After having easily beaten Lithuania in Kaunas this weekend, for the big debut in the selection of Victor Wembanyamal’French team welcomed this time bosnia in Pau, with the aim of composting his ticket for the 2023 World Cup, which will take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023, in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
Mission accomplished, since the Blues quietly dominated their opponents (92-56). They will now try to win another international medal in Asia, in less than a year, with a squad that should look great…
Starting at a false pace, with a lot of waste and mistakes, this meeting first saw Victor Wembanyama (19 points) shine by scoring the first seven tricolor points. The interior of Boulogne-Levallois thus made its quality of shooting speak, allowing itself as a bonus to make “a Stephen Curry”, turning around (halfway) before his shot fell into it.
However, Bosnia was able to stay in contact… until Vincent Collet does not open his bench and that Juhann Begarin (17 points), Ismail Kamagate, John Makoundou or Sylvain Francisco do not offer good sequences to put their team in front, after ten minutes (17-13).
In the second quarter, with its aggressive defense, France continued to put its mark on this part, feeding in particular on the loss of Bosnian balls to widen the gap, with always their bottle class to guide it (Juhann Begarin, Ismael Kamagate, Yoan Makoundou). It was then Sylvain Francisco’s turn to stand out, and in a very good way: a huge counter-attack poster, despite his 79 meter, which made the whole crowd rise!
With a still precious bench and more sharp starters over the minutes, but above all a very convincing defense, the Blues then managed their lead until the break, even making it climb beyond ten units, without shake too much (40-27).
Upon returning from the locker room, the recipe that worked in the first half continued to work, with a Damien Inglis who as a bonus raised his voice and made his offensive talent speak, from afar and up close, to boost his own. At his side, Victor Wembanyama, Andrew Albicy, Paul Lacombe, Sylvain Francisco or Nicolas Lang also brought their stone to the building, proof of the effectiveness of the French collective today (59-44).
Finally, the last quarter will have seen this French team in total control heading easily towards a new authoritarian victory, downright increasing the gap to around forty points (92-56)! As for Victor Wembanyama, he will take the opportunity to reproduce his famous 3-point shoot on one leg, just to close his first international week in style, among the big boys…
A perfect week for the players of Vincent Collet, therefore, who will then go to commune, at the end of the match, with this public of Pau who welcomed them as it should.
France’s statistics
Photo credit: FIBA.com
