By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The French national team began its preparation games for the 2022 EuroBasket by routing the Netherlands 2022 in Rouen. France coach Vincent Collet used 14 players in the first test for his squad ahead of the upcoming official matches, starting with the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers.
Evan Fournier had 15 points, Rudy Gobert produced 12 points and nine rebounds (eight points and seven boards over eight minutes in the first half) while Vincent Poirier posted 12 points and eight rebounds.
Theo Maledon scored nine points and Elie Okobo dropped eight points for Les Bleus which dominated after the break after a balanced (45 – 39) first half.
France, without injured big men Moustapha Fall and Victor Wembanyama, will continue training camp in Bologna and will face Italy the following week.
In the other game of the night, Lithuania beat Estonia by two (90-88). Ignas Brazdeikis had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals for the winning side which is still playing without the NBA duo of Jonas Valanciunas and Domantas Sabonis. They started practicing with the rest of the team just one day before the game, due to the FIBA-NBA agreement rules.
Kristian Kullamae had 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists for Estonia, he trimmed the final lead of Lithuania to two points with four seconds left, but couldn’t win the game.
Photo: French Basketball Federation