France - Europe - NBA

PARIS (The Monday International Show) - The timing was odd - why now? - last week when French national team coach, Claude Bergeaud announced his resignation for "political" reasons.

Translation - the close entourage of the federation's president has been calling for Claude's head for 2 years now!

I guess I was the last journalist in France who thought he could continue with a reinforced staff and a more positive attitude towards his NBA players - the same way I was the last journalist to feel that Tony Parker would be an All-Star last febuary!

Parker who recently remarked pertinently that it's a false idea to overrate the fact that nine Frenchmen play in the NBA because, in reality, only two have a big rôle and I would add that one of the two, Diaw, has seen his rôle diminished considerably!

Tony makes a point I've been writing about for years-that 30 minutes of playing time in Europe is better than 2 minutes on the end of an NBA bench - and it's better to play 3 or 4 years abroad and come to the NBA more prepared to perform immediately!

The NBA, the Euroleague and FIBA should work out a way to permit this from a contractual standpoint in everyone's best interest.

Of course, Bergeaud repeatedly used this argument to explain certain weaknesses of his team at the European championship to the point that some of his NBA guys got fed up with hearing it!

It's true that since the Bosman rule and the emergence of rugby in France, the French basketball league has fallen behind in terms of quality, marketing and the tax burden compared to other countries.

This situation has led to poor results in the Euroleague and left Bergeaud with only Flo Pietrus and Cedric Ferchaud as Euroleague-stamped players on the French team which he deplored.

Personally, I feel he exagerrated this aspect to try to protect his players but he forgot that most of them played FIBA ball while growing up as Parker pointed out and it's possible to teach NBA players European stuff like how to pass the ball, shut down opposing scorers and foul early to stop the fast break (this last example is something FIBA needs to legislate against, by the way).

The big problem for the French team was a lack of consistent outside and free throw shooting, notably from Diaw and Gomis, who were playing out of position and a lack of defensive intensity in the key moments of some games, especially the last two in the classification round.

By almost beating Russia in the quarters they showed they had enough talent, despite some errors in the selection process, but their lack of a sense of urgency in the last two games (here the staff and federation clearly didn't sufficiently put the players in front of their responsabilities) showed that the group was missing a vocal leader or tough-guy assistant coach to increase their mental toughness in the showdowns!

Bergeaud feels that too many NBA dunk highlights on TV over the years has diminished the importance of outside shooting for young players in France(or the USA, for that matter) but it's the federation's job to teach the fundamentals and don't forget, those highlights are shown in Croatia and Slovenia too which doesn't impede those countries from having numerous top notch shooters!

Now, what does the future hold for Claude and the French team who go their seperate ways? Bergeaud can either choose to return to Pau where he had great results or coach in Spain which has always been his dream.

He can resign with his head up knowing he brought a certain set of values to the squad and most importantly, the first medal in a European championship in over 50 years with the bronze in Belgrade!

It's natural that over time he became almost too close to his players and too sure of his own methods and choices which often is the downfall for a coach. As for the famous federation "telephone" commission which has brought ironic smiles throughout the microcosm, they will propose a profile and the president Mainini will choose a coach to fit it among a short list of candidates in a couple of months.

The list? The favorite, Vincent Collet from Le Mans, former assistant to Alain Weiss for the national team-Antoine Rigaudeau, a former star who has never coached but is supported by some major media-Jean-Denys Choulet, champion of France with Roanne's mini-budget but maybe not politically correct enough to survive the selection process- and a last surprising solution if a foreign coach is desired(I doubt it!), Erman Kunter, the Cholet coach who once ran the Turkish national squad.

George Eddy