After several recent disheartening losses, the San Antonio Spurs got back on the right track with a win against the Sacramento Kings. Still, some wonder if the league had figured out star Victor Wembanyama.
The Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets [employed a similar strategy](https://airalamo.com/wemby-s-biggest-headache-will-get-the-best-of-him-again-unless-he-gets-help) in which they put a big wing on Wembanyama and sent help whenever he caught the ball in the post. That often led to him getting flustered and quickly passing the ball out or even turning it over.
Fortunately, the Spurs may have cracked the code and found several different ways to counter opposing teams' aggressive Wembanyama strategy. Against the Rockets and Pelicans, San Antonio hit a combined 32 threes while shooting an impressive 37.6% from deep. They also snatched up 25 offensive rebounds.
Those two stats were especially telling considering that they were swinging the ball to the open man and crashing the offensive glass to get second-chance points.
Spurs have figured out how to counter teams guard Wembanyama
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Teams have recently begun guarding Wembanyama with a big wing in the hopes of forcing turnovers when he faces up or drawing offensive fouls when he drives or attacks in the post. It's been an effective strategy, with him having at least 5 turnovers four times in the team's first 12 games.
Teams have even been sending help when Wembanyama posts up wings, with the opposing center coming over to double-team. The Spurs' counter has been for Wembanyama to quickly pass out of those doubles with his team moving the ball on the perimeter.
Players such as Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, and Harrison Barnes have feasted on open threes while defenses are left to scramble to get back to their man. We have also seen the Spurs crash the offensive glass in recent games, with Keldon Johnson suddenly turning into an offensive rebounding machine.
He grabbed three against the Pelicans and five against the Rockets. Aggressively taking threes and aggressively crashing the glass helps to negate other teams' ability to muck up the Spurs' offense by double- and triple-teaming Wembanyama.
It's a pick your poison situation; either let Wembanyama beat you or let several capable shooters have target practice on the rim.
Spurs will make teams pick their poison guarding Wembanyama
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Wembanyama has also been more aggressive shooting from outside, realizing that he can't completely abandon taking threes. Prior to his 3-point explosion against the Chicago Bulls, he was hitting just 23.8% of his 3.8 3-point attempts.
However, him hitting a clutch three against the New Orleans Pelicans and drilling six of his nine threes against the Bulls underscores the need for him to shoot more from outside. After all, teams aren't going to double him when he is spotting up 25 feet away from the basket.
Also, with Fox back, he and Stephon Castle will constantly attack the basket, collapsing defenses and freeing up Wembanyama for open threes. Last season he averaged 3.1 made threes, resulting in 9.3 points per game. He likely won't attempt nearly nine 3-point attempts per game like he did last season.
Still, he can shoot around six per game while continuing to average around 13.5 2-point field goals. That would allow him to both space the floor and keep teams from swarming him in the paint while also still seeking out high-percentage looks in the paint.
With the Spurs off to a stellar 9-4 start, they appear to have already weathered an early storm regarding how teams defend Wembanyama. By having him pass out of double- and triple-teams, swing the ball to open shooters, and punish out-of-position defenders by crashing the offensive glass, the Spurs have found a recipe to make teams pay.