The wake-up call that flipped a switch

One of the truest indicators of greatness is how you respond to adversity. Sometimes even humiliation. It’s about how a player recovers from a bomb exploding in their lap in high-leverage situations and whether or not they react in phases from moment to moment.

We’ve already seen Victor Wembanyama’s performance in the fourth quarter and the acquisitions in the closing stages Foreigner without a physical earthly equal. But what we have rarely seen is a challenger who not only pounced directly on the Spurs anchor and succeeded, but who also informed the big man about it after the fact.

Enter Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter, whose 27 points off the bench energized a Hawks team that needed every ounce of that firepower in a 133-126 overtime loss to San Antonio on Thursday. In the final seconds of regulation time, Hunter sprinted down the sideline, somersaulted off Larry Nance Jr. and exploded full force at pursuer Wembanyama before standing over his victim and felling him.

Unfortunately for Hunter, they were the last two points of his night. But even though Victor had already scored 34 points, he still had to stage the final act.

“It certainly helped us get into that frame of mind,” Wembanyama said of Hunter’s showmanship. “We don’t forget.”

The second-year sensation put on a show in overtime, scoring eight of his 42 points in the final five minutes and adding an emphatic block to boot – each moment feeling like a bigger backbreaker than the one before it.

First, a 3-pointer after a small shoulder deflection sent two defenders flying past him; then a two-handed dunk off a high pick-and-roll with Chris Paul that required no dribbling once he caught the ball above the free throw line; and finally a follow-up bomb from 28 feet that gave the Spurs the lead for good with 1:52 left.

“I thought he had his will enforced positively (Thursday),” Mitch Johnson said. “You can see it physically, just because of his size, when he is demonstrative and plays with conviction, where he gets the ball to the places he wants to go and nothing will stop him.”

After another impressive, composed victory, there were a number of different topics to choose from for discussion. Maybe you’d go with San Antonio, who are once again coming off a close game – they’re now outscoring their opponents by points 18.5 points per 100 “Clutch” possessionsgood for fourth place in the league – or perhaps you want to breathe in the sweet scent of a fully healthy team for the first time all season. But in the aftermath of Victor’s latest masterpiece, it seems obligatory to point to a slow but steady evolution.

Yes, he shot 15 times from the perimeter against the Hawks (and made seven of them), but Wembanyama is starting to move his game closer to the basket with greater consistency. And as Johnson pointed out, there are very few options to defend the 20-year-old when his star plays determined basketball and takes on the personality of a bully.

Wembanyama has taken 7.9 shots from inside per game through the first three weeks of December (up from 6.4 the previous month), with his total number of 2-point attempts going from 47.9 percent of his shooting diet to 53.5 percent over the course of the year month has increased same time frame. But the real reward comes from the free throw line, where teams often have no choice but to send him once he decides to get there.

After averaging just 2.7 attempts with the jersey in November and ending the month with a free attempt against the Lakers the day before Thanksgiving, Victor has since reached the finish line 6.7 times per game, reaching double-digit attempts on two of them last three games. If he manages to maintain this pace, it would be the highest number of free throws made in a month of his young career, and to no one’s surprise, the efficiency numbers are starting to add up as a result.

Wembanyama posted an elite shooting percentage of 62.3 points (a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account two-pointers, three-pointers and free throws) in December, a number comparable to players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo. And he has achieved this by systematically expanding his repertoire and adding to an already impressive arsenal.

“I think I’m doing a better job of putting him in the right position. I think his teammates are doing a better job of keeping their distance from him. I think he’s a little stronger and in better shape,” Johnson said. “I think everything is coming together a little bit for him. And the icing on the cake is that once he develops the right mentality, it’s difficult to stop.”

We also saw the development over the course of the season. Wembanyama struggled to connect on even a quarter of his 3-point attempts early in the year, and the defense gave him those shots until he proved he could make them. Then, having done just that, he added the pump-and-drive to his game as desperate defenders rushed toward him along the perimeter, hoping to at least challenge his nearly 10-foot release point.

Along the way, San Antonio started throwing in some quick-hitters from off-field at low volume, just to get a few looks inside and keep the defense honest. It also led to some two-man offseason play between him and Devin Vassell after the latter returned from offseason foot surgery.

Now we’re seeing more and more elbow-to-elbow face-up opportunities, allowing him to operate from the middle of the court while shooters and cutters have him all around him. And as its mid-range jumper becomes more and more reliable (42.9 percent in December), both driving and passing lanes will open even further.

This is all just the beginning of a process that could also lead to something completely dominant that unfolds differently with every passing game.

Take, for example, the overtime rollover you saw in the GIF above. There’s an alternate reality where Wemby decides to disappear from the screen for Paul and instead launch a 3 (which he may have made anyway), but what we saw was the result of a lesson learned in real time.

In a nearly identical situation early in the game, Victor Paul prepared an angle to the left as the Hawks entered the game while low man Jalen Johnson was guarding the basket. But instead of opening up and rolling into the space in the middle of the floor where Paul could hit him with a pocket pass or hit him over the top, Wemby jumped to the rim and had to settle for a difficult step-back 3 . Pointer.

Fast forward to extension – same setup, different result.

“There were a few times where he probably wanted to get possession again but didn’t want to (play with conviction). And as he continues to showcase those positive traits, I think the goal will just be to continue to string those together and be more consistent in those areas,” Johnson said. “Sometimes he just goes wherever there is space. I think you need a player of his caliber. Every time you get them the ball at a spot in space, you take it and then the defense has to decide whether to play it straight up or put two on the basketball.

“But I thought he did a really good job, being patient and thoughtful and making the right decisions (Thursday) … he was great when we needed him.”

Channeling his inner Gregg Popovich, Wembanyama often talks about never skipping steps. It’s about learning how to play properly in the NBA and finding out as much as you can about yourself before eventually tightening the screws on a finished product. Today, those steps and the steps in between are getting bigger, and the building blocks that are stacked as a result of the overall development form the kind of foundation that can sustain a franchise for a long time. Now is the time to learn how to win, but make no mistake, it’s still about the future.

All the experiments, the 3-point shots, the awkward and sometimes unnatural situations on the court, the questions “Why are they doing this?” and “Why aren’t they doing that?” – there is a reason for everything.

“I am experiencing a level of freedom that I have never had the chance to experience before. And for me it is also the clearest way to get better and reach the highest level,” said Wembanyama. “It makes sense to me that we see creativity on the pitch because I think that’s actually the best way for me to help my team.

“You don’t put me in a box, and I won’t.”

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