I just don't know if I'm ever going to be able to fully process some of the things that Wembenyama does.
He catches a pass on the way to the basket, and you reasonably expect him to take a dribble to get closer, then he takes one step and dunks it, when anyone else would have tried a layup or quick pull-up. It's difficult to not be briefly confused, because he does things that are outside of our experiences and expectations. I'd think that the other players on the court with him must occasionally need to stop and process what they've just seen (or had happen to them).
His size is one thing, but it's not as if he's the tallest player to ever grace the NBA. The size with his fluidity and skill is simply unprecedented. Wembenyama is a Whole Other Thing, and I am here for it.
As a Minnesota fan, Jaden McDaniels is All-Defense-caliber in terms of his median defensive play, but he has really regressed this year in terms of controlling his emotions and focus, which has led to a noticeable uptick in frustration fouls, unnecessary fouls on jump shooters, and several outright game-losing crunch time fouls this year (most recently committing an intentional foul on Pablo Banchero late in the shot clock in the last 10 seconds of a game that was tied). He's young, and I'm still glad to have him, but he had a better All-Defense case last year.
The Nuggets currently look like the Warriors last year, though I doubt they'll drop to the 6th seed. I also see them going 7 in the quarters rather than the semis. But either way, a semis matchup against the Wolves/Clips/Thunder could end up being over surprisingly quickly for the Nuggets, setting up one of those teams to actually put up a fight against the Celtics?
I just don't know if I'm ever going to be able to fully process some of the things that Wembenyama does.
He catches a pass on the way to the basket, and you reasonably expect him to take a dribble to get closer, then he takes one step and dunks it, when anyone else would have tried a layup or quick pull-up. It's difficult to not be briefly confused, because he does things that are outside of our experiences and expectations. I'd think that the other players on the court with him must occasionally need to stop and process what they've just seen (or had happen to them).
His size is one thing, but it's not as if he's the tallest player to ever grace the NBA. The size with his fluidity and skill is simply unprecedented. Wembenyama is a Whole Other Thing, and I am here for it.
As a Minnesota fan, Jaden McDaniels is All-Defense-caliber in terms of his median defensive play, but he has really regressed this year in terms of controlling his emotions and focus, which has led to a noticeable uptick in frustration fouls, unnecessary fouls on jump shooters, and several outright game-losing crunch time fouls this year (most recently committing an intentional foul on Pablo Banchero late in the shot clock in the last 10 seconds of a game that was tied). He's young, and I'm still glad to have him, but he had a better All-Defense case last year.
The Nuggets currently look like the Warriors last year, though I doubt they'll drop to the 6th seed. I also see them going 7 in the quarters rather than the semis. But either way, a semis matchup against the Wolves/Clips/Thunder could end up being over surprisingly quickly for the Nuggets, setting up one of those teams to actually put up a fight against the Celtics?