After the convincing success against Italy in Montpellier a few days ago, the French team wanted to complete its preparation in style against Belgium on Thursday evening, and thus attack the next deadlines with the maximum of confidence and certainty. Mission (almost) accomplished.
Four games, four wins, the account is good. Opposed to Belgium in their last warm-up match at the Sud de France Arena, Vincent Collet’s men retained their summer invincibility by winning quite comfortably 90-71. But, because yes there is a but, the Blues did not offer such a complete performance over 40 minutes as during the previous outing against Italy. A delay in ignition indeed put the band at Evan Fournier in the hard, France seeing Belgium quickly take control of the meeting (+11 in the first quarter, 19-24 for the Belgians after ten minutes). Not great.
“We didn’t have the right attitude at the start. We had remained on the good match against Italy (100-68) and we did not respond present in the aggressiveness or the construction at the start of the match. We can even say that we were doing well to be only five points behind at the end of the first quarter. »
– Vincent Collet after the match (comment collected by the team)
The advantage for the Blues is that they have the ability to raise their voices quite authoritatively – especially in defense – and they have the resources to get out of an uncomfortable situation. Among the (many) players on the bench to their advantage Thursday in Montpellier, Terry Tarpey, who maximized the dozen minutes spent on the floor (8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) notably through a big third quarter- time. The collective strength of EDF associated with the depth of the France group was finally too much for the valiant but limited Belgians, the Blues creating a mattress of 20 points in the second period under the impetus in particular of a Thomas Heurtel in mode “give me your shorts!” “.
The preparation now complete, Vincent Collet has his eyes already turned to the next two games which will precede the start of EuroBasket 2022 in Germany. Two matches that will count for the qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup, against the Czech Republic in Paris and Bosnia and Herzegovina away. In addition to the objective of seeking two victories, we also expect the Blues to “cross an additional level” to use the words of the coach. And we imagine that by then, after the few days of rest from which Rudy Gobert and his friends will benefit, Collet will emphasize the importance of intensity at the start of the match. Because sleeping in the first minutes can quickly weigh you down in a competition like the Euro and against opponents much tougher than Belgium.
“It would have been good for the Belgians to push us further so that we understood that we cannot start the matches this way. The station wagon should put our ideas in the right place. »
– Evan Fournier
The balance sheet of the preparation is perfect for the Blues, but in the content there are necessarily things to rework. The next two qualifying matches will serve as a test for the French team before the opening of EuroBasket 2022, scheduled for September 1 with a match against Germany in Cologne.
Source statements: the team
Just WOW ????
???????? ???? ???????? | 24-24, 12′ #TeamFranceBasket x @viinze_17P x @Amath22Juice | #PassionatelyBlue | #FRABEL pic.twitter.com/QlIuR8wFFd
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) August 18, 2022
CE POSTER DUNK DE RUDY GOBERT ????#TeamFranceBasket x @rudygobert27 | #PassionatelyBlue | #FRABEL pic.twitter.com/NziWGU0RjG
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) August 18, 2022
Terry Tarpey ????
???????? ???? ???????? | 53-38, 23′#TeamFranceBasket x @Taarpey | #PassionatelyBlue | #FRABEL pic.twitter.com/j5Pi4Q0RRq
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) August 18, 2022
Thomas Heurtel is in ????
???????? ???? ???????? | 62-43, 26′#TeamFranceBasket | #PassionatelyBlue | #FRABEL pic.twitter.com/lFtV9wdsue
– French basketball teams (@FRABasketball) August 18, 2022