Barely four days after meeting Italy on home soil, the French team found Danilo Gallinari’s band on Tuesday evening near Montpellier for a new preparatory match for the EuroBasket. And this time, the Blues did not give quarter: 100-68, packed it is weighed.
We saw Vincent Collet’s men clumsy, hesitant, and lacking in rhythm a few days ago in Bologna in their very narrow 78-77 victory in overtime. Tuesday evening ? We were treated to another face, much more conquering. Basically, the Blues have kept the elements that allowed them to snatch success in Italy last Friday, while trying to apply the best in the areas of the game that were still lacking. And the result is final. Thanks to a defense once again on the cleat, a much better control of the rebound (only 7 offensive rebounds granted, against 18 on Friday), twice as many ball losses (12 including a good ten before the break, against 22 there are a few days) and a marksmanship to disgust the opponent (14/24 from 3-pointers, against 4/19 in Italy), the French team has shown that there is actually a real class difference with Italy: +32 in the end, it is neat and flawless. Symbol of the difference in scenario between the matches on Friday and Tuesday, the Italian Simone Fontecchio (4 points) was much less festive than in Bologna, while the collective of the Blues really took place.
The evening was particularly successful for Elijah Okobo. Taking advantage in particular of the absence of Frank Ntilikina to have an expanded role on the back lines, the former Suns had already made his small contribution coming off the bench in Italy, but on Tuesday he caught fire in the warm atmosphere of the Sud de France Arena in Montpellier: 18 points in total (4/5 from the parking lot) in just 19 minutes, top scorer for the Blues, career record in EDF, thank you very much! Evan Fournier also came out of his box on offense (13 points 4/6 from afar), Rudy Gobert made Rudy Gobert (10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist from the head) and Thomas Heurtel was there to run the shop properly (13 points, 6 caviars). If opponents much stronger than Italy should get in the way of the Blues in their quest for the European title, the big collective effort shown by the band to Vincent Collet and the overall seriousness on both sides of the field are reassuring. EuroBasket 2022 starts in two weeks and despite the sores that have recently affected the France group, the rise in power is undeniable. To be confirmed on Thursday against Belgium in the last preparation match, still on the side of Montpellier.
As in every period of preparation, do not expect to see a perfect basketball. But the objective is clearly to gain in intensity and accuracy, which the French team is doing. A good omen for the rest of the events, the first official match of the Blues being scheduled in a week against the Czech Republic as part of the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup (the start of the Euro is scheduled for September 1) .