Already, after the victory against Canada, Mathias Lessort had explained that the players of the French team had arrived on the field like “cailleras”, ready to snatch the semi-final with their teeth.
“Vincent knew how to galvanize us” then explained the interior of Panathinaikos. “Usually he makes long tactical speeches, here he is really short. He didn't even talk about basketball, he just put us in warrior mode, we arrived on the field like “cailleras”, ready to fight.”
An attitude behind a term taken up by Isaiah Cordinierstill very good (16 points) against Germany.
“We are “cailleras” and we look everyone in the eye when we play like that” he explained just after the meeting on RMC Sport, after having already made the same speech on Eurosport.
The Virtus Bologna full-back/winger thrives on this intense and physical style in defense, which then allows him to quickly project himself into attack. Which also allows him to shine in attack.
“This is the beginning. We are where we wanted to be, we have a meeting with ourselves on Saturday evening, at 9:30 p.m.”
“With our good attitude, it gave us stops, I am very strong in transition play, in recovery play and once I score one or two baskets, confidence takes over. The team trusts everyone. I was not necessarily the offensive weapon in the preparation, nor in the group matches. But once we saw that I could contribute… People trust me and I know that it could be someone else in the next match. That's what makes our group strong, we are 12 players who can be dangerous at any time.”
And after much trial and error, Vincent Collet understood which buttons to press with this group.
“This story is really special. It's the Games, in Paris. Three years ago, when we won, there were only the staff and the players. Now, we're in communion with 15,000 people. And there's the way we came back too. Three years ago, we had a flawless run, we were very good from the first match. Now, everyone knows the difficulties we've had, the work and energy expended, all together, to get to this point. We know where we're coming from and we have no intention of stopping.”
Because there is still a final to play…
“It's the beginning. We are where we wanted to be, we have a date with ourselves on Saturday evening, at 9:30 p.m., probably against the Americans but it's not certain yet. But we have to keep our instructions from the last two games: we go in and we don't fear anything.” concludes the coach of the French team.
Photo credit: FIBA
