The enchanted French parenthesis is well closed for the Spurs: a few days after their double confrontation against Indiana in Paris, they encountered last night for their return to Texas to a wall, that of Los Angeles Clippers insolent of efficiency ( 52 % success, 50 % of which is three points). Victor Wembanyama has tried everything, ends with the best total point of his team (23), as well as 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 counters. But the Californians were too strong (defeat 116-128).
Los Angeles has shown all the colors in San Antonio, and even sometimes on the verge of acceptable, as when the Croatian Ivica Zubac, author of a huge performance (21 points, 22 rebounds), wanted to go Do justice himself on a Victor Wembanyama who had just counter him, pushing him in the back and sending him to the ground, at the heart of the third quarter. Without the referees whistling. In response, Wemby got up and tried to fight with his opponent, before being retained by his teammates and his staff. Not resentful, the two Europeans fell into each other’s arms after the meeting and exchanged a few friendly words.
“Zubac is a nice person, he’s not the problem,” says Victor Wembanyama at a press conference after the game. It is above all a problem of frustration. Wemby refers to the refereeing and the tenacious sensation that he does not (yet) benefit from the same treatment as other players in the league. Do referees sufficiently sanction the contacts of adversaries on him? “No”, replies French, in one dry word and the black eye. “It’s hard to change things,” he says afterwards. It seems unfair sometimes. We talk about it with the staff. There are things that I can do: be stronger, speak and explain myself more to referees … But in my opinion, it is not something that I should try to influence. I play basketball, I’m not here to do politics. »»
“He receives a lot of contacts”
The feeling of injustice on French is shared in its franchise. “I am almost surprised that Victor did not react in this way, honestly,” says the coach of the Spurs Mitch Johnson. He receives a lot of contacts and he must make sure to protect himself. There are a few actions, earlier in the match, where he could have received whistles in his favor. “We must all be more aggressive,” points out the leader Chris Paul.
Zubac explained to him in the American media having apologized after the meeting, explaining that she had been upset against the referees: “I let my emotions take over, that’s not what I want to be on a short”.
In terms of basketball, Victor Wembanyama made Victor Wembanyama. A few against, including two in the same minute during the third quarter, baskets near the circle and three points (3 out of 6), and rebounds in the shovel.
It is collectively that the spurs are lacking in attire. “This is the story of our season,” says Chris Paul. We are in the match and then we let go. “We are on the right track, wants to believe Weby. We are getting out of the hardest part of our season. Losing is an unpleasant feeling, but we must not forget the feeling of victories. The Spurs have won only two of their last ten games and see the struggle move away for a qualification in the final phase.
Opposite, the other Frenchman of the evening, Nicolas Batum, played 17 minutes and delivered a beautiful sheet of statistics (12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 interception). He has perfectly played around him and missed little (4 out of 5, including 3 out of 4 to three points).