By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
PARIS, France – Nicolas Batum announced his retirement from the French national team, together with Nando De Colo, however, his legacy includes two Olympic Games finals in which he lost to the USA, but the games were really competitive.
That’s not a small thing, as he explained: “This is still the best team in the world. The USA is the best team but we’re getting closer and closer. I mean, we have pride. Not because the USA is going to show up, we’re going to just give them the game and say, okay, you are too good and we won’t compete”.
And that’s his wish about the future of the French national team: “We’re going to try every time to beat them. We know it’s going to be difficult. You have to play the perfect game and if you make some mistakes, turn it over, they’re going to make you pay right away. But we’re going to get closer because I don’t think we’re scared of them. We respect them, but we’re not scared of them. So we just go out there and try to beat them because it can be the biggest game for our country if you beat a team like that”.
According to Batum, it’s just a matter of time: “It didn’t happen because they’re that good. But who knows, it might happen at some point in my view, but that’s why we call them the Dream Team or the Avengers, or whatever. I mean, maybe at some point it’s going to happen”.
Speaking about the final, Batum added: “It is tough to talk after a game like that. Of course, we’re playing against a great team but we were right there in the game. We were right there like it was a five-point game, with two minutes to go. Steph was amazing to close out the game but I think we were there”.
The turnaround for the hosts of the Olympics, after losing in Lille to Germany, was impressive. “Seven days ago, who could have thought that we could end up playing this game and being a close game against this team?”, said Batum.
So even if France was not happy after the defeat, according to their captain, they should be proud: “We wanted to win the game, but to be in that position, it was amazing. I’ve been playing for 15 years for that team. And this is the craziest, weirdest tournament I’ve ever played with that team. So we can have some regrets. It’s pretty much like a mix of emotions. But at the end, we’re on the podium. We’ve got a medal on our neck. And we can be proud of that because, as the coach said, nine teams went home with nothing, nine great teams”.
Photo credit: FIBA