FRA - Boris Diaw: "This is not my team, it's the team of 12 players"

SENDAI (FIBA World Championship) - Boris Diaw was named France's captain a few weeks before the start of the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Not that you would necessarily know it considering the fact that everyone kept referring to Les Bleus as Tony Parker's team until he went down with a finger injury which forced him out of this competition at the last moment.

But in the absence of the star playmaker, Diaw has picked up the slack and led the way for Claude Bergeaud's team so far in this tournament, doing just about everything that his team needs at the right time whether it's scoring, setting up his team-mates or doing things that don't show up in the stats sheet.

FIBA's correspondent Simon Wilkinson caught up with him on the team's day off.

FIBA: How do you feel you've done in the first three games?

Diaw: Well we've achieved what we set out to do which was win one of the two games against Argentina and Serbia & Montenegro by beating the latter. And we were able to win against Nigeria on Monday. So we can say that so far, so good.

FIBA: Nigeria though did give you a scare in the final quarter.

Diaw: They did but people don't realise that Nigeria is a very good team. They're an example of how much more improved African teams are nowadays on an international level. In the past, games against these teams used to be obvious wins but that's no longer the case. Just like the Europeans have reached America's level - which wasn't an easy thing to do at one time - now the African teams are showing more potential, putting together better teams and as a consequence are more competitive and their results support that.

FIBA: Does the game against Nigeria make you feel cautious for these last two games against so-called lesser opposition in the form of Lebanon and Venezuela?

Diaw: Well you definitely can't underestimate them anymore. There is always a chance - even if it's remote - that you can lose against a lower team. So we must play well for 40 minutes and if we manage to do that then we will win.

FIBA: France has had some great contributions from some of your bench players in the last two games, especially Yannick Bokolo and Mamoutou Diarra. Can you talk about what they've brought to the team?

Diaw: They've really helped the team a lot, but that's why they're here. We know what to expect from them, we know they can come in and make an instant contribution to our cause. We need everyone to play well if we want to get deep into this competition and so far they've shown they can really play well.

FIBA: And Diarra's performance in the game against Nigeria was pretty good considering it was his first outing in the competition.

Diaw: Yeah it really was. He comes back to join the team over the weekend and it's not that simple to just re-enter the group like that. But he did a great job and gave us a lift late in the game to finish off Nigeria.

FIBA: You were named captain but people still talked of the team being Tony Parker's team. Now that he is out of the competition, do you feel it's yours?

Diaw: No I don't. This is a team of 12 players and each one of us has his share of responsibilities out on the court and what he can contribute to our success. It's a total team effort.

FIBA: Do you feel you have to be more creative in Tony's absence?

Diaw: Yeah I guess to a certain extent I have to. But at the same time I have to make sure I do so within the team's system. It has to be to the team's benefit.

FIBA: Some people will look at how you made six free throws against Serbia & Montenegro to win the game and also remember that you went 0 for 11 in a game at the FIBA European Championship last year. Which one is the real Boris?

Diaw: Last year was an anomaly. I ended up shooting 19 per cent from the free-throw line for the tournament. I hadn't done that badly in that area since I started playing basketball as a young kid. I usually shoot around 75 per cent and I think so far in this competition I'm around 80 per cent. So I'm doing ok this year.

By Simon Wilkinson
FIBA