The host French national men’s basketball team looked like it was a legitimate medal contender before this Olympic tournament began.France had a roster that included 7-4, 19-year- old NBA rookie phenom Victor Wembanyana, and four other NBA veterans– including 7-1 center Rudy Gobert forward Nic Batum, point guard Frank Ntilikina and guard Evan Fourier.
But all that talent didn’t necessarily translate into success on the court. France advanced to the knockout round with a 2-1 record, but they struggled to beat winless Japan 94-90 and lost to Germany, 83-72, in group play in Lille. a city two hours north of Paris.
But the French, who are back on center stage at Brecy Arena in the capitol city, created a deafening roar in the capitol Tuesday when they stunned previously unbeaten Canada, 82-72, to advance to a semi-final matchup against Germany Thursday. Team USA will play Serbia in the other semi-final.
The French jumped out to a 19-5 lead and never allowed the Canadians– a team with 10 NBA players who was trying to medal for the first time since 1936– to get into their offensive flow.
Point guard Guerschon Yabusele, a fringe NBA player who has been nicknamed “The Dancing Bear” by NBC announcer Eagle, scored 22 points after being inserted into the starting lineup. Wembanyama had 12 rebounds to go with 7 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block. Isaia Cordinier added 20 points for France who won with a smaller, reconfigured lineup.
“We had a lot of time to think, to fix things,” Wembanyama said. And the whole team was just so dedicated to fixing everything.”
French coach Vincent Collet pulled four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Goubert and Fournier from the starting lineup. Goubert played just three minutes after suffering an injury to his right index finger in practice. Fournier didn’t see the court until late in the first quarter. He’s benching came after Collet took issue with some critical comments by Fournier after the Germany loss. The decision to bench Fournier was self-explanatory– the 31-year -old has never been a defender, even in his prime. Goubert sat because of matchup problems.
Canada’s frontcourt rotation of Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk and Khern Birch didn’t pose much of a physical interior threat, so Collet trusted his team could get away with playing small. And it worked.
Collet started guard Frank Ntilikina, moving Victor Wembanyama to center to give France a more versatile lineup against scorers like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett.
Gilgeous -Alexander, Canada’s All NBA guard, led his team with 27 points and Barrett had 16. But Canada got little offensive production from its’ other key starters Jamal Murray and Dillion Brooks.
Murray, one of the stars of Denver’s 2023 NBA title drive, scored just seven points on 3 for 13 shooting. Brooks only scored two. Canada looked lost for most of the first half. There was no dribble penetration early and Canada attempted six of its first seven shots from three-point range, afraid to challenge Wembanyama inside. When the Canadians did get to the hoop, they got there without a plan. Far too often Canadian players found themselves indecisive in the air, forcing up bad shots or making kick out passes to no one.
“The start obviously put us in a hole, Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think we won the rest of the game after the game. But when you start like that, it’s hard playing against any team.”
With Canada limiting Wembanyama’s touches, Yabusele and Cordinier carried the offensive load for France. Cordinier caught fire from three, scoring 11 points on 3 of 4 shooting from deep in the first half. His two- way energy set the tone for France, which got out to a 16- point halftime lead.
