The new coach of the Blues spoke at a press conference this Tuesday, before his first two matches at the head of the France team, Thursday and Sunday.
Freddy Fauthoux is making his mark. Successor to Vincent Collet at the head of the Blues, the new coach is leading his first training course with his sights set on two matches against Cyprus (November 21 and 24) as part of qualifying for Euro 2024. An express training course, with only four training sessions on the program and without NBA or Euroleague players. Only one element present at the Olympics last summer, Andrew Albicy. “Petitou” spoke at a press conference this Tuesday in Nanterre. Selected pieces.
The gathering : “It’s a short window and very intense days. We have to set up an operation with new staff even if we have already worked beforehand by video, but we have never had the opportunity to see each other together. We discuss a lot among ourselves about the Basketball that we would like to offer defensively and offensively to the players and there is the meeting with this group of players. There are old ones, new ones, experienced players in Europe… We tried to create the best possible team to win the two matches, that is the primary objective of this gathering, but also to see players that we could take in the future. Beyond the players, you need to know the people to create something strong. Four training sessions, including yesterday (Monday) without opposition because players were playing on Sunday. This is what we are being offered, we must adapt to that.”
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I feel quite comfortable and everything is going well
Freddy Fauthoux
Fauthoux “shy” according to Andrew Albicy : “I don’t think I’m shy but it’s better that I be like that today (smile). For now, everything is going well, there is no need to be different. And there are also a lot of specific things to say, so the attitude and temperament are like that. I feel pretty comfortable and everything is going well, but everyone has their own opinion.”
Nolan Traore : “He is a player who has real qualities as a very good basketball player, he is playing rather well with Saint-Quentin at the start of the season, it is his first year in the European Cup, we are following his development and we hope that It will be identical to the hope we have of the basketball player he can become. It is therefore normal that we take him in this first window to see what he can do at international level. Each time it’s different strata, a little higher, and we need to see players for the future. That’s also why we took Andrew (Albicy), our captain, the one who found me shy, to accompany him in his first steps. Comparisons to Tony Parker? That’s all the bad things I wish for him, to have the same career as Tony. Two different people are always complicated to compare. There are striking similarities in the game, yes, but different character. Time will tell if we can compare. This game of comparisons is neither simple nor good. You have to build your career first. It will be better in this sense…”
His first internship as coach : “It makes me… enormously happy, but above all it’s an honor. France has had top-level results in the world for a long time. When we look at the French team, when we dream about it, we want to make a contribution to French basketball. An honor and a lot of joy. This is still my feeling today even if the responsibility is first to win the two matches against Cyprus. But we try to appreciate the moments, the arrival of the first players, the first staff meetings, these are important moments in a life of representing French basketball at the international level. It’s like players who make their first selection, I’ve been there. It’s my first as coach so I appreciate all the moments on a daily basis, it’s great.”
Andrew Albicy : “When we start a new adventure, we look ahead in a few years. We say to ourselves that we have to see the talented young players that the world envy of us, if everything goes well for boys like Noa (Essengue), Nolan (Traoré), Mo (Diawara) and that they realize their dream of play in the NBA, we won’t be able to have them in the window, it’s now or never to see them. If we only take young people around these elements, there will not be the right balance of experience and team. We try to build the best team possible. We are lucky to have a double Olympic medalist available for this window. Everyone else is in the NBA or Euroleague. This is the big difficulty. Andrew has always been attached to the Blues, to the windows. And when I also saw his impact with the people on the staff through his desire to always be there, obviously, it feels good to have a player like that on the team.”
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Defense must be in our genes.
Freddy Fauthoux
The game project : “Defense must be in our genes. We must always remember what our intrinsic values are so as not to get lost. The message is there. That’s what we worked on first in fact, to win balls, the basketball that a lot of teams play. If we want to make basketball in which the players have fun and people are happy to see us, basketball that also wins, we must first defend to score these baskets. The players understood it this morning, we insisted on it. But we must also be clear-headed: everything will not be perfect from Thursday. With four training sessions, the staff, us, me, we are not magicians and neither are the players, to play team basketball you have to create game automatisms and we will not have acquired them in four sessions.
His proximity to Boris Diaw : “The Landes Cup? I was for Boris but against Biscarosse (smile). (…) Knowing yourself. There are several people on the staff that I didn’t know before. We have this advantage. No need to go through this step and it saves work time. Fred? A memory with Boris? I have plenty (laughs). Should they be said here? (laughs) It’s very easy. I respect the hierarchy a lot and it’s very easy to know who is in which position and who should make the decisions. It’s even easier when you know the people well because you can also anticipate what will be said and done. There aren’t 1000 questions to ask yourself. As we know each other quite well, it makes things easier to make decisions simply.”
Comments collected at a press conference
