team france at the world championship - tony's back

[JUUOT]

The world cup wound is still hurting and the dust is just settling down. But great times are coming and today was France first game to start preparing for the championship in august.

So here it is, france is en route to the medals and tont is back from vacations. he had a good break since the season ended early (this wound too is still hurting... men) travelled with Eva and enjoyed the world cup. However he is already in rythm. He started training friday one day earlier than anticipated. they did a lot of physic training this week end. the first game was against Switzerland, a modest european team.

Tony had 13 points and 7 assists out of a total of 19 for the team. It is a good start after such a long break.

Next is a tournament next week end against better teams so it will tell us more.

Tony and boris diaw will be the clear leaders of this team with a huge potential. it should be nice for us spurs and basket fan to follow tony...i am all pumped up...

[Solid D]

Does France have better size in the pivot this year? That's the only thing that hurt them in Eurobasket...(besides their FT shooting).

[boutons_]

Juuot, what do you think the rotation will look like:

PG Tony/?
SG ?/?
SF ?/?
PF ?/?
C ?/?

Allez les Bleues

[JUUOT]

Does France have better size in the pivot this year? That's the only thing that hurt them in Eurobasket...(besides their FT shooting).

The coach was really enthousiast about Fred Weis, apparently he is in the best shape of his life (his career did not turn out as projected for injury and shape problem) and Johan Petro improved quite a bit and has good syze and athletism. It gives you two tower of 2,18m and 2.14m.

The competition is huge for the places on the team for the bigs, since there are also Julian and pietrus (florent) that won the medal last year competing for the other spots with turiaf from the lakers and massingue.

i think Weis is the only one already in

[JUUOT]

Juuot, what do you think the rotation will look like:

[/b]

First i definetely think the team will be way better than last year and i am really excited about their potential with tony and boris beeing the framework.

PG: Tony and joseph Gomis
WIngs: Mike pietrus, Gelabale, foirest, diaw
Bigs: Fred Weis, Petro, flo pietrus, Julian

Here is a group of ten. it lacks some shooting so to complete the group we should see a shooter, morandais could be the surprise
and most likely another big and you can't help but to love turiaf.

after next week end tournament 3 guys will get cut so we will know a bit better. I'll try to keep you posted. I am sure Bruno will also help

[grjr]

The coach was really enthousiast about Fred Weis, apparently he is in the best shape of his life (his career did not turn out as projected for injury and shape problem)

Not to mention the concussion from Vince Carter's nuts.

[Bruno]

I am sure Bruno will also help

Of course, I will. French team looks quite good and they will be even better in 2 years for the olympics.

For the moment, french team has 17 players : 5 will be cut before the world championship.

French bigs will be ok with Petro, Weis and Turiaf at center. In two years, it will be better with Mahinmi and Noah. France biggest weakness are the lack of experience and the lack of outside shooting.

From the nba standpoint, the only player that don't play in nba and with a nba potential is Yannick Bokolo, he will be cut os stay at teh end of the bench. He is defensive combo guard with huge athletic abilities (just check the block he did in the french championship final : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGPzh5AZAIg ).

A big question too is : AT what post Diaw will play ? PF or SF ?

France will be the most athletic team behind USA and will play good defense. If they hit their 3's and if they don't choke (like against Greece last year), they will be very difficult to beat.

[Bruno]

http://www.noticias.info/asp/aspComunicados.asp?nid=202098&src=0

FIBA: FRA - France in upbeat mood

DIVONNE-LES-BAINS (FIBA World Championship) - France will kick-start their FIBA World Championship preparation for good on Monday evening when they face Switzerland in their first friendly in Divonne-les-Bains.

France, who have never lost to the Swiss in 27 encounters, will play a total of 12 friendlies before the prestigious 24-team tournament, which tips off in Japan on August 19. The team started their preparations in Divonne last week without point guard Tony Parker and guard/forward Mickael Gelabale, who was in Seattle to seal his contract with the SuperSonics. Both players have now joined the rest of the team and the Parker is eager to start the competition.

"This is the first time I've finished a season with no injury," said the San Antonio Spurs superstar in L'Equipe. "I feel perfectly fine to play with the French team and I hope to reach top form in two weeks time for the Berlin tournament (from August 3 to 5). Against Switzerland, I will play my best as if we were facing the Argentinians or the Greeks. I have not played for two months and I will be very motivated."

For coach Claude Bergeaud, the clash will be an opportunity to start drawing up the final 12-man squad he will take to Japan. Out of the 17 currently in the team, Parker, Boris Diaw, Gelabale, Cyril Julian, Mickael and Florent Pietrus, Laurent Foirest and Frederic Weis, have all but secured their ticket to the land of the rising sun.

Foirest is a long-time member of the national side but was injured and unable to play for Les Bleus last year at the EuroBasket where they won the bronze medal.

Center Weis was a big-time player for France at the EuroBasket and Bergeaud is expecting him to make vital contributions this time.

"I have never seen him play so well," said coach Bergeaud. He is exceptional and is leading the younger ones."

Centers Johan Petro, Ronny Turiaf and Vincent Masingue are all fighting for a place in the side.

"This is very open," said Bergeaud. "I am very impressed by the form and the motivation of the guys."

Bergeaud will reduce his squad to 14 men after the Strasbourg tournament, which is being played July 21-23.

[timvp]

Is it true that European teams see the World Championships as greater than the Olympics?

[Bruno]

Is it true that European teams see the World Championships as greater than the Olympics?

No, I've never heard that.

[JUUOT]

France biggest weakness are the lack of experience and the lack of outside shooting.

A big question too is : AT what post Diaw will play ? PF or SF ?


i knew you were not far bruno lol.

I think Foirest will have a huge role on the team, kind of rigeaudeau of last summer. If he stays healthy he will be the plug for the lack of experience AND the outside shooting. Tony is also fastly becoming a veteran at this rate and his jumpshot improvements will be heavely tested.
The rest of the team is so young and athletic that if they get rolling and get some momentum in a tournament like this it could be scary, but i am afraid about their resiliency. Turiaf, Pietrus, Foirest and diaw should hold the fort if it starts falling appart.

Concerning Diaw, i can not find it but i recall bergeaud implying he would select him at a SF spot but will most likely spend a lot of time at the 4. However i feel we have good solution there 2. my starting 5:

parker
foirest
gelabale
diaw
Weis

from the bench: the pietrus family

[Bruno]

I'm never far when it's french NT. :)

I think too that Diaw will mainly play PF. I like your starting 5 even if I rather have Pietrus starting at SG and Foirest coming from the bench.

[JUUOT]

Is it true that European teams see the World Championships as greater than the Olympics?

when france wins both i will tell you which one i see as greater...

[mathbzh]

Go France!!!
I am pretty excited with the french team.
I am pretty sure that bergeaud will not have a starting 5 for the whole championship.
This guy is in love with coaching and will always try to adjust the lineup to the oponent. Don't forget he was not afraid to use Parker of the bench last year. He is also the coach who will try to select the best team not the best players.

With the 17 available players France can propose and respond to any strategy. here a bunch of possible lineups
Small athletic and defensive :
TP, Gelabale, M.Pietrus, B.Diaw, F.Pietrus
Big athletic (adding Petro and/or Turiaf)
Experienced to slow down the pace with foirest and Weiss in.

Of course 5 players will be cut so it will reduce the possibilities. I am not sure Petro will be in.
But I guess we will still have a very versatile team (thanks to Diaw for that).

Wait and see

[velik_m]

Does France have better size in the pivot this year? That's the only thing that hurt them in Eurobasket...(besides their FT shooting).

France small ball scares me more than anything else. If we play France in this tournament i would prefer they go as big as possible.

[GrandeDavid]

I want a Spurs medal in each category:

Bowen - Gold
Manu - Silver
Tony - Bronze

Its legit! Could happen!

[Phenomanul]

I want a Spurs medal in each category:

Bowen - Gold
Manu - Silver
Tony - Bronze

Its legit! Could happen!


You read my mind.

[Beer is Good]

I can't get into basketball on the international stage. Soccer I love on the international stage and don't care much for it except for Champions League. International Basketball I don't care much for.

[tp time]

Diaw is the new captain.
Why not tony??

[furry_spurry]

France small ball scares me more than anything else. If we play France in this tournament i would prefer they go as big as possible.
Worked well last summer :)

[velik_m]

Worked well last summer :)

somehow i doubt Diaw will go 2/10 from freethrows again.

[cheguevara]

I recommend you put this frenchman to guard Lebron or Wade :)

http://www.metimes.com/images/photos/full/20060711-054350-8913.jpg

[GrandeDavid]

Its funny cuz Tony will be so key to the Spurs' fortunes next season. If France and the U.S. faced off I'd definitely want him to light it up to get him even more confidence against the premier point guards in the NBA, like Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups. But I'd want the U.S. to sneak the W. ha ha

[JUUOT]

Diaw is the new captain.
Why not tony??

Tony was the captain for a period last year if remember correctly and it was too much pressure. he was not ready for it. He discussed with coach bergeaud and he decided he did not want to be captain again.

I love the choice of Boris and i am pretty sure Tony pushed for boris to be the captain.

It seems jeanneau has a good chance of being tony's back-up. They are a good fit since jeanneau is a pure pass first organise the team pg.

Petro is far from a sure bet upfront since turiaf and massingue are pushing. Turiaf is the best fit in terms of personality but it is hard to say no to petro' athletism and power in the paint.

[V-2]

What are the expectations of this French team?
They don't seem ready to compete for a medal yet.

[JUUOT]

What are the expectations of this French team?
They don't seem ready to compete for a medal yet.

as was pointed out earlier they should pick for the next olympic cause they are really young.

However with a young and athletic team (the second best in athletism after US) in such a tournament they could catch fire and get a medal.

The expectation is to finish in the first 5

[furry_spurry]

somehow i doubt Diaw will go 2/10 from freethrows again.
Or Rasho will totally shut down Tony in the paint agian. :) No need to feel "bad" about doing it to a teammate this time- this time he has to shut down a new teammate-- Chris Bosh.

[JUUOT]

As the spurs summer league team is playing its last game with Ian. The spurs other FRenchie was playing in hell with the French national team.

Indeed, France beat Senegal 95-58 in a gym where the AC was down and temperature reaching more than 40 celsius degrees.

Coach Bergeaud did not lose anytime to show what his choices will be and showcasing the french stars and nba exiled talents. The starters for this game were:
TP - mike Pietrus - Gelabale - Diaw - Weis

Since most of you really care mostly about Tony and not so much about France, Tony had a GREAT game. 13 points, 10 assists, 4 steals. Tony is starting where he left of. The report from the game said he was already one of the sharpest.

The game also gave some pretty good indication of the make-up of the french bench. Jeanneau confirmed he could be the right fit behind Parker playing a solid game and getting in the role of back-up. He is showing the kind of maturity and poise you need to be a solid Back up. Diarra is proving for the second game he deserves the spot left on the wing ahead of morandais. MOre surprising was Petro failing to convince he deserves a spot on the final list going to the tournament. He disapointed whereas Turiaf is his solid self. If Boris and weis are the starter and Julian and pietrus then you need an insurance like turiaf, not a guy that has too long teeth. I also suspect reading between the lines that Petro is having a hard time integrating with the group. It is true that tony, boris the pietrus and turiaf are best friends froma long time ago and most of the team was together last summer for the european adventure.

So to summarize, tony looks good, as well as the other starter. the make-up of the team now looks like this:

starter:TP - mike Pietrus - Gelabale - Diaw - Weis
bench: jeanneau - foirest - diarra - flo pietrus - julian
extra: turiaf and...

http://lequipe.fr/Basket/20060721_223726Dev.html

[SpursIndonesia]

If the French coach thinks that Petro has the potential to be the strong faoundation in the middle of future French NT, then he should give him the chance as one of the WC team member this summer. The French isn't expected to win any medal anyway, so giving the valuable experience would beear a great benefit to Petro's development as part of developing French NT.

[Darkwaters]

JUUOT,

I'm curious, how is Mikael Gelabale doing? This guy seems to be a pretty interesting prospect and he just signed a 2 year guaranteed contract with the Sonics. They seem pretty high on him, so I wonder what he looks like in international competition since hes been with Real Madrid a while.

[JUUOT]

JUUOT,

I'm curious, how is Mikael Gelabale doing? This guy seems to be a pretty interesting prospect and he just signed a 2 year guaranteed contract with the Sonics. They seem pretty high on him, so I wonder what he looks like in international competition since hes been with Real Madrid a while.

Gelabale had an average year in his team. He was in disagreement with his coach and the rumor was the club made him pay for wanting to leave for the nba. Last year with France, he confirmed his potential. he had a lot of playing time. I see him as a Bruce Bowen player in the sense that he anchores your team. You will never see him panic, he is a soothing force and do all the small things. He is a catalyst and those guys are rare. However i am afraid of his signing with the sonics. Gelabale is like diaw, he needs to play on a team that respect fondamentals and play TEAM basketball to blossom. For example he would be a perfect fit for the SPurs

[Bruno]

Gelabale had an average year in his team.

I agree with you, but horrible year (mainly because of the disagreement with his coach) is more acurate. :)
He will be fine with french NT and it will greatly help his confidence before playing in nba.

BTW, Boxscore of yesterday game :
http://live.basketfrance.com/edf/stats/ami_112.pdf

[JUUOT]

One of the mains stat to monitor this summer for Parker is his jumpshot and subsequently 3pt percentage. Last year he took only 36 in the whole season and made 11 of them =.306

It ha been a full yer tony is reworking his jumpsht with Chip. Results were visible fast on the FT. the jumpshot inside the line got more consistent but POP said tony wll have to start shooting the 3pt eventually.

He shot 66% in this game in 3 attempts. GOOD SIGN, Tony might be able to reach another level this year. Let's remember he and chip said it would be a 3 year process to have a consistent and killer jumpshot

[ducks]

actually pop said this summer he would work on his three point shooting something tony really did not need to add

[Bruno]

He will play with FIBA 3 points line this summer (21ft while it's 24ft in nba), you can't compare with his nba 3P%.

[JUUOT]

He will play with FIBA 3 points line this summer (21ft while it's 24ft in nba), you can't compare with his nba 3P%.

saturday morning brain-fart... i should go have my croissant and baguette now...

[picnroll]

Parker takes most of his threes from the top of the circle or just off to the side. What's the distance to basket from the top of the circle with FIBA?

[Bruno]

Parker takes most of his threes from the top of the circle or just off to the side. What's the distance to basket from the top of the circle with FIBA?

FIBA : 21ft everywhere.
NBA : 24ft top of the arc, 22ft corner.

[picnroll]

FIBA : 21ft everywhere.
NBA : 24ft top of the arc, 22ft corner.
Thanks. Well his FIBA 3 point percentage will give some idea of how his long range 2 is working. It will be interesting to see how much all of Parker's work with Engelland benefits team France.

As all French team followers know, Parker will be driving the paint against Javtokas today. Hope Robertas doesn't hold any grudges against the Spurs.

[Darkwaters]

Thanks. Well his FIBA 3 point percentage will give some idea of how his long range 2 is working. It will be interesting to see how much all of Parker's work with Engelland benefits team France.

As all French team followers know, Parker will be driving the paint against Javtokas today. Hope Robertas doesn't hold any grudges against the Spurs.

So they're playing Lithuania? I'd like to see what Arvydas Macijauskas does (as I assume hes on that team).

[Avec Fromage]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bruno]

Some pictures of the France/Senegal game :

http://www.sigbasket.eu/modules/myalbum/viewcat.php?location_id=196&imgcat_id=142

[Bruno]

Three players are cut : Mazingue, Morandais and Brun.

French coach still need to cut 2 players. The first will be a PG (Bokolo, Gomis or Jeanneau) and the second will be a big (Turiaf or Petro).

My guess is that Bokolo and Petro will be cut.

French NT for Japan :
PG : Parker / Gomis / Jeanneau
SG : Mike Pietrus / Foirest
SF : Gelabale / Diarra
PF : Diaw / Florent Pietrus
C : Weis / Julian / Turiaf

[JUUOT]

Three players are cut : Mazingue, Morandais and Brun.

French coach still need to cut 2 players. The first will be a PG (Bokolo, Gomis or Jeanneau) and the second will be a big (Turiaf or Petro).

My guess is that Bokolo and Petro will be cut.

French NT for Japan :
PG : Parker / Gomis / Jeanneau
SG : Mike Pietrus / Foirest
SF : Gelabale / Diarra
PF : Diaw / Florent Pietrus
C : Weis / Julian / Turiaf

totally agree with the team. Foirest replace rigeaudeau for the experienced wing. diaw reached NBA Star status, tony found a jump shot. Weis in the best shape ever, diarra improved. Add the enthousiasm of the new comers jeanneau and turiaf and...

WATCH OUT FRANCE IS COMING TO GET YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

[El_Mago]

Damn, Gelabale looks like he needs to put on some muscle.

I know must Euro's are not that big, but he looks so skinny....even his legs.

He's going to need some muscle at the SF.

[SpursIndonesia]

Damn, Gelabale looks like he needs to put on some muscle.

I know must Euro's are not that big, but he looks so skinny....even his legs.

He's going to need some muscle at the SF.
In NBA, i think his natural position would be SG. And yes, 15 lbs of muscle will help him A LOT as NBA player, even at his natural SG position.

[picnroll]

What's with all these skinny Frenchmen. I thought French food was supposed to be good.

[1Parker1]

What's with all these skinny Frenchmen. I thought French food was supposed to be good.

Actually, French people are known to be thin, despite always eating fine cuisine. Partly because their portion size is the equivalent of the Kid's size Happy Meal in the U.S. :lol

[OM_fever]

first thanks Juuot & Bruno for links & news!

Concerning the food, yes we like to eat in France but as you say 1Parker1, we don't have the same portion. For instance, the smallest McDo portion in the US is the biggest one in France. We eat as well plenty of different stuff, which help us to have a more balanced alimentation. (even if that trends begin to change)

I've remembered having eat a "normal" steak in Dallas & couldn't finish it. Even worse, I couldn't eat any meat for the rest of my journey. :depressed

And we don't have the cutlure of lifting weights & getting muscle. In the US, plenty of guys have that trained body, with caracteristic type of muscles that you can only developed by lifting. In France, really few people are interested in getting that kind of muscle. Don't know why, maybe we consider that has cheatted...

[renu]

Is it true that European teams see the World Championships as greater than the Olympics?

:lol

Not the European Teams that come from Europe.

WC is just another friendly tournament. We qualify to it by means of European Championship, so it is seen like a reward for playing good in EC and a chance to play against USA and maybe Argentina.

Ofcourse you get the title "world champion" but c'mon.. EC is much more "serious" competion for us. This is all IMHO.

BTW i am one of the Slovenians (luved by everyone)

:king

[Kori Ellis]

In NBA, i think his natural position would be SG. And yes, 15 lbs of muscle will help him A LOT as NBA player, even at his natural SG position.

True. The Sonics are planning on using him at SG to backup Ray Allen. They think he's too small for SF in the NBA.

[JUUOT]

From lequipe.fr the 26 july, an article on Tony quotes chip engelland:

Chip: "when did tony had his best season? When did he take the least three point shot? Gregg Popovich does not want tony to make 3 from 3points and then none the 2 next games and then 2. But he wants one then one then one then one, You haveto restart with fundamentals. the essential is the technic"

Tony should have more 3 points attempts overall next season but not many in one game. With the national team he will have to rely on his outside shot a lot because of the zone defense so he will be forced to practise but bruno pointed out that the 3 point line is closer than in the nba. i can take tony shooting 50% for long 2 and 33% from 3

«Quand Tony a-t-il réalisé sa meilleure saison ?», demande Engelland. Cette année (18,9 pts à 55%). «Quand a-t-il le moins shooté à trois points ?» Cette année (11/36, 43/156 l'année précédente). «Gregg Popovich ne veut pas que Tony rentre trois tirs à trois points, puis zéro les deux matches suivants, puis deux. Mais un, puis un, puis un, puis un. Il faut tout reprendre de la base. Le point primordial, c'est la technique.» Le coach américain imite alors les shoots de Ray Allen et Peja Stojakovic, shooteurs de référence, la main porteuse devant le visage, puis remonte les doigts d'une dizaine de centimètres. «Ca, c'est Tony».

[Cancer man #81]

No Tony is no my fav Player so not me

[Lady M]

France beat Italy 66-59 tonight a very young Italy
TP 23pts for 26 minutes 8/11 3 ass

[ducks]

wow

were they jumpshots?

[JUUOT]

i can not find the stat-sheet. But from all teh post game comments:

Nobody played big minutes (tony 26mn). Bergeaud is still trying to make evrybody ready. It seems as the last spots will be between bokolo and gomis at the back and turiaf and petro upfront. Bokolo and turiaf did not play today and will most likely replace petro and gomis tomorrow.

France built the 66-59 on defense as usual. They played a lot of zone especially 2-3 zone in second half daring the young italian team to shoot. It seems the staff is happy with the direction the defense is going

HOWEVER,

The offense is not as smooth. Tony keep repeating that they have to find a balance with their inside game and that so far the whole offense is carried by the wing (and him but he is not supposed to say this, he scored 23 points of the 66 in 26mn) Weis and flo pietrus are really providing the rebounding we needed and a huge defensive presence but they lack the offensive game in the post. Problem is Neither Petro nor turiaf will provide this either which means we will have to rely on boris and julian for inside threat on offense...It seems that france will live or die by its exterior offensive game. Tony will be the key as will be foirest and pietrus.

Tony is looking for redemption after his poor play of last summer and prove everybody that him and boris can lead this team.

[ducks]

thanks

[Bruno]

BTW, congrats to the U18 French NT to have won the euro. Last time France did that it was in 2000 with Parker, Diaw, Pietrus, Turiaf, Diawara... Nicolas Batum (MVP of this tournament) has a huge upside.

French NT future looks very brightwith a ton of good young players :
1982 : Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, Mickael Pietrus, Ronny Turiaf, Yakhouba Diawara
1983 : Mickael Gelabale, Alain Koffi
1985 : Joakim Noah, Yannick Bokolo, Ali Traoré
1986 : Johan Petro, Ian Mahinmi, Mickael Mokongo, Sourata Cissé
1987 : Aldo Curti
1988 : Nicolas Batum, Alexis Ajinca, Adrien Moerman, Ludovic Vaty
1989 : Antoine Diot
:elephant

[Lady M]

if you want see the boxscore from the acropole tournament (http://www.galanissportsdata.com/Galanis/Basketball/Acropolis/2006/a1day.asp?d=2)
be very patient, it's very very slow
the teams are Greec France Croatia and Italy
france win the 6th game :elephant 76-69 against croatia

[JUUOT]

first loss for france and a bad one to greece 70-56. the game was played in athens and is France first loss in 7 prepartion games so far.
we will know more soon.

[JUUOT]

Tony scored 20 of the 56 points and finished MVP of the tournament. France was leading at halftime against the europeean champion.

After seven games the french team confirmed many things:

the team is freaking athletic

The base is DEFENSE and our interior defense and rebounding improved from last summer.

The problem is still the offense that would be dry to death unless tony was carrying the team with 1/3 of the points. Boris was quiet during the tournament...

We should soon know the 2 guys out and the rotation should start to settle giving the offense a better chance to flow

[Bruno]

Some news :
- French NT has lost 3 games in a rowafter winning his 6 first games, they seem to be tired (they have played 5 games in 6 days.
- Diarra has been cut, french's coach should still cut one player.
- Turiaf will be the backup C behind Weis (who is injured for the moment). I'm happy for him because he is a nice guy and his story with his heart surgery is awesome.
- The next guy cut should be Julian or Petro. It can too be a PG if Weis isn't at 100% for the start of the WC.
- French NT will play a lot with 2 PG, there will likely have 4 PG on France roster : SG is the weak spot for french NT.

[JUUOT]

Some News:

Tony is hurt!!!!!!!! we do not know the importance of it just yet but he has a problem with a finger. Tony has carried the team in the last preparation games as the team was struggling.

The team is complete. Because of tony's problem and the need for size inside, it was finally a BIG that was rejected from the team. Julian who was the MVP of the french league and had 10 years of experience with team france was left out of the final roster. it must be a huge disappointment since he suggested it would have been his last international tournament with the team...

The final team:

Guards: Parker, Gomis (parker like with obviously a lot less talent), Jeanneau (pure Point guard) and Bokolo

Swing: M. pietrus(GSW), gelabale (sonics) and Foirest (could have been the captain instead of boris)

PF: boris diaw (phoenix) F. Pietrus (defensive beast)

C: F. Weis, Turiaf (lakers) will be the first big off the bench, and johan Petro (sonics)

Starting five baring injuries: TP - M.Pietrus - Gelebale - Diaw - Weis

First of the bench: Jeanneau - foirest - f.pietrus - turiaf

[Bruno]

Julian is a good choice : he is a nice guy and a real warrior but he is a limited player.
France has a team built for the future with 8 player below 25 years old.
Parker's injury doesn't look too bad (I've watch the end of the game), my guess is that he will be ready for the first game of the WC and that he would have continue to play this game if it wasn't a friendly game.