Since his arrival at the head of the French team in 2009, Vincent Collet has always wanted to give the selection a defensive identity. On the sidelines of the 2024 Olympic Games, its objective is clearer than ever, to make the Blues the best defense in the world.
Last year, during the 2023 World Cup, the French team missed out on its competition by failing to perform well in attack, but also by letting the defensive identity that had given it fall a little. allowed him to finish on the podium in the three previous international competitions.
Something that Vincent Collet, the coach, does not want to see happen again. Guest of the show NBA Extra on beIN Sports, he has very clearly established his objective on this side of the floor.
“It is essential to regain our defensive impact, we want to have the best defense in the competition.”
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextraabout his choices: “It is essential to regain our defensive impact, we want to have the best defense in the competition”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
And the least we can say is that he has the squad for it. The racket is simply made up of the players who finished in the first two places in the NBA Defender of the Year rankings, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama. Jaylen Hoard and Vincent Poirier, two interior players with a strong defensive impact, are also part of the preselection revealed yesterday by the coach.
During the Press Conference held for the occasion, Vincent Collet spoke about the association between the center of the Minnesota Timberwolves and that of the San Antonio Spurs, particularly in defense:
“They will play together, not systematically, we will have to find complicity and balance. But I see no reason not to combine them. They provide us with a defensive base.”
Vincent Collet on Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama:
“They will play together, not systematically, we will have to find complicity and balance. But I see no reason not to combine them. They provide us with a defensive base”@TrashTalk_fr
— Robin Wolff (TrashTalk) (@robinwolff12) May 16, 2024
As for the exteriors, Nicolas Batum, Bilal Coulibaly and Isaïa Cordinier are specialists in the exercise and correspond 100% to the identity desired by the coach.
Finally on the playmaker position, Sylvain Francisco was left on the sidelines because of his size, but also because his profile is less defensive than some of the others called up. Frank Ntilikina, Killian Hayes and Andrew Albicy are no gift to any opposing outside.
But defending well is collective and having an accumulation of individual specialists is not a guarantee of success on this side of the floor. Nevertheless, it helps and the Blues will have to take advantage of the preparation to find automatisms and become hell for German, Japanese and all the other attacks.
Bonus : small homemade selection of Vincent Collet’s main speeches in today’s NBA Extra!
Vincent Collet live in @NBAextra : “Rudy Gobert is having the best season of his career”.
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextra : “Killian Hayes has been working in Orlando for two months, and some of his performances this season with the Pistons are not neutral”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextra : “Very clearly, we have a team that is tilting towards the inside”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextra : “Victor Wembanyama must become a kind of Jokic”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextra : “Bilal Coulibaly is amazing, he advances very quickly, he is one of those who will help us raise our intensity”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextra : “Being able to get back on the podium would be a remarkable result for me”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Vincent Collet live on @NBAextra : “the defensive aspect completely ruined Team USA last year, the fact that Jrue Holiday is there this year is not insignificant”
— TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) May 17, 2024
Source text: beIN Sports and TrashTalk
2024-05-17 12:08:00
#defense
