France coach Claude Bergeaud is trying to lower expectations ahead of his side's game against Greece on Friday in the EuroBasket opener for both sides.

Hailed as favourites two years ago in Sweden, that French team finished fourth and missed out on the Olympics.

This summer, France won only five of their 10 warm-up games and Bergeaud is stressing his team should not be called favourites.

"The media exposure of our players made everyone think that we had a great team," said Bergeaud in L'Equipe, reflecting on EuroBasket 2003.

		France's front line will have their hands full with Lazaros Papadopoulos

"This team might become great one day but for now, I think we will maybe come up a little short.

"Our objective has not changed, we want to finish among the first six to go to the World Championship."

France start with Greece on Friday, and the Greeks have been impressive in the build-up.

On Saturday, Les Bleus take on Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday and Slovenia on Sunday.

"Greece, along with Croatia, have had a huge and excellent preparation," added Bergeaud.

"The Spaniards played all their games at home, which was probably more comfortable for them, but they lost 88-80 to the Greeks, who won everywhere.

"Greece is a very, very tough team whose experience is based on the Euroleague. They are well organised, they score a lot of points, they have a pacey and fast game."

Greece do have the look of a team that is loaded.

Dimitrios Diamantidis and Theodoros Papaloukas are quality guards, as is Nikos Zisis, who was excellent in the win over Spain.

Lazaros Papadopoulos is a strong center.

Greece have a deep team, one that pushed eventual gold medalists Argentina to the limit at last summer's Olympics.

"They have all the qualities of the Euroleague's top teams and their players are used to playing at the highest level," Bergeaud said.

"It will be an enormous culture shock and I really wonder what the issue of that game will be.

"We will have to put ourselves at their level mentally and emotionally."

Bergeaud also expects the Bosnians and Slovenians to pose problems.

"With all the respect we have for Bosnia, if we don't beat them, it means we have no ambition anymore," he said.

"Our last game against Slovenia could be tough. They have shown a great unity. It's hard to point out the favourites it's well balanced and very hard everywhere."

Again, he is keen to play down the talk of medals.

"I think the Turks will be on the podium, they have gained a tremendous experience since 1999," he added.

"The Italians have impressed me. They played 17 preparation matches, it's enormous.

"Are they going to confirm what they've learned or be tired?

"Croatia have very strong players, they are fresh physically and their confidence is high. They are a small nation and they want to unsettle the big basketball teams.

"As far as Serbia is concerned, of course they will finish first or second."

France point guard Tony Parker has arrived in Belgrade intent on one thing. Parker, the point guard of the NBA Champions San Antonio Spurs, wants a medal.

He says their 75-56 victory over Turkey at the Limoges tournament on Sunday should boost their spirit.

"We came back on track at the right time," said Parker, satisfied that his side won their last four consecutive matches, including one against Italy in Milan on Tuesday.

"We are getting better as the European Championships approach.

"Our defeats in recent weeks have helped us learn a lot.

"The most important was to win the match against Turkey easily. We must now continue on that pace and make sure we are ready on the D-Day.

"Motivation played an important role. After five defeats everyone was expecting a reaction from our part. We had worked hard for one month and we did not want to spoilt our efforts. It was time to bounce back."