While the quarter-finals are in full swing in Manila, the French players have already gone home.
Eliminated in the first round, after two defeats for their first matches in the competition, the Blues not only experienced major problems in the construction of the workforce in general, an acknowledgment of failure for the staff in place, but they also also seriously struggled in the game.
Between leaders in decline and an internal sector in difficulty, the tricolor balance sheet is obviously not brilliant at all, one year from the Olympic deadline at home…
***
Evan Fournier (14 points, 3 rebounds in 23 minutes)
Again offensive leader of the Blues, as in the last two medal-winning campaigns, Evan Fournier was the only player to float (offensively) during the first two meetings of the competition, the most important obviously, against Canada (with 21 points to 8 /19 on shots including 19 in the first half alone) and against Latvia (with 27 points including 15 in the first quarter alone).
But too lonely, the veteran full-back failed to go the distance, collapsing in the second half in both games. Often summoned to get France out of trouble after badly started attack sequences, inheriting hot potatoes, Evan Fournier was also able to be a little too “soloist” in other more forced situations.
His individual performances have ultimately illustrated the many collective difficulties encountered by the tricolor attack throughout the tournament.
Guerschon Yabusele (11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists in 23 minutes)
If we except his last unimportant outing against Côte d’Ivoire (3 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists), Guerschon Yabusele finished only one game below the symbolic bar of 10 points. Unfortunately for him, and for the Blues, it was against Canada in the opening match!
Held at just 4 points and 2 rebounds in 20 minutes, the Real Madrid buff failed to react to the Canadian aggressiveness, and his power at the low post was considerably lacking for the Blues to reverse the imbalance of forces.
Second best scorer of the last Euro, at 15 points on average, he never found the same impact. Thus, his fine offensive performance (18 points) against Latvia was tainted by 4 stray bullets… His dejection and his versatility remain however important values for the immediate future (OG) and even more distant.
**
Rudy Gobert (11 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks in 24 minutes)
If he finally presents interesting statistics, including his 17 points, 8 purely aesthetic rebounds for the last match against Côte d’Ivoire, Rudy Gobert however missed his tournament. As leader of this team, he missed in the first two games, finishing with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 4 stray shots against Canada, and 9 points (only one shot attempted) and 7 rebounds against to Latvia!
Pillar of the tricolor defense, “Gobzilla” was thus shaken by his opponents on the rebound, not being intimidating enough in the paint, being pushed far too far from the circle in attack…
Unable to make a difference on his (very rare) positions at the low post, Rudy Gobert rowed in the static attack of the Blues. What he needs to shine is moving play and balls in the air.
Sylvain Francisco (8 points, 3 assists in 18 minutes)
Thrown into the deep end without floats for his first international competition, with in particular this decisive shot to grab the victory on the wire against Latvia, Sylvain Francisco is doing quite well on his side throughout the tournament.
If he sometimes confused speed and haste, also taking a lot of risks, both in attack and in defense, the future leader of Bayern did indeed bring his share when coming off the bench, with his freshness and his nerve in attack, symbolized by his last game with 15 points and 7 assists for 19 evaluation.
Mathias Lessort (8 points, 5 rebounds in 17 minutes)
Long in isolation, in order to treat a nasty sprained right ankle during the preparation, Mathias Lessort will have finally played only 34 minutes in total on this World Cup. Kept in the group to bring his hardness inside, he was one of the few players to hold the candes high for the Canadians (12 points, 6 rebounds).
Less present against Latvia, the future interior of the Pana was then put in the fridge so as not to risk physical glitches. Integrated late, he obviously could not express himself in an optimal way in an increasingly unbalanced collective.
Isaia Cordinier (7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists in 15 minutes)
Called at the last minute to make up for the absence of Frank Ntilikina, injured in preparation, Isaia Cordinier was not going to have a major role when he landed late in the France group.
But, on his bits of minutes, the current rear of Bologna was rather very effective, even exciting (with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists against Côte d’Ivoire) with a lot of energy on both sides of the field, and address from afar.
*
Nicolas Batum (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists in 23 minutes)
For his last career World Cup, Nicolas Batum was probably expecting something different, within a team that he himself believed was capable of going all the way. Despite all his experience, and promising game sequences in preparation, the captain of the Blues seemed out of breath once the competition arrived. Evidenced by his smallest career productions on the competition.
Replaced in position 3 with Guerschon Yabusele who takes up most of the time in position 4, Nicolas Batum was not as effective as he could be with the Clippers (where he even sometimes plays as a pivot of fortune). At 10 points or more in just two games, and still in games for butter, the veteran winger was above all very clumsy throughout the tournament, with 28% success behind the arc in particular…
With 24 minutes against Canada, for an ugly zero point, and 31 minutes against Latvia, for a correct copy of 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, Nicolas Batum ends with a largely negative record in the two games he does not should not lose: a -15 to +/- which obviously does not look like him.
Nando De Colo (8 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds in 22 minutes)
His return after a well-deserved summer break should allow the French team to find one of their attacking leaders. To support Evan Fournier and Guerschon Yabusele in scoring, but also serve Rudy Gobert under the circle. The failure is resounding.
Overtaken by the events against Canada (with a scathing -27 +/- despite 12 points), and ending with a 0 against Latvia, a match that he ended in the locker room after two unsportsmanlike fouls (and 8 assists while the same), the veteran of Asvel seemed to be losing momentum. Another leader in full failure, who above all let his nervousness and frustration speak, especially with the referees…
His end to the tournament was a bit reassuring, with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists against Iran in particular, but the role of Nando de Colo now raises questions for the Olympic future. Placed as the leader by default, his complementarity with Evan Fournier on the back lines still poses a problem, especially in defense. In view of this World Cup, bringing him off the bench, taking over from a leader with a more defensive profile seems more logical.
Elie Okobo (7 points, 2 assists, 2 rebounds in 17 minutes)
He is one of the big losers of the World Cup. Tortured against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, during a nightmarish third quarter for the Blues, Elie Okobo was also one of the missing elements in the first two games ax (1 point at 0/6 on penalties in aggregate).
Best player of the classification matches, the back of the Roca Team saved the furniture at the end of the tournament. But his ability to weigh in important and rough matches is clearly in question, after an already mixed Euro.
NOT RATED
Moustapha Fall (2 points, 1 rebound in 11 minutes)
Rightly frustrated with his use in this tournament, Moustapha Fall has certainly played more in the last three games. But we have clearly not found the dominating pivot that we can see every week in the Euroleague, within Olympiakos, for three seasons.
Much too little used, and unfortunately (and consequently?) too clumsy and inefficient at the finish near the circle, Moustapha Fall did not weigh as usual. His absence from internal debates reinforced the lack of alternation in the tricolor game, an important option since the Tokyo Games…
Terry Tarpey (2 points, 3 rebounds in 15 minutes)
Starting winger to everyone’s surprise during the last Euro (5 points, 4 rebounds in 20 minutes), with a hair-raising impact in defense and an activity that was good for the Blues, Terry Tarpey failed to confirm his first impression under the blue tunic for this World Cup.
Again confined to thankless defensive missions, he played very little (only 6 minutes against Canada), showing himself all the same to his advantage, one of the few to try to sound the revolt against Latvia ( 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals).
Yakuba Ouattara (4 points, 1 rebound in 11 minutes)
Relegated to the end of the bench, without playing against Latvia for example (and 5 short minutes in the first game), Yakuba Ouattara would probably have deserved to rub shoulders more with the Baltic shooters and the maple leaf scorers.
But, placed at the bottom of the totem, the Monegasque respected the hierarchy and answered present on the last matches, including a good entry to extricate himself from Iran (9 points to 4/5 on shots).
*
Vincent Collet and his staff
The choices of the coach and his staff also deserve attention, because the resounding failure of the Blues in this World Cup is not the only fact of the players.
Badly constructed, with this astonishing expectation around the Lessort case, it thus suffered from a lack of defense on the head of the opposing snake, the De Colo – Fournier duo not being able to play this role. Admittedly, the injury of Frank Ntilikina at the end of the preparation did not help but the lack of another leader with a defensive profile was a problem, the recall of Isaïa Cordinier overloading the wings, while an Andrew Albicy would have been more useful.
Moreover, the tactical choices against Latvia, with this loss of control when the Baltics set up a box on Evan Fournier, after the exit of Nando De Colo, did not help.
Let’s hope that, as for the players, this slap wakes everyone up one year from the deadline for the Paris Olympics. Unless the Federation surprises everyone by separating from the coach, which Jean-Pierre Siutat has not ruled out this time. A solution that seems quite unlikely all the same…
