The French basketball team, with three consecutive losses before facing off Australia on Sunday at Orleans (21:00), suffering from the beginning of his preparation for Games Paris Olympics the lack of creativity and effectiveness of their outdoor posts.
The difference was evident on Friday against Canada (73-85), even without Jamal Murray (Denver), champion of NBA in 2023: its Shai bases Gilgeous-Alexander (23 pts), Andrew Nembhard (10 pts) and RJ Barrett (21 pts) put the French in trouble, with only Nando to rely on Of the lap in the first half (11 pts, 9 of them before the break) to pose a threat on the outside.
The three are all point guards, Andrew Albicy (0 pts, no shot attempted), Frank Ntilikina (3 pts in free throws, 0/5 in shots) and Matthew Strazel (0 pts out of 0/3) suffered.
“We were giving up points out of the zone with open shots that we didn’t convert,” Vincent Collet said. “When the Canadians don’t know what to do, they are lucky to rely on ‘SGA’ (Gilgeous-Alexander) and also Nembhard, who is also good at individual shots,” added the coach.
This deficit is partly explained by the difference in profiles between a Canadian trio accustomed to scoring in NBAwith Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma Cirty) as one of the best players of last season, and a French trio who are not playing at this level.
Ntilkina was cut by charlotte in February and starting in the fall he will play at Euroleague (Partizan Belgrade), competition where the youth Strazel (22 years old on August 5) began to stand on Monaco this season, while Albicy (34 years old) performs at European Cup (C2) including Gran Canaria (Spain).
These three guards were chosen primarily for their defensive qualities by colletwhich he left in the call for Games Olympians Elie Okobo and Nadir hifiwhose profiles are more offensive.
About Of the lap and Fournier The responsibility for punishment lies mainly from outside, but Fourniertop scorer of France In recent campaigns, he struggled to find his place and the right rhythm (3 pts with 1/7 on shots against Canada).
As for the bases, collet they are seen more as a transmission belt for an interior-oriented game, particularly the couple Wembanyama-Gobert.
“Vincent wants a point guard who knows how to organize, defend well and control emotions,” he declared. Strazel before the matches of the first preparation.
But the Blues They also have problems with their construction game – which, however, does not depend only on the directors of the game -, especially when they are deprived of time and space by an athletic team like Canada.
“At times, we continue to struggle to get our offensive game going,” Gobert said Friday. “Once we establish our game, there will be more opportunities for me and Victor to meet,” he added.
He joined collet, asked about the low number of passes to his inside players. “One of the things we have to improve is feeding them. Our inside players, even if they are dominant, need to be fed,” the coach continued. “We’ve worked a lot, and it’s better than last year (30-point loss to the same Canadians in the World Cup), but it’s still not enough. We have to put the ball in the net more.”
There are, therefore, emergencies that must be resolved and quickly, a week before the start of the Olympic tournament against Brazil, on July 27 in Villeneuve-d’Ascq.
Source: La Verdad
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