VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - Exuberance, toughness, unselfishness, humility and leadership.

The times that we have seen Antoine Diot play for France, he has displayed each of these qualities and more.

He has a 'rise-to-the-occasion' trait that has made him very important for Les Bleus since 2009, when he was a hero for the national team.

France, thanks to a spark from Diot, fought back from a 19-point deficit to beat Turkey in a Classification Round game to reach the 2010 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

After injuries prevented Diot from playing for France for the next three summers, including at the London Olympics, he returned to the set-up in 2013 and had an important role as France captured the EuroBasket title for the first time.

Antoine Diot helped Les Bleus win EuroBasket 2013

His shot just before the half-time buzzer in the Final against Lithuania in Ljubljana was one of the most exciting plays of the tournament.

Diot also competed last year at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and hit double figures in scoring in three of his first four games.

The contest he no doubt remembers most fondly was the 65-52 win over hosts Spain in the Quarter-Finals.

He played 23 minutes in that game and helped France pull off one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history.

Diot trained with France this summer ahead of EuroBasket 2015 and showed off his passing skills.

A muscular injury forced him to withdraw just days before France's first game in Montpellier, though, robbing him of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to play in front of the home fans at a EuroBasket.

C'est la vie.

Thankfully for Diot, he's back in business.

And he's doing what many of his fellow national team stars have done over the years, playing basketball in Spain.

It hasn't taken Valencia Basket fans long to understand why Collet always picks him, and why he'll probably take him next year to one of the six-team FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQTs) that France will take part in.

With starting guard Sam Van Rossom recently getting hurt, Diot, who has only recently returned from the injury that kept him out of the EuroBasket, has to play a larger role.

Against CAI Zaragoza in a midweek Eurocup win, he had 15 points and a team-high two steals.

I paid a visit to Valencia's Pabellon Municipal Fuente San Luis this week and spoke to Diot.

True to form, he's got his feet on the ground.

"I am playing a little more now but the minutes on the court are not important to me," he said this week.

"What I want is to help the team win.

"Sam will return in three or four weeks and this will be good for us.

"We need everyone together to win a lot of games."

Valencia have already won a lot of games, 14 in as many attempts.

In the league, the team is 7-0 and in first place heading into Sunday night's game against Herbalife Gran Canaria.

What Diot was willing to say is this has been a good move.

"The Liga Endesa is faster and harder than the French league," he said. "I'm happy to be here.

"It's my first experience away and I'm enjoying it."

A healthy Diot logging big minutes for one of the best teams in Spain?

That's good news for France.

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

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