Three Things I Noticed on League Pass: Victor Wembanyama is spooky
Nobody wants to shoot near this guy, and with good reason
Hit the jump for this week’s edition of Three Things I Noticed on League Pass, starring Victor Wembanyama, Moe Wagner, and Taylor Hendricks.
Wemby, spooky
It’s honestly pretty hilarious watching ball-handlers probe the line with a drive, then get abjectly terrified by Wembanyama’s presence and decide they would rather do anything else in the world other than shoot over him.
In the first clip, Andrew Nembhard has two opportunities to shoot and passes up both of them. In the second, Pascal Siakam gets by Jeremy Sochan and has great position for a layup but instead flips it to Myles Turner, who promptly gets blocked.
Then it’s T.J. McConnell’s turn. He splits the defense and has a full step with a chance to go up either lefty or try a reverse, and instead passes it backward to Jalen Smith, who travels.
Then McConnell drives right into Victor and immediately is like no thank you and gives it to Smith again, and then he gets spooked and kicks it out. Bennedict Mathurin actually tries Wemby and you see why nobody else wants to.
Then poor Nembhard drives right, doesn’t want to shoot so he crosses back over and thinks he’s finally got a chance, but Victor literally CATCHES THE SHOT. Then it’s Nembhard passing one up again and Nesmith getting blocked. And finally it’s Nembhard being so aware of Wemby that instead of trying another layup, he does… well I don’t even know what he does and it’s a turnover.
I know I’m just typing descriptions of what happened in the video here but I mean, my god. If Wemby isn’t already the best paint-protector in the league, he will be soon.
His rim-protection numbers are already in league with players like Rudy Gobert, Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, and Brook Lopez. And among the 31 players who have been the help defender on 500 or more drives this season, he ranks eighth in points allowed per direct drive, per Second Spectrum. Again, he is mere hundredths of a point away (0.931) from Embiid (0.901) in first place. Everyone should be very afraid.
Moe Wagner, a star in his role
The older Wagner brother doesn’t get as much shine, but he has been really good off the bench for the Magic this season, at times looking like the team’s most effective center. He and Franz obviously have excellent chemistry, with a seeming sixth sense for where the other is going. The way Moe flips his screens to give Franz space shows a strong understanding of what his brother needs, and he also has the ability to ward off help defenders when Franz drives. (Watch what he does to Mikal Bridges in the final clip below.)
He’s done a great job of finishing through contact on the roll, leveraging his size and strength into and-one opportunities.
And then he’s just a really good, really smart cutter, with terrific timing and instincts in both the halfcourt and when coming down the floor as a trailer in delayed transition.
He's probably not a starter-quality guy, but he is averaging 11.3 points and 4.6 rebounds in just 18.4 minutes a night. He's ammde 66.1% of his two-point shots and has cut down on the threes since he can't really make them. (Career-low 2.8 attempts per 36 minutes.) He's just a really nice player.
Taylor Hendricks, on an island
I’m very intrigued by what I’ve seen from Hendricks defensively. The Jazz gave him the assignment of guarding Jimmy Butler and Paolo Banchero over the last week, and he acquitted himself fairly well when left alone one-on-one.
On some of these plays, he’s guarding a pick and roll and then recovering back to his man before taking on the iso. That’s good stuff. He needs to stop jumping and do a better job of holding his base when stronger players dip their shoulder to create space, but that stuff should come with time. There’s something here.
Mo for MIP! Give it to a guy who everyone thought was marginal.