Special envoy to Tokyo
To discover
The Olympic medal table
LIVE - Watch the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
They arrived quietly in front of the media.
The victory, 83-76 against the American ogre, had slipped on their feathers, they had turned the page.
Already.
Heads turned towards the future, the Czech Republic, this Wednesday (2 p.m.), without letting the gaze drag any further.
In their expressions, as on the ground, when it was necessary to tighten the game, tear off all the balls to reverse the situation, the Blues let speak the collective strength of an experienced group, on a mission.
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Vincent Collet, the coach, quickly summed up: “
It's something out of the ordinary, it's still Team USA, even if we should not kid ourselves. Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Devin Booker only arrived yesterday (Saturday, after participating in the NBA Finals, Editor's note). We experienced this while playing last week against Japan (in a friendly), they suffered from the jet lag. We can be sure that Team USA will rise during the competition. Despite everything, it had to be done. It's still an extraordinary victory in the true sense of the word, but now we're all focused. There was joy in the locker room but also a lot of concentration. We know that Wednesday's match (against the Czech Republic) is very, very important in relation to the goals that we have set for ourselves. The group is ambitious, just that starts us well.You have to play all the matches to win them. We must keep in mind what we did this evening, we were very respectful of what we wanted to do both collectively but also individually. The players have remained in their register in the service of the team, which is what allowed us to achieve this performance.
"
“We're proud but we know it's a long competition. "
Evan Fournier
Evan Fournier, him, returned to the spectacular action part of Gerschon Yabusele who snatches a ball, before ending with a shoot which offers the French to pass by ensuring: “
We had ass.
A stray bullet, Guesrchon fought to recover it, stroke of luck, I was there and I swung.
It is an action quite revealing of the meeting, one is opportunist.
And that's what happened during the game.
With a big defense.
It was the only shot where I heard the audience scream.
A woman screamed.
"Before emphasizing:"
We're proud but we know it's a long competition.
If we want to go as far as possible, we will surely replay them.
We must not project ourselves.
But we are proud.
Beating Team USA, beating the best players in the world, beating Kevin Durant, that's what we want to show the young people who are in France, that we can play against anyone and that's the mentality to have but we have to move on.
And to say it as it is, it's still a group game.
"
Live: Olympics: stunning, Fournier and the Blues of basketball create the feat by offering the United States
The Blues, who could validate their ticket in the quarterfinals on Wednesday in case of victory, have in any case the United States for the second time in a row after their success in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Cup. Since 1992 and the appearance of NBA players, this is the 10th time that Team USA has known defeat in a major international competition, at the Olympics or at the World Cup. It is therefore an authentic feat achieved by the men of Collet.
