By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
When 7-foot-3 French sensation Victor Wembanyama walked to center court for tipoff on Monday, there was little doubt the rookie sensation would win the tip-off. His wingspan, after all, is eight inches longer than Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac’s, and he’s four inches taller to boot.
But the man behind Wembanyama, the Spurs’ point guard, is more of a mystery. Gone are the days of Hall of Famer Tony Parker and longtime fan favorite Patty Mills. Onetime All-Star Dejounte Murray is scoring 20 points per game next to Trae Young in Atlanta, and Derrick White is earning All-Defensive Team nods as the keystone of Boston’s top-five defense.
Former ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Tre Jones looked like an obvious choice to return to the starting lineup. Jones is a playmaking machine – his 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranked eighth in the NBA last season, one spot ahead of former Spurs point guard Cory Joseph. The Spurs didn’t pursue a veteran ballhandler in part due to his ability to run the offense. But Jones wasn’t starting, either.
Instead, Wembanyama tipped the ball to 6-foot-9 power forward Jeremy Sochan.
“It’s his first time playing point, but he’s doing a great job and adjusting to it,” Jones said of Sochan after the Spurs’ 124-99 loss Monday night. “He’s continuing to grow and learn so much. And there’ll be bumps in the road, but he does a great job anytime there’s a bump in the road to keep pushing, keep trying to learn, talking to everyone around and just trying to do everything he can to continue to improve and grow. And that’s what he continues to do this year.”
Sochan, who spent a year in Waco as Baylor’s sixth man, was always tabbed as a playmaker. During the pre-draft process, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor ranked Sochan ninth on his Big Board, with glowing reviews of his offensive upside.
“He’s a playmaker with a fluid handle that features misdirection and sudden movements to generate space,” O’Connor wrote before the 2022 NBA Draft. “At 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, he’s too big for smaller players to contain. And even though he’s a limited shooter, defending him with a big means he’ll just drive right by them. He’s a potential mismatch nightmare with his combination of size and speed.”
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie was similarly high on the versatile forward, ranking Sochan sixth and noting his exceptional defense and overlooked offensive potential.
“(Sochan) makes some good passing reads,” Vecenie wrote. “Not an incredible live-dribble passer, but showcases real upside for his size and youth level. Can collapse defenders and make reads on the fly at times. Plays an unselfish brand of basketball.”
But for all that positivity, no one expected Sochan to transition to point guard. Not even his college coach, Scott Drew.
“I didn’t think (the Spurs would) have a 7-5 four man either, or whatever he is,” Drew said. “Obviously we’re really proud of Jeremy’s growth. He’s always been able to defend 1 through 5 and he’s always played some point guard for us, especially in the Kansas game here at home. But he’s done a great job.”
On both ends of the floor, Sochan has faced a gauntlet. On the first possession of the game, he was picked up by two-time MVP and seven-time All-Defense Team member Kawhi Leonard. Two drives later, Sochan picked up Leonard on the other end. The next, he guarded former MVP and three-time scoring champion James Harden. A quarter after that, he guarded another MVP, Russell Westbrook. Then he full-court pressed six-time All-NBA Team member Paul George.
Those four players have earned a combined 32 All-Star nods and made 27 All-NBA Teams – and it’s fallen on a second-year player to be the point-of-attack defender for all four. His success in those kinds of matchups has caught the eye of opposing coaches.
“He’s a mismatch for any small point guard the way he can post the basketball, the way he gets downhill and he has a big frame and get to the basket,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. “And so the biggest thing is, he’s really good defensively. Usually, you can take advantage of small point guards on the floor and kind of attack those guys, but with him being so big and physical and being a good defender, he poses a threat on both sides of the basketball for other teams.”
That isn’t to say the move to point guard has all been smooth sailing. The experiment has been … up and down, to say the least.
Sochan finished with eight points and eight rebounds, a near double-double, in large part due to his knack for rebounding as a trailer. He hit a pull-up 13-footer over Norman Powell in the first quarter. He only finished with one assist but had nearly a half-dozen potential assists on passes to open shooters who failed to convert. And his unconventional growth as a shooter has paid dividends.
After drawing a Harden foul in transition, Sochan sank both free throws – with only one hand. After shooting 45.8% from the line to start his career, to he switched to a unique, one-handed approach, and finished his rookie season shooting 76.1% in his final 33 games. This year, he’s shooting a much-improved 74.1% from the charity stripe.
But with such a sharp transition in role, there have also been clear difficulties. Sochan’s lack of explosiveness off the bounce made dribble-pentration against the likes of Leonard, Mann and even Harden a non-starter. A tough wraparound pass in the post was stolen. He was relegated to standing in the corner during an ill-fated Doug McDermott-Charles Bassey two-man game. Leonard bullied him in the post – but then, Leonard does that to everyone.
Sochan played well defending man-up on the ball, but occasionally fell into some of the same problems as the rest of the team’s young, oft-exploitable perimeter defense. Again and again, too-late switches on drive-and-kicks left Spurs defenders in no-man’s land. Six Clippers scored in double digits, including four who finished with at least 19.
Finishing inside, too, remains a point of development. Sochan finished 3-for-12 from the field, including 0-for-3 from three. On one play, he missed a short runner with minimal traffic. On another, he beat Mann in the post – only to get blocked from behind by Zubac. The instincts are right, and the flashes are there, but the overall project remains a work in progress.
“We‘ve seen the improvements already,” Jones said. “He’s gonna continue to grow as well, as we’ve seen.”
Amidst a nine-game losing streak, the Spurs’ schedule doesn’t get much easier. They’ll play the Clippers again on Wednesday, then travel to Golden State and Denver before returning home to play Atlanta. Sochan will likely get the toughest defensive assignment for at least parts of all four games. And as the grind of the season rolls on, so too will Point Sochan.
“(I saw the) same thing I see every night,” Popovich said after the game. “He loves playing defense, going after people, being physical, competes his butt off. And once again, he missed a lot of last year, he’s learning a lot about these players and what it takes in the NBA.”
