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One of the strong contenders for the FIBA Basketball World Cup championship, France decided which 12 men will go to China to compete for the honor. Head coach Vincent Collet picked experienced back-court pairs after days of tests and pondering.
CGTN Photo by Qu Bo
Two promising youngsters who played in the national team before, 18-year-old Theo Maledon and 21-year-old Elie Okobo, missed the list.
"Theo (Maledon) wasn't comfortable with his shoulder and unfortunately could not defend his chances during the tournament in Shenyang. I want to thank Elie (Okobo) for responding to our call during the preparation period, for taking part in this and showing exemplary spirit throughout the camp, but he did not convince me he could be our third guard," said Collet.
Frank Ntilikina #1 of France handles the ball in the warm-up game against Tunisia, August 7, 2019. /VCG Photo
Instead, Collet chose Ntilikina, De Colo and Albicy. Ntilikina is also 21 years old and has played in the NBA for two years. De Colo, who's 32, and 29-year-old Albicy both have been playing long enough to have some tricks up their sleeves that will help them do better on the court.
Evan Fournier (R) and Nicolas Batum (L) are able to make bigger contribtuions to France in FIBA competitions. /VCG Photo
Fournier and Batum are more interesting cases. After working double-time to both orchestrate and score with the Orlando Magic, Fournier can focus on scoring now that he's with the national team. He had dropped to an average of 15.5 points per game in the five seasons in Orlando; maybe fans will see an improvement.
As for Batum, though he has been seen as the best example of "lying on the big contract," the 30-year-old is still an NBA-level forward, and he is still able to put down 20+points for his country in warm-up games.
Rudy Gobert #27 of France tries to block the opponent's shot in the warm-up game against New Zealand, August 24, 2019. /VCG Photo
Of course, France's pillar guy is still Gobert, who just won his second straight NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and made the All-NBA Third Team. He may still have to rely on teammate passes to score, but remember there's no defensive three-second violation under FIBA rules, which means that any team playing against France will have to challenge 2.16-meter-tall Gobert and his 2.38-meter-long wingspan before reaching the rim.
France are in Group G with Germany, the Dominican Republic and Jordan. They will meet their first opponent Germany at the Shenzhen Bay Sports on September 1.