Wemby Keeps Taking The Blame. Now He Needs To Fix It.

The Spurs star has the talent to flip this series, but his self-creation habits and clutch mistakes are exactly why San Antonio is on the brink.

In the final seconds of Game 2 of this year’s NBA Finals, the Spurs held a 1-point lead. They forced Brunson into a tough midrange shot that he missed. A sigh of relief in the arena as Captain Clutch couldn’t get the Knicks the lead. San Antonio got the rebound and began dribbling up the court. Then, Victor Wembanyama passed to a turned-around Stephon Castle, leading to a jarring turnover. JB hit 2 clutch free throws off the steal and secured a win for New York. Wemby missed the game-winner.

This moment doesn’t stand alone in the “key blunders by Victor” category. He missed two clutch free throws in Game 4, shot pi day (3/14) in the second half of that same game, and had 10 combined turnovers in Games 1 and 2. Combine that with unnecessarily physical fouls and lots of talking he wasn’t able to back up, and you have a surprisingly human series from the alien.

Key note: none of this is to rag on Wemby. I want to see him succeed. Badly. He’s overall had a great first playoff run with plenty of highlights. A 40-point, 20-rebound game, a record for playoff blocks in a game, and just being a two-way menace. He will always be a positive contributor on defense because most players don’t want to challenge him. Except Jose Alvarado, for some reason. That’s all to say: he can be the best player in the world, but right now he’s not there.

Not to get in his head, but against this tough Knicks defense, he has struggled mightily. The Knicks are doing a masterful job of restricting Victor’s easy paint touches and forcing him into self-creation buckets. A lot of the time, he’s settling for tough 3’s, which he’s missing. When he’s self-creating, he’s not putting that much pressure on the defense. He’s getting worn out quicker, getting more gassed, and that leads to key mistakes in the clutch. Less pressure also means harder shots and fewer chances to run up the score.

To simplify it further: when the man DOES get the ball in the post from a teammate, amazing things happen. It creates open shooters, driving lanes, and closeout opportunities. The only game San Antonio won? Wemby took 18 shots, only 4 of those being 3’s. He splashed 2 of them, but the other 14 shots came from inside the free throw line besides 1. Castle was lobbing him, he was getting clean layups, and when that wasn’t an option, he kicked it out for 6 assists. That led to a win.

Looking at the first half of Game 4, that same theme continued. Then, when the shooters started hitting, it looked like the game was over. So how did they lose Game 4? In the second half, there were 6 of 14 shots outside the paint, making 2. That number of outside attempts is inflated by his many, many failed tip-in attempts, but he was getting to the hole. Add in those missed clutch free throws, the Pi Day shooting line, and a game that ended with just 1 assist, and you’ve got the blueprint for a collapse.

Well, what about Fox doing his best JR Smith impression and Mitch Johnson’s coaching pitfalls? Those are real factors in losing the game, but to say Wemby is not at fault at all is just a lie. He wants that pressure, and he even says himself that he’s the one to take the blame. He’s putting a lot of this on himself, which we should all respect since he is the Spurs’ best player. When he’s playing well, his impact can break open the game. If that’s not happening, it just makes the game harder for everybody around him.

Being a leader in its most simple sense is both saying and doing. If you’re going to take the responsibility, it’s on you to play your best. Wemby has to make quick decisions, hunt mismatches, and use his size to his advantage in the paint. Some of that is coaching, some of that is how he wants to play that game. And that’s what can win San Antonio games. And if you’re going to say “I’m in your head” and play the KG mental warfare game (I don’t think Vic is talking about dead moms yet, though), you have to back that up. Don’t let your opponents make the biggest comeback in Finals history as you choke. Simple as that.

This is undoubtedly the toughest matchup Wembanyama has faced all postseason. Not only a revitalized Karl-Anthony Towns who plays... good defense?... but a strong wing group who can defend well like OG and Hart, who have kept him in check these 4 games.

Not to act as the great Kenny Atkinson here, but the San Antonio Spurs are down 1-3 when they could’ve just as easily been up 3-1. Box score-wise, Wemby is having a great series, but he’s not playing at his best. If he’s able to replicate his Game 3 and create those easy opportunities for his teammates, it gives them their best shot to come back.

None of that matters if his team lets him down this Saturday. And if the eggs New Yorkers threw at him actually got to his head.