EuroBasket: The Blues attack Georgia to reach the quarter-finals

Things are getting serious. After a generally well-handled first phase (4 wins, 1 loss) in Katowice (Poland), Les Bleus face Georgia this Sunday (2:15 p.m.) in Riga (Latvia) in the last 16 of the Euro. There's no goal or second chance. " We've seen the team progress and some players mature," says Freddy Fauthoux. Good news? The winners of Group D will start this match as the favorites. " You said it ," grumbles the coach, aiming to continue to present " an outsider spirit" to begin this second phase of Euro 2025.

False modesty? No. It is indeed in this costume that the Tricolores are the strongest, when they fight, when they make defense and the collective their priority. " They say we are kaïras, we don't show anything on the field ," stormed Guerschon Yabusele at halftime of the match against Poland (83-76) , last Tuesday. As dilettantes, the Tricolores had produced a first act too permissive for the taste of their captain, conceding 44 points. They righted the ship like that, by playing like kaïras, by defending, by running. No choice. Without Victor Wembanyama, Evan Fournier and others , Fauthoux's players have no margin. Moreover, they needed the exceptional hot shots of Sylvain Francisco (32 pts) and Yabusele (36) to win against Slovenia (103-95) and Poland, not to mention the strolls against the weak Belgium (92-64) and Iceland (114-74) .

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And then there was the Israeli hiccup (69-82) . " I hope it was a blessing in disguise ," says Vincent Collet 's successor, Bernard Faure's assistant during the Bleuets U16 European title in 2014, in... Riga. A setback that allowed " everyone, including the staff, to come down from (their) cloud ." " Since Poland, we've found our identity again ," agrees Zaccharie Risacher . That of a team in which danger comes from everywhere and which defends the iron, in order to fuel its transition game. A supercharged game, which suits the athletes making up this group well. Running is the goal of the Blues.

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The complete opposite of this Georgia that the French team has not met since… 2015, a 95-63 win in preparation for Euro 2015. The only professional pivot present in the squad, Mam Jaiteh was there. It was even his only real campaign in the French team so far, he who was the youngest in the group 10 years ago, in Montpellier and Villeneuve-d'Ascq. At almost 31 years old, he is the oldest today… More than ever, France needs him and his size, his impact. " Before starting the final phase, it felt good, we needed to find our bearings, a flow ," he said after his good match against Iceland . I always felt confidence and responsibility from the coach and teammates. But experiencing it is good for the mind, it allows me to plan for what there will be to do in the knockout matches,” added the Dubai player .

These are two teams that play basketball completely differently.

Freddy Fauthoux

Obviously, the opposition will be very different this time. Fourth in Group C, in Limassol, Georgia has only beaten two eliminated teams (Spain, Cyprus) in the group stage. It is led by two "NBA-made" centermen, Goga Bitadze and former Wemby teammate at the Spurs, Sandro Mamukelashvili. They have size, half-court range, post-up skills, and experience, but little bench. " These are two teams that play completely different basketball ," Fauthoux summarizes. The Tricolores will have to adapt. Although, if all goes well, it will be up to the Georgians to adapt...

In any case, a departure from the track would give rise to great regrets. Huge ones. The prospect of an impossible quarter-final against Nikola Jokic's Serbia vanished on Saturday. Finland indeed knocked out the big Serbian favorites (92-86) . Not spared by bad luck, with all these absentees from the start, the withdrawals of Matthew Strazel and Vincent Poirier in preparation then of Alex Sarr, during the competition, the Blues will perhaps see the basketball gods spoil them a little more from now on. Élie Okobo and company would do well, however, to rely only on themselves, their game, their identity, their efforts, by putting all the ingredients on the court and leaving this story of favorite to the journalists and supporters. No regrets.