By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Lille, France – Coming out of a win for France to open the preliminary round of the 2024 Olympic Games, Mathias Lessort talked to Eurohoops about Victor Wembanyama and his leading showing against Brazil, after comparing the fan support in Pierre Mauroy Stadium to playing home games for Panathinaikos Aktor or Partizan Mozzart Bet.
“I was just telling Frank [Ntilikina], ‘Did you think that was loud?’ and he said ‘yeah’. I said, ‘Yes, you are going to see next year’,” Lessort referred to his international teammate signing with his former team, Partizan, “It was a great atmosphere. It’s a little different than a EuroLeague game. It is not as hostile, but the atmosphere was great. It was loud, and the fans were cheering for us.”
In his Olympic debut, the recently-crowned Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion with Panathinaikos tallied four points and three rebounds. Wemby drew 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals, three blocks, and two assists.
“It was amazing. He is one of the best players in the world,” he described playing alongside the Alien, “We know how important he is for us. We know how important it is for us to get him in rhythm and to find him in the best position possible. And tonight, he was just amazing for us. He was a key for us. And we hope that he is going to continue like that.”
Resuming action in Lille on Tuesday, France takes on Japan.
“I feel like we see ourselves as some outsiders. We do not see ourselves as favorites,” Lessort revealed the team approach to Eurohoops, “It would be a great thing for us to be able to climb that first place. But we got to take it game by game. We saw it in the preparation games. We lost the last four.”
“We are just as confident as we can,” added the 28-year-old center, “We just got to take the game one by one, step by step, and approach it every game like it was the last one.”
Photo Credit: FIBA