heading into EuroBasket 2005. Reconstruction of the national team roster was built based on team chemistry instead of big names; Amongst others, Jérôme Moïso and Tariq Abdul-Wahad disappeared from the roster with the newly formed team being built around the three NBA players Tony Parker, Boris Diaw, and Mickaël Piétrus as well as the returning national team veteran Antoine Rigaudeau. The new coach Claude Bergeaud, surprisingly also selected Frédéric Weis, an underachieving player once drafted in the 1999 NBA draft, who did not participate in the team's preparation. After a sobering preliminary round, France displayed stunning performances in the knockout stage. First, France eliminated Serbia and Montenegro on their home court, then the team defeated the 2003 European champion Lithuania. Heading into their semi-finals match against Greece, where both sides battled each other throughout with tough defense, France collapsed in the final minute after leading by seven points with 45 seconds remaining in regulation. The devastating loss relegated the national team to the bronze medal match once again. However, unlike 2003 France recovered to win the bronze medal by blowing out Spain 98–68. Continued title aspirations (2006–2010) At the 2006 FIBA World Cup France competed without Tony Parker, who suffered a twisted finger two days before the competition. Because of this, the San Antonio Spurs, who just signed Parker to a 51 million Euros contract did not allow him to participate. After a preliminary round marked by three wins and two losses, including a shocking defeat at the hands of Lebanon, France beat Angola in the Round of 16 match 68–62 before losing in the quarter-finals against Greece 56–73. Furthermore, two victories in classification matches finally granted the French fifth place. At the EuroBasket 2007, France fell behind their aspirations again. After a strong preliminary round, the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual champion Russia 75–71, then was beaten in the classification matches by Croatia 86–69 and Slovenia 88–74, finishing in eighth place, missing out on the Olympic Games for the second consecutive time. In the following months, the team had to go through the ordeal of qualifications to participate in the next EuroBasket which was to be held in 2009. In 2008, former national team coach Michel Gomez returned to lead the team, a position he held between 1993 and 1995. But Gomez failed to help France qualify directly for the European Championship, and had to enter