A year ago, the France was living hell in Jakarta. A 30-point defeat (95-65) against the Canada which will directly torpedo its 2023 World Cup. This afternoon (6:00 p.m.), the two teams meet in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Olympic Games and the fear for the Blues is to relive the same hell in Paris…
Because Canada comes into this match with its beautiful bronze medal from the last World Cup, and a perfect group stage, in the “group of death”. Sure, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates didn't crush Greece, Australia or Spain, with victories of +7, +10 and +3, but Jordi Fernandez's players always found solutions, both in attack and defense, against three solid teams, to win.
How to resist Canadian pressure?
With an average of 21.0 points at 60% shooting success, including 46% from 3-point range, it is RJ Barrett who led Canada offensively during the group matches, ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (19.0 points) and Dillon Brooks (14.3 points). But we also saw Andrew Nembhard to hurt Spain very badly, while Jamal Murray is extremely discreet for the moment. Limited in terms of minutes, he has been content to play the organizers…
Of course, to reassure ourselves, we can say that Canada's bench was not always very convincing during the group stage, and that the interior sector (Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk, Trey Lyles, Khem Birch…) is made up of limited fighters, but the physical impact that this group imposes defensively is downright frightening. Especially for the Blues who exploded precisely because of this point against Germany.
“We were totally stifled by the German impact in the first half. In the contacts, the roughness. We have to manage not to retreat, to stand out properly despite the contacts and the pressure” admitted Vincent Collet. “The fundamentals of the game at this level are not respected. That's the challenge, especially when we're going to play against Canada, which is perhaps the worst team in the field. The Germans are very organized and they have a defense adapted to their size, by closing down spaces. But the Canadians are something else in terms of aggressiveness. They track the ball carriers, they're the team that puts the most pressure in the tournament.”
Will Victor Wembanyama manage to hold his positions, to receive the ball where he is supposed to receive it, without being constantly pushed back as he was by Germany? This will be crucial, while Dillon Brooks should be in the front line against the French Alien.
Changes promised…
For Vincent Collet, the other crucial point is to find a defensive base for this quarter-final, “the most important match of the competition”as the actors keep repeating. Scattered like a puzzle by Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner, the defense of the Blues must at all costs hold up against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company.
“Personally, I absolutely wanted us to progress in attack every day but I never thought that we could become an attacking team with the group we have” the coach kept repeating. “Once again, we have to measure what there is, as teams. We see exceptional players everywhere in the other teams, and so we have to stay in our place. For our part, our only possibility of existing would be to defend much harder. I won’t budge. It’s not just a conviction, it’s a reality. That’s the first challenge for Tuesday’s match, to find a defensive level that allows us to hope. Otherwise, there can be no hope against such an army of talent. We talk a lot about Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) or (Jamal) Murray but we saw (Andrew) Nembhard who has fired from every angle but there’s also (RJ) Barrett… I’m not going to name them all. An attacking match can’t lead anywhere anyway so we’ll have to defend every square centimeter.”
Without a point guard or a guard capable of creating gaps and playing the pick-and-roll at a high level, the Blues are therefore dependent on collective solidity… which they do not have.
Ahead of this quarter-final, in addition to the exchange of words between Evan Fournier and Vincent Collet, the members of the French team admitted to thinking about changes, more or less deepin order to create the feat and reach the semi-finals. But it's difficult to see the Blues making their revolution in the middle of the tournament, especially in these conditions.
CANADIAN MAJOR FIVE
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Luguentz Dort – RJ Barrett – Dillon Brooks – Dwight Powell
CANADA'S STAFF
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (1m96, 25 years old)
RJ Barrett (1m98, 24 years old)
Khem Birch (2m06, 31 years old)
Dillon Brooks (1m98, 28 years old)
Luguentz Dort (1m94, 25 years old)
Melvin Ejim (2m01, 33 years old)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1m98, 26 years old)
Trey Lyles (2m06, 28 years old)
Jamal Murray (1m93, 27 years old)
Andrew Nembhard (1m92, 24 years old)
Kelly Olynyk (2m11, 33 years old)
Dwight Powell (2m08, 33 years old)
DIFFUSION
The France-Canada match should be broadcast on France Televisions And Eurosportfrom 6:00 p.m.
Photo credit: FIBA
