Julian Champagnie came to San Antonio for one specific role: to be a 3-and-D specialist. He’s played the best defense fans have seen from him since he put on the silver and black colors, but his shot is the worst it’s been, too. He flashed a couple of times in the Lakers game like Vecna in Stranger Things before claiming a victim, only to fade away again, threatening no more than the appearance of danger.
Coming into the season, critics wondered if the Spurs would have enough shooting to provide Victor Wembanyama and the offense the necessary space to reach their offensive peak. That looked to be the case in the first few games of the year, but they’ve fallen out of the top ten in three-point efficiency, dropping all the way to 15th.
The guys are validating the earlier concerns, but there’s plenty of time to turn it around. The question is whether they actually will.
The Spurs are relying on Champagnie to be consistent
Jules was on fire in the preseason, so right now, this is looking like a common case of now you see me, now you don’t. When the games didn’t matter, he was shooting 50% from deep. Spurs Nation thought he was about to have a career year, evolving into the new-and-improved version of former Spurs fan favorite and three-time champion Danny Green.
Even if he never surpassed DG, he could at least be a not-so-knockoff replica. Unfortunately, he’s only shooting 31% from three this season. It’s not like Green never had a bad shooting year, but he gave San Antonio a handful of years at 38%-44% first.
I don’t want to put all of their shooting woes on Champagnie, though. Harrison Barnes has found his stroke, and Keldon Johnson is still shooting a high percentage (46%), but neither of them made an impact when it counted, and everyone else on the roster has fallen below league average.
Jeremy Sochan is sitting at 50%, and Lindy Waters III at 100% after going 2/2 in his debut last night, but I’m not counting them yet. They have to play more than one game before we declare them snipers the likes of Bob Lee Swagger.
Wembanyama has dealt with some of the most grueling defensive tactics he’s ever seen. It’s impacted his game, and for the Spurs to survive their upcoming gauntlet, the shooters will need to do their jobs effectively. Defenses have to pay for dedicating all of their attention to the giant. The Rockets game will be a great place to start.
