Three days after its misstep against Montenegro, the French basketball team reacted perfectly by outclassing Hungary 81-40, Monday in Mouilleron-le-Captif (Vendée), for its last match of the first qualifying phase for the Mondial-2023. Deprived of some of their Olympic vice-champion executives in Tokyo, the Blues had been mistreated on the rebound and clumsy in shooting in Podgorica (70-69), suffering their first setback in the race for the World Cup.
Before the meeting against the Hungarians, Vincent Collet had called on his players to show “more aggressiveness”. If the start of the match was still a little sluggish, the Blues took off in the second quarter to return to the locker room at the break with a mattress of 14 points (39-25). The second half of the match turned into a demonstration to end with a 41-point lead (81-40).
The meeting allowed some players to stand out for the Euro (September 1-18), like the young Théo Maledon (21), top scorer with 15 points, after his 16 points scored against Montenegro. Author of a very good season and winner of the Eurocup with Virtus Bologna, Mouhammadou Jaiteh was the second most efficient Frenchman with 13 points.
First in Group E and already qualified for the second round before this match, the Blues had to finish with a success, however, the points from the first round being retained in the second which will begin at the end of August. During this new qualifying window, the French will notably find Lithuania. Meanwhile, the Blues will begin their preparation for the Euro with three matches scheduled in France in early August, against the Netherlands, Italy and Belgium.