By Antonis Stroggylakis/info@eurohoops.net
With no solution on the horizon, thus far, when it comes to the participation of EuroLeague players in the World Cup Qualifiers, the alarming possibility of the national teams competing minus their most prominent members gets closer and closer to becoming a cold fact.
Nando De Colo, one of the most pivotal players, if not the leader of the French national team, admits how difficult this schedule is for the indisputable protagonists: The players. He also sends a warning when it comes to the quality decline the games will suffer since they might lack EuroLeague players, apart from the NBA stars whose absence is certain.
“For an NBA player it’s much different. It’s not the same league. But it’s also different for a EuroLeague player. They can’t play in the national team,” De Colo told Eurohoops. “It’s all about what does everybody want. To have the best players and the best national teams to play this kind games? You don’t need to put it during the season. Put it during the summer and we can see good basketball.”
“Les Bleus” are scheduled to play four games for the World Cup qualifiers during the next season. Two within three days in November (24th & 27th) 2017 and another pair in February 2018 (22th & 25th).
De Colo, for example, has to squeeze these matches between the obligations he has with CSKA Moscow in EuroLeague and VTB League. We are talking about adding an extra weight in what is already considered a demanding amount of workload. Especially considering the fact that players sometimes have to compete in three games per week, taking into account the EuroLeague round-robin system plus the domestic championships.
“I think I can’t imagine myself playing so many games. You could see how long and tough this season was. They need to think about the player first. If they want to have national team games during the season they need to do it like football, for example. Add a week off and then it’s easier for the player to join the national team,” the French combo guard said to Eurohoops.