By Antonis Stroggylakis / info@eurohoops.net
ASVEL Villeurbanne veteran superstar Nando De Colo looks at the three remaining EuroLeague games as a solid learning opportunity that can boost the team’s efforts in the French League.
“I think we just have to take it day by day and see what we can improve,” De Colo told Eurohoops. “There’s not a lot to play in the Euroleague right now but we still have the French League so we have to take all these games seriously and try to at least learn from losses.”
After the win over Anadolu Efes a week ago, ASVEL coach Pierric Poupet stated that the goal for his squad in the remainder of the season is to prove that they belong in the EuroLeague “every day.”
Does De Colo share this sentiment?
“This goes season by season,” De Colo, a former EuroLeague season/Final Four MVP and two-time champion with CSKA Moscow, said. “It’s never easy when you change the entire roster. We had a new roster last season and we have a new roster this season. We changed the coach two times. I think we can imagine how not easy it is to compete in the Euroleague when you don’t have all your weapons on your side. We try to do our best. We have a lot of players without experience. We try to be a better team every day.”
It had been quite a turbulent campaign for ASVEL from early on as the French side fired coach TJ Parker, the younger brother of club owner Tony Parker, four games into the EuroLeague season after an equal number of losses. Italy head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco was hired to take over and bring a much-needed spark and inspiration to the team with his unique modus operandi and established knack for connecting with his players.
Under Pozzecco, ASVEL showed an initial upswing and began registering a couple of wins in the EuroLeague but the overall results were underwhelming on both continental and domestic level. After a 3 – 15 record in EuroLeague with Pozzecco at the helm, the club decided to make another coaching change early in January by promoting assistant Pierric Poupet.
Poupet registered a victory in his head coaching debut as ASVEL beat Crvena Zvezda 100 – 91. The team went on to get three more wins over the next 11 games while being very competitive in some of the losses, like the most recent trips at Maccabi Tel Aviv and Olympiacos Piraeus.
So far Poupet has led ASVEL to more wins than the previous two coaches combined this season, in fewer games. There are several reasons behind this visible improvement according to De Colo.
“Maybe because we have more time,” De Colo replied. “At the beginning of the season, we had a plan. But because we started losing games, we changed coach. After that, we found a way to play together. We have a shorter roster right now so everybody is more involved. I think the coach [Poupet] is doing a good job trying to give confidence to the team and trying to put more a little bit more tactics on the court.”
Once the season is over, De Colo will turn his attention to the French national team and the great challenge of the 2024 Olympic Games that will be held in Paris. He and the rest of Les Bleus will be locked in on finishing the tournament on the podium with gold medals around their necks.
Before that happens, France will need to approach the competition with a different mindset and sense of togetherness than they did in the 2023 World Cup.
“I think the main goal is to find our team spirit. Because we lost it last summer. We had a really bad tournament. We really fu–d up,” De Colo mentioned, referring to the stunning elimination of France in the first round of last year’s World Championship after beginning with defeats to Canada and Latvia.
“In the end it was only two games,” De Colo continued. “But these two games put us in a losing position. For the next summer, I think we’ll all be ready to do something great. Especially because its in France and because we want to win again.”
While the Olympic Games will mark De Colo’s last dance with the French national team after a decorated run that includes a EuroBasket title and medals in the Olympics and World Cup, the 36-year-old player doesn’t intend to call it quits from basketball in general.
At 37 years of age, De Colo will hit the offseason as a free agent.
“For sure,” he answered when asked if he’ll continue playing basketball next season.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball