2023-08-25 17:00:44
From the outset, the cold shower. The French team of basket suffered, Friday, August 25, a historic setback once morest Canada (95-65) for its entry into the World Cup, in Jakarta.
Although bronze medalists in 2019 and reigning Olympic vice-champion, the French selection lost all chance of victory in a catastrophic third quarter (8-25), at the end of which they were trailing by twenty lengths (48-68) by Canadians and their strong contingent of players NBA.
Oklahoma City leader-back Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, gradually warming up (8 points at half-time, 27 in the end), enjoyed himself following the many stray balls from the French (17), already the one of their cute sins during the preparation. Captain Kelly Olynyk (18 points) found solutions on the inside, where Rudy Gobert (8 points, 9 rebounds) failed to weigh.
Only Evan Fournier (21 including 19 points at the break) and to a lesser degree Nando De Colo (12 points but 3 stray bullets) pulled out of the game once morest the aggressive Canadian defense.
“Today it wasn’t us”
At the end of this 30-point defeat, Nicolas Batum, winger and captain of the France team, reacted: “We are in the game in the first half, we respond to the physical challenge even if we play too directly. , something that is not good at all. This collective game in attack is our strength and we completely zapped it, especially in the second period when we forgot a little who we were. We fell into their game. us to refocus on ourselves: today it was not us.”
For Nando De Colo, leader of France: “In the first half, we were quite present, but we did not know how to control the second half. At one point, we did not make the efforts that We had to. We no longer have the right to make mistakes, it’s up to us to remobilize. We must not forget what happened this evening (Friday), but quickly question ourselves.
Read alsoNBA draft: how does this event work, of which Frenchman Victor Wembanyama is the star of 2023Evan Fournier, winger of the France team, did not mince his words at the microphone of BeIN Sports: “We took a good beating, there are no other words. We did not managed to really get into our systems because of their defensive pressure. They pushed us back, whether it was on the outside lines or inside. They pushed us back and we mightn’t get into it. With this group, we have the right to a defeat, we no longer have a joker. Focus on Latvia, now we have to look ahead.”
The Blues will not have the right to make mistakes in their second match, Sunday, once morest Latvia who won their first meeting ( once morest Lebanon), if they want to reach the second round for which the first two are qualified. As Nicolas Batum pointed out: “Now we have no choice (…) It is imperative because with another defeat, we go home.”
With AFP
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