After the popular enthusiasm at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium, the Blues also received very strong support from the Arena Bercy in the quarter-finals and then in the semi-finals, despite some empty seats in the official stand.
The final was another story. Despite the efforts of the Kop France Basket, the room had a hard time getting excited for Victor Wembanyama and his team, between a packed but silent official stand, and an audience filled with many American supporters, or those who came to see the American superstars.
“I felt it very strongly” Vincent Collet acknowledges the difference in atmosphere. “It's the price of the seats… There was a much more international crowd tonight, much more than in the other matches. We were clearly less supported than in the previous matches. It was very clear.”
During the match, we even saw the coach ask the 12,121 people present several times to raise their voices, to further push his team in the important moments. And in the “money time”.
“Normally, when we got back to within three points, the room would have been on fire. It wasn't completely. We missed a 3-pointer, Stephen Curry hit one on the other end, or Kevin Durant, I don't remember, and that's almost when the room exploded.” regrets the coach. “That's how it is, it's the Olympic Games, they don't belong to France. I expected it. I had seen the prices and I suspected that the public would be much more sparse and coming from different backgrounds.”
An audience with many more “VIPs”, more likely to come and admire the American “Avengers” live than anything else.
Interview conducted in Paris
