But Les Bleus haven't had much time to enjoy the win - which earned them a second place finish in Group A behind Argentina - as they then learned their opponents in the second round would be Angola, an up-and-coming side who pushed mighty Germany to three overtimes before falling 108-103.

Dirk Bauermann's men did need all 47 of star player Dirk Nowitzki's points to fend off the African nation's challenge.

FIBA correspondent Simon Wilkinson talked to France head coach Claude Bergeaud ahead of tomorrow's clash.

FIBA: What are your thoughts of Angola? Are you impressed by their performance so far?

Bergeaud: Very much so. They showed in the group stages that they play very coherent basketball. Angola take a lot of risks by shooting a ton of three-pointers. That (three-point) shot can be a risk but in their case it's a weapon because they shoot a very high percentage. And when they don't make them, they're very adept at getting offensive rebounds (about 13 a game). So With their quickness and their three-point shooting, even though they play without a center, they are a very dangerous team.

FIBA: If Angola play without a center, does that mean center Frederic Weis' role is reduced for France?

Bergeaud: I don't know yet and I won't know until the game. We will see how the game plays out and make the necessary adjustments if we have to. Coaching is about adapting in the game.

FIBA: Considering how France have been shooting from three-point range in the past two games (six of 48), is it fair to say that you won't get caught up in a three-point shooting contest with Angola to counter them?

Bergeaud: No we won't because to begin with you only counter a team with defense. Defense is where we will have to be strong to gain some confidence. If we didn't have our defense we wouldn't have any confidence at all considering we couldn't make any outside shots in the last few games.

FIBA: Your defense did lead to a lot of fast break points especially in the second half of the game against Venezuela. You couldn't do that against Lebanon. Will that be the key for France?

Bergeaud: Yes precisely. That will be our approach and also we must keep our cool even if we can't score every time we're on a fast break because we do have our defense behind us. At the end of the game against Lebanon, we could have fouled to get the ball, but we believed our defense could produce a stop without having to foul. We did make a defensive error but that happens some times.

FIBA: What do you tell your players who have been struggling with their outside shot - Laurent Foirest and Mickael Pietrus for example ¨C to make sure they stay positive and keep their confidence level high?

Bergeaud: They just have to keep playing because accuracy comes and goes. Without wanting to be disrespectful to the people of Sendai, we hope that leaving that gym will be beneficial to us because we really couldn't make many outside shots over there.

FIBA: Angola are known to play some very tough defense and like to pressure the ball handler. How will you counter that?

Bergeaud: Well it all depends on where they decide to pressure the ball. If they apply the pressure high, when we inbound the ball, it can be countered by setting screens. And if they do it at center court, we can use the wing players.

FIBA: Is their defensive pressure something you have studied in watching their game tapes?

Bergeaud: We have watched them and it's hard to tell if they are definitely going to pressure the ball because they don't always do it. Our problem at the moment is that we may be missing a point guard - Aymeric Jeanneau - so it could make it tougher on us to find some good ball handlers.

FIBA: What is the latest on Jeanneau?

Bergeaud: We really hope that he can play. He could only shoot around during yesterday¡¯s practice. We'll see whether his status improves before tomorrow's game. We hope he can give us some minutes.

FIBA: You do have a good mix at the point guard position with Jeanneau and Yannick Bokolo. They each play a different style, which is a good way to confuse the opposition.

Bergeaud: It was even better when we had Tony Parker as well. It was like fire and water. When Parker would be out of the game we could calm it down with Jeanneau, who is a different playmaker than Tony. When he was still on the team we had devised the best rotation possible at the point guard position. But now that Tony is out we still have a good rotation and different styles.