With 22 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds in a blowout victory at the Milwaukee Bucks, San Antonio Spurs star Stephon Castle recorded his fourth triple-double as a pro, matching the total with which Tim Duncan ended his legendary career. It also ties the number Victor Wembanyama has put up thus far.
“Oh, really?” Wemby exclaimed.
“I didn't know how many he had. Yeah, it's nice,” Wembanyama added in learning his younger teammate has caught him in that statistical category.
The 2023 first overall draft pick then went on to praise another aspect of Castle's offensive game.
“Under control; ten assists for three turnovers. That's super solid. I'm not surprised from Steph. I know it's going to happen more and more.”
“He's been great for us all year, and it's just great to see that he's starting to get his flowers,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said of Castle.
San Antonio's best perimeter defender as well, Castle often guards the opponent's most dangerous player to boot.
“So much better, but he was good last year. He was already good,” Wemby continued about the reigning Rookie of the Year.”We've put him on some top guys multiple times, and he's answered every time.”
Vassell echoed Wembanyama's praise of Castle's defense and took it a step further.
“You could just see it. A lot of teams don't even want to bring the ball up when he's pressuring them, or they're trying to set a screen, or they're just trying to pass it,” the former Florida State Seminole shared. “Him being able to get into people's chests and having that reputation now to where he can be a little bit more physical, and he can get away with some of them bumps and pushes that allows you to become a really good defender. That's what he's been able to excel in.”
Victor Wembanyama and Devin Vassell tout totality of Stephon Castle's abilities
At 16.6 points per game this season, Castle ranks as the Spurs third leading scorer. And, like his standing on defense, he may be the team's best facilitator with a team-high 7.2 assists per contest.
“His total impact of the game. There's not one single thing that you can sit and say, Steph is good at just this,” Vassell said. “His overall presence on the game, picking up full court, turning people over, getting into people's chests, doing that on defense, and then to come down and be able to not only score, but to get everybody else involved and see the whole court. And then the rebounding is huge too.”
Castle has improved upon just about every statistical category since his award-winning first season. That includes his shooting, where his field goal percentage has risen by almost five full points, and his 3-point accuracy is up from 28.5% to 31.8%.
And then there's his stamina.
“For how long he can do it,” Wemby pointed out. “He looks like he can guard and go down there and dunk the same way in the fourth quarter as in the first quarter.”
“That's super impressive.”
Seems to be the most accurate way to describe Stephon Castle these days.
