Everything is going very fast. Not too fast, just very fast. The Bac in the back pocket (obtained with a year in advance and mention), a silver medal around his neck (with the generation above at the U19 World Cup), it is in Villeurbanne that Victor Wembanyama decided to continue his adventure this year. Constantly outclassed, the crackito notably discovered the EuroLeague in October. Back on the first month of Wemby in Lyon.
His arrival at ASVEL had caused a stir last summer, without disturbing the daily life of the teenager. It is good to remind you from time to time, from the height of his 2.19m and with this low voice as well as this ease in front of the French-speaking and English-speaking media, Victor is not yet old enough to order a mousse at the counter of the Ninkasi. The phenomenon will not blow its 18 candles until January 4 and it continues to progress, step by step, with the goal of getting a foothold in the NBA before – perhaps – putting the NBA at its feet. In the meantime, it is in France that the scouts will still have to travel to see Wembanyama in action and, as expected, his coach TJ Parker takes his time with his jewel. As a reminder, Victor was kept away from the prosecution because of a virus for three weeks.
A little tip for all those impatient who expected to see Victor Wembanyama break the EuroLeague from the start, help yourself to a large glass of water. The native of Chesnay did all the preparation with LDLC ASVEL and we saw him distribute some very nasty counters under the eyes of Giannis Antetokounmpo in person, during a friendly match relocated in a small village of the Loire at the end of -September. The rest was in the official box, with a date that will necessarily remain marked in his memory. On October 1, Victor made his debut in the premier competition in Europe with a discreet 3 minutes 23, during which he still went against Niels Giffey without jumping against Kaunas. Nothing more, because unfortunately an illness will delay the continuation of the take-off of the player. After a few detours on the tarmac to warm up the engine, last week therefore marked Wemby’s big comeback on the boards with a still busy schedule for Villeurbanne.
First block for Wembanyama #EuroLeague pic.twitter.com/X4I5r9iiBz
– Dainius???????? (@imLuckyD) October 1, 2021
Victor Wembanyama’s first points in EuroLeague
As we know, the pace is very strong for the teams registered in EuroLeague who must also juggle the championship and the national cup. Good news for Victor Wembanyama who will inevitably have playing time in the internal rotation of ASVEL, so that the workforce of the defending champions can withstand this schedule worthy of the NBA (almost one game every three days). For his return, the V frolicked 10 minutes on the boards against Chalons-Reims and unlocked his counter under his new colors (3 points to 1/4 shooting).
It’s done ????
???? The first stitches of ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????? under the jersey of @LDLCASVEL ✨
#BetclicELITE@vicw_32 pic.twitter.com/irPQvoE3oS— LNB (@LNBOfficiel) October 24, 2021
Again in the Astroballe three days later, Wembanyama was also able to score his first points in EuroLeague against the great CSKA Moscow. A first on free throw, then this basket on offensive rebound without the Russian defense being able to do anything to prevent it. Despite a lot of shooting waste (1/8 including a fanny behind the bow), the phenomenon does not hesitate to take its chance and has been mobile to defend against the opposing rear in the event of a switch. Two days later, it was in Athens that he took part in another ASVEL victory in EuroLeague against Pana, without having more success on a personal level (3 points to 1/4 shooting) . The Lyon staff know it, they will have to be patient with the prodigy who is evolving for the moment with the second group on fairly small sequences.
First basket in Euroleague for Wembanyama
The top prospect in the world ????@franfraschilla pic.twitter.com/Hhl6y9z059– Francesco Nanni (@Franz_NanniBK) October 27, 2021
Very quickly, we could still see more and more of the giant, especially in the French league. As dense as it is, the ASVEL roster is not yet calibrated on the biggest European teams and the requirement of the calendar will force TJ Parker to juggle his rotations so as not to put anyone in the red. For the first time this season, Wemby exceeded ten minutes of playing time against Orléans this Sunday. If he still made a mess on many outside shots (6 points to 3/10), Victor weighed defensively with 8 catches and 5 blocks (!) In 21 minutes. At the end of the first quarter, he pulled out all the stops with a counter on Youssou Ndoye (2.13m) followed by an alley-oop with Antoine Diot concluded 10 seconds later on the other side of the field. The action has inevitably toured the offices of the 30 NBA GMs and this is only a small glimpse of what the freak could give in a few years, when he has gained in mass and explosiveness to project himself to the basket. The Giannis, Scottie Barnes or Anthony Davis will soon have a new friend with whom to try to cross the field in less than three strides to conclude an unstoppable counterattack.
Victor Wembanyama in 15 seconds … #BetclicELITE | @LDLCASVEL pic.twitter.com/vmH5DMbT3g
— LNB (@LNBOfficiel) October 31, 2021
Victor Wembanyama called up with the greats in the French team
After five games for ASVEL, Victor Wembanyama has not yet set the sights from a distance (1/13) but it is interesting to see that the youngster is not afraid to take the shot when it is open. Also, we saw plenty of outside shots bouncing off the circle before coming out and not much is missing for him to send his first 50% behind the arc. Address will also be a key point for the rest of his career if he wants to one day become the ultimate Unicorn, even if he does not want to enter a box so as not to put a barrier in his game. In any case, his championship and EuroLeague opponents have already witnessed his impressive mobility for a size of his size. Victor has already given us a few moves from guards on offense and can keep up with smaller, faster players on defense when forced to switch to pick-and-roll. Finally, his defensive potential bursts the screen and many big men have already eaten sacred pancakes in his kingdom, near the basket. The perfs of the former Nanterrien did not go unnoticed since he was even called by Vincent Collet to do the sparring partners as a team France.
Vincent Collet summons 16 players and 3 training partners for the first qualifying matches at the @FIBAWC 2023 ????
Les Bleus will face Montenegro and Hungary ⚔️
All the info on our website ???? https://t.co/DpDFoPJLIt#TeamFranceBasket pic.twitter.com/hcw1sFxZoI
– French Basketball Teams (@FRABasketball) October 22, 2021
This is only the logical continuation after having largely dominated the World U19 where he was named in the major five of the competition, this summer. At 17, Wembanyama will not yet wear the blue jersey in an official match during this qualifying window for the 2023 World Cup, but it is a first giant step before fully integrating group A in the years to come. In 2024, he will be 20 years old. No need to say much more to understand what is going on in the head of the coach, who dreams of taking revenge on Team USA in Paris. It’s never too early to start, especially not with Victor who is used to always being one or two steps ahead.
Victor Wembanyama’s October in figures
- 1er octobre vs Zalgiris Kaunas (EuroLeague): 0 point to 0/1 shooting, 1 block and 2 turnovers in 3 minutes
- Unavailable from October 3 to 21 (ill)
- October 24 vs Chalons-Reims (championship): 3 points at 1/4 shooting including 0/1 from parking and 1/1 from throwing, 1 interception, 1 turnover, 1 personal foul and 1 foul caused in 10 minutes
- October 27 vs CSKA Moscow (EuroLeague): 3 1/8 shooting points including 0/3 from parking and 1/2 throwing, 3 rebounds, 1 block and 1 foul caused in 9 minutes
- October 29 @ Panathinaïkos (EuroLeague): 3 points at 1/4 shooting including 1/3 from the parking lot, 1 interception and 3 personal fouls in 10 minutes
- October 31 vs Orléans (championship): 6 3/10 shooting points including 0/6 from parking, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, 1 assist, 1 interception, 1 turnover, 4 personal fouls and 1 foul caused in 21 minutes
Despite an absence of three weeks very early in the season, Victor Wembanyama quickly recovered. The month of October was rich in accomplishments with his first points in the league with ASVEL and in EuroLeague, brilliant actions that turned out well in the US and a first call in Blue to start preparing for the Games. from Paris. At this rate, November could also have many surprises in store for us. The appointment is made, and we will obviously follow all of this very closely on TrashTalk.
Text sources: LNB, EuroLeague
