Reply With Quote
this kid is great; france got a center for the next 10 years
Nice run to bring it within 25-21.
this kid is great; france got a center for the next 10 years
France will need to re-adjust, they have been playing some crappy teams, no such games anymore.
Just when France thought they were back in the game, Javtokas takes over, lol (just kidding but he did score 4 points late in 3rd), France down 42-51 entering the 4th quarter.
Lithuania is doing great despite their crazy rotations and lineup change
Now it looks like Kleiza is on a roll now
France fouls 3 possessions in a row
France, as always, is very bad.
damn I thought France would get gold, but they play really bad. Sucks cause I was rooting for them.
why are the French underachievers in FIBA despite having a lot of NBA players? Can anyone explain (especially Bruno)?
Batum sucks. FNT coach sucks.
I'm pretty sure it's because they are a Tony Parker led team.
I just came back from the game (was rocking Spurs t-shirt) and I must say that I agree with Bruno about French coach.
Especially his rotations are very strange. I was keeping eye on Tony - coach played him whole 3rd quarter and first minute in 4th quarter. This is already strange, because you don't play your best player whole quarter if you know that it will be a close game. When it was 9 minutes left in a game, he pulled Parker on the bench, and I thought it's just a quick rest for minute or so, but I was wrong. He kept Parker on bench until it was 5 or 4 minutes left, but even then Parker had to stand up and walk to coach and request a subs ution (coach didn't call him). This was really strange, you don't rest your best players until it's almost too late to save the game...
And yeah, Batum is awful, he passed the ball to Lithuanian player or in out of bounds at least 3 times in the beginning of the game. He seemed to me like he wasn't really interested in playing a game.
Tony was good, but nothing above average. Also missed a couple of free throws.
Diaw was passing the ball a lot, I especially liked his passes to Ajinca, which were big for French team in 3rd quarter when Ajinca made 3 baskets after Boris' passes (I think!).
Nando disappointed me defensively, he was really bad at defensing 3 point shots and backdoor cuts. He scored most of his points when the game was already decided.
All in all I wasn't entirely impressed by French team, I think they will need to fix some things if they want to get a medal.
Seems like the FNT coach makes Vinny del Negro look like Pop from your description.
And Batum's great in the NBA. Why does he falter in FIBA play?
I don't know, at some point it looked like other players weren't following his ideas, but on the other hand it looked like he didn't even care to put too much effort into his plays. Although he played some good defense in 2nd half. I don't know what's up with him, maybe motivation? But it's just my bold guess.
Today Lithuania defended Parker really good, he was double teamed a lot of times. However, France didn't play good defense at all, Lithuanians could get to the basket too easy too many times for my taste.
I think that Batum struggles with his role on this team. He has to take on a lot more responsiblity on the offensive end than he is used to because he is the only guy apart from TP who can break down a defense and get to the basket. Instead he is mostly spotting up in the corner and often passes up driving lanes when coming off picks. You rarely see him being really aggressive and looking to score consistently throughout a game, especially when his shot is not on. I remember him playing for Nancy during the lockout where the whole offense was run through him and he was a beast bullying people on post ups, that's the guy France needs more of.
Batum is struggling because he is mentally weak. He has great skills and physical tools but his head isn't following. He check out of games when he faces some difficulties.
For FNT coach, one of his weakness is that he will always pick the road that is the easiest for him instead of picking the road that will make France the better team. For example, when picking players and determining their roles, his priority will be to avoid conflicts and have an easy roster to manage. He will go with players that fit his system and will be happy with the role they have on the team. Tweaking his system or managing egos seems to be too complicate for him.
At the end, France might get a medal because they still are in a good position to reach the QF and after that, it's a single game elimination tournament, but it won't change that they have a poor coach.
They don't have good shooters, so the defending team just has to pack the paint, which is easier under FIBA rules than in NBA.
France still has a slim chance to win the first place in this game but they have to beat Latvia and then blow out Serbia.
Croatia gained a lot of confidence by beating Slovenia in OT. I could easily see them getting a medal. I think Spain, Italy, Croatia and Greece will advance from this group, Serbia, Lithuania, France and Latvia from the other group.
It will be tough for Slovenia to proceed. Either Croatia or Greece will need to suck at some point if we want to move to quarterfinals. Saturday's game against Greece might be the most important game for Slovenia.
Is RC scouting a Greek PG?
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
