Wemby DPOY consideration

[basketballcat]

He leads the league in blocks yet isn't a serious contender for DPOY. Chet clocks in at #3, in terms of betting odds. Why is that? 🤔 Is that fair?

[Xiao Yao You]

a lot more to the game than blocks and steals

[Im Still Ballin]

He's getting punished for his team's poor overall defensive rating. A narrative based on precedent. To me, he's as impactful a defender as anyone in the league. When you factor in context (Spurs defensive rating when he's on the court vs. off it + him playing out of position the first 19 games), you begin to see the value.

I think the Spurs play defense equivalent to the 7th-ranked team when Wemby is on the court and playing center. And when he's off, they play like the 30th (worst defense.) Something to that effect. To give you a comparison, 2021 Rudy had Utah doing 1st defense when on court vs. 20th when off.

[RRR3]

The Spurs are just so bad for a variety of reasons outside of Wemby's control that he won't get considered. But he should. He's 98th percentile in defensive EPM

[Axe]

He should get it over the op cumbersome big.

[Xiao Yao You]

He's getting punished for his team's poor overall defensive rating. A narrative based on precedent. To me, he's as impactful a defender as anyone in the league. When you factor in context (Spurs defensive rating when he's on the court vs. off it + him playing out of position the first 19 games), you begin to see the value.

I think the Spurs play defense equivalent to the 7th-ranked team when Wemby is on the court and playing center. And when he's off, they play like the 30th (worst defense.) Something to that effect. To give you a comparison, 2021 Rudy had Utah doing 1st defense when on court vs. 20th when off.

come on now. Gobert was just a role player.

[iamgine]

Fair or not depends on whether you think DPOY is for the best defensive player or there are other factors like team records, leadership etc.

You know, just like MVP is not only for the best player but there are other factors.

[basketballcat]

The Spurs are just so bad for a variety of reasons outside of Wemby's control that he won't get considered. But he should. He's 98th percentile in defensive EPM

Exactly. Awards have an implicit requirement that the team should do well, but Wemby and the Spurs are an extreme case. He is extremely good. His team is extremely bad. They were thinking of passing him over for ROtY too until it became so obvious that Wemby is the real deal. Perhaps that's it. They ignored his team for ROTY but not for DPOY.

[Im Still Ballin]

Exactly. Awards have an implicit requirement that the team should do well, but Wemby and the Spurs are an extreme case. He is extremely good. His team is extremely bad. They were thinking of passing him over for ROtY too until it became so obvious that Wemby is the real deal. Perhaps that's it. They ignored his team for ROTY but not for DPOY.

If ever there was an exception to the arbitrary narratives established by precedent, it'd be Victor. Everything lines up: the game footage, the highlight plays, the box score numbers, the player-tracking data, and the play-by-play data - especially when the context of playing out of position is added. And those data points are reflected in the one-number metrics like EPM.

[Xiao Yao You]

Harrison Faigen: “Pau Gasol was the last rookie to record 150 assists and 150 blocks in a single season, with 152 and 153 total, respectively. Wemby had reached those numbers by 48 games.” @alamoaggie08 has that and some more crazy Wemby stats for you at @poundingtherock poundingtherock.com/2024/2/15/2407…
– via Twitter hmfaigen

[Axe]

Uncle drew and the giraffe 1 on 1.

[tontoz]

He's going to win a lot of dpoy awards. No biggie if he doesn't win this one.

[Axe]

Well, he better do it frequently against prominent stars so it will hold a lot more weight. Funny how some people here just got gooey over him logging double-digit blocks against a lottery raptors team tho.

[Manny98]

By anchoring the worst defense in the league

[Xiao Yao You]

He could be part of the best D this summer trying to qualify for the olympics