The stakes are being raised at the Frost Bank Center tomorrow night when the Houston Rockets come to town to face off against the Spurs in the first Emirates NBA Cup game of the tournament for both teams. San Antonio is in West Group C—one of the toughest divisions there is. They’ll vie for the chance to win it all, but they’ll have to start by trying to beat one of their toughest matchups.
The Rockets have successfully stifled Wembanyama in past meetings
Wemby only averaged 17 points through seven games against H-Town. We can credit former Spurs player/coach Ime Udoka for that. He made it abundantly clear how great of a coach he was when he took the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first year as their coach in his first year as the leader of a team.
I wish he had stayed over there, but due to—let’s call them complications—he lost his position in Beantown and made his way south. Now the Silver and Black are forced to deal with his mad scientist-like mind, and it’s been a problem. The Spurs are 1-3 against their I-10 rivals in each of the two seasons Udoka has run the team.
Their last win was in their first meeting of last season, meaning the Rockets are on a three-game winning streak against the Alamo City boys. It’s the defense, man. That team has size, length, and athleticism, and their head coach knows how to use it. They started the season slowly, losing their first two games, before taking off and establishing the league-leading offense and a top-10 defense.
The past two games have been hard enough for Vic. Unfortunately, it’s not getting any easier. Udoka is likely hiding away in some dark cellar at night with an old-school projector, studying the techniques that the Lakers and Suns used to disrupt the towering Frenchman. He’ll figure out new and less-than-exciting ways to frustrate Wembanyama, so the onus is on the supporting cast to up the ante.
Mitch Johnson must figure out more advantageous ways to get his superstar the ball so he can make quicker reads and punish defenses for being too aggressive. Part of that involves his teammates making shots, cutting hard off the ball, and above all, making shots. Did I say that already? It’s really important. Oh, and being willing to throw a pass to Wemby on time instead of over-dribbling will help, too.
This is a smart group. The staff and players will figure it out. Eventually getting back De’Aaron Fox will help, but teams will continue to try and frustrate Wemby since he’s the top noggin on the totem pole. There needs to be a counter for that, specifically, because Swipa won’t be able to play the entire game. Good thing there’s an 82-game schedule that gives them time to work it out.
