of high demand rookies for sure. fun times.

I remember busting enough packs to land most of the main rookies but his UD EXCH was one I really wanted but had to wait a few years before seeing one at a shop.
As a basketball fan that watched a ton of college & NBA at the time (1990-95) that was a great time spending relatively cheap money while hunting rookies of players like Shaq,Larry Johnson ,Alonzo Mourning,Penny,Grant Hill & Chris Webber. i must have spent a small fortune on Classic cards/packs/boxes alone.

galaxy27

for about 2 weeks i've had a feeling completely overwhelm me that i'd deeply regret not making an effort to be at Wemby's first game. that is no longer a concern.

YOLO

i'll create an official VW thread with pictures

thisistheshow

@galaxy27 said:
for about 2 weeks i've had a feeling completely overwhelm me that i'd deeply regret not making an effort to be at Wemby's first game. that is no longer a concern.

YOLO

i'll create an official VW thread with pictures

...
Felicidades!! Have fun. If you meet Wemby, I've heard that he appreciates (due to the irony) the music of Too Short...if you need to make conversation. 😜🤔

There's been a lot of anticipation about this game locally. Whether Luka plays or not, he is unfortunately injured.

erikthredd

@galaxy27 said:
for about 2 weeks i've had a feeling completely overwhelm me that i'd deeply regret not making an effort to be at Wemby's first game. that is no longer a concern.

YOLO

i'll create an official VW thread with pictures

Have fun dude. I'm looking forward to any & all critiquing of his signature if you happen to snag one. 😉

Hopefully if Luka does play we get to see a few one on one moments between the 2. Maybe see Luka attempt a couple stepback threes with VW in his face.

Its going to be interesting to see if he starts at the 5 or the 4. IIRC the Mavs are starting 19yr old Derek Lively Jr at center, who is 7-1 himself.
if Pop plays him at the 4 then we may see this guy covering him...