Move along, nothing to see. Not selected last summer with the Bleues du basketball due to a choice that caused a lot of ink to flow, Marine Johannes scored 14 points during the first half of the first game of the WNBA finals, Sunday. Enough to panic the web, in particular because of the degree of difficulty of the baskets of the New York player (82-99 defeat against the Aces).
Even LeBron James is under the spell and the King did not hesitate to talk about it on Twitter… But not a word on the social networks of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB). After last summer’s controversy, this silence quickly became deafening in the eyes of many observers. “Do we congratulate a player every time she scores 14 points in a league? No. Be careful not to be excessive,” thunders Céline Dumerc, “very comfortable” on this subject this Tuesday at a press conference. And the General Manager of the Bleues added: “If LeBron starts it, it will go in all directions (smile)… Let’s stop creating a problem where there isn’t one.”
Same story from the president of the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) Jean-Pierre Siutat and the coach of the French women’s team, Jean-Aimé Toupane, also present this Tuesday. Returning to the non-selection of the 28-year-old player, the first assures that “there has never been a Johannes affair, there will be none in the future”. And the second confirmed: “There is no Marine case.”
As a reminder, the FFBB had the idea of bringing together the entire France group on May 24 with a view to Euro 2023. Except that Marine Johannes wanted, after the end of her season with Asvel, to take a detour through the States -United. If necessary, she would have joined her teammates from the French team two weeks before the start of the European Championship, as the WNBA/Fiba agreements authorized. The two parties having stuck to their position until the end, the talented Normandy remained at the dock for the Euro, finishing in third place.
The various speakers recalled that in view of her contractual situation, Marine Johannes had “no obligation” to go to the United States before joining the Blues. “It was an uncomfortable subject on both sides, she didn’t want it to take on proportions like that. She is not comfortable in the media and has therefore been discreet. I told him that choices were made and must be assumed. She made a different choice but we don’t have to judge it. We were judged on decisions taken for the good of a group and we forgot to talk about the French team,” slips Céline Dumerc.
One thing is certain: Marine Johannes will not be present at the November gathering and the qualifiers for Euro 2025, nor will Gaby Williams, while the list of 19 players was revealed this Tuesday. The first will be left “resting after her WNBA season” and the second is “in the recovery phase after an injury”.
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Beyond the controversies and potential discomfort, the important information to remember after this press conference is that Marine Johannes will indeed be available for the Paris Games next year. “She will be in the French team next year, period,” says Jean-Pierre Siutat. “We spoke together, she is looking to the future. She is calm. The Johannes file is behind, we look ahead. We lost a lot of time this summer in relation to that and we want to move on,” assures coach Toupane, “She is committed to being there on the first day of our preparation with the France team,” adds Dumerc. We want the group to work peacefully from the start. We have not changed our tune for Paris 2024. To succeed in an event of this magnitude, you have to prepare well. Gaby said that she is putting an end to the WNBA season for the French team. News that goes our way. Everyone wants to go to the games and these two said it openly.”
All’s well That ends well ? Remember that the Bleues du basketball, bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, are already qualified for the Paris Olympics as host country. However, they will play an improbable TQO in China in February. The start of preparation before the Games? No doubt from June 6, 2024, with “five or six preparatory matches and all the preparation on national territory”, as Céline Dumerc indicated. Moreover, the Blues will stay in the Olympic village during the Olympics, in Lille and Paris, unlike the gentlemen, who made another choice.
