FRA - Digbeu comes of age

OSTRAVA (2010 FIBA World Championship for Women) – Imagine what must have been going on in the mind of Jennifer Digbeu in June last year when France’s 12 players stepped onto the podium in Riga and had gold medals hung around their necks.

Other than Cathy Melain, who came out of retirement to play and then retired again, France had a young squad that out-defended and out-rebounded nearly every opponent at the EuroBasket Women.

Digbeu, 22 at the time, had to watch on television.

“The girls were champions and I said, ‘you can’t change a team that wins’ but I never stopped working at home with my coach and now I have the chance,” she said.

A year is a long time in basketball.

Digbeu did what she had to do in the 2009-10 campaign to make the team for this year’s FIBA World Championship.

After leaving USO Mondeville for Bourges and helping them advance to the EuroLeague Women post-season, reach the French domestic league final and win the Coupe de France, Digbeu continued to work hard in the national team preparations with Pierre Vincent and earned a spot in the squad.

She has an important role, too, especially with injuries robbing France of Sandrine Gruda and Emilie Gomis.

Both players had to withdraw late in the preparations.

The 23-year-old Digbeu, a 1.88m forward with a powerful upper body, contributed tough defense and timely shooting to help France overcome Greece, 69-55, on Friday.

She had seven points in an 18-1 French run at the end of the first half that gave them a 40-23 lead.

With Greece threatening to come back in the fourth quarter and closing the gap to eight, Digbeu buried one of her two three-pointers in the game to knock the wind out of the opponents.

Looking back on last year, when Digbeu was on the outside looking in, it’s understandable why she feared there would be no place in the national team for her.

Now she’s on the inside and having the time of her life.

On Saturday, Digbeu, whose 34-year-old brother Alain played for France earlier in his career, will go up against a star-studded and heavily-favored United States in Ostrava in a battle for first place in Group B.

She will go up against players like Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird – three of the great Americans ever to run onto the floor.

“This is a dream,” Digbeu said.

“I used to watch them on TV and like them, and be a fan.

“But I’m not the kind of person that just watches them on the court.

“I want to respect them but I want them to respect us, too.”

The United States have claimed two big wins so far, beating Greece 99-73 on Thursday and thrashing Senegal 108-52 on Friday.

“It’s going to be a great game because we’re going to fight them, be aggressive and do our job,” Digbeu said.

“This is a great team and it’s a chance to play against them.”

Remember, you can see all of France's games live on FIBATV.com.

FIBA