Victor Wembanyama's words prove Spurs are still a work in progress

Heading into the current season, there were understandably elevated hopes for the San Antonio Spurs. After Victor Wembanyama's star-studded rookie season, it became evident that the team needed to urgently surround their best player with proven players if they wanted to have a chance at maximizing his talent, and opening a window to compete.

Over this past offseason, they did just that. By signing Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, San Antonio brought in two tenured guys with a track record of contributing to winning basketball throughout their professional careers. It was all systems go for the Spurs as they looked to have a much more competitive group on their hands than in the previous season.

While that statement has ultimately been proven true based on the fact that they already have 18 wins to last season's total of 22, it is also clear they still have a long way to go. This team is certainly improved from last year's version, but becoming a true contender is still a ways off.

Victor Wembanyama made this abundantly clear with his words after the team's disappointing loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

Wembanyama says the Spurs need to "respect the game"

"Respecting the game ... Not taking things for granted," said Wembanyama, when asked about how his team can improve. "Tonight I think it was really a mix of things, and I don't think there was one area we were really bad. Of course we have turnovers, but it was a mix of things. But that should be compensated by the effort and the attention to details."

The last part of Victor's statement is the one that really stands out. As he says, turnovers and other mistakes can be corrected, but those problems become worse when they are grounded in a lack of attention to detail and little things like effort. That is a fundamental issue this team is facing at the moment, and Wemby knows it.

"For sure right now we should have more wins, but we don't deserve more wins," he said. "Because this is where we're at, this is our level, our maturity. And this one is a tough one for sure, but apparently we need those to grow ... We've got to do something." The urgency behind Victor's words are pretty striking, and they indicate how high his desire to win is.

Wembanyama also said he wasn't concerned with his team playing from behind. He is thinking far more about situations where they are ahead, because their apparent issue with focusing on some of the small details can lead to them giving up a lead. These will be prominent issues for the Spurs to work on correcting in the second half of the season.