This France – Slovenia was intense, spectacular, tight, but also marred by half a dozen suspicious whistles. Like the unsportsmanlike foul whistled against Vincent Poirier, guilty of an involuntary nudge on the skull of Luka Doncic. There were forgotten whistles because the referees wanted to let play, and Vincent Collet blames them above all for a (supposed) foul on Elie Okobo at the end of the match.
” Basketball is a fantastic sport. It’s fantastic when the players can decide (the outcome of the match). When the match was tied, it was not a normal foul on [Elie] Okobo in the middle of the field. It was probably an unsportsmanlike foul. And [Goran] Dragic was able to go to the basket after this foul” estimated the coach of the Blues“ What can I say ? Talk about the game? When you see such things like that. It’s impossible. It is impossible that we have the best players, that the level of the game is high and that we see it. It has to be right until the end. I never complain. For so many years, I never complained. But tonight, what can I say to my players? The last two fouls on Okobo and [Evan] Fournier. We can’t even take our chance. The referees return to the locker room with the whistles in their pockets, without any fear! What can we do ? That’s all.”
Supported by Jean-Pierre Suitat, whom we saw very up to the edge of the field, Vincent Collet added a layer by giving some figures which he finds unbalanced.
” I’ve been competing internationally for 13 years and I’ve never seen this,” he continued. “We make 26 assists and they had 11. We are whistled for 24 fouls, while our opponents had 16. And in the first 32 minutes of the match, the difference was 22 to 8. And I don’t want to talk about that… I’m only talking about the last two faults. The foul on Okobo was not normal. We did not feel any respect. Slovenia has Luka Doncic, OK… But the French national team has also achieved things in recent years. We are not asking for different treatment. We just want the whistles to be correct. “
