the Blues fall against an overly powerful Roja – Liberation

“We were not up to the event”, regretted Andrew Albicy after the final of Eurobasket 2022. France then just lost (76-88) against the Spanish rival. The leader of the Blues is surely included in it, he is so efficient in defense, who despite everything had to leave after a few minutes of play because of faults that were too quick. But this defeat is to be credited to no one, or all of them at the same time. Spain were simply too strong on Sunday night in Berlin, sure of their game and agile in their shots. With its experience of trophies. The reigning world champions glean their fourth European championship out of six contested editions.

We also quickly felt that the case would be if not insurmountable for the Blues, at least would be a feat. The first quarter was nothing but frustration, for the players, for the Blues fans, for the coach, Vincent Collet. Lost bullets, omissions in defense, shots not really inspired… France letting Spain fly away by 9 points. A gap that will stand at 10 points at halftime, after taking on water at the start of the second quarter.

And if an executioner had to be found, it was Juancho Hernangomez who wore the hood. Author of 7 three-point shots out of 9 attempted, he destroyed any hope of seeing the Blues pick up at La Roja. He finished best player in the final, when his brother, Willy, was crowned best player of the tournament. “Juancho Hernangomez had the match of his life, sighed Guerschon Yabusele. He never played like that, took almost improbable shots but it was up to us to adapt and we had to deal with his case earlier in the match.

“Not mature enough”

Vincent Collet’s annoyed look after each of his long-range shots spoke volumes. But the French coach has never managed to convince his players to take the extra step that bothers them, to make the effort to get out of a Spanish screen more quickly or to pass under it, in short to make Juancho Hernangomez doubt his state of grace. Collet still put a new medal in his bag, his seventh in twelve tournaments. Silver, as often, since if the Blues have been used to podiums for years, gold often seems far away.

There will have been no miracle comeback, a trademark of the France team, shaped during the matches against Turkey and Italy, during which the Blues qualified hard, mentally. “We got closer but each time, we did something stupid again, two stupid things… analyzed Vincent Collet after the meeting. It was a bit like the rock of Sisyphus, you go up and then you take a punishment behind. Against Spain, however, they came back to 3 points in the middle of the third quarter, but it will be too fair against the powerful Roja, so annoying in the eyes of French fans and players, who prefer to praise, with sincerity , the talent of his adversaries. The Fournier-Gobert generation has failed to match that of Parker-Batum, who claimed gold in this competition in 2013. So far.

Because what will remain of this Eurobasket 2022 for the Blues? Less than two years from the meeting of a whole career, the Paris Olympics, it was the penultimate stage before the World Cup in 2023. Vincent Collet, the coach, after the defeat: “It’s not a question of courage, we fought but we don’t have enough maturity.” It seems that you don’t learn anything if you don’t fall. Listening to the disappointment of Evan Fournier, Rudy Gobert and others, they will arrive with much more knowledge on the banks of the Seine in 2024.