Game high 51 minutes, 13/6/2 with a couple big shots when we couldn’t score and two huge blocks when we needed momentum. His fingerprints have been all over every game this postseason. He is guarding his ass off, crashing boards, sending help, doing it all.
🏹🏹🏹
For the past day+ I’ve heard everyone in the media say some version of: “teams play physical with Wemby because they have to/it’s the game plan.”
Let’s call it what it really is: they are fouling him constantly, knowing they can’t be called for everything, especially in the playoffs. The playoffs just adds to the advantage of the aggressive player.
The entire basketball watching world is disgusted at how OKC plays defense, because they foul the shit out of everyone knowing they can’t possibly be called for every single foul. The game would grind to a halt. But that is exactly the “game plan” against Wemby.
Mitch is right that it is disgusting, because now teams are intentionally making this part of their strategy. Look at the way Wemby is blatantly being HELD on several possessions, including the elbow. These aren’t basketball plays or simply “being physical with him” as the cute phrasing would have you think.
If refs called these games by the letter of the law, they too would grind to a halt, because it’s every possession.
I’m at least glad Wemby’s elbow has made this somewhat of a discussion, but there are still so many numbskulls who think the answer now is for the Wolves to do the same to him. As if Wemby did this out of nowhere.
You cannot hate the way OKC defends without hating how teams play Wemby, especially in these playoffs and especially these Wolves.
I’m on Mitch’s side. Did I want him to do that? No. Any other way of sending a message or standing up for yourself or simply getting a sweet moment of frustration out would’ve been better. You can’t get yourself kicked out of a game and you don’t want to potentially injure someone. But I’m glad he did *something*.
He did the crime, and he’s done the time. Now it’s on the refs to decide how they want to handle Game 5. Because they can’t have it both ways. They can’t “let them play” and then not expect players to handle matters themselves. We’ve seen it time and time again that the loose whistles lead to shit like this. The NBA definitely has an officiating crisis, but that’s neither here nor there.
Part of me wishes the Spurs lacked the integrity to put a Kelly or Bismack in with the goal of “being physical… and whatever happens, happens”. But they don’t do that kind of shit. It’s sad that other teams do.