Popovich's stern message to Wembanyama echoes same sentiment Spurs fans feel

Gregg Popovich has been a not-so-secret driving force behind the scenes of San Antonio's success this season, so it wasn't a surprise to hear the media ask Victor Wembanyama if he'd spoken to El Jefe after the Spurs' Game One loss to the New York Knicks last night.

In today's media session, Wemby revealed he's yet to speak to the former coach, but that didn't mean the legend didn't give Vic some wisdom in true Pop fashion.

Every Spurs fan in the world felt the same way while watching Wemby's first-ever NBA Finals game. His nickname is the Alien for very good reason, yet he looked as pedestrian as any other center in the NBA for too many long stretches. The French superstar has already laid claim to the title of best in the world, but he didn't look like the best player on the floor yesterday, and that's not going to cut it.

Wembanyama must be the clear best player in the series for Spurs to win

This doesn't mean Wembanyama has to average 40 points per game. As he said himself, the adjustments needed are less about a schematic change and more about a mental shift. "Really, I think the reason we lost that game isn't even technical... we need to approach the game with a better mental state," he told reporters. "We don't need to do anything incredible."

There are two sides to that statement. He's right about what the team needs to do as a whole. They didn't play clean enough, didn't move the ball enough, didn't play with enough force, and didn't commit to rotations hard enough. Those things are mostly mental and easily fixable. However, there are certainly some tactical adjustments he should be making going forward.

For one, there's no reason why a 7'4" tower with an 8'0" wingspan should be crowding Karl-Anthony Towns at the three-point line. He should be backing off KAT enough so that he can contest a three late but also protect himself from a drive down the lane. Wembanyama got beaten off the dribble way too often due to not allowing himself the space to recover. One quick hook and Towns was gone.

Wemby got himself to the free-throw line for 13 attempts, but nobody would say he played inside enough. To win an NBA Finals, the superstars have to establish themselves as an undeniable force. Especially on a team this young. There's nothing wrong with the Spurs star shooting threes, but the best version of him does significant damage in the middle, and he only scored eight points in the paint.

The NBA community, from fans to analysts, just got done singing Wembanyama's praises after his Western Conference Finals performance. He was the clear best player in a series with the reigning 2x MVP. In Game One of the NBA Finals, Vic couldn't have confidently made that claim over KAT, Brunson, or even Dylan Harper. That can't be the case if he wants to win as badly as he says he does.