Coaches and players in unison announced that this match against Lithuania would be a life-size test against a strong European nation. And the start of the match confirms it with a 7-2 to start for the Baltic visitors. Without Evan Fournier, left to rest after a small ankle alert, the Blues start with Terry Tarpey in the five majors, a logical choice from the staff.
But, beaten in terms of aggressiveness like a big counter by Mindaugas Kuzminskas on Yabusele, the French took a little time to wake up. After an overpowered dunk from Rudy ‘gogogadget on the arm’ Gobert, the Blues turn the tide and in turn pass a 10-2. But when Frank Ntilikina scores a 3-pointer, Ignaz Brazdeikis answers him tit for tat.
Lithuania won the first quarter by a short header (19-18), with a certain lack of balls inside for the Blues. Things change quickly at the start of the second quarter with Mous Fall capitalizing on a good pass. But the French team is above all more involved defensively, with its captain Nicolas Batum leading by example.
Omnipresent in the second quarter (and more widely in the first half with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists), Batum sets the tone and the Blues take over. Still held at 26-25 after five minutes, France made the break with an 11-0 at the end of the half, concluded with a dunk from Yabusele on the buzzer (45-33).
The work done in training is clearly paying off with several systems that release players on their own, such as Nando who ends up with a foul, Sylvain Francisco who sneaks into the baseline or Yabusele for a ready-made layup. After a tough and tight start to the match, Collet’s men made the hole.
An attractive French team
The break probably did not break the French momentum, because, when the third quarter resumed, it was quite simply an 8-0 that awaited the Lithuanians, including an interception by Gobert on Valanciunas which brought a 3-point Yabusele on transition. The gap even climbs quickly to +20!
It must be said that after a very gloomy first half behind the arc (at 2/11), the Blues have finally settled their sights, with a pretty 6/12 at 3-points for the Blues. Conversely, the Lithuanians still can’t find the distance with an awful 8/26 in the exercise… This explains the comfortable lead of the locals before the home stretch (71-50).
Everything succeeded for the Blues in this last quarter, with Ntilikina who landed his third shot from a distance and Ouattara who managed his first… with the board! But a small drop in tension, a 12-6 to be precise, let the Lithuanians close the gap a bit. Not for long though…
Released, Ntilikina comes to serve Francisco who flies away at the layup. At the same time, Fall drives the point home to the low post. Between two long shots, Francisco got a bit scared but he came back to the game. After the entry and the first selection of Ayayi, and a huge “mill” from Yoan Makoundou (who blew his 23rd candle today) , France closed the match with a five “small ball” for an easier victory than expected against Lithuania (90-72). The revenge will be in Vilnius, from Friday!
Photo credit : Lenoir/TheAgency/FFBB
