No calculations for Team France: « We’re ready anyway »
French National Team - France doesn't know where they'll finish in Group D, preventing them from knowing their future bracket for the finals. Playing first this Thursday, Les Bleus couldn't strategize against Iceland. In any case, the French team reminded that they'll need to beat everyone to win the title, which is the stated goal for most of them.
Photo Credit : Julie Dumélié
While at the start of EuroBasket it was obvious to all Team France observers that finishing first in Pool D would be crucial to avoid a potential quarter-final against the tournament’s big favorite, Serbia, things have changed. First because Les Bleus lost to Israel on Sunday. But mostly because Serbia finished second in Group A behind Turkey after losing on Wednesday.
This Thursday in Katowice, after their fourth and final victory in the pool phase – against Iceland, 114-74 – Les Bleus all agreed: there was no calculation to make before this last game, as no one could predict the upcoming results. « When you try to calculate and do this or that, it always goes wrong, » reminds captain Guerschon Yabuse. Head coach Frédéric Fauthoux shares the same view, expecting a tough next match: « The round of 16 was already uncertain, so looking even further… »
« Since we’re here for gold… »
Obviously, the French team keeps an eye on other matches, from Tampere to Katowice through Riga and Nicosia. « We follow other matches like everyone else, we more or less know what’s happening, » admits Mouhammadou Jaiteh. And that the number 1 probability is finishing first or third and thus ending up in Germany and Serbia’s bracket. « Whatever happens, if we want to go all the way we need to play the big teams, » reminds the Dubai center. « The later the better but no matter who we play, there’s no calculation, » he adds. « We’re ready anyway, » summarizes Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, closely followed by Nadir Hifi: « Since we’re here to win the Euro, we have to beat everyone, including the strong teams. »
But you can count on Les Bleus to closely follow Israel – Slovenia (5PM), as well as Poland – Belgium (8:30PM) and Spain – Greece (8:30PM), and discuss the potential path. « We talk about it, of course, » doesn’t hide Isaïa Cordinier, even if the captain brings everyone back to order. « No matter who we face, we’ll play the team in front of us. At this level of competition, all teams are strong. When you want to be champion, you have to beat everyone. So we have to go through that. And regardless of which team we face, we’ll be ready to play them. »
In Katowice,
Gabriel Pantel-Jouve est le fondateur et rédacteur en chef de BeBasket, qu’il anime depuis 2010 (sous le nom de Catch & Shoot). Passé par l’Ecole Publique de Journaliste de Tours, puis deux universités en Amérique du Nord, il a pu développer son expertise sur le basket français, de la Ligue Nationale aux divisions amateurs, durant ces 20 dernières années. En parallèle, il est aussi engagé dans le développement de clubs du côté de Montpellier.
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