So close to Olympus that they could smell it. The French men’s basketball team advanced unashamedly in the final on Saturday, August 7, against the United States. Barely beaten (82-87), at the end of a meeting where she stood up to the best team in the world, the squad led by Evan Fournier had to settle for an Olympic silver medal.
However, they will have tried everything. Served by Nando De Colo in the racket, Rudy Gobert marks his territory from the start. Faced with “little” Draymond Green (2 m anyway), the French pivot wins and dunkes. As in their first match, the French do not allow themselves to be reckoned with and are in the lead. “Of course they are superior to us, but can we beat them and do we have real know-how? Of course, and we will have to rely on that to be able to worry them ”, said Evan Fournier before the final. Accustomed to meeting American stars on a daily basis in the NBA, and with their two straight victories against them, the French do not harbor any complex. And from a three points, Evan Fournier quickly offers six points in advance.
But faced with the United States and their myriad of offensive options, the clock is ticking. The Spaniards, in the quarterfinals, and the Australians, in the semis, can attest to this, the two teams having let slip 10 and 15 points in advance. And despite a good quarter-time, where the Blues have properly applied their game plan, a series initiated by Kevin Durant allows “Team USA” to turn in the lead after ten minutes of play (18-22). A serious customer on the road to Nicolas Batum, two days after dealing with Luka Doncic – two of the best offensive players on the planet. “I drooled a bit [jeudi] with Luka, and I’ll be fixing the other in two days “, anticipated the French captain, without complaining. At the break, the Brooklyn Nets player is already 21 points (27 in total).
“The Olympics are something special”
Seriously, Gregg Popovich’s players do not look down on the Blues. If their attack is none of the San Antonio Spurs’ licked game – a “European game”, according to Collet – set up in the NBA by the Texan tactician, the American individualities easily make the difference. Carried by Kevin Durant, the United States take up to 13 points in advance, but France is not disunited. Searching for her interiors, she is gradually catching up.
“If you put your throws, we would freak out less, motherfucker”, teased Nicolas Batum towards Rudy Gobert at the end of the match against Slovenia – where his partner had missed two crucial throws late in the game. Dominating the racket, where he takes advantage of the absence of “big”, the French pivot has not fully heard the lesson, and leash on the way (16 points and 6/13 throws). At the break, the Blues remain within shooting range (39-44).
The United States has not lost in the Olympic final since 1972 and the Munich Games. At the time, the American team, made up of university players, had been overthrown by the USSR on a controversial basket of Alexander Belov with the siren – disgruntled, the twelve men of “Team USA” never wanted to receive their medal. This first defeat of the American basketball empire at the Games, Vincent Collet remembers. The French coach was 9 years old and dreams of an orange ball in his head.
“When I was a young basketball player, as a youngster, I dreamed of playing a France-United States in the final”, confided the French coach after the victory of his team in the semi-final. Placing the Olympic tournament higher than all other international basketball competitions, the one who coaches the Blues since 2009 had warned his players before the semi-final: “In the life of an athlete, the Olympics are something special. I think it’s more important to go to the Olympic final than to be European champion. “
Yo-yo and loss of ball
But in his dreams, the Blues won at the end. After their inaugural victory in the tournament, the French coach told his American counterpart, the very Francophile Gregg Popovich – former coach of Tony Parker at the San Antonio Spurs. “I told him that I dreamed of finding them in the final. “
But Kevin Durant did not return in the American jersey to visit Japan. Fluid, the boss of “Team USA” continues his work in the blue defense. The double Olympic champion (London and Rio) even tries to seal his domination with a dunk on the head of Rudy Gobert, but the triple best defender of the year in the NBA intervenes with authority (and a fault). Without ever letting go, the Blues do the yo-yo, but their loss of ball handicaps them. A beneficial three point from Nicolas Batum – his first points of the match – at the end of the third quarter leaves the French at eight points (63-71). They will even come back to three points ten seconds from the end, in an end of the meeting that they are trying to pack. In vain.
“Beating the United States today is less impossible. Which does not mean that it is possible ”, prophesied Nicolas Batum before the meeting. So close, but so far, the Blues have never looked down in this final. They were not unworthy but never seemed able to doubt long enough the teammates of Jayson Tatum (16 points). Past close to gold, disappointment can prevail for the men of Vincent Collet. But the French basketball team leaves Tokyo, silver medalist, at the end of a high-flying tournament, where it was present in every match.