Red-hot Elie Okobo returns to France squad for February Qualifiers
PAU (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Qualifiers) - France hot shot Elie Okobo has played so well of late that he's returned to the national team for this month's World Cup Qualifiers as a replacement for injured Amine Noua.
A member of the French squad for the November Qualifiers, the 20-year-old Elan Bearnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez playmaker now has a chance to feature in this month's games against Russia and Belgium.
France hit back from a 13-point deficit at Belgium, winning 70-59, and then won convincingly over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Rouen, 84-65.
Okobo has been on a tear of late. He led all scorers with 24 points in an 88-82 triumph at ASVEL Villeurbanne on February 3 and then had a game-high 30 points with 8 assists in Saturday's 105-93 home triumph over Elan Chalon.
Another big game for 20-year-old French guard Elie Okobo - 30 PTS, 8 AST & 2 TOV on 9-of-13 from the field (5-of-7 3P) in a win over Chalon. He's averaging 25.8 PTS & 8.3 AST per 40 with a 72.9 TS% over his last 5 games. Work with a mental skills coach has improved consistency. pic.twitter.com/5z6KNgJDDc
— Mike Schmitz (@Mike_Schmitz) February 12, 2018
Noua, also a member of the French side in the November wins, had 14 points and 9 rebounds in the loss to Okobo's Pau but then missed his team's 96-73 victory at Bourg-en-Bresse at the weekend. On Monday, ASVEL announced the 21-year-old power forward had some swelling in his left foot and would therefore not be available for France.
Okobo will therefore join coach Vincent Collet and the rest of the France squad in Strasbourg on February 19 ahead of Les Bleus' February 23 game against Russia. They will then take on Belgium in Nancy on February 25.
🎙 @ElieOkobo_0 retrouve les Bleus 👉 sa première réaction #ELANation pic.twitter.com/tjRgoS3bS0
— Elan Béarnais (@EBPLO) February 12, 2018
"I'm happy to rejoin the French national team," Okobo said in an Elan Bearnais tweet. "I've been called back but not in the circumstances that I would have hoped for. I've learned of the injury suffered by Amine. I'm really sorry for him and I hope he'll be fine. I'm sure he'll come back.
"For me, this is a new opportunity. It's the second time I take part and we're going to look to bring back two more wins to add to the first two we got. I join (Pau teammate) Alain (Koffi) over there and it will allow us during the break to keep a rhythm going in order to be ready to face Paris on March 3."
Elan Bearnais, who are 12th in the LNB standings, play at 14th-placed Paris Levallois in the league on March 3.
FIBA
