“He's clearly our offensive leader.
We knew it, he knows it and I think he prepared himself accordingly.
The role of leader he had during all the preparation, I have the impression that he took it on again this evening!
Like the other Blues, Mouss Fall did the job this Sunday evening against Team USA, at the opening of the Tokyo Olympics basketball tournament.
But the gigantic pivot of Olympiakos (2.18 m) also knows that if the France team beat the United States (83-76), it is because Evan Fournier signed a service from elsewhere Sunday at the Saitama Super Arena.
A victory that the back of the Celtics has deciphered with the outspokenness that characterizes it.
To read alsoJO from Tokyo: "It is no coincidence that we are the most represented European country in the NBA"
What feelings do you have after this victory against the Americans?
EVAN FOURNIER
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We are proud to have beaten Team USA, of course.
But we have to stay tempered, we know that the competition is long.
If we go far in the competition, we will surely replay them.
But we must not project ourselves.
We need to rest and especially think about beating the Czechs (Wednesday).
I would be lying if I said it was a game like any other.
You beat Team USA, you beat Kevin Durant, you are proud.
We want to show young people in France that we can beat anyone and the mentality we need to have to do it.
But we must quickly move on and not forget the reality: this is only a group game.
Tell us about this incredible shot which allows France to definitively pass in front of less than thirty seconds from the end ...
I'll be honest, on this one, I think we have some ass (sic).
The ball is lost, Guershon (Yabusélé) fights like a dog to recover it… Stroke of luck, I was there and I swung without thinking.
But it is a revealing action of the meeting.
We fight, we fight and we are opportunists.
Behind, we make a big defense.
This is the summary of our match in fact.
But it's funny, it's the only shot where I heard the audience, a woman screamed… I don't know her (laughs).
After your truncated preparation, marked by three defeats, are you surprised at the level of the Blues tonight?
The preparation was not easy.
It was long and hard.
We attacked with two tests against Spain.
We have a good first game.
Then we come back to France, to Bercy, where we integrate Rudy (Gobert) and Nico (Batum) who had just left the plane.
We lacked rhythm, the workforce was upset… We played a bad match and we continued with a crappy trip (sic) to Japan where it takes 6 hours to get out of the airport, we sleep two hours a night ... logically made walk on by the Japanese (3rd friendly match).
But this group has a big character.
Even if it was not obvious, even if we did not arrive in confidence, we know what we are able to do and we did not panic.
How did starting the Games against Team USA give you extra soul?
There was no additional motivation because it was the first game. When you play Team USA, no matter what, you always come up like a cuckoo.
