Finale that looks like Wembanyama’s farewell tour

Can Victor Vembanyama afford his dream trip? His Boulogne-Levallois team joined Monaco in the French Championship final, knocking out Villeurbanne (71-69) on his Astrobal.

With three wins in their series of semi-finals (3-1), the Metropolitans 92 unfastened the three-time champions of France. Their star Victor Wembanyama (15 points) may be dreaming of a coronation before flying to the NBA and certainly to the San Antonio Spurs, who inherited the first pick in the draft.

The Monegasque armada, which has surpassed Bourg-en-Bresse in the other half (3-0), is therefore waiting since Saturday in the Principality of the people for Vincent Collet in the final, also controversial in the best of five matches.

A feat without Wembanyama’s great performance, even if after a busy day he multiplied decisive gestures in the final quarter.

Wemby, whose back, sore at the start of the week, is “much better”, according to Vincent Collet, allowed his men to take the lead in the meeting (68-67) with an unbalanced roll at the end of the possession buzzer. He then held his Mets before a new mid-range shot (70-67). After that, his powerful counter-attack on Alex Tyus in the last minute maintained a three-point lead.

As early as Friday during his family’s 86-59 rout, the great hope had to wait 17 and a half minutes on Saturday to score its first points since going clean in six runs.

“He came back to it. It was difficult for him before the break. We talked to him, we told him to be patient,” Capt. Lahau Konate describes.

Possibly worn out by the repetition of matches – his Citizens have not played in European competition this season – the 19-year-old center often hunched over with his hands on his knees to recover. He needed an ice pack to cool his carcass in the Astroball furnace and Steve Ho Yu Fat stirring the air with a towel at the end of the match.

“Not really‘Team Victor »

“It’s not just Victor’s team, but Bilal Koulibaly’s team and others,” Vincent Collet said at a press conference. Tonight we’re eliminated by Bilal (16 points, 4 assists) and Barry Brown (18 points, 3 assists).”

The last, a medical freelancer who played just eight games for the Metropolitans, scored two big shots. One to change the lead before heading to the dressing room (39-37) and the other from the mid-court logo to give the Mets their maximum lead (55-43).

Antoine Diot (13 points) with three shots from behind the arc in the last quarter of the hour and the Belgian national team Retin Obasohan (17 points) with his percussion and shots from medium distance kept their positions in the match. Not enough.

“It’s a game of one possession and nothing,” coach T.J. Parker said. The regret concerns match #1, we had a non-match (75-69). »

The absence of Nando De Colo, the master of the game between the Blues and the Asvels, also weighed heavily on the scale. Even if TJ Parker tried to bluff by putting him on the bench in sportswear: “He wanted to be part of the team, participate in the warm-up. He would have been there in the next game, but we didn’t want to risk it. »

“This is a big disappointment,” Captain Charles Kahudi said. We fought, but it wasn’t enough. This match reflected the shortcomings of the season, in particular the inconsistency. In the last two matches we have shown two faces. »