It is at 3:30 p.m. French time that France will start the World Cup, and they start it in Jakarta (Indonesia) against the toughest opponent in their group, Canada, considered by many to be a candidate. On title !
For what ? Because for the first time in a long time, the Canadian Federation has managed to convince its NBA stars to participate in the competition, with a three-year project.
In the disorder, we thus find Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Kelly Olynyk, Dillon Brooks, Dwight Powell, RJ Barrett, Nickeil Alexander-Walker… In all, there are therefore 7 NBA players, and on the bench, we do not no longer finds Nick Nurse, the new coach of the Sixers, but Jordi Fernandez. This Spanish technician is a reference as an assistant in the NBA, and after a long stint at the Nuggets, he is now the right arm of Mike Brown at the Kings.
Strong attacking potential
“Canada, I had fun listing the stats of the seven NBA players on the team, who have a lot of playing time, namely the five majors composed of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, [Kelly] Olynyk and [Dwight] Powell, to which we add [Lu] Sleep from OKC and Alexander-Walker who played in Minnesota with Rudy, that’s 105 points in total! » noted Vincent Collet at the start of the week. “They score 95 on average in preparation. Apart from Team USA, we have never played a team with so many individuals of this level! »
Even if it misses Andrew Wiggins, who has never been very interested in the selection, and especially Jamal Murray, too physically fair after his long campaign, this workforce can pose problems for any formation, Team USA included. France is therefore warned, and Vincent Collet the first.
“I hear a lot of people say that it’s a team that has no collective. Well, I think the people who say that haven’t really checked. They hope so, and so do we, but that’s not really what you see when you watch the games. Above all, we must be ready for very tough opposition. Their victory in Spain showed it. This is a team that will continue to improve. »
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, enemy number 1
From what we saw in preparation, Canada relies on a strong major five with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett in the roles of soloists. We will closely follow the duel between Evan Fournier and RJ Barrett, teammates at the Knicks. A duel which should be refereed by Dillon Brooks, probably glued to the Frenchman’s coattails.
Under the panels, Kelly Olynyk is the number 1 option with an offshore role of “point forward” which allows him to make hand-to-handballs, to go to the circle or to punish from distance. The interior of the Jazz is a real hub, and it will try to get Rudy Gobert out of the paint. For his part, Dwight Powell resumes his usual role by taking care of the tasks of the shadows in defense, as in attack. It will therefore be necessary to watch the bottom line and pay attention to its movements. Especially if Collet leaves his zone 3-2, great novelty of the preparation.
“It is almost essential in the international concert to be able to use defensive variations which can cause problems, even momentary” recalls the coach. “Even if we already have a man-to-man defense which is quite good, that doesn’t prevent it! We know that today, in high-level basketball, you have to be able to adapt. We must be able to impose things on our adversary, as they will impose them on us. It’s an additional weapon that we must have. »
We saw it in preparation, Canada does not like to attack the zone too much. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett can take the intervals, but they lack a reliable shooter to penalize the zone.
Overall, the absence of one or two outside shooting specialists is the Achilles heel of this team, which finished its preparation with three wins for two losses. Jordi Fernandez is asking a lot to get the game out of the way, but it’s basically to allow his two strong forwards to go to the circle.
France has a rebound problem
On the French side, the collective is in place, and the returns of Nando De Colo and Nicolas Batum considerably change the face of the team. The ball flows better, and the insides see the ball more often. On the other hand, two defects persist: the rebound and the lost balls.
Against Australia, the only setback in the preparation, it was almost caricatural with 20 offensive rebounds for the Boomers and 22 stray balls on the Blues side. It’s more than 40 additional opportunities offered to the opponent. We also remember the words of Vincent Collet after the meetings against Tunisia and Montenegro.
“The problem is technical: we don’t box-out [les écrans retard] ! And it’s not so much the fault of the big guys, it’s also the outsiders who come from afar to steal rebounds. he had launched. “As long as we do not make the box-outs, we will be vulnerable. And on the other side, we don’t have much aggressiveness to go for the offensive rebound. It depends a lot on the players. Rudy goes there, Tarpey or Yakuba Ouattara can go there but very few go there. It’s really a technical problem. We have already asked for it but we need to be aware. Anyone can make a box-out but you have to want to do it! We need to be much more focused on that! »
CANADA
Holders: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell
Rotation : Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Lu Dort, Trae Bell-Haynes, Kyle Alexander, Zach Edey, Phil Scrubb, Thomas Scrubb, Kenny Chery
Uncertain : Melvin Ejim
FRANCE
Holders: Nando De Colo, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum, Guerschon Yabusele, Rudy Gobert
Rotation : Sylvain Francisco, Terry Tarpey, Mathias Lessort, Moustapha Fall, Elie Okobo, Isaiah Cordinier, Yakuba Ouattara.
LAST OPPOSITION
Pre-Olympic tournament 2016: France – Canada 83-74
TELEVISION
3:30 p.m. live on beIN SPORTS 1
