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The Celtics are not the first team to guard San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama small, yet the mere concept is an experiment in star-stopping that is equal parts fascinating, and a little crazy.
There is no right way to guard a 7-foot-4 three-level scorer, and if there was nobody has unraveled the mystery, but on Saturday night, Joe Mazzulla entrusted Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman to take on the challenge, and by god, their efforts were admirable.
Now, Wembanyama’s efforts ultimately factored into a 100-95 Spurs win, scoring 16 second-half points with three blocks, including a late basket over Scheierman to, in essence, put the game away, but the Celtics were able to play honest, straight-up defense that kept Wembanyama off the line (four free throw attempts for the game), and in the mid-range, which in turn kept him away from controlling the glass (six rebounds).
The time spent defending Wembanyama can be simply split into two halves, the first in which Walsh took on the challenge and the second which saw Scheierman’s number called.
Walsh led all defenders in time on the French super-sub, spending 3:24, roughly 64% of his defensive time, on Wemby. The majority of that time came in the first half, where Wemby shot 2-of-4 from the field when covered by Walsh, and had just five points, one rebound and one assist in 12 minutes.
In Scheierman’s attempts at stopping the French skyscraper, which accounted for 2:35, or 28% of his time on that side of the floor, Wembanyama shot 2-of-5, finishing an and-one for five points against that matchup. In the case of Walsh and Scheierman, Wembanyama had no assists or turnovers when guarded by the two wings.
Walsh is no stranger to guarding star players, in fact he does it more than just about anybody, ranking fifth out of 505 players in percentage of time spent defending star-caliber players, according to Basketball Index. That puts him in the 98th percentile. This, however, isn’t Tyrese Maxey, it isn’t Luka Doncic, and it isn’t Paolo Banchero. It’s a supercharged, Durantian scorer that can get to the rim at will.
And yet, Walsh’s stingy on-ball defense and active hands actually kept Wembanyama at the elbows, where he opted mostly to settle into his mid-range game. It’s a win in theory, albeit a small one, considering Wembanyama is a 47% shooter from the mid-range, but that is still a credit to Walsh, who often played the matchup without help, to force him to make shots slightly farther from the basket, all without fouling and giving up free points from the line.
Walsh’s first interaction against Wemby, just 20 seconds after checking in for Julian Champagnie, is a good taste of what Walsh brought to the matchup. Wembanyama has his back to the basket at the right elbow waiting for the entry pass, and Walsh cleanly disrupts the feed, getting him way off his spot and forcing a pass off to the other side of the floor. Even better, when Stephon Castle’s three rims off, it’s Walsh job to keep Wemby out of the paint, allowing a clearer rebounding picture for his teammates.
Two minutes later, we see him stand his ground as Wemby backs his way up the floor, exposing his vision enough for Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard to send late help to force another pass. To send that level of help requires quick-decision switching, and the Celtics don’t give up an advantage when Walsh switches onto the ball-handling Castle, Pritchard takes Harrison Barnes in the corner, and Luka Garza slides in to check on Wembanyama for the inevitable battle for the rebound, which the Celtics fight to win.
Early in the third quarter, we’d see these two go head-to-head three more times, with Wembanyama winning two of those, though not for lack of effort on Walsh’s part. Wemby looked more under control in this half, and more open to driving into contact, but Walsh, who you’ll notice displayed active hands but never truly reaches in, stands his ground and just tries to make it difficult for Wembanyama, and in the two made shot clips below, you’ll see that he does.
The first shot sees Wemby use a rip move to get to the right baseline, where he puts up an 8-foot floater that goes in, a shot you’ll live with when it comes to his skillset. On the second, he spots up, takes one dribble and fires a 17-foot fadeaway over the outstretched hand of Walsh. Again, another impressive shot, but one you live with. And finally, in one of the last on-ball matchups between the two, Wemby drives right at Walsh, who has help from Garza to either force a corner kickout or a highly-contested shot. Wemby chooses the contested shot, and it’s a win for the Celtics defense.
From here on, it really becomes Scheierman’s responsibility. During one of his most exciting offensive displays of the season, Scheierman got his first real taste of that matchup with just over four minutes to play in the third quarter, and like Walsh, the goal is to stay down on up-fakes, not get his hands caught in the shooting motion, and taking the contact on any drives. He delivers an excellent possession here, maintaining his composure on three pump-fakes, while shuffling to the the spot on a rip move, and finally keep his hands up as Wemby steps-through for a desperation floater.
Early in the fourth, Wemby goes to that same spot, where Scheierman is trying hard to force him off-balance without being overly physical before the entry pass. It works only slightly, getting Wemby out to the 19-foot range, and there’s not much Scheierman can do but put his hand up, which doesn’t deter the shot much, though he’s close enough to Wembanyama’s landing space to make it an awkward, albeit makeable, long two.
Wembanya ultimately had the kind of second half that proved a major difference in this contest. His paint presence on the defensive end completely stifled the Celtics, his floor-running ability led to easy looks, and in the end, he delivered the dagger right from that same spot on the elbow, this time taking a dribble into space on the left to pull up into a 15-foot make.
Baylor gets a little help in the form of a slight stunt from Pritchard, but he is mostly on an island here, and that island happens to be in the realm of a French Brontosaurus.
In moments like these, it’s appropriate to thank the Basketball Gods for favoring the Western Conference during one of the most important NBA Draft lotteries in the modern era. Perhaps by March 10 when the Celtics see the Spurs in San Antonio, Joe Mazzulla may have a different plan up his sleeve in the form of a returning 6-foot-10 superstar.
