JO: "Shooters as we rarely see", breaths Rupert after the defeat of the Blue against Japan

We started on May 17th, we are coming to the end of the competition, it's difficult. This is our second competition in a row. The players gave the maximum. We were in failure offensively, it gave them some balls and allowed them to run. They will give the maximum tomorrow (Saturday at 9 am, French time, against Serbia for 3rd place, Editor's note). There is certainly a little fatigue ... It's for a bronze medal tomorrow, we will give everything. Finishing with an Olympic medal is the goal we are going to set for ourselves. In seventeen hours, we will have to find physical resources. I trust my players to find the resources to meet the challenge.

It's hard… It's an atypical game. We're not used to it running like that, being so small and shooting so much at 3 points. Maybe we weren't ready for this game again. We lost the first time (70-74 in the first group match), we lose again, we have to look at each other. We should have found the solutions. We lose by 4 the first game and there, we take 20! It's a fault on our part, we should have mastered this game a lot more. I think you can easily dominate them but if you lose twice, they are better. (The bronze medal) I think we really have the spirit and the character. The girls lost in the final at the European Championship, I was not there but I still have the same spirit of revenge. I saw it, Ilived, I was with them all the preparation. It will be an interesting match to watch, two European teams will fight. Compared to today, there is this spirit of revenge for tomorrow. Less than 24 hours between the two matches? Regardless, I want to go get my medal. (End of the game) I felt nervous, with this physical quality, we see that in all-terrain press, we can do things, I do not understand why we did not put that before. I'm not targeting anyone. It's really frustrating, we knew we could go for this final, we have the means, when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?two European teams are going to fight. Compared to today, there is this spirit of revenge for tomorrow. Less than 24 hours between the two matches? Regardless, I want to go get my medal. (End of the game) I felt nervous, with this physical quality, we see that in all-terrain press, we can do things, I do not understand why we did not put that before. I'm not targeting anyone. It's really frustrating, we knew we could go for this final, we have the means, when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?two European teams are going to fight. Compared to today, there is this spirit of revenge for tomorrow. Less than 24 hours between the two matches? Regardless, I want to go get my medal. (End of the game) I felt nervous, with this physical quality, we see that in all-terrain press, we can do things, I do not understand why we did not put that before. I'm not targeting anyone. It's really frustrating, we knew we could go for this final, we have the means, when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?I want to go get my medal. (End of the game) I felt nervous, with this physical quality, we see that in all-terrain press, we can do things, I do not understand why we did not put that before. I'm not targeting anyone. It's really frustrating, we knew we could go for this final, we have the means, when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?I want to go get my medal. (End of the game) I felt nervous, with this physical quality, we see that in all-terrain press, we can do things, I do not understand why we did not put that before. I'm not targeting anyone. It's really frustrating, we knew we could go for this final, we have the means, when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?when we see the last two minutes, we know we can do it; why don't we do this from the start?

We were there at the start because we respected the game plan, we knew that the Japanese were very efficient in "driver, pass, 3 point shots". We were able to lock in the first quarter until the middle of the second and then we started to let go in the assists. They started to put their shots… This is where they are performing, this is how they got here. We did not know how to recover in defense. They are 3-point shooters that are rarely seen in the world. If you don't touch them, if you don't push them around and leave a few centimeters, they perform well. We did not know how to take the extra step in defense, to put this energy on top of that. We knew what to do, that's whatthey did on all matches. We didn't know how to do the right thing. The reaction at the end of the game? We wanted to put on a better face, it was an initiative of us, the players. It should have started earlier in the game.

We let them gain confidence in things we knew we had to control but which, despite everything, happened. They have increased their level of play, their aggressiveness, maybe we should have played like in the last minutes when we managed to put a little more aggression, we made them lose balloons. Maybe it was a little too easy for them tonight. We try, we don't want to take these baskets, not to be on the player who cuts, who receives the ball and shoots but sometimes there are shifts. There is a game they have mastered, an insolent skill. We have to keep the medal in mind, we let the gold, the silver slip away, we still have the bronze, he keeps that in his sights. This is what should motivate us, animate us,give us the strength to get up again, to come back, to get over the pain, the disappointment, all that we can feel at the moment.