Paris (AFP)

French basketball players finish their preparation for the World Cup in China with three games against New Zealand on Saturday, Italy (Sunday) and Serbia (Tuesday) in Shenyang, in the north of the country.

The Blues left France Tuesday with a group of fourteen players. The first issue of these three meetings will be to know which are the two who will not appear on the final list of twelve for the World Cup, nor on the scoresheet of the first shock against Germany, already crucial, on September 1 in Shenzhen , in the south.

One of the two should be a leader: the young Théo Maledon (18), who is recovering from a shoulder injury, Elie Okobo, called in preparation after the package of the N.1 Thomas Heurtel (operated left knee August 12).

Although coach Vincent Collet has said he wants a third leader to complete the pair Andrew Albicy - Frank Ntilikina, he also has the option to use in this role the versatile rear Nando De Colo.

The other players who will have to prove themselves to avoid being put on the plane of return are the back Paul Lacombe, discreet during the first phase of preparation, even Louis Labeyrie or Amath M'Baye, even if the package of Adrien Moerman (operated on Tuesday of the left Achilles tendon) reinforced the need for indoor players.

The French have so far won four victories (Tunisia, Montenegro, Brazil, Argentina) and conceded a defeat (Turkey), giving the impression of going into action during the tournament Villeurbanne last weekend against opponents of unequal value.

The "Tall Blacks" of New Zealand should not pose too many problems to them and it is against Italy and especially to Serbia that they will be able to gauge themselves.

The Italians recover in Shenyang two of their best players: Luigi Datome and Danilo Gallinari. Nicolo Melli, however, will not compete in the World Cup. Serbia is still a candidate for the podium, even the title, with its NBA players (Nikola Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic ...) despite the defeat of his leader Milos Teodosic.

The Blues program in Shenyang:

Saturday (1:30 pm French time): France - New Zealand

Sunday (09h30 French time): France - Italy

Tuesday (1:30 pm French time): France - Serbia

The group of 14 French:

Leaders: Andrew Albicy, Frank Ntilikina, Theo Maledon, Elie Okobo

Back-wingers: Nando De Colo, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum, Axel Toupane, Paul Lacombe

Interiors: Rudy Gobert, Vincent Poirier, Amath Mbaye, Mathias Lessort, Louis Labeyrie

© 2019 AFP