Sports Illustrated (DR) / Metropolitans 92 (DR)

If Victor Wembanyama shone on the NBA floors this season, he will also have to do so this summer in a very different context, namely that of the Olympic Games.

French coach Vincent Collet also came back with clear words on the big man’s return to the FIBA ​​game, citing in particular a certain Luka Doncic.

We were eagerly awaiting his arrival in the NBA, and he did not disappoint. Unanimously elected Rookie of the Year, Victor Wembanyama had a fantastic season in the Spurs jersey.

Enough to reassure about his potential in the NBA of course, but also in the French team of which he is called to become the spearhead for the decade to come, at least.

The Paris Olympic Games will thus be a first test for the Alien and obviously, Vincent Collet is following his case very closely.

The coach of the Blues knows it very well, the success of the team depends mainly on the ability of the ROY to also dominate on the international scene.

During a long interview with Le Figaro , the man who had coached him at the Mets before his draft went there frankly:

Wembanyama capable of shining in FIBA? Vincent Collet responds

It should not be ignored that the international game is different from the NBA. Luka Doncic would say it’s harder to score in international basketball. But dominant players in one competition are dominant in the other.

We only had one physical trainer. We have a second one. The players are very attentive to their routine.

The one that we had sometimes been a little overwhelmed. Then, in relation to Victor, it reassures him and it will facilitate his integration.

There are times when they will play together (with Rudy Gobert), not systematically, but they will. We will have to find complicity, balance.

Victor can move away and move. No reason to prevent us from combining them. Afterwards, this association should allow us to have a very important defensive base.

It made me think about certain aspects of the game that we are going to develop while trying to make the best use of the deterrence of this association.

If Wemby will have to get used to playing FIBA ​​again, Collet has no doubt that he will quickly get back into the swing of things because according to him, great players can shine whatever the context.

However, basketball remains above all a team sport and the big man will achieve nothing without his teammates. Guest of the NBA Extra show recently, the coach made a big request of his guards:

What I expect from leaders is also to be very good transmission belts. We of course expect Victor to be able to express his talent this year, but to do so he will need, like all inside backs.

The ball must arrive in good conditions, the ball must be transmitted as best as possible. He is very good at alley-oops, but alley-oops mean a player who knows how to send the ball to the right place.

For Vincent Collet, Victor Wembanyama should be able to transpose his dominance in the NBA to the FIBA ​​scene.

All that remains is to put the theory into practice and for that, the Spurs pivot should count on a Blues roster ready to do what is necessary to put him in a good position. After all, it is the nuclear weapon.