The Paris Olympics run for Canada is over following a stunning 82-73 loss to France in the quarterfinal round. Before that game, Canada and Germany were considered perhaps the top two contenders to knock off highly favored Team USA.
But for Canada, things didn’t go according to plan.
“If you don’t earn it, that’s what happens — you lose,” guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Team Canada told reporters.
France features the likes of San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (who underwent finger surgery) and Detroit Pistons wing Evan Fournier. It now faces Germany in the semifinals, aiming to pull off another upset.
Fournier buried a dagger 3-pointer in the game, sending the home-country crowd into a frenzy. And yes, Gobert played just four minutes, revealing after the win that he had undergone minor surgery on his finger. But he wanted to play anyway.
He tried, with two fingers on his left hand taped together with one in a splint.
“I have full trust in my teammates and coaches. It worked,” he said. “You saw the way we started tonight. The guys were ready to play. They set the tone for the whole game.”
As for Canada, it concludes a disappointing run that was expected to run with a medal.
“We didn’t match their energy and physicality,” said coach Jordi Fernandez, recently hired by the Brooklyn Nets. “Offensively, I thought it was our most selfish game. We didn’t share the ball.”
Fernandez took some of the blame.
“It really hurts,” he said. “We just didn’t have a good game… I could have been better. I should have helped them.”
France’s lineup changes seemingly played a role in enabling them to jump to a 23-10 lead and go up by as many as 16 points.
“Before the game even started, we got an indication of how seriously France was taking this game as they made a starting lineup change, removing Gobert and Fournier for Guerschon Yabusele and Isaiah Cordinier, trying to get more switching and versatility on the floor against the rangy, but smaller Canadian team,” wrote Robby Kalland of Dime.
“… Fournier finished the night shooting 3-of-6 from deep, including the miraculous dagger that put the game on ice, as he made the most of his role change coming off the bench. The lineup change worked wonders for France, as Yabusele (22 points, five rebounds) and Cordinier (20 points) led the way offensively, as Canada just had no answers for Yabusele’s physicality in the paint (he went 8-of-9 from the free throw line) and Cordinier gave France a much-needed jolt of shooting from deep (4-of-5 from three).”
Wembanyama finished with just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting, but was still a major difference-maker in collecting a whopping 12 rebounds to go with five assists, three steals and a block.
What a shot from Evan Fournier to likely put this one away!
Gotta love the energy from the crowd in France. pic.twitter.com/014BCHZXZV
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) August 6, 2024
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