Asvel’s black series in the Euroleague ended on Wednesday in Kaunas. After eight defeats in a row in the most prestigious European event, the Villeurbannais have indeed won in Lithuania (68-72). This allows the players of TJ Parker (13th) to count one success ahead of the two worst ranked teams in the Euroleague, Panathinaikos and Zalgiris Kaunas. This honorary victory, two days from the end of the regular phase of the competition, highlighted the progress of the promising Victor Wembanyama.
Arrived from Nanterre in the shoes of a phenomenon, the 18-year-old and 2.19m player, whom many observers consider among the first choices of the 2023 NBA draft, indeed signed his best performance of the season on Wednesday. With 14 points (6/7 on shots), 5 rebounds and 5 blocks in 28 minutes of play, or 23 evaluation, the young interior burst the screen.
“He showed that he could play at the highest level at his age”
“I know this is only the beginning, confided to the microphone of Euroleague TV the person concerned, who only runs at 5.5 points on average in this competition. I am very confident. I realize this season hasn’t been perfect, but that’s the natural cycle of things. It will get better as it goes. It was Tony Parker’s idea when he signed the U19 international last summer.
Wembanyama’s optimism is unsurprisingly shared by his coach TJ Parker: “Victor is improving day by day. He gets a lot of playing time because he deserves it. If he continues to listen as he does, he will play more and more. He needs to get bigger, and he works extremely hard every day for that. He had physical difficulties at the start of the season, he couldn’t find his rhythm or train. But tonight he showed he can play at the highest level at his age. A bright future awaits him”. It is the whole of French basketball that dreams of the emergence of this so atypical raw talent.