3-time NBA All-Star rips Spurs for not using Victor Wembanyama like Thunder use Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
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3-time NBA All-Star rips Spurs for not using Victor Wembanyama like Thunder use Shai Gilgeous-Alexander originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The San Antonio Spurs entered Game 3 hoping their home-court advantage would help them regain control of the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they lost the game. Three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas believes the Spurs’ inability to consistently lean on Victor Wembanyama late in games has become their biggest issue in the loss.
“You can't have a guy go out from 41 and 24 then barely get the ball in the last game and barely gets the ball this game,” Arenas said. “He's the biggest force in the game, but you only see him once in a blue moon because the rest of the team thinks that they move this ship when it's him who's unstoppable. The elite of the OKC defense is their guard play.
“The only person that has an advantage here is Wimby. Because he doesn't actually have to play man-to-man defense just help defense so he gets to save a lot of energy, but it seems like he's saving all of his energy on offense because he gets the ball once every four or five minutes. And he can't will his dominance on this game if he's not getting.”
Game 1 showed exactly how dangerous Wembanyama can be when the offense revolves around him. He exploded for 41 points, 24 rebounds, and three blocks in 49 minutes while repeatedly attacking the paint and knocking down a clutch three-pointer to force overtime. He still managed 26 points in Game 3, but he had to work through 39 exhausting minutes to get there.
The Spurs actually outscored the Thunder during the minutes Wembanyama was on the floor, but the major problem came when he rested. During the nine minutes he sat, the Thunder dominated San Antonio by 19 points.
Arenas then contrasted the Spurs’ approach with Oklahoma City’s reliance on Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Last five minutes, six minutes or in the fourth quarter give the ball to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander creates all the assists and all the points the ball is touching him first,” Arenas said. “And that's what I mean, the star players are supposed to get the ball at the end and he dictates everything. And until they realize that he is unstoppable when he's getting the ball in the paint.”
After the loss, Wembanyama made it clear that the Spurs must collectively figure out answers against the Thunder. He said that there can be no excuses and admitted he personally needs to do a better job of creating opportunities for his teammates.\
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