Dongguan (China) (AFP)

The four French NBA will be known in the quarterfinals of the World Basketball Championship in Dongguan Wednesday against the Americans, players they face all year.

France is one of the best-equipped NBA players: Evan Fournier at Orlando Magic, Rudy Gobert at Utah Jazz, Nicolas Batum at Charlotte Hornets and Frank Ntilikina at the New York Knicks. They will be joined next season by Vincent Poirier, hired by the Boston Celtics. The Blues are tied with Spain and just behind Australia which has five "NBAers".

After years of fascination, the fear of Americans is no longer the same as before.

"I've already beaten all those guys, I've played with and against them," said Batum, who has just spent the last four seasons in Charlotte with Team USA leader Kemba Walker.

"The world of basketball has changed, it's no longer the 1992 Games where the guys were taking pictures on the bench, we're trying to play eye to eye with this team," the winger added. famous "Dream Team" of Barcelona.

"We know them, whereas for the players who play in Europe, they are guys they see on TV, superstars, but we play them every day and we know they are human like us ", also highlights Rudy Gobert, who is in the same franchise as the back Donovan Mitchell, one of the spearheads of the US team in China.

- Disactivate the Americans -

"Having guys who play with them is an advantage to desecrate them but also to measure that we are not going to beat them just by talking," says coach Vincent Collet.

While the French from across the Atlantic know both worlds, Americans must adapt to the rules of the Fiba, which differ in several points, not essential but not negligible, from those of the NBA.

The three-point shot line is further away in Europe, the matches are longer (48 minutes against 40) and we are excluded after six fouls and not five. The most important difference is the one that allows the defender to stay as much as he wants in the racket, which does not deprive Gobert and his 2.17 m at the World.

In practice, in the NBA, when a player beats his defender in one against one, he has the free field to go to the circle for the lay-up (double step) or the dunk. In the international game, he runs the risk of running into the biggest opponent.

"It's a very important point to understand, and Tony Parker was always surprised when he played in France," said Vincent Collet, who explains that Fiba's rules allow for more complex defensive combinations, which is reflected on the scores, usually smaller in Europe.

But Batum does not believe it can play in Wednesday's quarter-final. "We always said that but how much did they win gold medals?" He says.

© 2019 AFP