The French, who challenges with his club the leader of the Euroleague, Milan on Friday, looks favorably on the rise of some Pro A clubs, which increases the media coverage of French basketball.

Q: At 34, you have a series of high-end performances ...

A: "I think that in the end, age is just a number. Obviously, there is more effort to be made when you get older, physically you have to pay attention to all the little glitches. that there are cuts (in the calendar), it's a little more complicated to get back into the rhythm, but I don't take my head too much on my age. It's more people who remind me of it, because they need to talk about it all, I'm trying to do my thing and I'm in good shape, so it's going really well. "

Q: The defeat in the final of the Tokyo Olympics against the United States, does that leave a taste of unfinished business, making you even more want to continue until Paris-2024?

A: "A taste of the unfinished business, yes of course, because we had very clear objectives from the start, even if apparently, in the polls of certain journalists, we were not seen going that far (...) We are a team that knows each other and wants to go until 2024 to get the gold medal, that is obviously the objective. different things, so we'll see when the Paris Olympics come. In the meantime, there is still a lot to do. "

The French playmaker Nando De Colo tries a shot despite the defense of the American Devin Booker, during the final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, August 7, 2021 Aris MESSINIS AFP

Q: You arrived in Turkey a little over two years ago, is the Euroleague title for this year?

A: "The problem we have here is that every year we change almost the entire workforce. We have a few key pieces that remain, but it's like every year we start from scratch. We know when we want to evolve at the level of the Euroleague, it happens over two, three years to achieve its ends. I'm not saying it's impossible, I think we have a team on paper that is capable of doing great things, but to say today that we are capable of winning the Euroleague would be a little overestimating ourselves. The first objective before talking about the title is to reach the play-offs. "

The French playmaker of the Turkish club Fenerbahce, trains for free throws, November 9, 2021 in Istanbul Yasin AKGUL AFP

Q: In France, we see two big budget clubs, Villeurbanne and Monaco, which are growing.

Can this allow players like you to come back and play in Pro A?

A: "I don't know, it depends on the opportunities that will be offered to me. I think it is very good to have clubs that play in the Euroleague, which can have a fairly substantial budget to bring in players. is clearly what is lacking in France: we have a good championship, we have a country where it is good to live, but where you have to make a financial effort, compared to everything that can happen in Europe for, at a given moment , manage to compete with the biggest. Will it take time? Yes, surely, and then behind, it's not just time, it is also having several years of experience in Euroleague to be able to allow this kind of effort. I'm happy for the French clubs, it allows to have a championship which is a little more watched, even if todayhui we have problems with the media coverage of French basketball. But it's important, that's what our young people lack today, to say to themselves: + There you go, I can go to a club that immediately plays the biggest competition in Europe and expose myself to the world basketball + ".

Interview by Rémi BANET

© 2021 AFP