DNHQ After Dark: Wemby wasn't ready for the Curry Experience

ARE YOU NOT....ENTERTAINED?! Riley Gaucher keeps the good vibes going at the HQ.

Editor’s Note: It’s time. It’s time to reunelash the young legend that is Riley Gaucher. Dub Nation HQ late night crew, stop the doomscrolling and activate some joy through the Warriors’ journey. Without further ado…

A night after they were summarily dismantled by the mirror image of their younger, dominant selves in Oklahoma City, the Warriors came up against the elongated reflection of their own superstar as he made his ascent down in San Antonio, this time managing to hold off the future of the league for at least one more game, prevailing 125-120.

In the first half of yet another back-to-back on Tuesday, the Dubs experienced firsthand the helplessness they unleashed on the league back in 2014 with their unguardable point guard and suffocating waves of well-rounded depth. Except a decade later, they were the victims of a similar roster construction and that feeling of inevitability. The budding Thunder dynasty is beyond intimidating, imposing their will in terms of nightly dominance and the existential threat posed to anyone else’s title chances for the foreseeable future, and the Warriors seemed like no match.

On Wednesday, they saw what it was like to face Stephen Curry as he was still learning to control his powers, an evolution embodied today by a 7’6” 21 year old Frenchman living in Texas. While some great players bludgeon opponents’ notions of normal basketball with unrelenting physicality and surprising skill (Giannis), and certain savants have so mastered the laws that usually govern this game that they can manipulate the ball and the other 9 players at will (LeBron and Jokic), Curry has always been unique for the constant, unconscious, inescapable pull he exerts on everything around him.

In Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs have another player similarly capable of bending the known geometry of the court past its breaking point and a worthy successor to Steph’s gravitational throne. The difference is that instead of weaponizing perpetual motion and endless stamina into a magnetic force of attraction on the offensive end, Wemby’s size, length and unparalleled agility while possessing those dimensions create an impenetrable magnetic force of repulsion around the basket.

And by surrounding Wemby with other eager, athletic, forward sized defenders, the Spurs have insulated their superstar against the antidote to such a paint presence that the Warriors and other teams previously deployed against his French predecessor in defensive dominance, Rudy Gobert: shooting and space.

Rudy’s teammates were often so inept at defending on the perimeter that it neutered the effect of his unreal rim deterrence, and those breakdowns allowed Steph to still pull Gobert out of the lane, into his orbit and to eternal doom, like an asteroid destined for destruction from the gravity of a nearby planet:

While the Spurs have a legion of young, aggressive players to hound Steph and the ball (Steph Castle was particularly adept) the reigning gravity king still managed to give the protégé a taste of Gobert’s medicine.

But that was a rare win for the Warriors against Wembanyama’s defensive presence.

On a team severely lacking athleticism and finishing ability, which clanks layups on its good days, Golden State seem petrified to even look at the rim with Wemby anywhere in the same half of the court. The lone high flyer on the team in Kuminga got spooked and flatly refused to attack downhill.

Even the fearless, battle-tested Jimmy Butler was bothered, mostly fading away and shooting an unheard of 7 3’s. In a reversal of the previous nights’ OKC-imposed cold streak, Jimmy was actually incredible from downtown, taking early shot-clock looks from deep when left open and knocking down 5. He had 28 points on hyper efficiency and lead the team with 8 assists.

Following that blowout at the hands of the defending champions and pointed (yet anonymous) comments from the veterans about agendas and desire, Steve Kerr opted to shake up the starting lineup, rewarding Moses Moody and the rookie Will Richard for their consistent, selfless play. Richard delivered an unimpressive statistical game, but he continues to have a positive effect nearly every possession he’s on the floor. He rotates to stop drives without over helping, passes without overpassing, moves at a million miles an hour without seeming sped up and always manages make the right play.

For some players playing with speed indicates discomfort, anxiety and the inability to control pace. For Richard it’s a sign of conviction, effort and confidence. From his first minute on the court, he has never seemed to be overwhelmed once, and while he didn’t do anything especially noteworthy, he served as a seamless catalyst of others’ success.

This pass serves as a nice signifier of his impact: not an assist but displaying poise, vision and decisiveness:

Moody was the 2nd leading story of the game, maintaining his blistering pace from 3 and stabilizing the warriors in the 1st half after they were doubled up in the first quarter 14-28 and it seemed like they would let another young team pull away. His shot looks incredible: smooth, quick and landing pure, proving to the doubters (the author included) who were concerned about the playoffs last season that any struggles really were all due to a thumb injury. Moody hit 5​​0% of his threes again and his 19 points felt like 46.

But someone in the game actually did score 46 points, and as tempting as it is, the lede can’t be buried any further. In addition to tormenting another French center, Steph Curry was masterful at using the Spurs aggressiveness against them, drawing a superstar whistle for maybe the first time in his life, powering the Warriors to come from 16 points down and scoring his season high. He’s now only one 40 point game behind Michael Jordan for the most ever achieved after the age of 30.

The outside shot wasn’t falling for Curry, to the tune of 31% from downtown, but he drove to the basket, hit a number of gorgeous mid-rangers and even managed a few tributes to Tim Duncan with audacious bank shots from tough angles. Curry had 22 points in the 3rd quarter alone, reminding everyone that as much as the league has changed, some things stay the same.

Similarly, Draymond was a ghost on offense, but managed to change the game with his defense of Wemby by forcing turnovers, tough fadeaways (some of which Wemby impressively hit) and once again proving that he’s at his best when at sever physical disadvantage. This play, predicting and eliminating a lob, was the perfect example of the subtle genius he still displays.

Even with that masterful defense, the Spurs received exquisite games from their centerpieces, with both Wembanyama and Castle registering triple doubles. It took Wembanyama until the final .2 seconds of the game to get that last assist as the Spurs fouled for what felt like 15 minutes to prolong the game, but his contributions were varied and the statistical landmark was well deserved.

Besides just intimidating the Dubs to avoid the paint at all costs, he blocked a 3 pointers, hit 40% of his own shots from downtown and made a ton of elite passes that speak to just how well he knows the game even at this stage in his career. If he continues to learn how to weaponize his gifts and the affect he has on opposing teams, perhaps the Spurs and Steph’s spiritual successor will have a chance chance to challenge the modern day Warriors from OKC in the coming years. In the meantime, the old Warriors and Spurs will play a rematch on Friday in an NBA Cup game.