By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The French national team announced Thursday (16/5) the 19 players that compile the preliminary roster for the 2024 Olympic Games held in Paris. This list, while quite extended, doesn’t include Olympiacos Piraeus center Moustapha Fall and Bayern Munich guard Sylvain Francisco, both members of the 2023 World Cup team.
When asked about these absences, France coach Vincent Collet explained that in the case of Fall, it was a matter of just having too many quality centers. San Antonio Spurs star and 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama will be joining the team, along with Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert, Panathinaikos center Mathias Lessort and Real Madrid big man Vincent Poirier in his return to the squad.
“A rich man’s problem,” Collet said, per BeBasket. “As much uncertainty we had about the backcourt, we had none regarding the frontline. We’ve had this list for several months. Moustapha Fall is having an excellent season with Olympiacos once again and we are faced with a rich man’s problem. We couldn’t add a fourth center on our frontline.”
Fall, currently preparing for the EuroLeague Final Four with Olympiacos, is averaging 7.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 blocks in the competition.
“If I also took Fall, I wouldn’t be able to play him,” Collet added. Fall barely played any significan minutes in the 2023 World Cup, expressing his disappointment to Eurohoops back then. “It will already be complicated to use all those who are selected so it wouldn’t have been possible.”
Francisco, who also played in the World Cup, comes off his debut EuroLeague season. He had a solid run with Bayern, posting 10.6 points and 3.2 assists.
“Sylvain was considered,” Collet mentioned. “He was on the previous list that we created with our assistants I just talked about the defensive identity that we wanted to give to the team. It’s for these reasons that he wasn’t selected. Regarding him, it’s a question of size. Given the adversity, we know that we are going to face big players in the guard position. We used that as a first criterion for playmakers. This explains the return of Andrew Albicy, because we know his ability to defend. It’s the same for the young guards who are considered to also have this ability to play against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Luka Doncic etc.”