Tag: San Antonio Spurs

Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama voted best defender in anonymous player poll

Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama was voted the best defender in the NBA in an anonymous poll of 142 players.

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama was voted the best defender in the NBA in an anonymous poll of 142 players conducted by The Athletic over the last month of the season.

Wembanyama finished his first season averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.2 steals in 71 games. He led the league in blocked shots and registered the most 30-point games (11) by a rookie since Trae Young in the 2018-19 season.

The 7-footer also ranked second in defensive box plus-minus (plus-3.3), fifth in defensive win shares (4.4), eighth in rebounds and 21st in steals. He registered the most games with at least five blocks (24); the next highest player has nine (Brook Lopez).

Poll: Who is the best defender?

  1. Victor Wembanyama, Spurs: 15.2%
  2. Jrue Holiday, Boston Celtics: 12.9%
  3. Lu Dort, Oklahoma City Thunder: 9.8%
  4. Herb Jones, New Orleans Pelicans: 8.3%
  5. Jaden McDaniels, Minnesota Timberwolves: 8.3%

Wembanyama, who is the front-runner to win Rookie of the Year, was named a finalist on Sunday for Defensive Player of the Year, joining Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo and Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, who is the favorite to win.

The 20-year-old earned public praise from his peers throughout the year for his overall ability and skill set. Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green picked him to win the award, while Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving signed off on him to be in the running for it.

Wembanyama achieved numerous other accomplishments, including becoming the youngest player in history to register a 5×5 game and recording a triple-double with blocks. In other words: He should be in store for plenty of recognition in the end-of-season awards races.

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Victor Wembanyama is already the NBA’s best defender and this survey of 142 players proves it

No one is a better defender than Wemby, according to this survey of NBA players.

Victor Wembanyama has only played one season in the NBA but his peers already have incredibly high praise for the big man.

In an anonymous survey of 142 players around the association, reporters from The Athletic asked nearly one-third of the league to answer a series of questions. For example, we learned Indiana Fever draftee Caitlin Clark is the second-most popular non-NBA player among players in the league.

One of the questions was if you could pick one player to build a franchise around, who would it be? Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, emerged as the player with the most votes in this category.

Even though he missed the playoffs, Wembanyama had a slight edge over two-time NBA MVP and reigning NBA Finals MVP winner Nikola Jokic.

But that isn’t shocking considering that he is quite a bit younger and so long as he stays healthy, he should have a much longer career remaining than the Denver superstar.

Wembanyama also has a far greater defensive impact than Jokic. In fact, per this survey, he is actually a better defender than anyone else in the league.

RELATED: Here’s Victor Wembanyama’s case for Defensive Player of the Year folded up into one play against the Grizzlies

Wembanyama likely isn’t going to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie.

That honor will instead potentially go to Minnesota Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert. Wembanyama, however, feels confident that the next several years of the award will go to himself.

RELATED: Victor Wembanyama’s shot at Rudy Gobert shows us just how serious he is about winning

It seems the rest of the league agrees with him, too, as they already feel he is the best defensive player in the NBA.

This is hardly a secret but the future looks bright for Wembanyama in San Antonio.

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Chet Holmgren voices who he thinks should win Rookie of the Year

Chet Holmgren voices who he thinks should win Rookie of the Year.

After a successful season in which the Oklahoma City Thunder claimed the Western Conference’s top seed, it’s only reasonable to expect several representatives during this year’s award season.

One is Chet Holmgren, who’ll likely finish top two in Rookie of the Year voting with Victor Wembanyama. It was an historic season for the rookie duo; they led the league in blocks.

Holmgren played an important role in the Thunder’s campaign as part of their young trio. Meanwhile, Wembanyama had a phenomenal rookie campaign and is on his way to being one of the best players in the league.

In his interview on the Boardroom, Holmgren talked about the Rookie of the Year race, saying both he and Wembanyama deserve it and that it’ll be up to the voters to decide the winner.

“All credit to Wembanyama and what he’s doing,” Holmgren said. “I think first of all, we’re both having great years, but at the end of the day I think the voting is in the eye of the beholder.

“Whenever that does happen, win, lose, draw, the focus at the end of the day is our season hopefully continuing on, and what I have to do to help our team continue where they’re trying to go.”

This is a very diplomatic answer by Holmgren, who is as savvy with the media as he is protecting the rim. Odds are, Wembanyama will win the award, but that shouldn’t take away from Holmgren’s special first season back after missing all of last year recovering from a Lisfranc injury.

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Sean Elliott: Victor Wembanyama doesn’t care for the outside noise about him

Known by many for the Memorial Day Miracle, two-time All-Star Sean Elliott has been a beloved figure in the San Antonio community for decades and served as the Spurs’ color commentator for quite some time. On behalf of Fresenius Kidney Care, Elliott …

Known by many for the Memorial Day Miracle, two-time All-Star Sean Elliott has been a beloved figure in the San Antonio community for decades and served as the Spurs’ color commentator for quite some time.

On behalf of Fresenius Kidney Care, Elliott spoke with HoopsHype about the unicorn Victor Wembanyama, the potential for the Spurs, kidney disease awareness, and more.

Full injury report for Wednesday’s Spurs vs. Thunder matchup

Full injury report for Wednesday’s Spurs vs. Thunder matchup.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. It’s the second night of a home back-to-back for OKC as it concludes its regular season with a four-game homestand.

The Thunder (54-25) will be without one of their regular starters. Lu Dort (rest) is out. Gordon Hayward (posterior tibialis strain) is questionable. Jaylin Williams (back contusion) is questionable.

Ousmane Dieng (G League assignment) is out. Keyontae Johnson (G League two-way) is out. Olivier (G League two-way) is out.

Meanwhile, the Spurs (20-59) have a lengthy injury report. Victor Wembanyama (ankle injury management) is out. Jeremy Sochan (ankle impingement) is out. Devin Vassell (metatarsal head stress reaction) is out.

Keldon Johnson (foot sprain) is out. Cedi Osman (ankle sprain) is out. Dominick Barlow (knee bone bruise) is out. Charles Bassey (ACL tear) is out. Malaki Branham (hip contusion) is questionable.

OKC hopes to extend their win streak to three after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 40 points put them over the top against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

San Antonio is also on the second night of a back-to-back. It collected an easy win over the depleted Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

This will be the final matchup between the Thunder and Spurs this season. OKC won the first two contests but was upset by San Antonio in their last time out on Feb. 29.

Tip off from Oklahoma City is set for 7 p.m. CT.

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Here’s Victor Wembanyama’s case for Defensive Player of the Year folded up into one play against the Grizzlies

Nobody else in the NBA can do this. Nobody.

It feels like every single night Victor Wembanyama does something on the basketball court that we’ve never seen before. A 7-foot-5 dude doing a Shammgod into a spin into a layup just doesn’t make sense.

But what if I told you that might not even be the most impressive thing he did in that game alone? Because it legitimately might not be.

There’s been a debate about who should win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award this year. Rudy Gobert is the front-runner at this point in the year, and rightfully so, considering how impressive the Timberwolves’ defense has been this year.

But listen, man. Say what you want. Rudy Gobert isn’t blowing up a 3-on-1 fastbreak without lifting a finger like Victor Wembanyama did against the Grizzlies.

RELATED: Victor Wembanyama’s shot at Rudy Gobert shows how competitive he is

Look at this.

Dude. This is unreal. There’s no world where this is not supposed to be a bucket for the team with the ball.

The Grizzlies are just all so terrified of Wembanyama at the rim that they completely fumble this. It’s wild.

Rudy Gobert is probably going to win DPOY this year. And, again, if he does it’s well deserved. But if you want to make a case for Victor Wembanyama? This play should be at the front of the PowerPoint presentation.

Victor Wembanyama pulled off a breathtaking spin move and dunk against the Grizzlies

WEMBY

Every now and again, San Antonio Spurs rookie phenomenon Victor Wembanyama does something that makes you just laugh because only one basketball player on Earth can really do it.

On Tuesday night in Memphis, Wembanyama pulled off yet another incredible highlight that underscored what a truly generational talent he really is.

While driving the ball on Memphis Grizzlies center Trey Jemison, Wembanyama put the defender in a blender by hitting him with a beautiful spin move before effortlessly dunking the ball for two points.

We’re really not sure how someone as tall as Wembanyama can just put down a spin move like that and dunk the ball within a few seconds of each other.

Honestly, we’re really not sure how Wemby does much of what he does on the court. It’s what makes him the special player he is.

The more Wembanyama keeps this up, the more he’s going to build his case for easily the most promising young player in the NBA.

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Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama nominated for Western Conference Player of the Week

Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama was nominated for the Western Conference Player of the Week award for games played from April 1-7.

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama was nominated for the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week award for games played April 1-7.

Wembanyama averaged 24.3 points, 15 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 6.3 blocks on 41% shooting from the field in three games. He registered a double-double in each game and neared a quadruple-double with 23 points, 15 rebounds, nine blocks and eight assists on April 2.

Kyrie Irving took home the award in the Western Conference.

The No. 1 pick led all players in blocks on the week and was fourth in rebounding. He was the only rookie nominated for the award and joined Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Luka Doncic and Rudy Gobert as nominees.

Wembanyama is averaging 21.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.6 blocks and 1.3 steals in 69 games with the Spurs. He has the most 30-point games (10) by a rookie since Trae Young in the 2018-19 season and is the only rookie to register a triple-double (2) this season.

The 7-footer leads the league in blocks and is 19th in steals. He ranks third in defensive box plus-minus (plus-3.2), sixth in defensive win shares (4.2) and 10th in rebounds. He also has the most games with at least five blocks (23); the next highest player has nine (Brook Lopez).

Wembanyama is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year after a tremendous year with the Spurs. He has exceeded expectations and has established himself as a franchise cornerstone for years to come.

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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:

Draymond Green now believes Victor Wembanyama should win Defensive Player of the Year

Victor Wembanyama is gaining momentum to win Defensive Player of the Year award and recently earned an endorsement from a former winner.

Victor Wembanyama is gaining momentum to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, and the top pick recently earned an endorsement from a former winner: Draymond Green.

Wembanyama is averaging 21.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 3.5 blocks and 1.3 steals in 67 games with the San Antonio Spurs. He has the most 30-point games (9) by a rookie since Trae Young in the 2018-19 season and is the only rookie to register a triple-double (2) this season.

The 7-footer leads the league in blocks and is 16th in steals. He ranks third in defensive box plus-minus (plus-3.2), sixth in defensive win shares (4.0) and eighth in rebounds. He also has the most games with at least five blocks (22); the next highest player has nine (Brook Lopez).

Green, who won the award in 2017, said last month on his podcast that he didn’t believe Wembanyama should win because the Spurs were ranked 26th in defense. He has since reversed course and believes Wembanyama should win it this year.

I know I said on here a little while back that Wemby shouldn’t be the Defensive Player of the Year and I lied: Wemby should be the Defensive Player of the Year because he is that amazing defensively. The way he impacts the game on the defensive end — whether it is off the ball (or) on the ball — is a problem. When you start driving to the hole and guys may have a layup and they just turn out and go the other way? That’s a problem. … I don’t know what lab he was created in, but I need to go create me a son in that lab because dude is unbelievable.

According to the BetMGM Sportsbook, Wembanyama is second in odds (plus-750) to win Defensive Player of the Year, trailing only Minnesota center Rudy Gobert (minus-2500). Gobert is a three-time winner and last took home the honors in 2021.

In addition to Green, Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving recently signed off on Wembanyama winning the award, given his body of work on the defensive end of the court this season. Irving believes Wembanyama has the tools to be a consistent contender each year.

The late push by Wembanyama for the award will likely fall short, but the 20-year-old is looking forward to competing against Gobert for it in the future given their connection. He knows his time is coming to win the award.

“I know that Rudy has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved,” Wembanyama said on March 14, via Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “Let him win it now because after that, it’s no longer his turn.”

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