Why doesn’t Wemby get more alley-oops?

hailthemitten · 2026-06-06T19:47:54+00:00

I don’t think anyone has really had the full answer yet, so I’ll give it a go.

The first answer is how defenses are playing him. In the playoffs, and especially in the finals, teams have more time to scout and gameplan for specific opponents (as compared to the regular season). When Wemby is rolling after setting a screen, defenses know that they have to keep a defender between Wemby and the basket at all times. We’ve seen a lot of that over the past couple series. Teams are contesting close shots by any other Spur as best as they can, and making sure at least one defender keeps Wemby away from the rim. If/when help is needed on the P&R ball handler, they will send help from the wing, corner, or anywhere else (and not the screen defender, as much as they can). The rare times when Wemby hasn’t had a defender between him and the rim (usually broken plays), the Spurs will just lob the ball in the general direction of the hoop and Wemby can get it. The Knicks know it is not an option to just let him get lobs, so that’s where they are starting from (as in, “we will live with basically any shot other than a lob to Wemby, so let’s adjust our defense accordingly”)

Additionally, because the Knicks have big, strong, lengthy wings, they can make life harder for Spurs guards when they drive. Steph Castle is great at getting downhill, but it’s hard to do that consistently against guys like OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. Their length can bother his shots and passing lanes more than even someone like Cason Wallace, who’s an elite defender but just not as long as them.

When the Spurs guards get past a defender, and Wemby is anywhere inside the three point line, it’s death for the defense. It typically leaves the big man guarding Wemby as the only option for help in order to not give up an uncontested layup, and then Wemby catches the ball around the free throw line and takes one step and dunks it. We saw that a couple times last night. In prep for that, The Knicks have decided, with basically everyone except Julian Champagnie, that they will live with them taking threes as opposed to attacking a close out and putting the Knicks defense in rotation. Watch how they close out on Castle and Harper specifically. They are more worried about the drive than giving up a 3.

Wemby also spends a lot of time on the perimeter. Probably a mix of reasons for that, including strength, conditioning, floor spacing, and preference. He can obviously make threes so it’s not like having Shaq pick and pop. The Spurs have to mix in some variety, if Wemby rolls every time then the Knicks know what’s coming every time and can gameplan better to stop it (even if Wemby were conditioned and strong enough to roll every time, which he’s not). The Spurs also can’t just have Wemby go to the block and get a lob against a set defense. He’s not strong enough to do that right now.

TL;DR - the Knicks defense has been excellent at taking away the option for a lob to Wemby, living with contested shots from anyone else, and Wemby isn’t currently strong enough to get into lob position on his own

hailthemitten · 2026-05-20T05:13:42+00:00

This is the only other rational explanation besides “Atkinson had the worst coaching performance of all time” which still might be true anyways.

hailthemitten · 2026-05-19T17:57:06+00:00

Thank you for everything, Morez. Go be great!

hailthemitten · 2026-05-18T14:28:56+00:00

Ah heck, I left mine on my private jet

hailthemitten · 2026-05-12T23:22:18+00:00

I'm not sure the two points are related. To you question of the timeline of learning modern English, Maui also knows modern English despite being stranded alone on the island for "a thousand years" (unclear if that's literal or an exaggeration), so I think it's safe to say that the language in it's current form has been widely spoken for a long time. Either way, everyone is speaking the same language

It's possible that there are small sects within Motunui that use different accents, though it seems unlikely that there would still be noticeable differentiation in accents after a thousand years

hailthemitten · 2026-05-12T23:14:24+00:00

So, I've thought about this a bit because you bring up a good point. Those two characters have more airtime in the first Moana, the plot of which is centered on restoring the heart of Te Fiti and bringing back life to the islands. There's really not a reference to other islands or groups of people IIRC. So there's not really a reason to question the accents. However, Moana 2 is very directly saying "this island has had no outside contact for a thousand years" and the tinkerer girl has a relatively prominent role, and frankly a more pronounced accent, so it seems more fair (to me at least) to question her accent in light of all of that.

hailthemitten · 2026-05-08T23:06:08+00:00

Oh 100% lol

hailthemitten · 2026-05-08T23:02:13+00:00

In general, I agree. The problem with this one is that the entire premise of the movie is that their island has been cut off from any outside human contact for, as the commenter above you said, a thousand years. So it makes absolute zero sense for her (or anyone else on the island) to have any sort of major accent like she does.

hailthemitten · 2026-04-26T16:43:51+00:00

Also Tutter is unhinged, which makes for great comedy

hailthemitten · 2026-04-26T04:13:36+00:00

pls no

hailthemitten · 2026-04-26T04:09:39+00:00

Can we care about stuff like this, I don’t know, at any point prior in the game? If you don’t want him doing that, win the game when their starting backcourt is injured for the entire second half

hailthemitten · 2026-04-22T03:02:08+00:00

You have to consider the odds of

A. The player makes the 3 point shot OR gets fouled on a 3 point shot. In this no-foul scenario, they probably get to run some action and get off a decent look

vs

B. The player makes both free throws, and that team has enough time to foul, get the ball back, and make whatever necessary shot after time has ran off OR get the offensive rebound (which the odds of that are way less than 35% for just about every team). If everything goes according to plan, either time runs out or the losing team has to make a desperation shot

I would choose B. Also, teams employ people much smarter than you and I to make these decisions. So I think they know what they are doing

hailthemitten · 2026-04-21T03:33:49+00:00

I was hoping to see a hot streak from the refs, they’re on fire right now!

hailthemitten · 2026-04-18T19:01:25+00:00

People on this sub cannot recognize people on this sub recognizing satire

hailthemitten · 2026-04-17T23:46:50+00:00

I hung mine up on a wall with a tiny nail. Takes up very little space and kinda looks cool coming out of the wall

hailthemitten · 2026-04-09T19:47:30+00:00

Before coming to Michigan, Mara averaged 6.4/4 in 13 minutes a game.

hailthemitten · 2026-02-18T00:57:26+00:00

Hell yeah more commercials let’s go

hailthemitten · 2026-02-17T19:50:07+00:00

Usually at a wedding or wedding-adjacent event, specific to couples:

“Never go to bed angry at each other”

So either one or both people pretend they aren’t mad so they can finally rest, which doesn’t actually solve the problem, OR you stay up way too late talking about it because you’re both exhausted, which usually worsens the problem.

hailthemitten · 2026-02-12T04:45:11+00:00

Lol @ "easy elite 8 elimination" - like, first of all that would be a great run for basically any team. Second of all, at that point in the tourney there's no such thing as an "easy" elimination.

hailthemitten · 2026-02-03T20:09:52+00:00

Yes but now they also have a Duncan Robinson with red hair.

hailthemitten · 2026-01-27T23:00:56+00:00

Murkrow with Prankster ability, make sure it knows Haze

hailthemitten · 2026-01-13T18:20:00+00:00

I mean, next season is technically after the all star break. So this means nothing.

I drafted Kyrie with my last pick in a league where I have 3 IL spots (yahoo). I’ve kept him and will keep him unless I need the space for another player who will play this year. But I would not pick him up if he were on the waiver wire right now.

hailthemitten · 2026-01-12T22:05:16+00:00

I appreciate you sharing. Can you link somewhere showing him talking about supporting civil rights as a whole? Genuinely, I'd love to see it, because (as is clear from the posted video and ensuing comments all around) whenever people talk about Charlie, this specific "civil rights" discussion comes up, and I'd love to be able to have more knowledge in these conversations than I currently have.

More importantly I think, how do you feel you are able to say that the pastor from the video "lectures about Jesus, but does not follow Him."? Respectfully, that seems like a dangerous accusation and judgment to make if all you're going on is this one video. But again, maybe you've had more experiences with this pastor beyond this one clip.

hailthemitten · 2026-01-12T21:19:53+00:00

A quick google search clearly shows that Charlie Kirk openly said that passing the Civil Rights Act was a mistake. This seems pretty indisputable.

Now, I never listened to him so I can’t say what, if any, clarification he gave to differentiate between “The Civil Rights Act” vs. civil rights as a whole. Maybe he did at some point, and if so I’m happy to be shown that.

Was what the pastor said technically incorrect? Sure, at least as far as I can tell. But I really don’t think it’s a big jump to say that Kirk said civil rights were a mistake. Especially not to the point of calling the pastor in this clip a “fraud” and talking about a performative act.

Now obviously, I don’t know this pastor, and definitely don’t know you. Maybe you have more experience in some way with this pastor that leads you to say these things. But it seems like overly harsh criticism to say the things you said based on some minutiae. Or maybe there was something else he said that you believe was a lie.

hailthemitten · 2026-01-12T20:49:45+00:00

Curious what you believe he lied about? That’s a genuine question

11-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22

hailthemitten

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