FRA - Traore helps his case

KRASNODAR (Eurocup/Olympics) - Ali Traore is on the bubble when it comes to making France's Olympic squad.

He was fortunate to travel to last year’s EuroBasket in Lithuania because France coach Vincent Collet had cut him late in the preparations, only to call him back into the squad when an injury knocked Ronny Turiaf out of the tournament.

The 2.05m power forward/center Traore then made the most of the opportunity with strong displays off the bench.

In the Quarter-Final triumph over Greece, Traore had six points in nine minutes while in the pivotal Semi-Final against Russia, he had eight points and three rebounds in 10 minutes.

The 79-71 victory over Russia punched France's ticket to the London Games.

With Turiaf, Washington Wizards teammate Kevin Seraphin, Dallas Mavericks center Ian Mahinmi and Chicago Bulls pivot Joakim Noah all hoping to play at the Olympics, Traore needs to have a very good season with Lokomotiv Kuban to make the French squad.

His Lokomotiv coach, Slovenia national team boss Bozidar Maljkovic, is relying heavily on the Frenchman and Traore is delivering with averages of 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in the Eurocup, 10.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in Russia’s PBL and 10.6 points and 4.3 boards in the VTB United League.

In the Russian club's Eurocup Top 16 opener on Tuesday night against Lietuvos Rytas, Traore had 15 points and nine rebounds.

On Wednesday, it was pointed out to Traore on Twitter that he had good statistics in Russia, and the big man was also asked how things are going in Krasnodar.

He tweeted: "It's going great in Russia, and you want to know what's better than good looking stats? Big fat WINS we get."

Indeed, more important than player statistics are club wins and that will not go unnoticed by Collet.

FIBA