Victor Wembanyama's Game 1 performance confirms what Spurs fans already knew

Even on an off-shooting night, Victor Wembanyama can still make an undeniable impact. He blocked a staggering 12 shots in the Spurs' Game 1 loss against the Timberwolves, breaking the all-time single playoff game record. It's exactly what you'd expect from the league's first unanimous DPOY.

This is a series featuring two top-five defenders between Wemby and Rudy Gobert. The Stifle Tower is fresh off a dominant performance against Nikola Jokic in the first round, prompting more debates about which Frenchman is more impactful on that side of the floor.

But Wemby silenced that conversation with his Game 1 showing. It was a performance for the ages, and while the Wolves pulled away with a win, they were still put on notice; they're not going to be able to hide from Wemby's interior defensive dominance.

Victor's paint presence troubled Minnesota's offense

Wemby put on a defensive masterclass in this game. The Spurs had him set in drop coverage against Minnesota's pick-and-roll actions, and he did an amazing job at guarding his space. There were possessions where the Timberwolves either got stagnated or were forced into tough shots.

When the Wolves did get inside, they were constantly met with well-timed contests from Wemby. Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and others had to get extremely creative and methodical in finding their points inside when Victor was on the floor.

What I found even more impressive was Vic's ability to disrupt so many interior shots while not getting into foul trouble. He only had three in the game, and that's such a rarity for young big men. The pursuit of shot blocking often comes with racking up penalties, but not for Wemby. He's able to reject opponents at the rim without compromising his availability.

Wemby struggled with his three-point shot

While Wembanyama was a defensive juggernaut in Game 1, he struggled significantly on the offensive end. The Frenchman ended with just 11 points on 5-17 shooting from the floor and 0-8 from distance. There is no way you can stay confident in your offense if your best player shoots that poorly.

Here's the positive takeaway: he wasn't shooting a ton of bad shots. A good amount of the three-pointers that he took were very makeable by his standards, but they didn't fall. Now he can do himself a favor and cut down on the attempts. Being too trigger-happy from distance was his Achilles heel last season offensively.

But there's such a thing as regression to the mean. While Wemby is not yet an elite three-point shooter, he's bound to get back to a point where he's at least solid in that area. I doubt he'll have too many games where he shoots this poorly. It'll take some work, but the most glaring adjustment for him to make is shot selection and decision-making.

So this game wasn't great, but it showed off something that I love about Victor: his value isn't just tied to one side of the ball. Even on a bad shooting night, the Spurs still needed him on the court because of his elite defensive impact.

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