The French basketball team won silver at the EuroBasket, beaten in the final by Spain (88-76). Less than 24 hours later, the Blues were back in France, and approached a partner’s store on the Champs-Élysées for a first assessment. The opportunity to take stock with the leader Elie Okobo, trained at the Élan Béarnais. The former Palois played in all nine games, his playing time fluctuated between 4 minutes (in the quarter-finals) and 23 minutes (in the final), for an average yield of 4 points and 1.1 assists in 13 minutes.
France Bleu Béarn Bigorre: This is your first international medal, it is obtained on a defeat in the final, the feelings must be shared…
Elie Okobo : Sure, as a competitor it’s always frustrating to lose a game, especially a gold medal game. But we savor it all the same, a medal is a medal! Second place isn’t nothing at a EuroBasket like this, and I’m still proud of what we’ve accomplished, even if there’s still a lot of work to do. And it’s true a little frustration not to have been able to win this gold medal.
After 24 hours, are you able to take a step back from this frustration?
I always manage to take a step back, to find positive in the things that I do in life and it was an interesting competition. We take a lot of experience, we learn, we adapt and we leave with something in our hands. I think you have to know how to appreciate it, even if even if I wanted the gold, everyone wanted the gold. But now, Spain was better than us in the last game.
Your playing time fluctuated during the Euro, is that also the learning and adaptation you are talking about?
Adapting to the game, adapting to the group on the pitch, having confidence, being comfortable… It’s a lot of things where I could have done better during all this Euro. I take this experience and I will work to do even better and perform even better because I know I can do much better.
It was your first international campaign, were there any things that surprised you?
Basketball level not really, it’s not exactly the same as EuroLeague matches, but we feel the same way the importance of each error. We pay cash, you really have to be focused and really work five on the pitch at the same time and ten or twelve counting those who return. Afterwards, it’s a long process, there are a lot of matches, it’s one after the other, you have to take care of your body. Like in a bubble, between the hotel and the matches.
This pressure inherent in each match, the direct eliminations, does it really change the pressure of a regular season?
During the season there are matches where unconsciously we relax a little, we say to ourselves: “It’ll be fine, it doesn’t matter, we’ll see tomorrow“, etc, but here all the matches count. During the first phase, you want your place in the 8th finals, and from the 8th, if we lose, we go home. So there is this level of requirement that you have to have towards yourself and towards the group in order to be able to perform and go as far as possible. I think that we did it rather well even if there is always this gold medal that we would have liked to have.
I can’t wait to play in Pau, I lost last time, it frustrated me, I haven’t forgotten it!
Does the Elie Okobo of today measure the path traveled by the one who was still a kid in Pau?
It’s certain ! I was in a training center, I turned pro, then the NBA, injuries, a return to ASVEL, I tasted the Euroleague and now my first competition with the France team, there are had a long way! There have necessarily been ups and downs but I try to focus on the positive to keep my head focused and see far ahead of me. And I can’t wait to see the rest, what awaits me in this sport.
Barely a few days off and the resumption of the championship, already, this weekend, is that the program?
That’s it ! I have medical visits to do in Monaco, I have photoshoots, media requests, etc. And then we play Nanterre on Sunday and we move on to Nancy, so I will be able to find my team, the group, the staff. It will be brand new to me. I can’t wait to start after two days of rest. You have to take a little time, physically and mentally, it will be good because the season is long. But with the goals we have in Monaco, I really can’t wait for it to start.
So we’ll see you again this season in Pau, at the Palace, but we’ll have to wait a bit, the first leg is in Monaco…
I can’t wait to play in Pau, I lost last time, it frustrated me, I haven’t forgotten it! But I will return to Pau and I will take my revenge!
Interview by Frédéric Mazéas
– Filip Singer