FRA - Bokolo: "We weren't able to play the way we wanted to"

SAITAMA (FIBA World Championship) - Reaching the quarter-finals of the FIBA World Championship has been a very valuable experience for France's Yannick Bokolo.

The 21-year-old back up guard has seen more minutes than some may have expected - in part because of Tony Parker's absence - and in exchange he has shown a lot of promise.

Bokolo opened the tournament with his best performance so far, going for 10 points, two assists and two steals in a losing cause against the Olympic champions Argentina.

Since then, his playing time has wavered as France head coach Claude Bergeaud tried to find the best balance in his backcourt without Parker, but the future is bright for Bokolo.

And even though France lost to Greece 73-56 today, Les Bleus will now aim to finish fifth in the tournament.

In order to do that, they will play the loser of the day's other quarter-final between the USA and Germany.

FIBA correspondent Simon Wilkinson caught up with Bokolo following France's defeat to Greece.

FIBA: What are your first thoughts after this game?

Bokolo: It's very hard to swallow because we never felt we were able to play the way we wanted to offensively. We really didn't do anything the way we usually do.

FIBA: Is that more a case of what France wasn't able to do or what Greece prevented you from doing?

Bokolo: No this is more on us. Both teams struggled at the start of the game but Greece eventually were able to get out of their slump while we weren't. So from that perspective, it's what we did wrong more than what they did right to stop us.

FIBA: Does that mean that their defense isn't as good as everyone is making it out to be?

Bokolo: I'm not taking anything away from them. Their defense was very good but I look more at what we did wrong.

FIBA: You're down by 10 points at halftime against the European champions. What do you think to yourself and as a team coming into the third quarter?

Bokolo: That anything is possible and we still have a chance to come back and win. It's that simple. We saw that with Angola. Even though they trailed by double digits against us, they came back and were very close in the late stages of the game.

FIBA: So for you right now the dominating feeling is one of disappointment?

Bokolo: Yes in regards to this game it is. But the tournament is not over yet. We have to put this loss behind us to focus on what we can still accomplish and that's to finish fifth.

FIBA: You'll be playing Germany or the USA to earn that right, so it won't be easy either.

Bokolo: No doubt about that. It's going to be extremely difficult and even more so because we're playing tomorrow. Just like the European Championship last year, the classification game is the day after the defeat to Greece.

FIBA: On a personal level, what have you made of your experience playing in this tournament?

Bokolo: I've enjoyed it a lot. We reached the quarter finals which is a great result for France and just getting any sort of playing time is going to be beneficial to me and my development on the French team but also help me improve for when I go back to my other team.

By Simon Wilkinson, FIBA