After another defeat against Australia at the end of their preparation, this Sunday in Orléans (82-83), Victor Wembanyama and the Blues gave a positive speech. The French are confident of responding at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, starting with their first match against Brazil on July 27 in Villeneuve-d’Ascq.
A fourth defeat in a row. This one at the last minute. After falling against Germany, Serbia and Canada, the French team ended its preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 with another defeat against Australia, this Sunday in Orléans (82-83). At the end of a hard-fought battle against teammates Patty Mills and Josh Giddey, the French let the win slip away in stoppage time. The fault is mainly a lack of defensive discipline. “What he lacked, I think, was the concentration and this desire to finish the games well, but it reflects everything we need to improve until the Olympics,” reacted to hot Victor Wembanyama on L’Équipe.
Despite this frustrating setback, the San Antonio giants remain confident ahead of the Blues six days ahead of their Olympic tournament appearance against Brazil (Saturday, July 27 in Villeneuve-d’Ascq). “Are we ready? No, but we will be ready in six days, assures the Spurs star (17 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists). There is really no worry. We made the choice to have a hard preparation. What is very positive. is that we have a lot of room for improvement. I know that we will be ready on the day (…) I feel comfortable as soon as possible. We everyone gets along, off and on the field, and we have the tools to solve small tactical problems. “That’s what we have to do.
“We have shown everything we need to fix”
The same serenity with Nicolas Batum. The captain of the Blues, skilled at long distance (4/5 on 3 points) but guilty of a fatal loss of the ball in the final moments, prefers to be positive at the beginning of the big meeting. “There is still a lot of waste and lost balls. There is an intensity, we still fought. It was a long preparation. It is up to us to regroup, we have six days left. We have already been in situations like this before, we knew how we should react Now the serious stuff begins.
“The positive point is that we showed everything we still need to fix to win,” continued the Philadelphia winger, “Each time we were still in the games, but we broke at the end. We have to stay focused , keep working. and be ready for Brazil (…) Planning ahead is a mistake that we must not make. We have to take the games one after the other, so go ahead, and we will see what happens.
“It will be a constant battle”
Like his captains, Vincent Collet is not panicking before starting the Olympic Games on home soil. First in the north and then (if all goes well) in the Accor Arena in Paris-Bercy. “I note the great progress, but it is still insufficient. We have to work harder to be ready, the Blues coach sums up. After all, there is an improvement, that is what we want to remember, even if we have things that needs to be improved, we struggle to be consistent, especially in our external sector.
“We see from match to match that we are moving forward,” said the 61-year-old technician, “The preparation shows that we are not the best But in the competition it is not always the best who win, but it is not because we were Olympic runners-up three years ago, we will fight to achieve our goal first match against Brazil It will be important to win to enter this competition.
