PARIS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama is finally about to get a taste of the Olympic spotlight — in the host city.
For the first week of the Paris Games, the basketball tournament was played in a secluded setting, away from the pomp and circumstance — and backdrop — that Paris has to offer.
It’s meant that only diehards who trekked to near the northern city to Lille to watch the group stage have gotten a live look at the 20-year-old star’s first three games representing France in his Olympic debut.
That changes on Tuesday when Wembanyama and his teammates open the knockout phase with a quarterfinal matchup against Canada.
Wemby is ready for his closeup. And he insists France is also welcoming the challenge that comes with being one of the final eight teams standing for the fourth consecutive Olympics. The silver medalist in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, France is also on the same side of the bracket as 2023 FIBA World Cup champion Germany.
“If we want to win it all, we’re going to have to win against everybody eventually,” Wembanyama said.
France won its first two games of the group stage, beating Brazil and Japan, before a loss to Germany exposed a lack of cohesion between Wemby and fellow 7-footer Rudy Gobert.
Should France get past Canada and then against the winner of Germany and Greece in the semifinals, awaiting it could potentially be a rematch with the United States, which beat France in the Tokyo gold medal game.
Only this time France would have Wembanyama.
While they don’t want to look ahead, France’s Evan Fournier said there’s no question that the U.S. is the team to beat.
“The obvious choice is USA. It’s definitely them, they are the No. 1 contender,” Fournier said. “But after that, there’s a few teams that have a shot. It’s basketball, just one game, a lot of things can happen, so we’ll see.”
France coach Vincent Collet acknowledged there were things in the loss to Germany that are concerns. They include his team getting stagnant offensively at times. France had assists on just 15 of its 25 made field goals in that game.
It’s something Collet promised to address.
“We have to worry, but we have to be able to stay together and to use it for the next round,” Collet said. “Now, it’s even, if we are down and Canada is up, we will be 0-0 on Tuesday, and they have more to lose than us in this position so we must use that.”
Collet also wants his team to stick to executing the simple things that carried it in its wins over Brazil and Japan. Specifically, not letting the desire to have individual moments take away from the basic things they need to do on the court.
“The main thing is what we talk about before: the fundamentals, desire, energy,” Collet said. “And the simple things: screens, passes, quick passes. Not keep the ball and trying to go one-on-one.”
Wembanyama said they know what it will take to ensure that France is on the medal stand by the end of the week.
“We’ve all got the good will, the good energy,” he said. “Now I think we have to trust in the coaching more, trust in our teammates a bit more.”
