2023-08-03 01:42:33
Evan Fournier’s Les Bleus got the better of Montenegro. Valentina Claret / PANORAMIC
More tested than against Tunisia on Sunday, the France team had the last word against Montenegro on Wednesday, in a preparation match for the World Cup (August 25-September 10).
And two. After the demonstration against Tunisia (93-36) on Sunday in Pau, the Blues disposed of Montenegro (80-69) on Monday in Montpellier. Their second success in two preparation matches for the World Cup (August 25-September 10). Vincent Collet’s players, however, encountered higher adversity. And it’s not so bad. This meeting also and above all allowed Evan Fournier to regain some of the confidence lost in recent months in New York. Placardized by Tom Tibodeau, the one who was the captain of the Blues last year at the Euro started with much more rhythm and aggressiveness than in Pau. The offensive leader of the France team is him. And he played like one. 20 points for him. 16 by Rudy Gobert and 12 for Elie Okobo.
The two teams drew to start, but the Blues launched the machine under the impulse of Fournier. And the whole collective followed, like this superb collective sequence concluded by a triple from Yabusele in the corner (9-2, then 15-6). Easy. Montenegro benefited from the contribution of their bench and caused faults to come back (15-12), but France led 21-15 at the end of the first quarter. France which was becoming muddled. Fortunately, the Montenegrins did not return much. The moment Gobert chose to… score three points! His first “increased” career! Finally, the visitors returned to forceps, scraping a lot of points in second chance (13 in total, against 0 for the Blues). They even equalized by Dubljevic, from afar (37-25, then 37-37), in the last minute. Yabusele and especially De Colo, author of a slightly crazy basket at the half-time buzzer, however returned the reins to the France team (42-37 MT).
Slow, but…
Coach Collet’s players continued to race in the lead (51-42) before… experiencing a big air pocket. Game less licked, less skill, a bit difficult at all levels. All with big omissions in defense. Montenegro took the opportunity to return to -4 (56-52) before this alley-oop concluded by Gobert. Six ball losses in the first period. Six bullet losses in this laborious third quarter (60-55). The fourth started on the same bases. The most beautiful gestures were defensive, like this against Batum on the NBAer Vucevic (69-60). The latter picked up his fourth foul just over five minutes from the end. Beginning of the end for these brave opponents, while Batum multiplied the caviars as a strong winger. The Blues crossed (finally) the symbolic bar of 10 points ahead in the second half (76-62). They weren’t really worried afterwards (80-69 final score), but the public of Montpellier, who will again be entitled to the Blues next year, were still treated to a monumental dunk signed Sylvain Francisco, while in power. Showtime! Gobert slammed a more conventional dunk but which put an end to the suspense in this match.
To follow, a handful of days of rest before switching to Orleans, where the Olympic and European vice-champions – dominated in rebounds 32-42 Wednesday evening – will face Venezuela on Monday and Lithuania on Thursday. A “back-to-back” in Lithuania, and they will then head to Asia to complete their preparation before the World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
#jostled #Blues #win #Montenegro