Victor Wembanyama, Nicolas Batum, Nando De Colo… Several players from the French team give their feelings after the victory over Brazil, Saturday, in Lille.

Special envoy to Villeneuve d’Ascq

Victor Wembanyama (interior of the French basketball team after 78-66 victory over Brazil ) : “There’s pride when you have the chance to show what you’re capable of in front of so many people… No feeling of complacency, just the desire to work harder and improve from match to match. (How France stepped up their game in defense) We’re aware of it, we know we can do it, but more than being aware of it, you have to know how to automate it. The atmosphere? It’s unique, I’ve never experienced that, so many people, with such intensity, and that right from the warm-up. It’s just incredible. Nicolas Batum’s game? He played a foundational role for us tonight (Saturday). Very important, as much on the stat sheet as the rest, which you can’t see. He’s just an incredible asset. We expected nothing less from him. (on his game) I’m happy with my performance if I really helped the team win. It’s an Olympic tournament, there are only six games. I don’t think about that. Everything is just done to make the team win. Pressure? No. The fact that it’s a unanimous crowd like tonight, it pushes us upwards more than anything else.”

Nicolas Batum (captain of the French team) : “There was a round of observation, a lot of nervousness. Even for guys like me, you enter the room… Yeah (smiles). It was still special. You’re at the Olympics, at home, you have 30,000 people, even if I’ve already played big matches, it was special. It took a bit of guts, it was impressive. When we were at -12, we sat down, we took a breath, and we had to shift into second gear in defense, intensify a bit, give the ball inside. That’s what we did. We made a good run and we took the lead just before half-time, it was huge psychologically for both teams. The crowd helped us a lot by staying in it. In the third quarter, the five started off with a lot of intensity, we made a good gap with the defense. We could have killed the match before, we made some mistakes, we tried to play too easy, we maybe fell into a certain euphoria, including me. A really rotten pass… We have to be careful. But it’s never easy to win a first match. We did it. We put ourselves in good conditions. Now, Japan. We have our destiny in our hands and that’s the most important thing in this competition. (…) If we win against Japan, we will have nine ears in Paris, almost ten in fact (smile).

I wasn’t good in the first five or six minutes, I was a bit faded. I was nervous, I admit it. I told myself that I had to move on, play, that they needed me and that I couldn’t leave all the pressure on Wemby. I also had to attack. I tried to do that, to be myself, active in defense too, the fact of having been put on Huertas got me active too. I tried to put the big guy in the right conditions inside, he was good. Everyone played well. There was the preparation, but now, it’s the real stuff. It was a very good team victory even if there are still things to correct, which weren’t very pretty.”

I’ll try to do better in the next match. But if I play matches like that and we win every time, I’ll take it. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>

Gerschon Yabusele

Gerschon Yabusele (interior of the French team) : “We had to wake up… We were a little slow at the start of the game and we let them get into their rhythm, we let them do what they know how to do. Against a team like that, that’s a 10-point lead (12 in fact). (…) We know that we have a lot of strength inside and that we can cause a lot of problems for the other teams. We relied on that and then everyone was in rhythm. Clumsiness? The three missed three-pointers, I was all alone. It wasn’t scouting… There are days with, days without, it happens. I’ll try to do better in the next game. But if I play games like that and we win every time, I’ll take it. What’s important is the team, the group. Nicolas Batum? He pushed us on defense and then we followed. We were strong, we helped each other, helped each other, continued. We stayed united.”

Nando De Colo (French team fullback) : “Nothing will be easy. It’s never easy to play the perfect match in the opening game. But we were able to stay together, solid and now, there is always a step of progression, that’s what’s good. Let’s take it step by step. Tonight, the victory is beautiful. We wanted to put an intensity maybe a little above what we wanted to do at the start of the match. We had very precise rules on their game systems and that created a lot more space than later, when we were more solid and that made the difference. Everything is not perfect but the victory is beautiful. We have to continue. The crowd? It’s incredible. For the older ones, we knew with the experience of Euro 2015. But we see the enthusiasm and in the difficult moments they will be there to help us. Nicolas Batum? Defensively, he did the job we asked of him. And in attack, he was very skillful. Having Victor and other players who monopolize the attention, it leaves a lot of space and it fits very well with what he can do. He puts a shot that does a lot of good at the end. That’s what we’re looking for. It might be another player tomorrow but we have to try to do things together and know where we can be strong before the matches that are coming up.”

Isaïa Cordinier (French team fullback) : “The most important thing was to get off to a good start and take this victory. The Olympics at home, it’s not easy to approach this first match… We saw it at the beginning, we were a little tense. And when we let loose, we remembered what our strengths are, defense, recovery, easy points. The work is done but we can always do better.”

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