PARIS — When the French men’s basketball team learned last October that NBA star Joel Embiid would not be joining them for the Olympics, the former MVP deciding instead to partner with Team USA in a controversial move that has inspired boos from the locals throughout these Games, the host team’s dreams of a first-ever gold medal suddenly seemed much less promising. Now, after France’s 73-69 semifinal win over Germany on Thursday night at Bercy Arena, they might be facing him in a finale that would mark a rematch of the 2021 gold-medal game.
If the Americans take care of business in their semifinal later Thursday, what a wild basketball scene that Germany-Team USA rematch would be on Saturday.
The last time France was this close to Olympic gold, they fell by five points to the Americans and won the program’s third-ever silver medal (in 11 appearances) in the process. Only seven players from that team remain, with 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs sensation Victor Wembanyama the most notable addition, and now they’re back on that global stage.
FRANCE MEN’S BASKETBALL TAKES DOWN GERMANY.
THEY’LL PLAY FOR A GOLD MEDAL IN FRONT OF A HOME CROWD! 🇫🇷👏 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/rPAFaPs3XO
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024
No matter which team France plays, it was quite remarkable to see their squad overcome a sluggish start in these Games to advance to the end. They beat Brazil handily in the pool play opener, then barely held off Japan (94-90) and lost to Germany on Friday (85-71). The Germans had won 12 consecutive games in FIBA World Cup and Olympic play coming in, but France broke the streak with a group that is mostly anonymous to the NBA audience.
Isaia Cordinier, a 27-year-old wing who plays for Virtus Bologna, had 16 points and seven rebounds. Guerschon Yabusele, a 6-foot-8, 271-pound 28-year-old who has played for Real Madrid in Spain since 2021, finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Wembanyama struggled from the field, hitting just four of 17 shots, but he made an impact as always on the defensive end (seven rebounds, three blocks).
Yabusele took over in the third quarter where he was so dominant and dynamic that there were even “MVP” chants echoing through the venue in his honor. A soaring, right-handed hammer dunk after he sliced through the right side of the line. A bucket in the paint through Daniel Theis. A fadeaway jumper from the right. Then the hook shot in the lane — fake left, spin right and sliding on the floor after contact — that led to a three-point play and the most unexpected of (unofficial) awards campaigns.
The decibel level spiked yet again moments later when veteran forward Nic Batum chased point guard Dennis Schröder down for a block on the break that kept the momentum in France’s corner. And by the time the fourth quarter arrived, France led 56-50.
The Germans were led by Schröder (18 points; six of 18 shooting), but only one other player scored in double digits (Franz Wagner with 10 points). The team shot just 40.3 percent from the field.
France’s quarterfinal win over Canada came with a Rudy Gobert controversy — or at least a fair amount of confusion — relating to his suddenly diminished role. Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA and a frequent subject of derision among his critics, was taken out of the starting lineup by France coach Vincent Collet and only played three minutes. Yet while Gobert had told reporters afterward that he had suffered a finger injury two days before, and then had “surgery” the following day, Collet clarified that there was no surgery (it was an examination that involved an MRI) and that his choice was largely strategic.
Sure enough, Collet went with that strategy again in the semifinal. He started the same (Gobert-less) lineup as he had in the win over Greece, with Gobert entering play for the first time at the start of the second quarter and finishing with just five minutes of play. All in all, it worked again.
On Thursday, the Germans started strong, leading 12-2 less than three minutes in after Wagner’s three from deep on the right wing fell through and forced France to call a timeout. They kept the pressure on from there, with Germany leading 16-7 after Wagner seemed to target Wembanyama on a switch and his driving layup from the left side was goaltended by the French big man for a 16-7 Germany lead.
But France countered — a layup from Mathias Lessort, a jumper from Evan Fournier, another layup from Mathias Lessort and a three from Cordinier that forced Germany to call a timeout of its own when their lead was trimmed to two. Still, with Wembanyama missing all three of his shots while Wagner and Schröder combined for 14 of Germany’s 25 points, the Germans led 25-18 after the first quarter.
France rips off a 7-0 run in the men’s basketball semifinal and the home fans are FIRED UP. 😤#ParisOlympics | 📺 USA Network and Peacock pic.twitter.com/wUxJc2bkZ1
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024
Wembanyama, who has struggled mightily with his shot in this tournament, came alive in the second quarter and sparked a 15-5 run. After his fadeaway from the left side broke the seal and cut Germany’s lead to six, Wembanyama had a spectacular block of Theis’ dunk attempt that came off an alley-oop dish from Schröder.
The oohs and aahs that followed were well deserved, and Wembanyama became even more aggressive from there. And when he dunked over Theis soon thereafter, giving him seven second-quarter points after his scoreless first quarter, France had come back to a 33-33 tie entering the half.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Aris Messinis / AFP via Getty Images)
