It's a little after 9 p.m. in San Antonio (4 a.m. in France), night has fallen for a while in Texas and the sky is now falling over the heads of the Spurs.
They lost at the end of the match against Washington (113-118), a team in difficulty this season, which has just changed coach.
As the NBA is a big family, Tre Jones (Spurs) hugs his brother Tyus (Wizards);
Gregg Popovich hugs his former video assistant Brian Keefe, Washington's new coach.
Victor Wembanyama, for his part, has no regard for anyone, not even for his “brother” Bilal Coulibaly, a one-night opponent in the opposing team.
Read alsoWhen Wemby and Coulibaly were partners in U13: “An adventure at the origin of their beautiful relationship”
The French giant heads straight to the locker room and we can tell from his dark gaze and his rapid approach that he will be wondering for a long time how Spurs could have lost this long-awaited match, and thus missed the opportunity to pocket a third consecutive victory for the first time this season.
“I’m disgusted,” he whispered a few minutes later at a press conference.
We had many opportunities to do things differently.
We did it to ourselves.
We didn't play intelligently, we seemed immature.
We need to be mentally stronger, this is not acceptable.
»
Bilal's revenge
Ten days after their first confrontation in the District of Columbia, on the east coast of the United States, Victor Wembanyama and Bilal Coulibaly met again, this time in Texas, and if Wemby had emerged victorious from the first round, Bilal took last night his revenge.
And he even participated greatly: Coulibaly, although replacing at the kick-off, enters the game perfectly, by… squirting the ball from the hands of Wembanyama.
The Frenchman from the Wizards brings his usual energy, and as often this season proves precise in his shots.
He succeeded in his two three-point attempts in the second half and finished with 13 points on the clock (5/6, or 83% success rate).
We were waiting for Victor, we got Bilal!
“Bilal is one of the players you can trust for 48 minutes, without fearing that he will make mistakes,” admires Wemby.
block or a steal?
😂 pic.twitter.com/tLYHg0czoE
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 30, 2024
The Spurs pivot delivers a more contrasting performance.
Of course, there is always this ability to score at any time (22 points, 11 rebounds) thanks to his size, his sense of anticipation and his movements out of nowhere: his own rebound which he recovers to score, a counter on Gafford by stealing the ball (“Is it a counter or an interception?”, asks former glory Sean Elliott, now a consultant on local TV, while Coulibaly, on the bench, shakes his head disbelief), or even a blind pass behind his back to save a ball that was going to go out.
His growing involvement in the game too, used as a hub during the opposing defense.
But there are also, and always, these ball losses (4 yesterday) which spoil his performances, and his uneven success in shooting, especially at three points (0/4 against Washington).
“I'll have to watch on video to see what I can improve on, but turnovers are something I'm always trying to reduce.
» Gregg Popovich revealed a few days ago that he regularly advises his player to keep the ball in the air, where not many people will be able to catch it.
We can easily imagine that the number 1 of the Spurs will dribble a little less in the middle of the defense, during the next meetings, starting with the reception of Orlando on Wednesday.