Tag: Blake Wesley

Blake Wesley gives thoughts on Spurs adding future Hall of Famer Chris Paul

Young Blake Wesley gives his thoughts and reaction to the San Antonio Spurs bringing in future Hall of Famer Chris Paul.

The San Antonio Spurs have had one of the more aggressive offseasons as they look to help Victor Wembanyama take the next step in his development to lead the Spurs forward.

One key addition is future Hall of Famer Chris Paul who will look to help the Spurs move forward. The 19-year veteran has been one of the best point guards in the history of the league and has a clear understanding of how to help teams move forward.

Young Blake Wesley figures to be one of the beneficiaries of Paul’s presence. Wesley is still looking to find his place in the league and stated this in an interview with HoopsHype about Paul’s addition:

 I’m excited, man. He’s a great dude. I just worked out. We just worked out with him not too long ago at Summer League. Yeah. So it’s good. He’s a great dude. He’s talking to me, coaching me, telling me to go handle the ball. So I’m enjoying it so far, and I can’t wait to learn and get the knowledge. Really take what he has. So I’m excited.

Paul played 58 games with the Golden State Warriors in the 2023-24 season averaging 9.2 points and 6.8 assists coming off the bench. He will likely assume a starting role in San Antonio and look to get the Spurs trending in the right direction again.

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Blake Wesley on Chris Paul: ‘For him to be my teammate is kind of crazy’

Blake Wesley, the San Antonio Spurs’ third-year guard, has seen growth and development over the past few seasons as he has patiently awaited his opportunity. Standing at 6-foot-4, Wesley’s blend of speed, skill, and defensive acumen positions him as …

Blake Wesley, the San Antonio Spurs’ third-year guard, has seen growth and development over the past few seasons as he has patiently awaited his opportunity. Standing at 6-foot-4, Wesley’s blend of speed, skill, and defensive acumen positions him as a potential breakout player for the Spurs.

Wesley has spent his initial years in the Association alternating between the San Antonio Spurs and their G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs.

In an interview with HoopsHype, on behalf of Herbalife, Wesley opened up about his journey, his excitement about learning from Chris Paul, Spurs being a darkhorse team and more.

Most recent Notre Dame players to be NBA draft selections

All of these players did the Irish proud before making the jump.

Nobody on Notre Dame’s veteran-laden team from this past season will be selected in Thursday’s NBA draft. In fact, given the inexperience across the board on the upcoming season’s roster and under a new coach no less, it could be quite a while before we see another Notre Dame player drafted. On the bright side, that means no early departures except via the transfer portal. Then again, it sure would be nice to have NBA-ready talent in South Bend.

The only way to deal with a challenging present and short-term future is to look to the past. In this case, the way to go about that is to look at former players who heard their names called on draft night over the past several years. Of the 62 former Notre Dame players who have suited up in the NBA or ABA, 41 have entered professional basketball via the draft. Here are the most recent ones:

How are we feeling about Blake Wesley heading into his third season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs?

His scoring went down a bit last season from that of his first in the league, with the rest of his counting stats largely remaining the same.

How are we feeling about Blake Wesley‘s growth as a player heading into his third season in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs? Is the Notre Dame alum a shooting guard that San Antonio’s front office is going to continue trying to develop? Will they aggregate him in a deal for a more established player? And just what do we think of his growth as a player, anyway?

His scoring went down a bit last season from that of his first in the league, with the rest of his counting stats largely remaining the same. But his efficiency from 2-point range (30.1% to 56.3%) went up considerably — and his 3-point efficiency went down quite a bit (38.5% to just 21.8%).

Given his overall efficiency rose from 36.7% to 50.2%, that’s growth, but is it the right sort of growth for him to stick with this team?

The folks behind the “SSPN: A San Antonio Spurs Podcast” YouTube channel took a closer look on a recent episode. Check it out above to hear what they had to say!

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Blake Wesley’s best highlights from the 2023-24 Spurs season

Check out some of Blake Wesley’s best highlights from his 2023-24 season with the San Antonio Spurs.

The San Antonio Spurs’ season as a whole was pretty rough this past year, as they finished the year as one of the worst teams in the Western Conference. However, it was highlighted by the emergence of Victor Wembanyama as an NBA superstar. But he wasn’t the only player who stepped up for the Spurs.

One guy who may have flown under the radar in the grand scheme of things was Blake Wesley, who enjoyed a very solid sophomore season with the Spurs. He earned more and more minutes as the year went on, emerging as a potential defensive stopper at the guard position.

At the end of the season, the Spurs’ official YouTube channel posted a video of Wesley’s best highlights from his 2023-24 in San Antonio.

In 61 appearances for the Spurs (including three starts), Wesley averaged 4.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists while shooting 47.4% from the field and 21.8% from behind the three-point line.

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Blake Wesley praised for leap with Spurs: ‘Showed enough potential’

San Antonio Spurs guard Blake Wesley had a solid 2023-24 campaign.

The San Antonio Spurs are likely going to be searching for guard help this summer as they attempt to get the most out of Victor Wembanyama. However, they already have some solid guards on the roster with intriguing potential. In Jeje Gomez of Pounding the Rock’s end-of-season review for Blake Wesley, the Spurs guard was praised for doing enough to continue being a part of the plan in San Antonio.

“The leap wasn’t gigantic, but it was enough for him to get a role for a team desperate for defense and guard play,” Gomez wrote. “As the games passed some of the issues he had before with turnovers reared their head and he didn’t refine his skill set much as the season progressed, but Wesley showed enough potential to avoid falling by the wayside.”

Having a guy like Wesley who can turn it up on the defensive end at the guard position could be huge for the Spurs.

The real question is, can Wesley improve to the point where San Antonio can roll him out on a nightly basis?

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Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: April 1-7

Here’s how Notre Dame’s two players fared this past week.

Even though the Milwaukee Bucks are on a four-game losing streak, [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had a great start to the past week. His 15 points April 2 against the Washington Wizards were one off his season high, and his eight rebounds tied his season high. He followed that with six points and eight assists the next night against Memphis Grizzlies. For the week, he averaged 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game.

Despite shooting 1 of 8 from the field over his first two games of the week, [autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] had four and five assists respectively. He collected six points and four rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ double-overtime loss April 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers. That brought his averages for the week to 3.0 points and 3.0 assists a game.

Photographers on hand to cover Connaughton and Wesley’s teams during the past week got plenty of shots of Notre Dame’s two current NBA players. Here are some of the best ones:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: March 25-31

Not a flashy week by any standard.

It wasn’t the most productive week for Notre Dame’s NBA representation, but [autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] got it off to a decent start. In the Milwaukee Bucks’ March 26 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, he made only a single 3-pointer but tied his career high in assists with nine, which he set earlier this season.

Connaughton finished his week with four points, four assists and three rebounds March 30 against the Atlanta Hawks. For the week, he averaged 3.3 points, 4.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds a game.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] scored five points, had three assists and picked up a steal to help the San Antonio Spurs defeat the Phoenix Suns on March 25. He had four points, five rebounds and three assists in a March 29 win over the New York Knicks. That helped a week in which he averaged 2.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists a game.

Here are some photos that were taken of Notre Dame’s two NBA players during the past week:

Pat Connaughton/Blake Wesley NBA Tracker: March 18-24

A couple of good games between the two this past week.

[autotag]Pat Connaughton[/autotag] had a couple of decent games this past week for the Milwaukee Bucks. It began March 20 when he scored seven points and five rebounds in a loss to the Boston Celtics, potentially an Eastern Conference finals preview. He was even better March 24 against the Oklahoma City Thunder with 11 points. It might have helped to have fellow Notre Dame legend and Milwaukee native [autotag]Arike Ogunbowale[/autotag] in attendance:

Whatever the case, Connaughton averaged 6.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game for the week.

[autotag]Blake Wesley[/autotag] grabbed four rebounds in the San Antonio Spurs’ March 19 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. His March 23 game against the Phoenix Suns might have been the best of his career. He scored 12 points to go with three assists, two steals and a block. Over the week, he had averages of 4.3 points and 2.0 rebounds a game.

Photographers were on hand to catch Notre Dame’s NBA representation. Here is some of what they captured:

Blake Wesley details what Spurs should do in Suns rematch

San Antonio Spurs point guard Blake Wesley spoke about how they should adjust their defense against the Phoenix Suns.

On Saturday night, the San Antonio Spurs dropped their game against the Phoenix Suns in brutal fashion. The Suns picked up a 131-106 blowout win over the Spurs, flipping the script on the two sides’ early-season matchups, as San Antonio won two in a row against Phoenix at the very start of the season.

Kevin Durant and Devin Booker combined to score 57 points as the Spurs were overwhelmed by the sheer talent on the Suns’ roster. Bradley Beal also poured in 13 points of his own. Phoenix shot a blistering-hot59.6% from the field and 45.8% from behind the three-point line. It was a poor defensive showing by the Spurs.

After the game, Spurs guard Blake Wesley spoke about the defensive adjustments his team should make in their Monday night rematch against Phoenix. (H/t Paul Garcia of Project Spurs)

“I feel like they got a lot of 3s up tonight, us scrambling, and they knocked down shots,” Wesley said. “If we contain them to more 2s, play the right way, defend, get out in transition, I feel like we’ve got a chance.”

The Suns, not known for their three-point arrack, shot 11-of-24 from behind the three-point line.

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