As expected, Evan Fournier's comments after the defeat against Germany made Vincent Collet react. After the poor performance of the Blues, the former Knicks player regretted that France was focusing entirely on defense, while modern basketball is primarily based on attack.
“At times I think we make mistakes in the way we want to play” he had confided to The Team after the defeat against Germany. “And we pay the price for that. Nowadays, the best defense is offense. It's not the game of the 1990s or 2000s where you could defend half-court. Your offense is everything.”
The priority remains to defend well
An analysis that has made some teeth grind, especially those of Vincent Collet. The coach of the Blues believes that it is “a regrettable and unacceptable statement for which he bears responsibility. He will be able to explain it. I have no further comment to make than that.” In the columns of BeBasketCollet goes further in his analysis, and he recalls that the group comes before Fournier.
“II am convinced that we will not be able to get results, with the group we have, without sufficient defensive solidity. We must not dream that we can beat Canada only by attacking well. We will have to attack well because that is part of defending well: losing balls will give the Canadians a fast game. But we will have to be disciplined, structured and consistent in attack to be able to defend well. The two are linked. We never said that we should not attack. We are also looking to work on attack, to find fluidity but that is not the key.
Fournier does not understand the controversy
Collet's cold anger reached Fournier's ears, and the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist does not understand why his remarks are likely to cause controversy, and he maintains that “the best defense is attack.”
“It saddens me a little that Vincent says that because that wasn't the goal at all. I just want us to move forward. There's only one thing that drives me: that we perform well, that we win. We won't be able to win the quarter-final if we score another 71 points. Attack and defense are always a balance: we have to be more accurate on both sides. In my opinion, we have the defensive weapons and it will be easier to play a good defensive match if our attack is well in place.”
