Spurs don’t want to take any chances with Victor Vembanyama

Victor Vembanyama will he play again for the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup against the Lakers? This was obviously the initial hope, but Spurs finally decided: the Frenchman is not ready yet.

A victim of a strained left calf, “Wemby” has so far only participated in two-on-two sequences. For Mitch Johnson and the San Antonio staff, this is not enough to confirm a return. There’s no question of restarting their high-stakes All-Star match without him checking all the medical boxes.

“It’s just an external discourse (to the team) that suggests this or that match could affect a player’s progress or schedule.”, Mitch Johnson recalled before the match against Los Angeles. “He’s doing very well. He’s very, very close to scoring, but unfortunately all the extra excitement and exposure around this match won’t affect the decision to play him or not.”

Could Victor Wembanyama return Saturday night in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas against the Thunder? And here, the coach of Spurs assures that the question will not be important.

Avoid Achilles tendon rupture at all costs

“When you’re out for a long time, you don’t usually say to yourself, ‘Okay, that’s enough,’ and then you move on. At this point, it’s just about being disciplined and really feeling ready to come back and play an NBA game. Five-on-five in practice is not an NBA game, so we have to make sure that we feel good at that moment, and not just make him feel comfortable in the moment, and not just keep us on top of him. recovery…”

Mitch Johnson therefore warns that one five-on-five session, the next step planned for Victor Vembanyama, will not be enough: several full sessions will need to be completed before the green light is considered.

Because calf strains are signals that should be taken very seriously, as they can degenerate into Achilles tendon ruptures, as several Major League stars (Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillar, Tyrese Haliburton, DeJohnte Murray, etc.) have recently experienced. It is precisely this catastrophic scenario that the Spurs want to avoid with their French phenomenon, who were already deprived of the end of the last season due to deep vein thrombosis.

“He wants to be on the field”concludes Mitch Johnson. “He always wants to be on the field. Fortunately, we have a wonderful staff. Our medical team communicates well and everyone is on the same page. So it’s no different when we ask him to drop back on defense or set a screen. He trusts the team and we’re all on the same page through open communication.”

How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.