We will have plenty of time to identify the culprits, to determine the underlying reasons for the French fiasco at the World Cup. In the meantime, the match against Latvia (86-88) changed at a very specific moment, 6’46 from the end of the match. At that time, the Blues were leading 75-66, with the ball in the hands of Nando De Colo. Fault of the so-called Arturs Kuruks, who made a vicious armbar to the Asvel player and did not let go of the embrace, at the risk of injuring him. De Colo, who had already taken an unsportsmanlike earlier in the game, pushed back said Kuruks. Davis Bertrans came to get involved and the tone rose. Except that the referees had already made their decision. The 36-year-old full-back/point guard had a reaction that was as natural and human as it was reprehensible. Second unsportsmanlike synonym of expulsion, two throws to follow for the Latvians and possession in addition. Mathias Lessort committing another fault in stride, Arturs Zagars brought his team down to -6 (75-66) in two seconds.
The beginning of the end for the Olympic and European vice-champions, who led again until the last minute and had a ball to equalize and a shot to win before the buzzer. “It changed the game,” said Vincent Collet. “We were leading 74-62 at the end of the third quarter. When we lost De Colo, we also lost the “momentum”. We were still dominating at that time, not only in terms of score. We lost the rhythm, ”adds the coach, who chose to bet on the inexperienced Sylvain Francisco at that time in the lead. It must be said that the Bayern Munich player was the only other real leader in the group of 12 selected for the World Cup. Thomas Heurtel is not selectable since he plays in Russia, Frank Ntilikina was injured during the preparation (replaced by the back Isaia Cordinier), Théo Malédon and Killian Tillie did not give enough guarantees to the staff on the duration and coach Collet didn’t want to bring two small point guards, which in his mind disqualified shadow worker Andrew Albicy.
In short, even if he is a priori more of a rear than a leader, Nando De Colo was essential in this register. Without him, the Tricolores were lost in the last minutes of the game… even if there were forgotten rebounds, silly mistakes and other errors that have nothing to do. “It was the turning point of the game. We had the “momentum”. The dynamics completely changed after that, analyzes Nicolas Batum. We lost our general. It is what it is. It was a huge blow for us… We tried to compose without him. But it definitely changed the dynamic.” Who knows, without this twist of fate 6’46 from the end, the Blues might have found a way to get by in this match, which would have potentially given them time to progress over the competition. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise, that it will allow us to ask the right questions one year before the Paris Olympics after this elimination in the first round of the World Cup.
