Jerami Grant was not intimidated by the task of having to guard Victor Wembanyama at all. During the Portland Trail Blazers‘ game against the San Antonio Spurs, Grant showcased his physicality by consistently locking up with Wembanyama and even shoved him to the floor on three different occasions.
Jerami Grant and Victor Wembanyama had to be separated 3⃣ times in the same play 😬 pic.twitter.com/XsIgQuvSB4
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) November 8, 2024
Wembanyama struggled to keep up with Grant’s defense on him. While the shoves occurred mostly during situations when play had been halted, Grant’s presence did have a major impact on Wembanyama’s play throughout the game and limited his ability to perform at his best.
Wembanyama had a mediocre outing last night, as he put up just 12 points, along with eight rebounds, two assists, four steals, and three blocks. Wemby shot the ball poorly, going just 4-13 from the field, 2-6 from deep, and 2-3 from the free-throw line. Despite playing against one of the weakest teams in the NBA, Wembanyama wasn’t able to capitalize.
This has been a difficult start to the season for Victor Wembanyama. In his first nine games, Wemby has averaged just 17.7 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.6 steals, and 3.7 blocks per game, while shooting just 41.3% from the field, 22.6% from the three-point line, and 91.2% from the free-throw line.
Compare these numbers to his rookie year, and you can see that his performances have taken a dip. Last season, Wembanyama averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals, and 3.6 blocks per game, while shooting 46.5% from the floor, 32.5% from beyond the arc, and 7.6% from the stripe.
Other than his blocks per game and free-throw percentage, all his other stats this year are down from his rookie year, which might be a cause for concern. The Spurs’ coaching staff must try and figure out what is going wrong for Wemby.
Jerami Grant Praises Victor Wembanyama
Jerami Grant spoke about Victor Wembanyama after the game. Despite their fiery battle during the game, Grant had nothing but positive things to say about the reigning Rookie of the Year, stating that he had the skillset of a smaller guard, while also explaining what any player trying to guard him must do in order to contain him.
“He [Victor Wembanyama] has all the skill sets that guards have, so you have to treat him like that. You give him enough space he’ll shoot it. He’s got a good step back. He’s skilled and talented, so you got to make him uncomfortable.”
Grant seemed to read Wembanyama’s game a lot better than most other bigs in the league. While Grant has a significant height disadvantage compared to Wemby, he more than makes up for it with his strength and physicality and used that to his advantage to help keep Wemby at bay.
The San Antonio Spurs are currently without their head coach, Gregg Popovich, who is sidelined with an undisclosed but serious medical issue. Perhaps Pop’s absence is the issue, as he could provide Wembanyama with the guidance to fix whatever mistakes or errors he is making on the court.
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