By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nicolas Batum talked openly on live television about what went wrong after the game between France and Latvia, which decided the fate of the 2019 silver medalists of the FIBA World Cup and forced them to an early exit.
The 34-year-old team captain who intends to retire after the Paris Olympics in 2024 didn’t hide his frustration talking about a lost game, despite the fact that France had even a 12-point lead.
As he said: “It’s a big disappointment. We broke down mentally. They were also physically superior. We didn’t play as a team. We didn’t manage to create distance and get away from them. This match is a reflection of what has been happening to us for the last five or six weeks. We are a very good team and we have shown that in previous years, but now everyone should put a finger on the forehead because of everything that happened this summer. The players, the coaches, the federation”.
Watch the upcoming World Cup on the official streaming service of FIBA! Join Courtside 1891 and never miss a second of the action!
Batum implied that the political decision to exclude players who compete professionally in Russia due to the war with Ukraine hurt the French national team: “We are losing some players just like that, we are losing basketball players because of politics… why it is not clear to me. We should all be committed to the success of the national team. I don’t really care about world politics, I want France to have the best possible representation”.
The main absence of the team was last Eurobasket’s starting point guard Thomas Heurtel who is signed with Zenit St. Peterseburg.
As for Batum himself, he added: “This is my last World Cup. I sacrificed many summers for this jersey and I don’t regret it. We were not allowed to have certain players… We were together for years, we did something… Yes, we players screwed up here. But many people should reconsider. I have one more year left in France. We need them all next summer in Paris. And the best possible conditions. I messed up my last World Cup and it really hurts. That’s why I’m not interested in politics and I want the strongest possible team next summer at the Olympic Games”.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL