When it comes to taking stock, we leave the French team with another silver medal. An unexpected silver medal when leaving Lille, given how much Vincent Collet's French team was struggling. After the miraculous victory against Japan and then the thrashing suffered against Germany, not many people could have imagined seeing this group overturn Canada and then the “Mannschaft” and tease the American “Avengers” until “money-time”.
We can always wonder what would have happened without Stephen Curry's huge burst of enthusiasm, but this second consecutive silver medal remains a very nice epilogue for Nicolas Batum and Nando De Colo, pillars of the Blues for so long, and Vincent Collet.
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Guershon Yabusele
14.0 points at 52% shooting, 3.3 rebounds in 23 minutes (6 games)
It was his induction into the starting five of the Blues that changed everything for the French team in the quarter-finals. His aggressiveness, his power and the interior fixation point that he offered to a team that was too pushed to the periphery in the group stage changed the face of the Blues. Even in the final, where he was more clumsy, he was still the one who hurt the United States the most, with obviously this poster on LeBron James, and always his physical impact.
Isaiah Cordinier
8.8 points at 48% shooting, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19 minutes (6 games)
The Virtus Bologna winger was another major factor in the transformation of the Blues during the competition. A starter in preparation, he was removed from the starting five because, focused on the game plan, he was mainly focused on not making mistakes. It was when he freed himself up that the Blues found movement and rhythm in order to surprise Canada and Germany. It was more complicated in the final, where he hesitated again, hampered by the size and stature of his American opponents. Losing the rhythm he had in the quarter and semi-finals.
Mathias Lessort
7.2 points at 67% shooting, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 14 minutes (6 games)
The last of the “revolutionary” trio of the Blues. Like Guerschon Yabusele, he was a valuable offensive anchor to defeat Canada and, to a lesser extent, Germany. The Panathinaikos player thus bludgeoned the Canadian interiors, provoking numerous fouls that helped turn the quarter-final in favor of the French team. Like Isaïa Cordinier, it was more difficult for him in the final, against the United States, where it was more complicated to take the advantage in the low post.
Nicolas Batum
7.7 points at 43% shooting, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 30 minutes (6 games)
Nicolas Batum was a Nicolas Batum for his last competition with the Blues. A very fluctuating offensive contribution, with 19 starting points against Brazil, then 5.4 points on average over the next five matches. Against Canada, he didn't score a single point… but his impact was immense in all other sectors. He was the first defender on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schröder, the one who put oil in the cogs, who woke up the group at the end of the group stage. And his retirement will leave a huge void within the Blues.
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Victor Wembanyama
15.8 points at 42% shooting, 9.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 30 minutes (6 games)
Perhaps too much was expected of “Wemby” for his first competition with the A team. Result: while he finished as the top scorer, rebounder, passer and blocker for the Blues, as well as in the best five of the competition, the general impression was nevertheless frustrating. Defensively, he nevertheless weighed, changing the geometry of the field with his size, his wingspan and his mobility. Offensively, his difficulties in taking his positions against opponents who constantly pushed him back totally disrupted the Blues. Without a top-tier creator, the French team had a hard time serving the “Rookie of the Year” near the circle. Victor Wembanyama was therefore limited to the role of clumsy 3-point shooter, with a cumulative 6/27 in the quarter-final and semi-final… In his defense, he knew how to show off his qualities as a passer during these matches, on the cuts or towards the low post. Before finding efficiency against a less aggressive Team USA.
Evan Fournier
9.8 points at 34% shooting, 1.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 21 minutes (6 games)
Like many of his teammates, he experienced two competitions in one. In the first phase, when things weren't working on the field, he tried to take the offensive lead, on and off the court. Repositioned as the 6th man, he then assumed his role as a soldier, displaying real defensive aggression. Unfortunately, apart from against Canada, his accuracy wasn't really there, when the Blues would have needed his points from afar.
Matthew Strazel
5.0 points, 0.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 12 minutes (5 games)
The young leader's mission was extremely complicated, in a hierarchy with a particularly unclear point guard. A starter but quickly taken off against Brazil, while he suffered against Marcelinho Huertas, he played very little from the quarter-finals onwards. But we must not forget that without his miraculous shot against Japan, the Blues might not even have reached Paris…
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Andrew Albicy
0.8 points at 22% shooting, 0.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 13 minutes (6 games)
An almost zero offensive impact but still this role of good soldier, so appreciated by his teammates, on the field and in the locker room. A perfect third leader in short. The problem is above all that faced with the shortage in the position, he is a starter…
Rudy Gobert
3.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 14 minutes (6 games)
For the best “Defender of the Year” in the NBA, the tournament was particularly complicated. Clearly, his duo with Victor Wembanyama was not working, Rudy Gobert not being able to punish the opponents of the Blues in the low post. Frustrated, the pivot also stepped out of his role, forcing things to try to turn them in his favor. Finally, he came out of the starting five, at the time he injured his hand. Almost not used in the quarter-finals and then in the semi-finals, it was from the bench that he saw his teammates find their defensive identity.
Frank Ntilikina
4.2 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists in 13 minutes (6 games)
Like the other two playmakers in the squad, the future Partizan Belgrade player focused on a few specific tasks, depending on the matchups and the scenarios of the matches. But his offensive impact was very limited after the match against Brazil and his defensive impact extremely fluctuating, while his difficulties in the face of the opposing defensive pressure did not help the Blues to set up their attack on half-court.
Nando De Colo
3.6 points at 60% shooting, 1.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 9 minutes (5 games)
Apart from the match against Japan, we had hardly seen him on the pitch. Already limited defensively during his best years, Nando De Colo could not be useful against Canada or Germany. Vincent Collet nevertheless relaunched him against the United States, to whom he caused problems, thus ending his career with the Blues on his best match of the tournament.
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Vincent Collet and his staff
Between the 2023 World Cup, the end of preparation and the group stage, Vincent Collet and his staff seemed to be on the street, facing a strategic impasse with this Victor Wembanyama – Rudy Gobert duo that was not working, an attack that was still as feverish and internal doubts that were coming to light. And then, for his last campaign, the coach did what he had never done with the Blues, by changing everything in the middle of the Olympic Games. By relying on his Euroleague players (Yabusele, Cordinier and Lessort) to focus on movement and interior play, Vincent Collet resurrected the Blues, who therefore finished with a new silver medal. A few shots from Stephen Curry of the American “Avengers”…
