Basketball: all lights green for the Blues, brilliant against Lithuania in Orleans

“We had a rather successful match”. Signed Vincent Collet, after the 90-72 victory of "his" French team against Lithuania, Wednesday, in Orleans. An understatement. Even deprived of their offensive leader, Evan Fournier (ankle), the Blues made short work of a much more formidable team than their first opponents in preparation (Tunisia, Montenegro, Venezuela). The score gives a good idea of ​​the tricolor domination, but there is also the way: big defense, intensity at all levels and licked collective game. 23 assists on 30 baskets in total, with only 12 loss of ball. “We always keep the passing game and the desire to give ourselves the ball”, savors coach Collet, on beIN SPORTS, he who often pointed the finger at this compartment of the game last year, during a Euro in trompe- the eye without Nando De Colo and Nicolas Batum, very present this year. 13 points and 8 assists for the first, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, as many interceptions and a counter for the ubiquitous “Batman”, in the oven and at the mill in the Loiret, and a /- at… 26 !

Individually, the satisfactions are also numerous, with in particular Rudy Gobert at 14 points, the 15 units of Gerschon Yabusele, Frank Ntilikina who put his nose to the window (11 pts), the good entry of Elie Okobo (6 pts )… There is only the tenure of Terry Tarpey (/- to -3) which was not frankly satisfactory. “If defensively we do the job, we will not ask questions in attack. We put 90 points without Evan. We have 12 players who can bring something”, analyzes Batum, who felt that it was time for him to “pass the second”. “Nando really upped the ante today. After three fitness matches, we let go of him and me, ”explained the captain of the national team.

Obviously, not everything was perfect collectively either, even if the more than 10,000 spectators of the CO'Met got their money's worth. “We always have moments that are a little weaker, we must continue to progress. But overall, it's still quite rich. In the first period, the match-up zone and the press worked very well, ”notes Collet, who is also not very worried to see his players often start in diesel mode in matches this summer, before accelerating in the second period. “There are opponents opposite… We're not going to knock them out from the start every time, it's undermining work. I think that over time, it's exhausting for our opponents, we put pressure and we want to continue to do so, ”he underlines. And to add: “We were a little short of accuracy, at the beginning, a little impatience in several situations. These are things to be settled. But we know that we must continue to climb.

There is still time for that, between now and the duel against Canada on August 25 in Jakarta, the Blues' first match at the World Cup (August 25-September 10). Three more trial runs on the program, starting with a revenge against Lithuania on Friday, in Vilnius this time. Wednesday's match was the fourth and last on French soil. In a handful of days, it will already be time to leave for Asia, first Japan to complete the preparation (Japan, Australia), and then Indonesia, for the first round of the competition. The final phase will be on the side of Manila.

What if the Tricolores lift the cup there on September 10, after finishing third in 2014 and 2019? It is obviously too early to ignite, but what this team is showing is more than encouraging. The state of mind that emerges like the way of playing, the collective experience too, the hunger of a generation subscribed to international podiums (bronze at the 2019 World Cup, silver at the 2020 Olympics and Euro 2022) and which dream of coronation. All this while knowing that Team USA is sending a C team – which nevertheless remains the favorite of the tournament – ​​and that several leaders will be deprived of major players, such as Serbia (Jokic), Spain (Brown, Rubio) and perhaps Greece (Antetokounmpo). Remember, however, that there will be damage before the quarter-finals in the part of the table of Fournier and company: France, Canada (group H) or Spain (group G) will miss the Top 8. It remains to be seen which of these three teams will be scrapped before heading to the Philippines.

Failing to boast, all hopes are in any case allowed, including the craziest. But for that, it will be necessary to solve a problem: "We still conceded too many rebounds", plague Vincent Collet. “The big downside of this team is the rebound. On that, we weren't good tonight. That's a shame. The performance is quite good, but that still needs to be corrected”, confirms Batum. Against Lithuania, it was not dramatic: France captured four more than its opponents (38/34, including 13 offensive rebounds everywhere), but it was only after having "completely locked" in the third quarter, according to Collet. “And there, we were able to fly” to the score, continued the coach.

In the meantime, the French team also took off… towards Lithuania, for this second round against Donatas Montejunas and his comrades. Third meeting in five days for the Blues. “We expect a response from them, they will be at home, we know the Lithuanian public. It will be a big challenge for us, that's very good. It's up to us to be ready to respond and make a big match,” swears Nicolas Batum. “Lithuans will be offended. They will want to react,” insists Vincent Collet. And to continue, in a press conference: "What is interesting is that it will provoke a reaction from our opponents and give us the match I was hoping for in Vilnius, a very difficult match where we could have our first storm ". To see if Evan Fournier will recover from his sprained ankle. A priori, the staff is not worried about him. The question of whether Mathias Lessort will be able to hold his place at the World Cup is however posed, knowing that the interior of Panathinaikos has been spared since the start of the preparation.

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