It is a baroque image. An image that we are not used to seeing on a match night in Levallois. Victor Wembanyama spent much of the evening sitting on the Metropolitans bench on Friday when Nancy came on behalf of the 23rd day of Betclic Élite.
In the end, he will have played 26 minutes for a statistics sheet far from his usual standards with 14 points (his 4th lowest score of the season), 6 rebounds (he took less than once this season) and 3 passes. He was limited to 5 points for a long time before stacking up 9 in a row (91-75, 37th). If we forced the line we could say that he spent more time walking around the field after the game, to sign autographs, clap the hands of the kids and accept a few selfies, than on the field.
“It was not good”
Three days after the trip to Pau and before going to challenge Asvel on Tuesday, one could imagine that he had been spared by the staff. What the coach denies. “Absolutely not, thunders Vincent Collet. I did not spare it, nothing was planned. But I was forced to take it out because of the fouls. After his second foul it would have been reckless to leave him on the field so early in the game and that he gets a 3rd foul. »
The Mets coach also had little taste for the performance of his all-purpose player at the start of the match. “It was not good, regrets Collet. Instead of going to the basket and provoking, he was backing up to shoot. He must be able to score near the basket. He did it late in the game. But he has this defect of starting his matches with outside shots and without aggression. »
Solid Monaco Dolphin
Wemby’s ill-inspired start to the match did not, however, prevent his partners from winning (93-87) against the promoted and scoring a third straight success in the league, which allows him to consolidate his place as runner-up to Monaco. . A victory that bears the hallmark of Tremont Waters. “Incredible, exceptional, in the first half”, appreciates Vincent Collet.
The Puerto Rican international looked like he wanted to make up for lost time. Forfeited between January 18 and March 7 due to a concussion, he had a real festival. The pocket leader (1.78 m) stacks the three-point baskets and offers 14 lengths ahead of his team (49.35, 19th) on a shot triggered “at 10 meters”, according to Sylvain Lautié, the coach of Nancy. Nothing can resist him. Waters walks on water. At the break his notebook already showed 22 points (with a 5 out of 8 at 3 points). Remained 9 minutes on the bench during the second quarter, Victor Wembanyama appreciates the recital.
Traoré, the timely return
Overtaken by fatigue, Waters will finally finish the game with 25 points. After having had a 22-point lead (69-47, 25th), the Mets even had a little scare late in the game (91-84, 39th). “Nancy made the effort to come back but we lacked seriousness”, plague Vincent Collet. “We tried to prevent him (Editor’s note: Victor Wembanyama) from doing things, we shouldn’t let him go to the basket, do tap-dunks, explains Sylvain Lautié. We did it quite well. But you can’t cut everything in him. His 3-point shot with the board at the end of badly hurts us. »
The other good news for the Mets is the return to business of Armel Traoré. Operated on a knee in November, the 20-year-old winger played again for the first time since November 4. Five short minutes of play but promising three months from the next NBA Draft. “If we hadn’t relaxed at the end of the match, he should have played more,” confides Vincent Collet. Place now to move on the floor of Asvel. This time the slightest slackening risks proving fatal.