OLYM - De Colo: our aggressiveness is key

LONDON (Olympics) - Almost a year ago, Nando de Colo broke out of an early slump to become a major contributor for France on their impressive run to a second place finish at EuroBasket in Lithuania.

After sub-par performances in the First Round in Siauliai, he stepped up his play and was instrumental in a Second Round win over tournament hosts Lithuania and then again in the Quarter-Final defeat of Greece.

Fast-forward to the present day and the 25-year-old looks like he has completely figured out and embraced his role as France's catalyst off the bench.

So far in the Olympic Basketball Tournament for Men, the 25-year-old hasn't missed a step, averaging 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 22.5 minutes per game.

De Colo had six points and four assists as the French held off Tunisia 73-69. Afterwards, he took time to talk to FIBA.com.

FIBA: Nando, can you run us through this game? It wasn't a straightforward one. You were up by 20 but Tunisia came back and pushed you.
De Colo: Well it's a win, it's important. We played very well the last two games (against Argentina and Lithuania) so we knew we couldn't relax today. In the second half, we got a little fatigued when we were up by 20 but we held on for the win and that's the most important thing.

FIBA: Obviously it's best to have this kind of scare happen at this stage of the tournament than later on...
Well we know the fear. We know that for our team the key is the aggressiveness we show on the court and what we're able to do defensively. We did it in the first half and we did it very well in the third quarter. Then we kind of let ourselves go a bit. We know that if we don't have that aggressiveness, this team is different.

FIBA: What are your thoughts about Tunisia?
De Colo: Tunisia are a good team. They're not here by chance. They have players who are capable of doing a lot of things on the court. We saw today that they have some big scorers (Macram Ben Romdhane, Salah Mejri and Mohamed Hadidane). It's a team that can knock down three-pointers. So if you get caught up in the way they play, they can put you to sleep and can create a surprise.

FIBA: What about France? How pleased are you with the way you're playing so far?
De Colo: We're getting better and better even if this morning was a bit more difficult. We saw in our two big games that we can answer the call. We have one game left against Nigeria that we shouldn't overlook and then the Quarter-Finals start and that's when we're going to have to be ready.

FIBA: Was the fact of playing at 9am an issue for you?
De Colo: No we had the same thing against Lithuania. We played against them at 9am. I think today the final score isn't the only thing to remember. You also have to remember that when we stepped on the accelerator we were able to push our lead to 20 and that's how we have to play at all times.

FIBA: The bench wasn't able to keep that big lead though. What happened there?
De Colo: It's not always easy. When you're coming off the bench you need time to get going. Then you factor in that Tunisia are a team which plays five players 30 minutes or more and are always in rhythm. But the most important thing is to get the win. We have to stay focused because we're going to need the whole team the rest of the way.

FIBA