The Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve d'Ascq is in turmoil as Léon Marchand wins his fourth Olympic champion title. On this momentum, the crowd remains on fire for the presentation of the Blues but Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner quickly take charge of calming them down, the winger dunks despite the return of Victor Wembanyama!
Isaac Bonga concludes the first quarter with a 3-pointer that could almost have made it 3+1 and Germany begins to leave its mark on the game. 24-18 for the “Mannschaft”.
The start of the second quarter was no more encouraging. The German dunks continued, Nando de Colo made an unsportsmanlike foul and Dennis Schröder seemed to have made it his mission to score over Rudy Gobert…
Victor Wembanyama moved
Nicolas Batum finally manages to serve Victor Wembanyama near the circle but France does not have the weapons to keep up with the German offensive pace, carried by the Schröder/Wagner duo. At half-time, the two men have scored 31 of the 48 German points, and that is therefore more than the entirety of the Blues, limited to 27 small points.
With his 4 points at 2/6 shooting, and 8 rebounds, “Wemby” had a very complicated first period, being moved around in positioning and having difficulty covering all the ground claimed by the German attack.
Bilal Coulibaly and Matthias Lessort come on for the start of the second half, replacing Nicolas Batum and Rudy Gobert, and the Panathinaikos center goes straight for the dunk! Matthew Strazel follows up with a 3-pointer, and the Blues breathe a little easier (50-33), even if Andreas Obst doesn't let them catch their breath.
Victor Wembanyama gets another ball stolen after losing the physical fight against Daniel Theis. But while the Alien scores a 3-pointer from very far away, Dennis Schröder slips into the circle too easily again.
Isaïa Cordinier tries to revive the Blues
“Wemby” sends a 3-point airball but serves Nicolas Batum perfectly from afar, when that devil Dennis Schröder perfectly understood how to slide to the tricolor circle. Same thing for Franz Wagner, less in finesse, who crushes a huge dunk by playing Nicolas Batum then cashing the rebound of Isaïa Cordinier…
After three quarters, the Blues learned a real lesson, and found themselves trailing by 23 points (69-46).
But behind a Rudy Gobert in wall mode, the Blues start the last quarter with a 5-0 and Gordon Herbert immediately calls a time-out. Isaïa Cordinier is unleashed, with a dunk that ignites the crowd and brings France to -14 (69-55). Guerschon Yabusele imitates him but Isaac Bonga responds from afar, while Isaïa Cordinier is still there, on the offensive rebound. But facing a Schröder who always makes the right shift, it is not enough.
The Blues therefore logically bow out (85-71) and leave first place in Group B to Germany, which will therefore be in the first pot, in order to avoid the United States until the final. For France, the quarter-final risks being particularly tough…
