Zaccharie Risacher and Alexandre Sarr, at the top of the Empire State Building, June 24, 2024, in New York. ROY ROCHLIN / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Made in France is exported wonderfully across the Atlantic. In basketball, at least. After the phenomenon Victor Wembanyama, who left for the San Antonio Spurs in 2023, another Frenchman – Zaccharie Risacher or Alexandre Sarr – should be selected in first position in the NBA draft, Wednesday June 26 in New York, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday ( Paris time). And just in front of his compatriot.
On Monday, the winger from Bourg-en-Bresse and the interior from Perth (Australia), both 19 years old and respectively 2.04 m and 2.16 m, posed at the top of the emblematic skyscraper. New York sky, the Empire State Building, in the heart of Manhattan. They form the spearhead of the French wave on America and the draft, this sort of big stock exchange aimed at rebalancing the league by recruiting new players. Because in addition to Risacher and Sarr, Tidjane Salaün (Cholet) is also expected in the top 15 of the 2024 vintage, when Pâcome Dadiet (Ulm, Germany) and Melvin Ajinça (Saint-Quentin) have seen their ratings rise in recent weeks.
This massive arrival of young French people in the NBA is the culmination of a mature French training system. “Detection and training work over a long timeexplains Jacques Commères, the director of performance and national teams. There is pyramid detection, a strong territorial network with hopeful centers and real cohabitation between the training centers of professional clubs and the France center. » The latter is the breeding ground for the best French potential, housed at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep).
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Queen of marketing and communication, the powerful NBA readily talks about « French revolution » (“French revolution”) to describe this new blue wave. But the expression is more of a trick. Since 2021, “there is quantity and quality”distinguishes Nicolas Mathieu, French scout for the Portland Trail Blazers, emphasizing the exceptional character of the generation of players born in 2005, “drafted” this year.
“Clubs value their training”
According to him, « there really is a Covid-19 factor to take into account.” He explains that some young people benefited from the forced interruption of training linked to the pandemic to grow. “Because in training centers and youth centers, the pace of training is quite high and this has the effect of slowing down growth curves”he continues. After this less intense period, these young people – “like Bilal Coulibaly”drafted in 2023 by the Washington Wizards – were subsequently revealed.
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2024-06-26 18:02:03
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