San Antonio Spurs (DR) / Popcorn (DR) / Minnesota Timberwolves (DR)

For months, fans of the French team have been salivating at the idea of ​​seeing a Victor Wembanyama / Rudy Gobert duo in the Blues racket for the Olympic Games… But according to Evan Fournier, things might not be so simple.

As planned, the French team will begin preparation for the Olympic Games with an ultra-talented group. Of the 19 players pre-selected by Vincent Collet, there are confirmed NBA veterans, EuroLeague executives, young people who will be hungry, veterans with experience of major international competitions, which should give a nice emulsion to the players. training.

All players will be in competition and no place will be guaranteed, even if some can already prepare their bags for the first round in Lille.

This is particularly the case of Rudy Gobert, who is having a potentially historic playoff campaign with the Timberwolves, and Victor Wembanyama, already one of the best players in the NBA.

Evan Fournier not convinced by a Wemby / Gobert duo

Moreover, in all likelihood, the two should be combined in the paint to form an extraordinary defensive duo. The Blues’ opponents will have to be very skillful behind the arc, because no basket will be given in the paint, that’s a certainty.

Passing on La Chaine l’Équipe , Evan Fournier gave his opinion on this exceptional pair:

What’s encouraging is seeing Minnesota’s success with the Rudy and Karl-Anthony Towns combination.

KAT plays 4 and Rudy plays 5. We can therefore envisage an association with Wembanyama rather wide, who plays almost like a second playmaker in attack, and Rudy who will be rather inside. Afterwards, we saw it with Spurs, where Wemby is really better is in position 5. But that’s not my job.

I know it’s not going to be easy to decide for Vincent, but what is certain is that they will share a lot of minutes.

In my opinion the other interiors like Mathias Lessort or Vincent Poirier will be there for very specific missions depending on the opponents, and position 5 will mainly be occupied by Rudy and Wemby for at least 35 minutes.

Evan Fournier is not sure that Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama will share the racket, since to maximize the latter’s talent, it is better to make him play pivot.

Vincent Collet will therefore have to find a way to combine their talent and get the best out of them, even if this requires leaving great players like Mathias Lessort and Vincent Poirier on the bench for the entire competition. It’s a good problem to have anyway.

In recent competitions, the domestic sector was not necessarily a great strength for the French team. With Rudy Gobert’s season and the arrival of Victor Wembanyama, that could totally change.