Another day, another milestone: Wembanyama ties Gobert's record for France
MUNICH (Germany) - France defeated Czech Republic 72-59 in Pardubice, in a game completely dominated by Victor Wembanyama. The 19-year-old tied a record set by Rudy Gobert during the FIBA EuroBasket 2022.
MUNICH (Germany) - French sensation Victor Wembanyama has continued to set the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers on fire, marking the start of the February window with a record-equaling performance of 17 rebounds in a 72-59 victory over Czech Republic in Pardubice.
The 19-year-old tied the men's senior national team record set by Rudy Gobert during the FIBA EuroBasket 2022.
Wemby finished the game with 22 points, 17 rebounds, 6 blocks and 4 steals, earning an efficiency rating of 34, a game-high by some distance, too. With those 17 rebounds, he collected the same number as Gobert, tying the most rebounds in a single game.
Gobert had his big rebounding game just half a year ago, when France defeated Turkey in the Round of 16 of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022. Gobert had 20 points and 17 rebounds, also in 30 minutes of action, similar to Wembanyama's numbers against Czech Republic.
At the youth level, Wembanyama's personal best wearing a French jersey is 21 rebounds at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2019.
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Even though this is a French record, it's still not the best mark of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers. That's because Iceland's giant Tryggvi Hlinason gathered in 21 rebounds against Italy exactly a year ago, while Simon Birgander had 18 rebounds for Sweden against Croatia, also in February 2022.
Victor appeared in three games for France so far in this competition. He is averaging 20.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 steals per game. Vincent Collet's squad was a +54 team in Wembanyama's 78 minutes on the floor during the Qualifiers.
FIBA