The French basketball team unexpectedly lost to Latvia by 86:88 in the group stage of the tournament and lost their chances of advancing to the next round ahead of schedule. Earlier, the French also lost devastatingly to the Canadians (65:95). Many experts wondered what was the reason for the failure of one of the favorites of the world championship, but this question was answered by one of the team players.
The captain of the national team, Nicolas Batum, said that the team was sensationally eliminated from the World Cup due to the federation’s decision not to call up basketball players playing in Russia. “We are a very good team, we have shown it over the years. After what happened this summer, everyone has to wonder: the coaches, the players, the federation. That we are depriving ourselves of certain players, that we are losing players due to certain conditions,” Batyum said.
The forward of the French national team believes that the team’s failure is due to the ban on playing in Russia
In an exclusive interview with “Soviet Sport”, the four-time USSR champion in CSKA and the author of the Telegram channel of the same name, Vladimir Gomelsky, analyzed the game of France at the world championship and said whether the reason for its failure it was actually due to the lack of players from the Russian teams.
– Do you agree with Batum’s words? Did the French really fail by not taking players from Russian teams to the World Cup?– All this is a question for the French Basketball Federation, which announced that those players who have signed a contract with Russian clubs will be deprived of the right to play in the national team. Okay, idiot decision. Sport outside of politics is what the French Olympic Committee, together with the International Olympic Committee, have long and always been proclaiming. And here again, political interference. To be honest, I don’t think Norman is such a key figure, but Ertel definitely would be. He was the strong second point guard that France lacked.
– And if you analyze that disastrous game with Latvia, at what point did the team fall apart?– When De Colo was disqualified, the team simply fell apart for the entire second half, winning the first; in the last quarter, the French team simply did not turn into a positional attack. Of course, this is an excuse, but it is a fact. I got the impression that the French, who do not need to qualify for the Olympic Games, participate in them as hosts, came to the World Cup with the spirit: “Now we will see how the rivals play.” Well, we look. The rivals play well, but the French team is bad.
– What do you think the national team was capable of doing in this World Cup?– In no case did I expect such a performance from the French. I thought the French team is a medal contender. Only his motivation and coach, Vincent Collet, and most of the veterans, including De Colo, left somewhere in their homeland and came here to win in class. But the class was not enough.
