Injuries give Wembanyama great chance to start season
Injuries give Wembanyama great chance to start season
17-year-old emerging star gets big minutes and produces in first preseason action for ASVEL
One of the most anticipated moves of the off-season in youth hoops in Europe was Victor Wembanyama leaving Nanterre 92 and heading to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, where he will get his first taste of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. And the 17-year-old showed in ASVEL’s first preseason action that he is ready to play at a high level.
Injuries played a big role in the 2004-born star prospect getting a lot of minutes to produce in ASVEL’s action at the Ain Star Game 2021 in Bourg en Bresse from September 1-4.
Wembanyama did not play in ASVEL’s first game - a 77-55 loss to JDA Dijon. The second game was a 90-88 thriller, albeit an overtime loss at the hands of 7DAYS EuroCup side Boulogne Metropolitans 92. Wembanyama played 25 minutes and scored 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, missing both of his three-pointers but hitting all three free throw attempts. He also collected 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks.
Here are a couple of highlights of Wembanyama’s first game.
The final game of the tournament for ASVEL - the showdown with Elan Chalon for fifth place - was another major chance for Wembanyama as head coach TJ Parker had only seven players, with Wembanyama and the 19-year-old Matthew Strazel as the only professional players. In a 90-61 loss, Wembanyama ended up playing 21 minutes and collected 10 points as he struggled a bit with his shot, hitting 4-of-12, including 1-of-4 three-pointers. He grabbed eight rebounds and added one in the loss. Kymany Houinsou, who is actually two days younger than Wembanyama, led the way with 21 points on 8-of-11 shots.
Wembanyama in late June joined ASVEL on a three-year contract after he had debuted with Nanterre as a 15-year-old. He played four games in the 7DAYS EuroCup last season and also averaged with 6.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.9 blocks over 17 minutes per game in 18 appearances in the France first division last season. Wembanyama then headed to Latvia for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021, where he dominated and earned a spot on the All-Star Five as he collected 14.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 4.7 blocks.
Wembanyama is widely expected to be the number one overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. This will be a huge season for the major talent as he gets to face an unbelievably high level of competition in the EuroLeague. And he will not turn 18 years old until January 04, 2022. Just as a comparison - and this is not saying Wembanyama is (or isn’t) him - Luka Doncic turned 19 years old during the 2017-18 season in which he guided Real Madrid to the EuroLeague title and was named the MVP. Scouts will be intensely watching what Wembanyama does this season. But he is in a great place as ASVEL have regularly shown their commitment to playing youngsters. Wembanyama’s 2002-born Matthew Strazel, for example, will already be playing his third season in the EuroLeague in 2021-22.