“I was stressed before the draw, I had butterflies in my stomach. It's normal, it's starting. » Vincent Collet was visibly relieved after the draw for the first round of the Paris Olympic Games. The French team finds itself in Pool B with Germany, Japan and the winner of the TQO in Latvia.
A complicated group, but which is not the worst possible according to the Blues coach since Team USA will not (yet) be on the program, as in 2021 in Japan.
“It’s reduced to 12 teams. The tournament will be one of the toughest in history”, recalls the coach of the Blues. “There are almost only strong teams. We knew before the draw that the United States would be in Group C and that we could not play them in the first round. We took the Germans, world champions and now a major team. »
The goal of finishing in first place
The key is therefore to have pulled Japan. “The most important thing was hat 2. My desire was to avoid Serbia. So I am satisfied”declares the coach. “The winner of the Latvian TQO rather than Australia means we avoid the winner of the Greek TQO (potentially Slovenia or Greece) in the last hat, it's positive too. Overall, I am satisfied. The group of death is group A. But the negative point is that I fear that we could meet this group in the quarter-finals. »
For Vincent Collet, Serbia, “if Nikola Jokic comes with last year's team”becomes “the number 2 favorite team behind Team USA”.
And this last team in the group, the one that will come out of the TQO in Latvia? Do the Blues already have a team in mind between Latvia, Georgia, the Philippines (Pool A) and Brazil, Montenegro and Cameroon (Pool B)?
“The favorite of the Latvian TQO is Latvia and I don't forget that they amazed the world at the World Cup. They should have Kristaps Porzingis. They narrowly beat us last year at the World Cup, so we will have revenge. This will be the turning point,” says Vincent Collet, who already has a goal in mind. “It will be our goal to be first. We know the format of the competition and we know the importance of finishing in the top two. All matches will be important and especially the first to enter the competition. »
THE COMPLETE DRAW OF THE POOL PHASES
Pool A: Winner TQO Spain, Australia, Canada, Winner TQO Greece
Pool B: Germany, Winner TQO Latvia, FRANCE, Japan
Pool C: United States, Serbia, Winner TQO Puerto Rico, South Sudan
