Faced with a much inferior team on paper, and despite consistent phases of play, Vincent Collet’s men signed a discreet first quarter.
The collective rise in power is gradual, but the flaws are very quickly identifiable: 0/7 from 3-pointers, but also 4 ball losses (for 4 assists). Overall, France lacks toughness at the start of this match, especially in defense, and only points to +5 after the first ten minutes (25-20).
Regarding rotations, we note that Theo Maledon and Elie Okobo are the first to come off the bench, in place of Thomas Heurtel and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, before Frank Ntilikina returns in turn for a configuration with three leaders .
The start of the second quarter is more satisfactory, with a French team raising their tone in defense and quickly signing a first break at +12 (37-25), under the impetus of the substitutes, particularly Frank Ntilikina and Vincent Poirier . But the French, after a time-out from the Netherlands, did not capitalize on this “momentum” in the second half of this second act, and fell back into their ways from the start of the match.
At the end of this first half during which it was ultimately the substitutes who played the most, France was only six steps ahead (45-39).
Back to normal after the break
Returning from the locker room, Vincent Collet offers an extended passage to his holders, who played little in the first half and who then spend almost the entire third quarter on the floor. And we can see the difference in the score: under the impetus of an Evan Fournier who is gaining momentum, and a finally stabilized defense, the Blues stick a 26-12 to their opponents in the third act, closing it with an 18 -0!
Despite Yannick Franke’s hot hand, the Netherlands took on water after half an hour (71-51).
The last quarter is anecdotal as the gap dug by the French in the previous act is important. A difference that climbs to +25 in the “garbage time”…
In the last minutes, Vincent Collet brings in Terry Tarpey and William Howard, so that everyone can participate in the celebration. The bench is happy to finish the meeting, like this “alley-oop” between Elie Okobo at the launch and Isaiah Cordinier at the finish.
France finally won by 24 points against a modest team from the Netherlands (89-65), after having signed a very big second half at 44 points which made us forget a more sluggish first half. Overall, the teammates of captain Evan Fournier, the game’s top scorer with 15 points, had a convincing game, even if there is still work to be done before they are ready to start the Euros.
The final word for Evan Fournier, who was at the microphone of Bein Sports after the meeting.
« It’s always special the first meetings, because we lack rhythm and automatisms. But we have a group that knows each other. We saw some interesting things, but also a lot of waste. But now, the first preparation matches are made for that. We have to keep building. »
The next meeting: Friday August 12, in Bologna against Italy (8:30 p.m.).
The stats of the French: Evan Fournier (15 points, 2 assists), Rudy Gobert (12 points, 9 rebounds), Vincent Poirier (11 points, 8 rebounds), Théo Maledon (9 points, 2 assists), Elie Okobo (8 points, 2 rebounds, 4 passes).
