Victor Wembanyama experienced his first loss of the Paris Olympics on Friday. Going against Germany for the top spot in Group B, France fell with a final score of 85-71. Following the game, Wembanyama's coach seemed to be in no mood for sugarcoating. Vincent Collet — France's head coach since 2009 — went straight to the point in assessing his star player's performance.
“He stopped the ball too much,” Collet said, per The Washington Post's Ben Golliver. “Against that kind of aggressiveness, you can’t play that way. You are never 1-on-1 because they come to double team and there’s no space to operate. It’s important to move the ball.”
Wemby and France fall to Germany
Wembanyama finished with 14 points, going 5-of-11 from the field while making three of his seven attempts from downtown. He added 12 rebounds to his name, ending the game with a double-double.
Still, it was far from enough to match Germany, who used a big second-quarter run to break away from the French squad. By the end of the opening period, France trailed by just six points. However, the Germans outscored France 24-9 in the second quarter to build a double-digit lead entering halftime.
Germany continued to hold off their foes, as the score was 69-46 after three quarters of play. In the final period, signs of life were visible for France, as an Isaia Cordinier-led run cut the deficit down to 12. The Germans would not allow them to go further, however, swelling the point differential up once again to finish the game.
Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner led Germany in scoring, tallying 26 points apiece.
For France, Wembanyama's aforementioned double-double led the way, while Cordinier and Evan Fournier both added 10 points each.
A defensive clinic by the Germans
The Germans were a well-oiled machine on defense, garnering 10 steals to rattle their foes. Their on-ball pressure was seen throughout the game as they forced a total of 11 opponent turnovers, 10 of which came from France's starting lineup. This was probably why Vincent Collet touched on the importance of ball movement in his postgame comments. Against a German team with high chemistry, quick defensive rotations, and a knack for double-teaming opposing scorers, finding the open man would definitely be a more desirable option than 1-on-1 play.
There's still room for the hometown team to bounce back. Before the loss, Victor Wembanyama and France emerged victorious in their first two games, assuring them a berth in the quarterfinals. Nevertheless, the road only gets tougher moving forward. If the Frenchmen want to advance deep into the ensuing rounds, they'll need to avoid a repeat of Friday's showing from now on.
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