MADRID (Liga Endesa)- Tariq Kirksay is a fierce competitor, a multi-skilled forward who helps his teams win basketball games in a myriad of ways.

The Bronx-born player, while competing in France's professional league and in European club competitions with Nancy from 2004-07, so impressed Claude Bergeaud that the national team coach invited him into his squad for the EuroBasket in Spain.

While most French basketball fans and players will look back on that summer as a failure, with the national team finishing eighth and missing out on the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT), Kirksay is a little different.

Yes, he was hugely disappointed with the finish, and the inability to book a place at the Beijing Games or at bare minimum the OQT, but Kirksay considers that tournament to be a huge plus in his career.

"It was a great experience and for me," the 33-year-old said to FIBA.com.

"It was a challenge to prove to myself.

"I don't need to prove anything to anybody else, but I proved to myself that I can play at the highest level against (Dirk) Nowitzki, against (Hedo) Turkoglu and all of those guys, and I played well.

"I was happy for myself that I showed I can do it after four years of hearing, 'Ah, he's not a high level player'.

"But I was happy that Claude Bergeaud was the coach of France and gave me the opportunity and the chance to display my talents in the international game."

Kirksay also played for France in the summers of 2008 and 2009 as they booked a place at the next EuroBasket in Poland.

He didn't make the Vincent Collet-coached squad that competed in the Final Round, however, and hasn't appeared for France since.

At 33, Kirksay plays in Spain's Liga Endesa for Asefa Estudiantes and is still very, very good.

Over the weekend, he had 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in Estu's 94-85 triumph over Murcia.

Is playing for France again something he'd like to do?

"For sure I wish I could be there," Kirksay said.

"You always feel as a player you're a competitor, that you belong, you can be in a better place.

"I still have that. I still feel young and will always keep a young mentality.

"I'll always want more. I want the best for myself."

FIBA