Lauvergne: 'Don't blame Collet'

PARIS (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - The post-mortem has been underway in France following the side's Olympic Quarter-Final meltdown against Spain and national team coach Vincent Collet's performance is not surprisingly under scrutiny.

Spain stormed out to a 43-30 half-time advantage and romped to a 92-67 victory.

Joffrey Lauvergne, the 24-year-old power forward who reached the podium in his first three summers with France under Collet - including a EuroBasket 2013 title triumph as a senior team rookie - says the coach is not the problem.

"I tend to think that players at times give themselves too much importance. They would need to concentrate on their individual performances rather than think it's the coach's fault." - Lauvergne

In an interview with L'Equipe, it was suggested to Lauvergne, now a player with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA, that some members of the new generation of players in France's national team set-up may not want to play for Collet.

Lauvergne answered: "I don't have a problem with that, with Vincent. Maybe the players, or all of the people who think there should be a coaching change, could first of all ask themselves who we're going to take.

"Honestly... I've always heard that the (French) Federation didn't want a foreign coach. If we exclude that possibility, I really don't see who else (other than Collet) it could be."

Hopes were high among fans of the Les Bleus and the federation that a medal was within reach after France's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament triumph in Manila.

But France suffered defeats in their last three warm-up contests in Cordoba, Argentina, falling to Serbia, Croatia and the Argentinians before leaving for Rio.

Their losing ways continued when they had a very poor showing in an opening day demolition at the hands of Australia.

France seemed to be back on track after impressing in a 100-97 defeat to the USA, but they crashed out of the event in spectacular fashion in the defeat to Spain.

Collet's last game in Rio ended in defeat to Sergio Scariolo's Spain

Was there a significant change in the France team since last year's EuroBasket, when the squad claimed third place, that the players did not adjust to?

"Players, they can say that, but I don't see what it has to do with Vincent," Lauvergne said.

"He's not there to please players; he makes his choices. We can always ask ourselves, afterwards, if they were the right ones or not. But it's still him who decides.

"I tend to think that players at times give themselves too much importance. They would need to concentrate on their individual performances rather than think it's the coach's fault."

FIBA