At the end of the morning of November 8, when you enter the Maurice-Thorez sports hall in Nanterre, the training of the French team has started an hour ago.
Vincent Collet gives his instructions to a considerably rejuvenated blue selection.
Point of NBA star or Euroleague player on the horizon: this international window which should allow France to validate its ticket for the 2023 World Cup by winning on November 11 in Lithuania then on November 14 in Pau against Bosnia is reserved for a France A' team.
“If we win in Lithuania, confesses the coach, we will go back to the top of our qualifying group and if then we beat Bosnia, I think we will be qualified.
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Wemby's first steps in Blue ✨👌#TeamFranceBasket |
#PassionatelyBlue |
#FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/s5GusRoOKB
– French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) November 8, 2022
Of the team that brought home the Euro silver medal in mid-September, only Andrew Albicy remains.
Terry Tarpey is there too but injured in one hand, he just came by to say hello.
By the way, Albicy, the leader of Gran Canaria promoted to captain for the occasion, has more selections on his own (86) than all the rest of the squad combined.
This Autumn France group has six rookies (Bagarin, Cazalon, Inglis, Kamate, Makoundou, Massa) and a seventh who does not go unnoticed: “It's crazy, remarks an observer on the edge of the field.
All the guys who are there are at least 2.10 m tall and he is two heads taller than them.
This 2.21m giant is called Victor Wembanyama and unless you have been living on the moon for a month, you must have heard of him.
"He will live with his first selection an emotional and psychological moment"
The future number 1 of the NBA draft will honor Friday (6:30 p.m. against Lithuania) his first selection for the France team.
There will be others, many others, but this day marks an important stage in his career, which we promise to be phenomenal.
When we see him, “Wemby” is sitting on the edge of the field, sock and shoes removed.
He trained earlier away from prying eyes but stopped the session early.
The giant treated a sore ankle at the end of training LP/Arnaud Journois Arnaud Journois
The “alien” as LeBron James has nicknamed him since an event tour in Las Vegas in early October, pampers a left ankle which slipped during the last championship match with Boulogne-Levallois against Limoges.
Nothing serious in the eyes of the coach who is also his club coach.
Moreover, when he raises his 221 cm so easily, Wembanyama does not limp and smiles.
But it's not worth taking risks: “I was his coach in the club on Sunday and, Monday morning, I was his coach in the France team, says Vincent Collet, but that doesn't change anything.
The only thing that changes is for him.
This is the first time he has discovered the France team and for each player, whatever his talent, it remains an extraordinary moment.
Victor will undoubtedly have a more than bright future but this remains a first for him and it is a challenge.
He will live with his first selection an emotional and psychological moment that all the players who have worn this shirt have known.
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A Sports Illustrated team dispatched to the scene
Usually, for an autumn gathering of the Blues which opens the international windows without a star, there are not always many people.
We usually count the media presence on the fingers of barely two hands.
Not this time because with Victor Wembanyama, nothing is common.
This Tuesday, there are people on the edge of the field, starting with the majority of Betclic Elite and Pro B coaches who are attending a two-day seminar in Nanterre.
There are also 25 media represented and not necessarily local.
A team from Sports Illustrated, the prestigious US sports newspaper is present.
She was already there for the Boulogne-Limoges match on Friday and delayed her return flight to New York scheduled for the same time to take a photo of "Wemby" wearing a France team pinafore.
Read alsoHow French basketball is surfing the Wembanyama wave thanks to its matches broadcast by the NBA
“Victor, confesses Boris Diaw, the general manager of the France team and NBA champion in 2014, cannot ignore everything that surrounds him.
It's there and it has to do with it.
He knows that the draft awaits him in seven, eight months (June 22, 2023).
So he lives with it.
What is important is how he will manage this expectation and this season.
He already knows how to do it, as the trip Boulogne-Levallois made to Las Vegas demonstrated.
There is obviously a big expectation around him but it must not pollute his life, training and matches.
He must continue to do what he does and he does it well.
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