<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> France coach Claude Bergeaud has decided that Ronny Turiaf will serve as Fr?d?ric Weis' back-up at center at the FIBA World Championship while also dashing the hopes of Mamoutou Diarra by releasing the small forward. Les Bleus still have to make one more cut to get down to a 12-man squad and that place will be taken by either youngster Johan Petro or national team veteran Cyril Julian. With Turiaf and Petro thought to be battling it out for the last place in the squad, the French Basketball Federation announced in a statement: "At the conclusion of the International Tournament of Berlin where France lost to Italy (65-79 ) and Turkey (76-89 ), Claude Bergeaud announced that he drops Mamoutou Diarra. "And further to Fr?d?ric Weis' injury, the seriousness of which we do not know at this time, the French coach did not wish to take the risk of leaving for Asia with a possible weakness inside. "He thus decided to do without a winger rather than without a pivot. Fr?d?ric Weis will be pivot number one in rotation with Ronny Turiaf. "It is thus between Johan Petro and Cyril Julian that the ultimate choice must be made for the announcement of the definitive selection of 12 players." The decision adds to a remarkable comeback for the 23-year-old Turiaf who was an outstanding collegian at Gonzaga but discovered after his Bulldogs career he needed a heart operation. Turiaf returned to action this year and played as a reserve with the Los Angeles Lakers. Petro, 20, is an amazing talent who just completed his rookie season in the NBA with the Seattle SuperSonics while 32-year-old Julian is far more experienced, having played for Les Bleus on their silver-medal winning side at the Sydney Olympics and at last year's EuroBasket when they finished third. The 26-year-old Diarra was a reserve on France's bronze-medal winning side EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade. France squad (one more player to be cut):Yannick Bokolo, Boris Diaw, Laurent Foirest, Micka?l Gelabale, Joseph Gomis, Aymeric Jeanneau, Cyril Julian, Tony Parker, Johan Petro, Florent Pietrus, Micka?l Pietrus, Ronny Turiaf, Fr?d?ric Weis. </div> Source Good job Ronny! I think France can do some damage with this roster, lead by Tony Parker of course. They have some nice young talent in Johan Petro and Mickael Pietrus. It's also nice to see the great Frederic Weis on the roster.
nice, im so looking forward for the world championships. I'm actually gonna root for 1. argentina 2. france 3. Usa
Congrats, Ronny! I hope he does well... unless he plays against USA, then I'm hoping for a shut down!
