Paris (AFP)

The French basketball players do not hide their ambition to get on the podium of the World Cup, as in 2014, and to win at the same time their ticket for the Tokyo Olympics. They will have to answer six crucial questions from Sunday in China.

Will we find the French defense?

Never again see the fiasco of Euro-2017! For lack of a sufficient commitment in defense, the Blues had failed in the knockout round against Germany. Vincent Collet did not hide that this time his first priority was to find the defensive base that has always been the strength of the Blues, hence the presence of many specialists among the twelve (Batum, Gobert, Toupane, Albicy, etc. ).

Will the return of Gobert and Batum make a difference?

In the last major tournament, the Euro-2017, the Blues were deprived of Rudy Gobert and Nicolas Batum, his two best defenders precisely, who had preferred to devote themselves to the preparation of their NBA season. This time everyone answered the call but unfortunately the leader Thomas Heurtel and the interior Adrien Moerman had to give up during August on injury. Compared to many of its rivals, Spain, Serbia, Canada and of course the United States, deprived of their stars, France still presents a selection close to the best possible.

Will the leaders be up to the task?

The big question is the leader position. Andrew Albicy, who won his place during the famous "windows" of qualifying contested without the players of NBA and Euroleague, has established himself as the N.1 thanks to his dynamism and his defense, but he is not not a scorer. The N.2 is the young Frank Ntilikina, 21, who must regain confidence after two first seasons of NBA very disappointing with the New York Knicks. Collet has given up taking a third specialist, relying on Nando De Colo or even Paul Lacombe to ensure relays. It may be a little fair in the selections where the baton is held by references (Ricky Rubio in the Spanish, Kemba Walker in the Americans, Patty Mills in the Australians, etc.).

Will the athletes do the show?

France is never as strong as when it can run all over the field in counter attack with the great athletes that are Nicolas Batum, Axel Toupane, Mathias Lessort, Louis Labeyrie, Amath M'Baye and the others. The Blues are able to ignite the public with their fast play and their dunks. But for that it will be necessary to defend first.

Will Fournier and De Colo be the blue pistoleros?

If this plan is thwarted, the French will need fencers to unlock the situations. Their only real specialist in three-point shooting is Evan Fournier, but several others are able to try their luck, starting with Nando De Colo, who owns this weapon in its ultra-complete range, Nicolas Batum if he takes the responsibility as at the Mondial-2014, or even more recently Axel Toupane.

The draw will not it be too penalizing?

Kobe Bryant had a heavy hand for the Blues. In the first match, they will have to beat Dennis Schröder's Germany to keep their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals intact. In the second round, the opponents will probably be Australia, which has just offered the United States in preparation, and Lithuania. By finishing in the first two, the French would win the right to challenge either the Greeks Giannis Antetokounmpo or Americans in quarters. In comparison, the other part of the table seems much less dense with the Serbs and the Spanish archi favorites for the two places in the last square.

© 2019 AFP