ASVEL: With four days to go until the Supercup, where does Tony Parker’s team really stand?

After an eventful summer and a preseason played with a very incomplete roster, ASVEL is about to get down to business. Vincent Collet and Dounia Issa gave an initial assessment of a team that is still under construction, but ambitious.

By@Simon Badet

September 16, 2026 at 09:45

ASVEL: With four days to go until the Supercup, where does Tony Parker’s team really stand?

Photo Credit : Infinity Nine Media / ASVEL

Is ASVEL ready? With four days to go until its first official game, it’s still hard to really know the level of Tony Parker’s team. Put together late after an eventful summer, the Villeurbanne side has done most of its preparation without having its full roster available.

At the traditional Media Day, this Tuesday, September 15, Vincent Collet and Dounia Issa looked back on this unusual preparation and the first lessons learned since the arrival of the last players.

A preseason that’s hard to judge

For Vincent Collet, it’s hard to draw any conclusions from the first preseason games. During the last game against Rome, ASVEL was still very far from showing its true face. “The game we played 48 hours ago against Rome, we were still missing seven or eight players out of 15. That’s a lot to be able to truly judge the roster.”

It wasn’t until Wednesday, September 9 that all the players finally arrived in France. A situation that forced the staff to work with a very small group for a large part of the preparation. Dounia Issa understands the scale of the task. “Two weeks before the start of training camp, we were missing almost 80% of the team, so that’s tough.”

Despite this delay, ASVEL doesn’t intend to wait until it’s fully ready to show its ambitions. The Supercup, which starts on September 19 at Roland Garros, already offers the chance to win a first trophy.

“We want to go to the Supercup to try to win it. Despite the lack of training, in terms of values and character, we want to try to go after this potential first title for the club”, explains Dounia Issa.

The first game will also be special for the Villeurbanne coach. ASVEL will face Roanne, promoted and coached by his younger brother T.J. Parker.

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A team not yet ready for the EuroLeague

The delay incurred over the summer could especially be felt a few days from now. Vincent Collet doesn’t hide the fact that ASVEL won’t yet be fully ready when the EuroLeague begins.

“It’s a shame, because usually at the start of the season, the big teams aren’t quite ready either, so we could have hoped to take advantage of that. We’ll have to try to do it anyway. Even though we know we won’t be ready in nine days against Maccabi Tel Aviv.”

Lacking the necessary automatisms and enough collective preparation, ASVEL will therefore need to rely on other qualities: determination, intensity, and the ability to play together.

A mindset that reassures Vincent Collet

The arrival of the last players, TyTy Washington and Jae Crowder, however quickly changed the face of the group. More than the content of the preseason games, it was especially the attitude of the roster that reassured Vincent Collet: “I felt that they were more focused, they want to do something.”

The former French national team head coach also closely observed Tony Parker’s first steps in his new role. And since the group has grown, he notices an evolution in how he leads.

“I liked his evolution over the past week with the arrival of the last players. In terms of authority and taking charge of the group, he’s really evolved. I really liked his season-opening meeting, he was both ambitious and determined, I recognized the competitor in him.”

An evolution also visible during the preseason games, even though Tony Parker hasn’t yet had to manage the high-pressure situations of official competition.

“Even at the Cagliari tournament, I also saw an evolution in his behavior, with two or three timeouts where he was a bit more forceful. He raised his voice in moments where it was needed, and appropriately so.”

An XXL staff to support the players

To lead this group, ASVEL can count on a particularly large staff. An organization that allows players to have several points of contact and benefit from more individualized support. An abundance that makes Dounia Issa smile: “In the morning when we say hi to the guys, it’s already almost a workout in itself because there are so many of us.”

But behind the joke, Tony Parker’s assistant especially sees this organization as a logical evolution of top-level basketball. “I think clubs that have the means will very quickly move toward staffs like this, because players really get great quality support.”

An observation shared by Yves Pons, who experienced this type of organization in the United States: “The fact that it’s in France is really great, basketball is evolving. People are becoming aware of the importance of the staff. It’s essential to have good organization to get results.”

A frontcourt still finding its rhythm

Among the main areas of focus at the start of the season is also the frontcourt. It hasn’t yet been able to work at full strength during the preseason, notably forcing Joel Bolomboy to be heavily relied upon. Mathis Dossou-Yovo, meanwhile, is getting closer to a return after what he describes as “the biggest injury of his career”. The forward hasn’t played a game in six months and must now gradually rediscover his feel for the game. “I feel good, I can’t wait to come back. I still need to find my rhythm and my feel for the game.”

His return will give ASVEL more options in the frontcourt, an area that still needs to build its chemistry.

“Fight to bring back as many titles as possible”

ASVEL knows it will finally be particularly watched this season. Tony Parker’s arrival on the bench, the club’s significant resources, and the ambitions on display inevitably put the Villeurbanne side in the spotlight.

A pressure the players embrace. Hugo Besson sums up the mindset with which ASVEL wants to start this new season: “We’ll have to fight to bring back as many titles as possible for this prestigious club.”

With four days to go until the Supercup, ASVEL is therefore not yet a fully ready team. It’s only just starting to work with all of its strength and still needs to build its chemistry. But between the mindset observed by Vincent Collet, the ambitions displayed by the staff, and a first trophy already within reach, the Villeurbanne side has no intention of waiting to start its season.

In Villeurbanne, by Simon Badet