Paris (AFP)
The French basketball teams hit the jackpot on Tuesday ... for the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8) by falling from the group stage on the United States, big favorites and title holders among men as with the ladies.
In Mies (Switzerland), at the headquarters of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), fate could have been much more lenient for the Blues and the Blues.
But Valérie Garnier and Vincent Collet, the two French coaches, have retained a positive aspect of this draw: by inheriting the United States in the group stage, they will not be able to meet them in the quarter-finals.
Before thinking about the quarter-finals and maintaining the dream of the Olympic podium after the money of the Blues of the Olympic Games-1948 in London and 2000 of Sydney, and the money of the Blue of the Olympic Games-2012 in London, the French and French will have to get rid of from a complicated first group stage in Tokyo.
Endy Miyem's teammates will start against the hosts Japanese (July 27) in great progress, then face the Nigerians (July 30), two reigning African champions, and finish with the Americans (August 2), six-fold Olympic champions in title, undefeated in an official match since September 2006, and on a series of 57 successes.
- "Thorny" -
"It's a group that seems strong, even thorny to us. The teams are getting closer to each other," said Valérie Garnier, whose team will play Euro-2021 (June 17-27) before the Tokyo Games .
Vincent Collet's players, returned from the 2019 World Cup with bronze around their necks, will face the United States in their first match on July 25, for a reunion against Team USA, after the major feat achieved by the Blues in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in China (historic victory 89-79).
The American team should however find its best NBA players, which was not the case at the World Cup-2019, even if this first game at the Olympics-2020 will take place three days after a possible Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Nicolas Batum's teammates will end this group stage against Iran (July 31), and will have to wait up to three weeks before the opening of the Games to find out the identity of their second opponent (July 28).
It will be the winner of the qualifying tournament played in Victoria, Canada, with in particular Greece of the double NBA MVP (2019 and 2020) Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Canada, an extremely strong team in an optimal configuration (Jamal Murray, Cory Joseph, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, Andrew Wiggins ...).
- Draw in Tokyo -
"We fell into a very difficult group. We must have it in mind. It will be difficult, we must already foresee that we can fight to obtain our qualification" for the quarterfinals, said Vincent Collet, whose France group's "very high" goal is the podium.
To reach the quarter-finals in Tokyo, the two teams will have to take one of the first two places in their group, or be among the two best third (out of three).
A draw will be made in Tokyo at the end of the group stage, to constitute the final draw (quarters, semi-finals and final).
The first three and the best runner-up will be seeded, and two teams from the same group will not be able to compete in the quarter-finals.
The classification of the best second and third will be established according to the number of victories and the stopping point.
"If there are two weaker teams to consider, it's Puerto Rico and South Korea, which are in other pools. We can think that some teams will make big gaps. For us, it will take that we pay attention to the slightest point, "says Garnier.
In the perspective of the draw for the quarterfinals, "the position of best runner-up is interesting, but more difficult to achieve when playing against the Americans" in groups, underlined Collet.
© 2021 AFP