“Wembanyama must make his teams win”, believes Alain Weisz
2024-05-12 08:00:00
Retirement? Officially, yes, since his departure a year ago from his position as general manager of Boulogne-Levallois. But in reality, Alain Weisz continues to dedicate his life to coaching and basketball. At 70, the former coach of Hyères-Toulon and Antibes, two milestones among others in his thirty years spent on the benches of professional teams, has just published a book (1) as an inheritance. “Transmission”correct this “kid from Endoume”in Marseille.
He leaves a tool in the hands of his peers to “let them ask questions and discuss them”. A management manual adapted to sport. Alain Weisz even speaks of “mentoring”. A role “exciting” which he also endorsed this season to accompany Milos Stepanovic, young coach of… water polo, just crowned champion of France with Marseille.
Sitting at a café in La Cadière, where he has lived for ten years, the Sphinx, calm, opens the memory box and shares his experience. And of course stops at Victor Wembanyama, a player he “shaken” and which he helped to bring to life in Boulogne-Levallois.
What has changed the most in the coaching profession over the last thirty years?
The great coaches of the 90s, like Monschau, Beugnot or Monclar, had a lot of trouble afterwards. The world is evolving, and so are the mentalities of players. We can no longer address them as we did ten years ago. From the beginning of the 2000s, there was individualism, the rejection of authority, social networks… The goal of the coach is to get 100% from his workforce. Do we get there by being brittle? It’s not a question of denying yourself, but you have to convey your convictions with relational agility, a certain emotional intelligence. All of this can be learned, just like technique.
Did you learn this yourself the hard way?
I was like the others at the beginning: a hardness that would have driven me into a wall. One day, after a season that I thought was successful at Chatou, my captain, Jean-Claude Barroto, said to me: “Alain, you’re blocking the players!” It made me think, and I understood. I took communication courses with business leaders who were experiencing the same problems. I was introduced to management earlier than everyone else, from the end of the 80s. That’s what made my career because then I was able to manage any hard-headed person.
Isn’t this the case everywhere?
We see it in football, with Luis Enrique, at PSG, what he did to Kylian Mbappé. He destroyed it! You can’t treat a global star like a junior, taking him out at half-time, etc. The message sent is: “I, coach, am more important than you.” Well no! Mbappé, he’s the one who decides, that’s how it is.
Another superstar: Victor Wembanyama that his agent, Bouna N’Diaye, entrusted to you in Boulogne-Levallois in the summer of 2022. You say that you have no “never seen that before [votre] career”. At what point?
It all started in Las Vegas [où les Mets ont fait une tournée en octobre et où Wemby a explosé]. Fabulous. But in fact, from the friendly matches, he was so strong that I was stunned. I said to myself: “This guy is too strong for us, we’re not going to be able to keep him!” There were huge offers, but it wouldn’t have done anyone any favors if he left in November. I’ve seen him do things in practice where you’re like: “Yeah, it’s an alien.”. I have known strong players but here, what he does at 2.25m, with this dexterity… I don’t know where his limits are.
Can he offer the Olympic title to the Blues this summer?
He has to make his teams win. It can start this summer with France. Let’s at least take it to the final because in my opinion, the USA are untouchable: they remind me of the Dream team of 1992! But after that, there will be other international competitions… Victor must already bring his selection to the roof of Europe, as Tony Parker or the Slovenian Luka Doncic did. Especially since there is a good generation arriving alongside him. And in the NBA, the Spurs would have to put players next to him (laughs).
Mike James failed to take Monaco to the roof of the Euroleague…
This is the first team to lose a game 5 at home [mercredi, en quarts de finale contre Fenerbahçe]… Going to the Final Four twice in a row would have been great for Monaco and French basketball. But it’s not yet a team like Fener. Individuals, notably Mike James and Élie Okobo, have too much importance in the game: you rely on them a lot and the others, who are very strong, are a bit of a spectator and seem frustrated. FIBA basketball is not the NBA: you need a collective where everyone is together, in attack and defense. All things considered, we saw it this year with the HTV (French NM1 champion).
The HTV led by Jean-Louis Borg, a somewhat “old-fashioned” coach…
Jean-Louis is not here to be loved but to win. That’s the characteristic of great coaches. He does it in his own way, and again, he has evolved, but the players prefer that to a kind coach. His group was together very quickly. We must not believe that he had bad players, but he brought cohesion, added value and made them reach a level that they themselves did not suspect. Now, they are grown up and Jean-Louis will have to adapt his relationships, and he knows it. But what he achieved was a real coaching performance.
This, even though you value above all the importance of the players…
It’s true, they’re the ones who make you win. The great quality of coaches is to understand this and work for it. They are not the ones who score the baskets. But seeing that all the players are behind the set objectives, that’s the coach!
You describe a thankless job, in which you have to “give a lot without expecting anything in return”. How to enhance it?
Great coaches have extraordinary general knowledge [il cite Guardiola, Mourinho, Mola, Onesta ou Vucevic]. A coach must develop, he cannot be found wanting. In many ways, he is like a politician: he must know how to respond to everything without getting angry and be persuasive, but not dictatorial. You have to be aware of it and practice it. A Laurent Sciarra, who breathes basketball through every pore of his skin, has never done this job.
1. My Coaching Secrets, by Alain Weisz, published by Solar, available in bookstores. 288 pages, 19.90 euros.
I was like the others at the beginning: a hardness that would have driven me into the wall
