BACKED by its fifth-place world ranking by FIBA, France, which is loaded with a roster of outstanding stars from the National Basketball Association, are the favorites to win the only slot available for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the FIBA Qualifying Tournament to be held at the 20,000-seat Mall of Asia Arena.
The French national team finished third in the Euro Basketball Championships, beating Serbia, 81-68, after outscoring the Serbs, 21-12, in the third quarter following a 10-0 run and at one point, led by as many as 16 points.
In a post-game interview, French coach Vincent Collet said that it was not what they went to Spain for, but that “it’s always good to finish with a win.”
France earned a qualifying berth in Manila and opens its bid against the host nation Philippines on July 5.
In fact, the French have shown their determination to make it to Rio that the squad, led by superstar Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA, planned to arrive in Manila on June 30.
Gilas Pilipinas team manager Butch Antonio pointed out that the FIBA time frame for the teams to be in Manila is July 3, but the French will fly in one week before their opening game against Gilas so they could get acclimatized to the weather and the playing conditions.
Canada and Senegal, which are in Group A, and the New Zealand Tall Blacks, who are bracketed with France and the Philippines, will be here on July 1, while Turkey which is bracketed in Group A will be the first team to arrive on June 28, in preparation for a tune-up game against Gilas Pilipinas on July 1.
The Philippine team is currently on a three-week training stint in Europe and is scheduled to return to Manila on June 27.
France coach Vincent Collet said that after the third-place finish in the Eurobasket championships, all the French stars, including Parker who had 13 points in the bronze-medal game would return.
“We all agreed that the main goal is to win an Olympic medal and this is the last chance for this generation to win an Olympic medal,” said Collet. “But it won’t be easy to qualify.”
However, latest reports indicate that NBA players Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier will skip the Manila qualifier, although Nicolas Batum, who was earlier listed as likely to miss the Manila qualifying tournament, remains in coach Collet’s roster .
A FIBA report said that Batum, who is in negotiations for a new contract with the Charlotte Hornets, will be in Pau, France when the team formally gathers to prepare for the six-day Manila tournament. But while doing physical work, he will not participate in the team’s scrimmages.
Gobert, who plays for the Utah Jazz, stands 7’1” and won the bronze medal in the 2011 FIBA Europe Under-20 championships and the silver medal at the 2012 FIBA Europe Under-20 tournament. In addition, the towering center was named to the All-Tournament team.
Meantime, a back injury plaguing Fabien Causer, has forced him to withdraw from the FIBA qualifier in Manila.
The 28-year-old shooting guard has been playing well in the Euroleague this season before being sidelined with an injury last March 20.
The French Basketball Federation has indicated it has no plans of naming replacements for the two players in the 17-man preliminary line-up.
While France may be handicapped by injuries just like Gilas Pilipinas, who lost Paul Lee, the Most Valuable Player in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup, and shooting star Marcio Lassiter, who is slowly recovering from a bout with pneumonia and another top gunner Jeff Chan is also recovering from injury, the French have enough depth and experience playing at a highly competitive level and remain the favorites to win a berth in the Rio Olympics, although they have shown some concern about how much the passionate fan support in Manila will spur Gilas Pilipinas to play like never before.