Throughout their comings and goings in Béarn, Vincent Collet’s Blues were going to settle at the top of the world hierarchy by adding five medals, including gold at Euro 2013 and two Olympic silver in 2021 and 2024, to a wardrobe with trophies that have long been dusty.
Throughout their comings and goings in Béarn, Vincent Collet’s Blues were going to settle at the top of the world hierarchy by adding five medals, including gold at Euro 2013 and two Olympic silver in 2021 and 2024, to a wardrobe with trophies that have long been dusty.
Thanks to the many partnerships that bind or linked the city of Pau to the French basketball federation, Pau has thus become the privileged base camp of the Blues which benefit as much from the hotel infrastructure which guarantee them a real tranquility as of the provision of a functional tool both well established as the Palais des Sports. An enclosure which, whatever the poster of the match offered, also guarantees very nice assistance … and a recipe for the amendment. A win-win deal.
A new demonstration of this solid union between city and Fédes is expected this Friday in a pressure cooker version palace, as overheated by the atmosphere of fans ready to frantically agitating the small tricolor flags given to the entrance, as by the external scorching temperature.
Five survivors of the Olympics
This summer, it is a new generation of young tricolor wolves lulled with carelessness that took control of the blue tunic with the conviction that the future can be radiant from the Euro which arrives quickly (August 27 to September 14).
Guerschon Yabusele, captain of the French team and heroes of the last games, will be the first to show the way to his young partners.
Alban Laffitte
A podium next month, would already be the guarantee of a frank success since twelve heroes “silver” at the Paris Games last year, are in Pau only Guerschon Yabusele, Isaïa Cordinier, Bilal Coulibaly, Frank Ntilikina and Matthew Strazel.
“This team is in the midst of reconstruction”, never ceases to repeat Frédéric Fauxoux who is also preparing to live his first international competition as a coach, but who will first appreciate his first appearance on the location of the locals in this palace which was his home seventeen seasons. “I dare to think that people will be happy to come see me, but already be careful, I think that many want to see the players, and that’s the main thing, he admitted this Thursday noon. I also know a lot of people who will come because I come with the French team. This is something that I would have liked to do as a player, it is obvious, I do it as a coach, happiness is also intense, ”says the most Bearn of Landais.
The coach did not have an easy spring when the major plans succeeded. Victor Wembanyama, the Ultimate Star, Rudy Gobert, elected four times better NBA defender, Evan Fournier, best scorer of the last summers, or the energetic Mathias Lessort, have failed for more or less admissible reasons.
Maximum competition
“If we cumulation of the selections of the 18 players summoned, it does not reach 50 % of the number of selections of the 12 players at the Olympic Games,” counted Jacky Commander, the director of the French teams.
If Yabusele, logically named Captain, is a bridge between all generations, it is the new wave from NBA (Sarr, Risacher, Diabaté, Dieng) or Euroligue (Hifi, Strazel, Okobo, Maledon, Hoard) which is called to dictate the tempo of ambitions. This strong renewal, “does not detract from the capacity of this group to shine, claims Zaccharie Risacher, chosen in 1re Position of the Draft NBA 2024 by Atlanta, and whose summer expectations are clear: “win gold”.
“We are entering a new era, with many young players, but we want to continue what the ancients have already achieved,” says with his eternal assurance the “Prince of Paris”, the back Nadir Hifi, not yet assured of being in the “12” despite the 14 points registered Monday evening in Mouilleron-Le Captif against Montenegro (81-75).
“There is a hierarchy to build,” knows Fred Faithoux whose major site lies in the quest for better alchemy.
This second of the five preparation matches (Spain to follow twice, then Greece) must allow the coach to brush the site a little more, to advance some certainties on which will be the twelve happy elected officials. “Collectively, I wait for us to show a progression,” says Fredithoux first. We made a good match against Montenegro, but not on 40 minutes. We had a big air hole in the 3rd quarter, and against teams that play very well like Montenegro, that does not forgive. I hope that there will always be as much commitment and seriousness, which we have already shown well, but that we will see a clear progression in the offensive and defensive collective, “anticipates the eternal” Petitou “whose bitterness we imagine if this evening so special for him should be wrong.
