After the San Antonio Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Clippers on October 29, head coach Gregg Popovich talked about rookie Victor Wembanyama, who played in his first NBA road game.
“It’s going to be an education,” Popovich said of Wembanyama. “The road is different from playing at home in the NBA. If you start out poorly, you can’t get poorer. You can’t lose your ability to compete and playing embarrassed so to speak.”
Wembanyama finished with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and five turnovers versus the Clippers while shooting 4-of-10 from the field, 0-of-2 from beyond the arc and 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. The 19-year-old had a plus-minus of -14 in the Spurs’ 40-point loss.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs Updates
“You’ve got to fight your way out of that, you’ve got to stick together and people start to separate a little bit,” Popovich said in regards to the team overcoming early struggles. “You could see it in body language and that sort of stuff.”
The Spurs are 1-2 on the young season. They lost to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1, beat the Houston Rockets in Game 2 and got destroyed by the Clippers in Game 3.
Wembanyama, who is the betting favorite to win the Rookie of the Year Award, is averaging 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals through his first three games. The 7-footer is shooting 44.7% from the floor, 23.1% from 3 and 66.7% from the foul line.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs Updates
The Spurs are not expected to win many games this season. This campaign is all about developing Wembanyama.
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