“worried” about the sluggish starts of the Blues, Collet is considering a “change of five major”

Vincent Collet is not fooled. Certainly, “his” Blues crushed the Czech Republic (95-60) on Wednesday at Bercy, in a match counting for qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. Fifth victory in five matches for the France team, which is gaining momentum for EuroBasket (September 1-18). But this spotless record is not enough to make us forget that the Tricolores have, once again, had trouble getting started. Even more than usual in fact since they were behind at the break (38-42 MT) and chased after the score for most of the first 20 minutes of the match. “The first period was very hard“Summarizes the national coach, obviously satisfied with the reaction of his players after the break. Except that this is not the first time that this diesel start has been observed. “We hoped to correct the shot, it was not the case. We will continue to work. It can be with the same players, but also a change of starting five, it is possible, in order to find a balance“, he lets go.

Since the beginning of the preparation, Thomas Heurtel, Evan Fournier, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, Gerschon Yabusele and Rudy Gobert have been associated in the five. However, we saw “TLC”, embarrassed by the faults, give way to Terry Tarpey to start the second period on Wednesday, as against Belgium (90-71). And the Manceau is not for nothing in the change of course tricolor. “It continues in line with what it has been doing since the beginning. In the next eight days, we are refining the role of each. For him, there is nothing to refine, he understood everything. There is no question. He makes 8 of evaluation without scoring. He defends like a dog. We need that. It corresponds to the identity that we must have if we want to be as efficient as possible. We do not have a choice. We have to make clean stops to restart, to play fast, because that’s part of the DNA of many of our players. Terry is in his role, very fair, and it is necessary to manage that this is the case for everyone so that the team progresses further. It’s still doable. There is time left. This will be the main part of our work from now on“Judge coach Collet, now two days from Bosnia-Herzegovina-France in Sarajevo.

The Albicy antidote to treat the Blues?

This potential major five change, however, is arguably not about Tarpey, but rather about Andrew Albicy. victim of an elongation, the 32-year-old playmaker was forced to leave the France group at the start of preparation before returning to business on Monday in Paris. He didn’t play on Wednesday, but could be in action on Saturday in Sarajevo. “The training sessions have been encouraging. If he confirms by then, he will play on Saturday“, slips coach Collet, not hiding that it is the former Parisian that he thinks of when speaking of balance.

Read also“It’s good that we got kicked in the face”: the reactions of the Blues after their success against the Czechs

“We hope so, otherwise we wouldn’t have done all this. It’s obvious. We have already seen it in training since Monday. We know what he is capable of doing on the ball. Our difficulties in the first half were sometimes due to a lack of coordination, but also a lot to individual errors. The carrier’s defender was often a little late. And Andrew, that’s the best… Often he passes with the screen, I don’t know how he does it», smiles the Norman technician, raising the «ability to put pressure on the ballfrom Albicy. “And again, the Czech Republic is deprived of its titular leader, Tomas Satoransky… But the leader of Germany (France’s first opponent at the Euro) is called Denis Schröder. We remember the round of 16 in 2017: we were never able to stop it. This type of player requires special treatment. Like when we had Tony (Parker) and the opposing teams put their best defender on it“recalls Vincent Collet.

It’s the little bugger who can defend against the strong leaders of other teams. He was important at the Olympics and will continue to bring this “relou attitude” which is very good for our team.

Vincent Poirier on Andrew Albicy

Customer bonus, Albicy also weighs with its 74 selections in Blue. This is not negligible within this young team of France. His role, he knows it:Like every year, that I am the stopper who shows the way in defense and that I make the team play.» «He brings this defensive dimension. It’s the little bugger who can defend against the strong leaders of other teams. He brings this little touch of little quirk, he will hit the little balls. It’s important to have players like that, he was important at the Olympics and he will continue this momentum, continue to bring this “relou attitude” which is very good for our team.smiles Vincent Poirier. One thing is certain: Albicy, who says he is 100%, was quick to make his presence felt in training. “There’s a little asshole who’s there and pissing you off“, Fournier had fun on Tuesday, at Bercy. And to add:It’s his role, he does it very well, he takes it to heart. He’s an important person for the group, he’s been with us for a few years, and he has a unique know-how. It’s one more weapon, so I’m glad it’s back. I hope he will feel better and better.»

It remains to be seen who would come out of the five and the group if Andrew Albicy were to invite himself. Despite convincing performances on the offensive level, Heurtel could pay the price with regard to the five. Little used and unconvincing on Wednesday, Théo Malédon seems to be in danger for a place in the 12. The suspense is complete. In the meantime, the Blues will leave at 13 in Bosnia. Hoping for good news about the other potential return, Moustapha Fall, who would take the place of Mam Jaiteh if necessary, not too much doubt.

The American model in mind

“What worries me the most is that we are not able to put the same intensity from the start as afterwards, analyzes Vincent Collet. At the start of the match, the opponents have more freshness to resist the pressure, but that also comes from us, it’s 50/50. We were also a little clumsy at the start. It’s not very serious, it will come. What is more annoying is that we are not better in defense in our start. We are still moving forward. In the second period, we saw offensive sequences which are the fruit of the work of the last few days. Defensively, there is the phenomenon of wear that should not be overlooked. Even when you start strong from the start, the effects are not the same because the opponent moves even faster. We would like to be like Team USA in this aspect of things, and that’s often how it happens, but we have to improve on what we are not doing very well yet. At the start of the match, there are things that depend on us and it has to improve.There is no doubt that Andrew Albicy will do good to the Blues in this area. But others need to do better too. No choice.