The ghosts Nando De Colo and Nicolas Batum, as well as Rudy Gobert, appear in the list unveiled Wednesday for the 2023 Basketball World Cup by the coach of the Blues Vincent Collet, unlike the Franco-Cameroonian pivot Joel Embiid and the new star Victor Wembanyama. De Colo and Batum had given up on Euro 2022 to spare themselves, a reason which prompted Gobert to hesitate to participate in the 2023 World Cup (August 25-September 10 in Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan) before confirming his presence.
Wembanyama prefers to focus on the NBA season
Wembanyama had announced to him on Monday that he would not be there to focus on his first NBA season to come. “We tried (to change his mind) but there are a lot of issues around him”, commented Vincent Collet in the show all sports on France 3. “He has returned to a new life and I believe that there are fears in relation to the sequence of the championship this year, the possible competition this summer and then a first season in the NBA with enormous expectations . This is the reason why he declined this selection.”
The absence of Embiid, MVP of the past regular season with the Philadelphia Sixers and courted by the French and American federations, was not mentioned.
Batum and De Colo to “find the binder”
On the other hand, Collet was delighted with the return of executives De Colo and Batum (340 selections between them), essential players during the beautiful epic of the Blues at the Tokyo Olympics, which ended with the silver medal. . “Two very important returns, experienced players who were part of previous adventures, two of the leaders of the Olympic team who brought back the silver from Tokyo”, underlined Collet, who also coaches Boulogne-Levallois, in the French championship. . “So I think it’s two players who will help us find the binder that we lost a bit last year.”
At Euro 2022, France lost in the final against Spain (88-76). In order to densify the interior sector, the list of twelve names unveiled on Wednesday also includes interior Mathias Lessort, who is coming out of a brilliant Euroleague season with Partizan Belgrade (he has since signed with Panathinaikos). Second best scorer in the competition and best rebounder with Partizan Belgrade, Lessort can play as a strong winger and pivot. As a result, Real Madrid pivot Vincent Poirier, an important player in the rotation at the Olympic tournament two years ago in Tokyo, was not selected.
Francisco, Ouattara… These few surprises
Among the back lines, the surprises are, at the position of leader, with Sylvain Francisco (Peristeri, in Greece) preferred to Andrew Albicy or Killian Hayes, and at the position of winger, with Yakuba Ouattara, captain of Monaco, recent champion of France. Pocket leader (1.79m) but very explosive, Francisco (25) will participate in his first international competition, after helping the team qualify for the World Cup, playing his six matches with the Blues in qualifying at the end of 2022 and early 2023.
A time tipped to join the group, veteran Rodrigue Beaubois (35, Efes Istanbul) will ultimately not honor his first selection. The France team, bronze medalists at the 2019 World Cup in China, was placed in group H with Canada, Latvia and Lebanon. She will play her first round and the second in case of qualification in Jakarta (Indonesia), before possibly taking the direction of Pasay City (Philippines) for the quarter-finals and the rest of the competition.
The list of 12 Blues:
Leader-backs: Nando De Colo (Asvel), Frank Ntilikina (Dallas Mavericks / USA), Sylvain Francisco (Peristeri / GRE), Elie Okobo (Monaco)
Wingers: Evan Fournier (New York Knicks/USA), Yakuba Ouattara (Monaco), Nicolas Batum (Los Angeles Clippers/USA), Terry Tarpey (Monaco)
Interiors: Guershon Yabusele (Real Madrid / ESP), Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves / USA), Moustapha Fall (Olympiacos / GRE), Mathias Lessort (Panathinaikos / GRE)