European Prospects

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FIBA U19 World Championships: France

July 18th, 2009 · 2 Comments

France finished at a correct 8th place at the recent U19 World Championships in New Zealand and are therefore classified as the “third European nation”. Basketnews spoke to NT coach Richard Billant who gave them his individual report on any of his players. I translated his comments in English, the original can be found in French in the Basketnews print edition of the 16th July 2009.

  • Andrew Albicy: exceptional in every part, on and off the court. He lead the team from the beginning until the end. He should play on the highest level in France. On a long term basis, he is close to the French Senior national team
  • Nicolas Lang: the big revelation of the tournament. Regular from the beginning to the end. 50.8% from behind the arc which is exceptional for a French player. He needs to gain some physical in order to play on the next level
  • Christophe Leonard: a lot more efficient as a PF where he played 80% of the time. Best scorer and rebounder of the team but a lot of problems with his shot and shot selection. He should score at 50%. He needs to become a better passer if he wants to play as a SF
  • Jonathan Bourhis: a good World Championship, over his level except the last two games. We repositioned him as a pure shooter. He had some big games with nice series of shots
  • Alexis Tanghe: no regular enough. He had some good stretches but he misses the regularity in general. Very soft. He showed his limits in terms of fighting and lacks of leadership in the inside sector. We would have needed him to have gained some places in the final ranking
  • Landing Sané: Satisfaction. A good World Championship in relation with his lack of experience. He had the best shooting percentages of the team. Seven very correct games of the nine in total. Probably the best one of the inside players
  • Yohann Jacques: Mediocre. One very good game, against Iran. Misses the toughness, like Alexis Tanghe. He can play basketball but he lacks the experience and the regularity. He needs to get stronger physically and simplify his playing style
  • Tanguy Ramassamy: We dealt with his recurring knee problems. A lot of values, a very mentality, a warrior. He lacks the touch close to the rim though (27% 2FG)
  • Stanley Dubois: a good defensive booster. Misses enormously the experience as PG. Very mediocre in the offense. A little bit just at the level.
  • Paul Lacombe: Had some little injuries at the beginning. He did not play the expected World Championships. He needs an outside shot to reach the next level
  • Bryson Pope: Globally disappointing. We had a lot of hopes on him. Played with an ankle injury. One very good game against Lithuania. Apart from this, he lacks a lot of shooting touch and had some trouble to become a member of the team
  • Miguel Buval: had only very little playing time. Way too just for this level and we have six inside players with Leonard on the PF spot. Really lacks experience

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