Bintang San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama, menyatakan rasa hormat yang tinggi terhadap kekuatan New York Knicks menjelang pertandingan pertama Final NBA pada Rabu waktu setempat.
Kesiapan menghadapi sang lawan diutarakan Wembanyama setelah timnya melewati drama tujuh pertandingan melelahkan melawan Oklahoma City di final wilayah.
"It's a great team, you know," Wembanyama told reporters Tuesday on the eve of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. "It's a great team of experienced guys who are not here by chance, but by relentless effort over the years. Very different career paths for all of them. They're right where they're supposed to be, in my opinion. All of them are going to be super hungry in their own way."
Pertemuan terakhir kedua tim pada bulan Maret berakhir dengan kekalahan telak Spurs 89-114, di mana pertahanan ketat Karl-Anthony Towns membatasi Wembanyama hingga hanya mencetak 10 poin.
Strategi pertahanan berlapis Knicks yang juga mengandalkan OG Anunoby dan Mitchell Robinson menjadi tantangan besar yang harus dipecahkan oleh jajaran pelatih San Antonio Spurs.
"There's something you have to give up when you take something away," Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said concerning how teams have defended Wembanyama over the years. "That's just what happens when you play great players and really good teams. A lot of times those decisions aren't made in a vacuum in terms of not only the player, but then there's a ripple effect typically of what that may lead to for the team, what you're going to open yourself up to, what you're going to be committed to knowing that's OK because we're going to take this away."
Di kubu lawan, New York Knicks juga menaruh perhatian khusus pada pergerakan Wembanyama yang memiliki kemampuan merata di seluruh area lapangan.
"He's pretty unique," Anunoby said Tuesday when asked about Wembanyama. "I mean, there's little things like maybe guarding [Nikola] Jokić or [Kristaps] Porziņģis or Joel [Embiid]. He's different, like you said. He's taller. Just being aware of where he's at all over the floor. He can do everything. Super talented. Just being aware of him at all times, trying to make it as difficult as possible."
Rangkaian pertandingan babak final ini diprediksi menjadi ujian krusial bagi pertumbuhan skuad muda Spurs serta pembuktian konsistensi performa Knicks di level tertinggi.
