What does the former captain of the French Team of this group expect, who will have to compose with the plans of Victor Wembanyama, Evan Fournier, Rudy Gobert, Mathias Lessort, Vincent Poirier or Matthew Strazel?
“Going to the quarter -final is very good” he indicates in the show by Stephen Brun, on RMC. “Finishing in the top 8 is very, very good and from the quarterfinals, anything can happen. »»
“Batman” thus evokes the 2014 World Cup, which France had finished in third place, despite the packages of Tony Parker, Nando de Colo or Joakim Noah. The Blues had especially beaten Spain, which was playing at home, in the quarterfinals. To everyone’s surprise.
The quarter -final is indeed very often the key to success in this kind of international tournaments.
“The quarter -finals would be a very good introduction to this generation and, from there, is that bonus”
“That’s why I always take the example of 2014. Make a quarter -final of the World Cup, with the team we had, it was good. We fell in front of an ogre (Spain at home) and then we managed the feat. Because you never know what can happen on a match. If they arrive in the quarter, it would already be very successful compared to the team that there was, in preparation, compared to the packages, the new generation, the new coach, the new system. It would be a very good introduction to this generation and, from there, is that bonus. I will not be mean if they only do the quarters, but I think they can do more. »»
But for that, it will already be necessary to negotiate the group stage well, in group D (Slovenia, Poland, Belgium, Israel, Iceland), before the crossover in the round of 16 with group C (Greece, Spain, Italy …).
“We have a fairly open hen since we avoid all the big ones. There is no Serbia, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, Greece. There is Slovenia, with Luka (Dononic) but it is not the same team as the one we knew in Tokyo (OJ 2021) or in the 2017 European Championship. At home, Poland can be very hard to play because there can be a kind of euphoria, which transcends you and allows you to do crazy things. You never know. They can finish first, and they have to finish first to make life easier. »»
Finish first in group D, this would logically allow to face a largely affordable opponent in the round of 16, and thus project yourself on the quarterfinals. Because then, “anything can happen” …