Victor Wembanyama is far and away the best player on Team France this summer but there is a case to be made that he cost his team a win non Friday. Speaking up after a loss against Germany, France head coach Vincent Collet put the young big man on blast for being a ball-stopper on offense.
“He stopped the ball too much. Against that kind of aggressiveness, you can’t play that way," said Collet. "You are never 1-on-1 because they come to double team and there’s no space to operate. It’s important to move the ball.”
As the former No. 1 overall pick and the unanimous Rookie of the Year, it's no surprise that Victor came into this tournament with big expectations for himself and his country. Alongside Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, and Evan Fournier, Victor has a chance to lead his team to glory this summer.
So far, however, the results have been mixed. On July 27th, the French opened the Olympics with a convincing win over Brazil, where Victor finished with 19 points on 7-13 shooting.
The first signs of trouble began to show against Japan three days later. While France did escape with the win , it went down to the wire with a final score of 94-90. Victor scored a team-high 18 points in the contest and shot 6-13 from the field. His teammates, however, just couldn't get it going and they nearly saw defeat against an inferior team.
France came into today's game against Germany undefeated and that's what everybody expected given the strength and experience of their roster. But not even Wembanyama could stop the bleeding vs. Germany. He had 14 points in 23 minutes but dominated control of the ball in almost every possession on the floor.
What's even worse was his shot selection. The 7-footer was taking all kinds of crazy shots, including three-pointers from several steps beyond the arc. Instead of deferring to his teammates, Victor tried to force it over double-teams, and it's the biggest reason he finished with three turnovers in the game.
Through three games so far, Victor is putting up decent stats at 17.0 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. And while France is still 2-1 in the tournament so far, Victor is going to have to change his ways if they want any chance of winning the gold.
With such a stacked roster full of capable scorers, Wemby should have no problem finding a teammate to share the load and if he can start moving the ball more often, it will allow the offense to orchestrate with much more freedom.
Of course, it's much easier said than done for a star like Wembanyama to accept his faults and it could take several games before he makes the adjustment that his coach is calling for. But whether you love him or hate him, France needs Wembanyama to challenge the best and he's the one who has a chance to put them over the top.
Now that coach has properly condemned his playstyle, it's up to Victor to make the proper adjustments and show the world that he can do what is necessary to win the gold. Hopefully, he can translate those lessons to the Spurs so that he can be in his best form possible by the time the next season begins.
For now, all he can do is heed his coach's warning and do more to get his teammates involved instead of trying to carry them all on his own.
Related: France’s Head Coach On Victor Wembanyama: "People Who Don't Know Basketball, They Think He Is Already Michael Jordan.”
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