The Wembanyama – Gobert duo could make the Spurs rethink how they use their star

Wembanyama is doing fine next to a traditional center in FIBA play, but will that translate to the NBA? Can someone beat Team USA? That and more in this edition of PTR’s roundtable.

Team USA started the Olympics well. Do you think any team can challenge them for the gold?

Marilyn Dubinski: If they play to their potential, they should be heavy favorites in almost any matchup, but they can’t afford to take anyone for granted like they seemed to in warmups. They looked a lot more serious in their opener against Serbia and passed one big test against Nikola Jokic (although all of their advantage came when he was off the floor, as he had a +/- of 0), and hopefully that carries on. Overall, I’d say Canada is their biggest obstacle. France would be a bigger threat if they had better guard play (but never count out Wemby), and Australia doesn’t look quite like the medal contender it has been in past Olympics (but never count out FIBA Patty).

Mark Barrington: I think they’ve got to be the favorites, but once they get out of group play, they could easily get knocked out by one of the top teams if they have a bad shooting night or don’t bring the intensity. Canada and Serbia are their main rivals. The US beat Serbia decisively in the group stage, but if they meet again, it could be tougher. France has Victor Wembanyama, but they just aren’t playing well together and don’t look like they have a great shot at a medal. The likely best-case scenario for Les Bleus is Le Bronze, in my opinion. The South Sudan team is having an incredible run in Paris, and they have a shot at advancing past the group stage, which would be an amazing achievement for a country that has only existed since 2011.

Jesus Gomez: It would be shocking to see anyone else win gold, honestly. Canada has the guards to compete but not the big men. France has the big men but lacks the guards. Australia lacks top-end talent. Serbia doesn’t have a second star. This is probably the last Olympics Team USA will have no true challengers, since Nolan Traore and Zach Edey could provide exactly what France and Canada are lacking, respectively. But for now, Team USA is just on another level.

Bill Huan: Heck yes! Serbia has the best player in the world, and Canada has the deepest team (outside of the states) while also being the greatest nation known to man!

In all seriousness, I’ll be shocked if the US doesn’t walk away with gold, but they will undoubtedly be in at least one close game. Three-point variance can swing any game and FIBA rules are significantly different than NBA ones as well. The US doesn’t have as big an advantage over the world as it used to, but it should still emerge victorious.

Wemby has looked good playing next to Rudy Gobert for France. Should the Spurs give him another look at power forward next to another big man?

Dubinski: Technically the Spurs already tried that last season and abandoned ship midway through, and that’s despite at least on on paper, Zach Collins is more the type of center to play next to Wemby than Gobert. That being said, assuming Wemby’s three-point shooting this summer is no fluke, it wouldn’t hurt to see him play some spot minutes at power forward when the match-up warrants it (off the top of my head, if the Grizzlies play Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey together). One of the greatest things about the 2014 Spurs is they could adjust Tim Duncan between power forward and center and start either Tiago Splitter or Boris Diaw next to him based on match-up. If they can do the same with Wemby in the future, all the better.

Barrington: Oh, heck no! With FIBA rules you can have two bigs camp out in the paint, but that just doesn’t work in the NBA. It’s a different game with different rules. The Spurs were beginning to figure out how to use Victor on offense towards the end of last season, and that doesn’t look anything like the system the French are using in the Olympics.

Gomez: Considering the Spurs don’t have a center of Gobert’s quality, there’s really no reason to do it at all. I’m sure France would love to have Gobert magically transform into a star guard and have Wembanyama play center full time but since two of their best players are centers, they have to make it work. I still think Pop will try it because he did it toward the end of last season for short stretches and they are still trying to discover what Wemby can and can’t do. Whether it works or not will come down to Wembanyama improving as a shooter.

Huan: If I could insert that GIF of Darth Vader saying NOOOoooooOOOOOOooo, I would. The main reason why France has played two bigs is because FIBA’s rules make that the best path to victory, given that three-second violations aren’t a thing. Wemby at center is the ultimate cheat code, and I’ll be seriously disappointed if the Spurs go with two bigs for the sake of more “experimenting.”

Are you watching the Olympics outside of basketball? Is there any sport you don’t normally watch that you have been enjoying?

Dubinski: I’ve always enjoyed watching gymnastics while knowing my body never was and never will be that flexible. (I could do summersaults on a trampoline when I took gymnastics in first grade. Does that count?) I also enjoy watching soccer (that was my sport growing up), swimming, and beach volleyball. The most random thing I’ve found myself watching during these Olympics is water polo.

Barrington: I’ve been watching a lot of different sports. Rugby and Rugby 7s are pretty amazing, even though I don’t really understand the rules. I’ve watched some of the bike races, and the skill of the riders in the first couple of days navigating wet courses was impressive.

Team handball? What even is that? Fun to watch, but I have no idea what’s going on. There have been so many interesting things to watch.

Gomez: I used to be an Olympics fiend, watching absolutely everything I could. I haven’t had that same excitement for the last couple of editions, so now I mostly catch up on the sports I played and enjoyed when I was younger (handball, volleyball, basketball and soccer). I still try to find time for some other sports that I know little about but seem fun, like fencing or gymnastics, and I also try to catch up on the ones my native Argentina has a chance to do well on. I was disappointed by the rugby 7 team that dominated the world circuit but couldn’t get a medal but I’m still hopeful the women’s field hockey team can get far, so I’ll be keeping an eye on them.

Huan: I like to fancy myself as a slightly less athletic version of Anthony Edwards given that I also like to peruse whatever events are coming up and bandwagon for a player/team I didn’t know existed until that moment. With that said, the short distance sprints and relays are always entertaining, even though they usually end before I even have the time to get up from the couch and start cheering.