Vincent Collet, after the defeat of France against Germany: “It is difficult to respect the fundamentals”

Vincent Collet (coach of the France team, beaten by Germany at the opening of the Eurobasket) “We weren’t able to adapt to the level of defensive pressure, and overall we’re having trouble respecting the fundamentals, especially when it comes to setting up screens and making markdowns. It was like in Bosnia and Herzegovina (90-96, a.2p) but with a higher level of aggression in front. Our attack lacks continuity and clear situations, there is a deficit in passing quality. It’s very handicapping: sometimes we do what it takes to create open shots and unsteady passes take away this advantage. We have to fix it. This first match puts us in the hard. I’m half surprised: I thought we would do better but I knew we had things to improve. We have to do it faster: the group will take charge and we will work to be better on Saturday. »

Evan Fournier (back and captain of the France team, 7 points): “Our start to the game is not bad, but we had a big hole in the third quarter. We really lacked rhythm, in my image. There, it is necessary to look at what one did badly and that one progresses. For me tonight (Thursday), our problem is very much the attack, the stray bullets, the snack shots. Our defense held up overall. We have to find our positions, find each other and execute better. »

Johannes Thiemann (Germany strong winger, 14 points) “The fans gave us a lot of energy tonight (Thursday evening), it was important for us, to be able to offer this physical impact. We were prepared in defense, we knew what they wanted to do, there was a lot of concentration. The coach had told us about Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier, we were focused on preventing them from finding their positions: we didn’t give any open shots to Fournier from three points because he shoots a lot and we were very physical against Gobert. »