Garnier before the Women's EuroBasket: "Much more pleasure to play at home than pressure"

You will play the first part of the Euro at home. What wins between pressure and pleasure?

 : For me, there is a lot more pleasure in playing at home than pressure. Anyway, we have the pressure of the result, because we know what we want to do in this Euro. And it is all the more fun in the difficult period that we are living, with a season that took place behind closed doors. Learning today that we will be able to have 65% of the gauge and play in front of 3,600 people, for a staff and a whole group of players, it's just pure pleasure. During our last competition in Bourges (the Olympic qualifying tournament in February 2020, editor's note), we played with a full hall and an incredible atmosphere,it can only sublimate the players on the field.

You got a taste of this public support during the preparation.

How did you experience it?

We appreciated it!

Some players even told me: "It's weird, we forgot".

Even if the gauge was smaller than what we usually have with the national team, we were able to appreciate it.

Anyway, there are always the flags, the music, the animation.

It was a great pleasure for players who spent the season hearing the screeching of shoes on the floor.

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The France team remains on four consecutive defeats in the final of the Euro. Are there any similarities in these finals?

This group has been working together for a long time, the young players have grown in maturity and efficiency. The players know each other, they are together in a club. We still uncovered recurring things during the lost finals and since November 2019, we have tried to evolve towards other things to remedy them. Today, we tried to put a lot more emphasis on the basics of defense, which we want more intense. We have put in place a few technical things that have been working quite well since November 2019. And we have gained in efficiency on the other side of the field in attack.

Is the 2021 version team more complete and stronger than the previous ones?

It's always difficult to compare, but this France team seems really very interesting. Today, the players show very interesting skills on one side and the other side of the field, with senior players who are still present and of formidable efficiency, young players who are reaching a little more maturity, and young shoots that have grown too. It makes a group of three generations who live well and who express themselves well in the field.

You will have two major competitions in seven and a half weeks between the start of the Euro and the end of the Olympic Games. Does it seem possible to you to have two peaks of shape in such a short time?

We will have to adapt to what will come out of this Euro, to revive the team in one way or another. But the stakes are so high that I have confidence in my team. We have a Euro with very high goals and we will switch to the Olympic Games, often the dream of an athlete's life! I think the motivation will be there, and we will have to adapt to recovering some players, relaunching others. It is an exceptional and so special opportunity tohave the chance to do two amazing competitions in the same season in two months.