Tommy Hombert’s first “All-Access” shows quite well how building a team for an international competition is an exercise in patience, delicate and difficult.
France is a perfect illustration of this. Without its veteran stabilizers (Nando De Colo, Nicolas Batum…), Vincent Collet’s group is on alternating current, plagued by its nervousness and its limits, which it always has trouble compensating for. It gives frustrating encounters, even if the Blues seem to be gradually finding a balance.
“We played a serious match” explained the coach after the success against Bosnia. “The start was difficult because the Bosnians were excellent and motivated. We knew it. For them, it was an opportunity to earn their ticket to the round of 16. Here they are now with their backs to the wall against Lithuania, if they beat Hungary today (what was done). But we were solid in the second quarter, where we created a difference, in particular by being good against the zone defense. The return from the locker room was more difficult, we missed open shots, lost our rhythm. They came back, but slowly, thanks to our defensive efforts. “
“It’s never perfect, but when we have our focus, our determination, we can be an incredible team”
Vincent Collet has been repeating since the beginning of the preparation that the French team must above all rely on its defense if it wants to go far. Which she does since she is currently the best defense in the Euro (72.8 points conceded per game). It is in attack that she must find solutions and consistency, because she is only 20th (out of 24) in the field at the start of the competition, with 74.8 points scored per game.
“We didn’t panic and rest our hands on the game in the last period, in particular thanks to Thomas’ big game (Heurtel, who finished with 14 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds), who helped us a lot in the organization of the game, while making real defensive efforts. We have more rotations, and the Bosnians ended up getting tired after our efforts, at the end of the game. There was also more accuracy in our offensive choices. It remains to solve this problem of stray bullets (18), our Achilles heel. If we took away five, we could approach 85-90 points, which will be necessary as we move forward in the competition. There is still work to be done, but we are making progress”, concluded the technicianjoined in his observation by Rudy Gobert, proud of the mental solidity of the group.
“There were times when we could have lost our minds. I’m proud that we stayed together, that we were able to keep control. We continued to move the ball, to play despite everything, and that’s a mark of maturity. The state of mind was great, the match was very physical, and when we made mistakes, we were able to pull ourselves together. “
For the vice-captain, the potential of the Blues remains exceptional.
“It’s never perfect, but when we have our focus, our determination, we can be an incredible team. Today, we see that there are still things and sequences on which we can progress, but overall, we displayed the mentality that was needed. Each match is an opportunity to progress. Tomorrow (this Wednesday), Slovenia will be a big test. Regardless of our final ranking. If we want the gold medal, we know that we will have to beat strong teams. You prefer to play them later, but we can’t calculate everything. The thing you can calculate is the way we play” thus ended the new Wolves pivot.
Photo credit: FIBA
