France coach Vincent Collet. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
French coach Vincent Collet got what he wanted as France was picked to join the same group as team USA during the official draw for the men’s basketball competition in the Rio Olympics.
Collet guided the Les Bleus to an undefeated run and a ticket to Rio after an 83-74 win over Canada Sunday night in the Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament in Manila.
“United States, even without its best players, will remain the United States,” Collet told reporters when asked how he sees team USA, which won’t be fielding its best team with the absence of several of its top superstars like LeBron James and reigning back-to-back MVP Steph Curry.
“First of all we wait for the draw. The draw will be very important. I would like to be with the group of the United States but we’ll see later,” said Collet minutes before the draw was held.
After getting his wish, Collet gave his reasons for wanting the star-studded US team.
“I think it’s better to be with the United States. After that, we must finish second in the group to avoid them,” said Collet, whose team is also in the same group as Venezuela, China, Australia and Serbia while Group B consists of Argentina, Spain, Brazil, Lithuania, Croatia and Nigeria.
“They’re all good. There is no weak team so it will be very difficult to qualify for the quarterfinals.”
The top four teams advance to the quarterfinals. Croatia and Serbia won their respective Olympic qualifiers.