This is the start of a new story.
After being penalized for traveling to the United States to join her club New York Liberty, Marine Johannès was excluded from the group for Euro 2023. A heavy loss, which was felt after a surprise elimination in the semi-finals. -final against Belgium.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the best passer of the Blues at Euro 2021 took advantage of her summer to reach a new level with the Americans.
“Yes, I find that this summer made me grow, it was a good experience for me, with a new role that I had not necessarily had in my previous teams,” she confided to AFP .
Injured for the 2022 World Cup, ASVEL number 23 makes her return in blue to help the French women get on the podium in Paris.
“I don’t necessarily want to talk about that again.
I just want us to all agree on moving on.
The goal is the Olympics.
» Third in 2021 in Tokyo, the French team will try to do as well as the Braqueuses of Céline Dumerc in 2012, when they obtained silver behind the Americans.
Also read “I had to work on myself”: Rachid Meziane, the French coach who left to train Belgian basketball players
During her exile in New York, the 29-year-old made her mark by finishing as top scorer in the final of the Commissioner's Cup, a mid-season tournament, and by reaching the WNBA finals with her team.
Since her return to France, with ASVEL, she has been the best three-point shooter in the league.
An offensive threat that she has already experienced in the United States as the player who averages 39% from distance in career threes in the WNBA.
Johannès is increasingly asserting herself as the leader of this French team.
“People who know me know that I can now no longer talk in the locker room or even in Lyon during downtime,” she explains.
I will say what I think will be useful to help the team.
I also dare to say more and more what I see on the ground.
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Already qualified for the Olympic Games, Marine Johannès and the Blues are in China to participate in the Olympic qualifying tournament, the first test before the final preparation.
The French will start against Puerto Rico on Thursday February 8, before facing China and New Zealand on February 10 and 11.