Victor Wembanyama and a soft schedule are bailing out a Spurs offense that can't shoot the ball

There are two undeniable realities about the Spurs right now. One is just as exciting as the other is maddening. The first is that Victor Wembanyama is an unreal player. He keeps proving that over and over. His level of greatness is a joy to watch, and San Antonio fans are unbelievably fortunate to have him. The second is that this team can't shoot their way out of a wet paper bag.

Wednesday night's win over Dallas was a glaring example. That game shouldn't have been close in the end, with Wemby going nuclear like that, but poor shooting reared its ugly head again. The Spurs were 5-36 from three. Vic was 1-8 himself. His range has been almost non-existent this season, despite his overall dominance. It's concerning.

The Spurs must fix their shooting issues

The Silver and Black were 15th from behind the arc last year overall but spent the last two and a half months as a top-5 team. You'd hope that a team so young would only improve during the offseason. Instead, they're moving the wrong way, like an old man learning the Electric Slide for the first time. The Spurs are currently 24th in three-point shooting (32.2%).

It's hard to win games in the NBA when you can't knock down outside shots with some semblance of consistency. So, you could think of San Antonio's six-game winning streak in one of two ways: they're on a run because a special player is powering a tough-to-crack defense, or they haven't been playing anyone relevant enough for it to matter. As I keep thinking it over, it's most likely a combination of both.

The Spurs' 115.4 offensive rating is ranked 10th in the league, according to NBA.com. They were third last season, and when you look closer, it's even worse than it looks. Offense is just down across the league. Or maybe defense is up. Either way, 115.4 last season would have placed SA 14th. That's about as average as it gets in a 30-team league.

We can talk about how the players are still adjusting to the new rotations, but there's not much extra experience can afford guys when we're just talking about making open shots. San Antonio is ninth in the league at generating wide-open threes (6+ feet from the nearest defender), but they're only making 37.3% of them. That's 17th.

Victor Wembanyama shouldn't have to play savior every night

Don't get me wrong, we want Wemby to do the things he's doing. He's living up to the prophecy foretold before he was drafted. The French phenom was touted as the greatest prospect ever and possibly the greatest player of all time. He'll have to deliver a lot more of what he's been giving us, and then some, to make those claims irrefutable, but he's on his way.

However, this isn't the Wemby show. The San Antonio Spurs have goals of winning multiple championships, and they won't do that without all of the elements that make a great team. The defense is there, the superstar play is there, and on a given night, Dylan Harper or De'Aaron Fox is stepping up to give an assist in that department.

Julian Champagnie's 42.3% from deep helps, and so does Harrison Barnes' 45.5%, but it's not enough. Juju is only one guy, and Barnes averages 1.8 attempts per game in fewer than 11 minutes of playing time, if he even sees the floor.

Stephon Castle is struggling (39% FG, 32.2% 3PT). Devin Vassell is shooting a career low (37.2% FG, 25.7% 3PT). Keldon Johnson's outside shot has regressed (20% 3PT), and so has Carter Bryant's (26.7% 3pt). Steph is the only one of these four near the current league average (34.7%), but he's still below it despite taking the most threes on the team.

That's by design, as opponents are daring him to shoot, and he's not making them pay for it. The poor output from deep isn't hurting as much against the Mavericks, Kings, and Jazz, but it will be brutal against the Rockets and a healthy Timberwolves team.

I don't know what the answer is. It's easy to say, "Just start making your shots." But if it were that simple, they'd already be draining them. Spurs Nation just has to hope this is a team-wide slump that ends soon. Otherwise, we're in for a fun Wemby-sponsored ride that's destined to end in disappointment.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow