Ultimate Decode|Venbanyama Debut: Infinite Possibilities for the Future and Embarrassing Limitations of the Present
Because the bodyguard slapped Britney the day before, Venbanyama's debut in Las Vegas reached an unprecedented heat.
Then the most anticipated interior leader after "thick eyebrows" Anthony Davis, who debuted with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists, and 5 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls.
and helping Kay Jones' partition make today's headlines and make Brandon Miller look less bad.
Although he is regarded by everyone as another pillar of the Spurs admiral and Duncan, the starting point of Venbanyama is still too far from the two predecessors.
In his senior year, the Admiral led the Naval School to average 28.2 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.5 blocks per game, winning consecutive NCAA rebounding and blocking kings, and the final game of the college exploded by 50 points. The Spurs would rather wait two more years for him to serve in the Navy than take him.
Not to mention that Duncan has been considered "locked in for the 95-97 years" since his sophomore year, and running in any year is undoubtedly the number one choice. After entering the NBA, he also became the last rookie to enter the league so far.
What about Venbanyama.
He played for Ligue 1 Metropolitan 92 this year. The French league is not considered the top league in the FIBA world, at a lower level than the Spanish, Greek and Italian leagues, not to mention that he does not yet have a Champions League to play.
This year, he averaged 21.4 points, 9.9 boards, 2.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 3.1 blocks per game in the league and won an MVP. But lost to Monaco led by NBA veterans Mike James and Montiunas in the final finals.
If you've seen Venbanyama perform in the French league, you should be able to draw some conclusions easily.
(1) He is very flexible, or has never seen anyone at his height do those movements before.
(2) His technical skills are solid, whether it is dribbling, shooting (especially free throws) or passing, he laid a solid foundation as a teenager. Even his projection has reached a very good level in this age group.
(3) His defensive feeling and skills are excellent, and he knows how to use his size advantage to cover the box, protect the basket, and even change the outside frequently.
But the problem is also there:
(1) The biggest deficiency is confrontation. The quality of his technical moves is very different in the presence or absence of confrontation. His current strength and weight simply do not guarantee him stability in the face of strong opponents.
So he relies more on the turnover jumper (2.21m rollover jumper) on the offensive end. As well as catching opponents' defensive loopholes and dodging when breaking through.
On the offensive end, even in Ligue 1, he is not the attacking core of the team.
(2) Also limited by weight, and in order to avoid injury, he is not particularly accustomed to using his body to jam and fight at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, which will give people a soft feeling of playing style.
In this year's Ligue 1 Finals, Montiunas, who has long been eliminated by the NBA, has relied on tonnage to eat him the inside more than once.
In previous U19 games, he was able to overwhelm Holmgren, who was of his type, in the basket confrontation, but he couldn't get the "little fat" Lofton who is now on the bench with the Grizzlies.
To summarize:
He's a monster bred in the current basketball environment, and you won't find any template in history.
He's more like a weakened version of Durant on the offensive end, and Gobert with a greater range of motion on the defensive end, or a thick eyebrow in college.
He has very good technical fundamentals, but because of his size and strength, it is difficult to fully play at the top level.
Because he is too thin, his scruples about injuries make his desire to fight at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends seem conservative.
If you can watch his debut today with such cognition, you will not burst out with the idea of "how can this parallel product be compared to the admiral and Duncan".
After the opening of the game, he did not play the team's biggest card and "give the ball to Lao Tzu" attitude on the offensive end, but still played high or empty on the weak side like he did in Ligue 1.
Don't worry about me, play at your own pace.
And in the face of an American guy whose arms are thicker than his legs per capita, he really can't move. In the first quarter, the only goal was to finish 2+1 in a very awkward position on the fast break, which really didn't help much on the offensive end.
But on the defensive end, he performed better, if not much better, than people thought.
His sense of position is outstanding, especially in the handling of blocking and dismantling balls, which is much more mature than the "stunned young man" of the same age in the United States.
In the case of his block, he looked at Kay Jones behind him after the Hornets finished blocking, and against Brandon Miller who was holding the ball. It was not until the weak side of Champany contracted into place that the closure was boldly completed.
Steady and ruthless, at least the first two.
Although he only scored one goal on the offensive end in the first quarter, he has completed a "dimensionality reduction strike" on the defensive end, always giving the opponent a psychological hint of "I can really cover you".
Today's Hornets player has already felt the suffering of his Ligue 1 peers this year, and this bamboo pole is good defensively, but when it comes to your offense, he seems to really cover your every shot.
The Hornets scored 12 points in the first quarter and 14 in the second quarter, scoring just 26 points at halftime.
For comparison, they lost to the Warriors by 40 points in the first half last game,
Venbanyama's influence on the defensive end is still not fully displayed in terms of statistics.
Even the two scenes that made him "disgraced" today are worth saying.
After the Hornets launched the block, he was still facing Nick Smith who was holding the ball for a second. After the other party passed a wonderful open catch across him, Wen Ban could still quickly turn around and interfere with Kai Jones' empty connection.
His handling ability against blocks and dislocations was well demonstrated in this goal.
It was a defensive round that would make the crowd laugh but make scouts and coaches applaud.
And in the face of the heads-up of Brandon Miller, who is 20 centimeters shorter than him.
He used his pace to block Miller's first breakthrough, and when the opponent pulled the ball to recover, he actually used a crossstep to return to position, when he judged Miller would make a quick stop and shot, so he quickly adjusted his pace and prepared to jump.
It's just that Fang Qi Gao killed directly with a Buddha worship.
This is more like a head-to-head battle between two strikers, which is not the same as our Chairman Yao being tricked to the ground by Marbury twenty years ago.
In the first race, Venbanyama showed the talents that made him the champion and the infinite possibilities for the future.
Exaggerated coverage on the defensive end, and defensive skills that are already quite mature.
Good hand on the offensive end (4-of-4 from the free throw line) and amazing ability to dominate the ball among players of this height.
Any NBA scout and coach who sees him in this way is unlikely to give up the possibility of bringing him under his wing.
If NBA players were 100 points for talent, monsters like him raised the ceiling to an unprecedented 110.
But for now, at least, his skinny stature and negligible strength and confrontation prevent him from showing his talent and skills in the NBA.
Next season there will be countless opponents who will crush him with strength, take pride in spacing and teasing him, and his current shortcomings in confrontation give him too many limitations.
Today's game can at least silence those who are whistling that "Venbanyama locks in the best rookie" and "Spurs play in the playoffs in their first year, winning in three years".
But for those who are optimistic that the class will continue to widen the ceiling for the future of the NBA, it is also encouraging.
When Venbanyama adapts to the intensity of the NBA's confrontation and can really show his skill and height advantages,
"Durant, who is ten centimeters taller", "Gobert with skill", "more flexible Porzingis", no matter how you look at it, are extremely terrifying existences.