The die is cast. The basketball Blues will face the German world champions, the winner of the TQO in Riga (Latvia) and Japan in Group B of the Paris Olympic Games, from July 27 to August 10. A “generally satisfactory” draw for Vincent Collet, who answered questions from journalists this Tuesday, by videoconference from the United States. Particularly “excited”, the coach of the French men’s team notably mentioned the injury of Bilal Coulibaly with Washington, the performances of Victor Wembanyama on the San Antonio side and slipped in a little information about the composition of the Team USA group .
His first feeling after the draw: “It’s down to 12 teams. The tournament will be one of the toughest in history. There are almost only strong teams. We knew before the draw that the United States would be in Group C and that we could not play them in the first round. We took the Germans, world champions and become a major team. The most important thing was hat 2. My desire was to avoid Serbia. So I am satisfied. The winner of the Latvian TQO rather than Australia means that we avoid the winner of the Greek TQO (potentially Slovenia or Greece) in the last hat, that’s positive too. Overall, I am satisfied. The group of death is group A. But the negative point is that I fear that we could meet this group in the quarter-finals.
A group similar to 2021: “Yes and no. Despite everything, I have a lot of respect for the Germans but they are not Team USA of 2021. Afterwards, the favorite of the Latvian TQO is Latvia and I do not forget that they surprised the world at the World Cup. world. They should have Kristaps Porzingis. They narrowly beat us last year at the World Cup, so we will have revenge. This will be the turning point. The Germans will be in the last match and I hope for a final. It will be our goal to be first. We know the format of the competition and we know the importance of finishing in the top two. All matches will be important and especially the first to enter the competition. Japan is superior to Iran in 2021. But in all cases, the competition is tougher than in 2021.”
Bilal Coulibaly, out for the rest of the season: “I have some news that is still unofficial for the moment. Apparently he won’t need surgery. This is rather a good sign, it means that there is no movement. The biggest fear, because the wrist can mean a lot of things, is the scaphoid. For the moment, that’s not what we’re hearing but I don’t have confirmation to date. A potential problem with his Washington franchise? It’s Boris (Diaw, general manager of the men’s selection) who manages this part. A priori, no problem, no reason. A franchise cannot completely prevent a player from coming with the Fiba/NBA deals. There are sometimes restrictions, but otherwise, no reason. Afterwards, we will have to see the severity of his injury and the consolidation time. The Olympics are only four months away.”
An opponent still unknown: “We almost had to have at least one qualifier via a TQO, we only have one. For me, I consider that we know our opponents. We will scout several teams from the Latvian TQO, which we did in 2021, when we were not necessarily expecting the Czech Republic but we were not only following Canada. We’ll do the same this time. It’s an advantage to know that we will be playing Germany and Japan, we will be able to prepare them precisely.” (Participants at the Riga TQO: Latvia, Georgia, Philippines, Brazil, Montenegro, Cameroon, Editor’s note)
The list oriented by the adversaries… or not: “It’s possible… I can’t answer precisely, we have to observe and think, we will have a meeting soon, like every month. But the tournament is not just the first round. We will probably be against a team from Group A if we finish first. There is always the crossover. This will be taken into account but I am not sure that it will be decisive.
Victor Wembanyama’s season and performances: “Very positive. Since the beginning of January, he has been in constant progress in terms of overall production, he is doing more and more things, he is more of a passer, involved in the team’s play and that is obviously interesting for the French team .”
USA and Serbia favorites: “I especially wanted to avoid Serbia in pot 2. If Nikola Jokic comes with last year’s team, it is the number 2 favorite team behind Team USA. In this group, Lithuania should come. The naturalization of Joel Embiid comes at the right time against Nikola Jokic or Jonas Valenciunas (an ironic remark from Collet knowing that Embiid could have worn the jersey of the France team, Editor’s note).”
Excitement: “No false modesty, I’m excited, real excitement, I’m not beating around the bush. It started a long time ago, but here, we really identify our adversaries. We will be able to work by visualizing what needs to be done. Germany, we will look very precisely, and perhaps a selection choice will be made to accommodate this adversity. Plus, I was stressed before the draw, I had butterflies in my stomach. It’s normal, it’s starting.”
Preparation matches against Germany: “We play the Germans twice in preparation. We wanted the most difficult matches in preparation. We wanted the best opponents. It’s the case. There is a double confrontation against Germany. We will not regret this double confrontation. This will allow us to measure what it will take to beat them in the tournament. (…) Afraid that the two teams will not engage? Probably. We can’t avoid it… It will be at the start of the preparation. But it’s still interesting to play one of the best teams in the world. That was our goal in preparation. We regretted last year not having climbed enough in the rounds in preparation and being surprised by Canada in terms of intensity. They play hard, athletic, it will inevitably be interesting tests even if on the tactical aspects, the two teams will, logically, hide things.
Germany: “Last year I already saw them very high. At the end ? We can’t tell at the start… But we underestimated them, their major seven is almost 100% NBA… Wagner was injured during the World Cup, he returned in the quarters but was important in the last two matches. Schroder had been bad against Lithuania and he had been MVP of the tournament. Wagner is one of the other leaders. The rear-wheel drive is one of the best in the world, with strong players inside. It’s a team that has been built over time. She was roughed up in 2019 but she has progressed a lot since then. She could have been European champion at home. It’s a logical continuation, a very big team. It should not be underestimated, it is not a gift. But we didn’t have a weak opponent to hope for in pot 1.”
Japan: “It’s an atypical basketball based on speed, with shooters that can catch fire. However, they are less athletic than the other teams. We will have to impose this fight on them with a team which should, on our side, be very athletic.
Regret of not meeting Team USA: “What would be the point of regretting what couldn’t happen… It gives an indication of the path to follow. We have high goals. We have to qualify, that’s the first objective, but we want first place to avoid the USA in the quarterfinals. There is only one way to avoid them for sure, to finish in the top two. That will be our goal in this group. A lofty goal. Germany is formidable, the winner of the Latvian TQO will be too, but we have ambitions and we will try to achieve this objective.
The most exciting posters and the composition of Team USA: “In any case, if the Americans are there… From the information I have, Kawhi (Leonard) would be up for it, it doesn’t get better as the days go by (LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum should also be there, Editor’s note)… But there is only one ball and five players on the field, 40 minutes in a match, we will have to share, their capacity to do it, it’s up to them to manage… They will be extraordinary. Other matches will be exciting. It will be a fantastic competition, we remember Euro 2015, it’s a blast in Lille (at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d’Ascq, Editor’s note). There will be incredible duels, France-Germany will be something too…”
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