De Colo tells France to focus on its own game and to fear no World Cup opponent

PAU (France) - France guard Nando de Colo envisions his country being among the most feared at the first-ever 32-team FIBA Basketball World Cup and not a side that will shy away from the tough games.

That was among his messages last week in Pau, where Les Bleus have launched their preparations for the tournament which for the first time will be held in China.

"We have to think and focus on our game and our team," De Colo said to FIBA.basketball. "

"The most important thing is to focus on ourselves, to reach that level where the opponents think more about fearing us than us thinking too much about them, with all due respect. I have always thought this way, and I think it's the best way to do it and keep moving forward."

At the last World Cup in 2014 and then at the Olympics two years later, France showed they can go head to head with the best.

France stunned their nemesis, World Cup hosts Spain, in the Quarter-Finals five years ago before topping Lithuania in the Third-Place Game. Then in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, France nearly clawed back a double-digit deficit against the eventual champions, the United States, in the Preliminary Round but fell, 100-97.

"THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO FOCUS ON OURSELVES, TO REACH THAT LEVEL WHERE THE OPPONENTS THINK MORE ABOUT FEARING US THAN US THINKING TOO MUCH ABOUT THEM."- De Colo

France had a disappointing FIBA EuroBasket 2017 campaign, losing to Germany in the Round of 16 in Istanbul, yet they hit back with a very impressive European Qualifiers campaign to reach the World Cup.

This summer's team, led by long-time coach Vincent Collet, will square off in China against Germany, the Dominican Republic and Jordan in Group G. It must finish among the top two in order to advance to the Second Round to take on, in Group L, the best two sides from a First Round Group H that consists of Canada, Australia, Lithuania and Senegal. The top two sides from the four Second Round groups will clinch Quarter-Final spots. 

"The training camp is not that long, and we have two big stages in Pau and Lyon to work on our best chemistry, and that communication between us is going to be very important, too," De Colo said. "We all want to do great things, and we work hard to do so and have the same winning mindset."

Some of France's greatest talents are no longer with the team, like Tony Parker and Boris Diaw, but De Colo says there is a lot to like about the current squad.

De Colo and France played well against the USA at the 2016 Olympics before falling, 100-97

"When I first came to the senior national team, we lacked size," he said. "After this, we got some big guys, and we lacked some shooters. When we supposedly had more shooting guys, we had less defense . But today, we have such a solid and talented roster at every position.

"We have guys that can create their own shot, we have guys that can score in the paint, in the post, big guys, stretch fours, point guards that can defend very well. Our roster is very deep and talented."

"WE HAVE GUYS LIKE RUDY GOBERT, THE BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN THE NBA, BUT DEFENSE IS A MATTER OF THE FIVE GUYS ON THE COURT."- De Colo

De Colo says that France must learn their lesson from 2017 when defensive lapses led to an early exit.

"We have guys like Rudy Gobert, the best defensive player in the NBA, but defense is a matter of the five guys on the court," he said.

"The five guys on the court will make things work only if we defend like one. We can't have a player or two that put less intensity on the defensive end. If that happens, the defense is going to be less solid, and that is not the best thing to do if you want to win.

"That is what happened two years ago at the EuroBasket, when we lacked some unity in our way of playing."

FIBA