ATHENS (Greece) - The sting of France's early exit at FIBA EuroBasket 2025 is still being felt by everyone in the team that was knocked out by Georgia.
We've got the qualifying windows coming up ... So we’ll start there, try to qualify, and take it step by step.
It's also being felt by those that weren't in Riga, like Evan Fournier.
The long-time France shooting guard needed to rest this summer because of an ankle injury.
"It was definitely hard to watch that from behind my screen for the first time," Fournier said to TV Monaco, in remarks carried by bebasket.fr.
"It was frustrating. Unfortunately, I had to take this summer off. I think we're all disappointed with the result."
France did lose in the Group Phase, 82-69 to Israel, yet finished top of the Katowice pool and entered the knockout round as a favorite against Georgia.
The Georgians took the lead midway through the third quarter, however, and never looked back.
It was a disappointing result, yet Fournier believes some good can come out of EuroBasket 2025 for France.
Zaccharie Risacher (20), Alexandre Sarr (20) and Bilal Coulibaly (21) gained valuable experience. Each figures to be in the national team setup for a long time, along with Victor Wembanyama (21), who also missed the tournament.
"I think this will help the group because they were very young," he said. "For some of them, it was really their first FIBA competition. They’ll learn from it, and it will serve us well going forward."
One of the challenges will be to have the right mix of youth and age.
Fournier wasn't the only veteran not in Riga.
WHEN IT COMES TO MANAGING A TOURNAMENT, UNDERSTANDING HOW A DO-OR-DIE GAME WORKS—YOU NEED EXPERIENCE.
Nic Batum and Nando de Colo retired from the team after the Olympics, while Rudy Gobert, Mathias Lessort and Andrew Albicy were missing.
France had talent, and some veterans like Guerschon Yabusele, yet the lack of big time experience was telling in the 80-70 Round of 16 defeat to Georgia.
"This summer, there was such a big gap in the group compared to last year," Fournier said.
France reached the Gold Medal Game in Paris before falling to USA.
"It's very tough," Fournier said. "There were so many new players. That can be a strength, too.
"But when it comes to managing a tournament, understanding how a do-or-die game works - you need experience."
Since making his senior national team debut at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain 11 years ago, Fournier has played every summer for France except in 2016, at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
At the Paris Olympics, he averaged 9.8 points per game and had one of his best outings in the Quarter-Final victory over Canada, scoring 15.
His best tournament was the 2019 World Cup in China, when Fournier averaged 19.8 points per game and made the All-Star Five as France finished third.
While Fournier's focus now is on helping Olympiacos win in Greece and Europe, he does have one eye on the 2027 World Cup and admits he still wants to "win titles with the national team."
"Honestly, I'm not projecting that far ahead yet," he said.
"I want to keep going, but it's still two years away. First, we've got the qualifying windows coming up ... So we’ll start there, try to qualify, and take it step by step."
FIBA