• The French basketball team will play the semi-finals of the Olympics thanks to its victory against Italy on Tuesday.

  • The Blues were scared, all the same, while they were leading by 14 points at the end of the third quarter.

  • Caught up by their opponents, they did not panic and regained control, notably under the impetus of a great Nicolas Batum.

From our special correspondent in Tokyo,

Finally.

Finally an Olympic semi-final for the French basketball team, which has been chasing desperately for twenty-one years, and the famous final against the USA in Sidney.

It will be there thanks to its victory against Italy (84-75), this Tuesday.

It was more complicated than it should have, but the essential is there, whereas during the last two editions, the road had stopped in quarters.

Each time against Spain.

Nicolas Batum was there, and he didn't want to relive it.

“I could not lose this match, launches the captain.

The only thing I miss with this team is an Olympic medal.

The way we lost, and especially how I played in those two quarters… No, I had to do something different.

"

Exceptional Nico Batum

He didn't miss it. Batum was in the oven, in the mill and even in the dip, as long as it was done. Fourteen rebounds in the end, majestic blocks, constant activity and even a little more points than usual… "I didn't do anything exceptional, it was just me, but in a more more version" , he smiles, happy to have spent this busy day without a hitch, with the announcement of his new signing with the Clippers. “I was nervous, but still more for the match,” he admits.

"Monstrous" according to Rudy Gobert - "once again, he filled the necessary holes" - "incredible" for Evan Fournier, Batum notably showed the way when it began to pitch severe in the fourth quarter . "Fortunately we had this Nicolas tonight," breathes Vincent Collet, who knows that it did not go far. His players experienced a huge air gap of nearly five minutes (from 64-51 with a big minute from the end of the third quarter to 66-66 at 5'50 from the siren), which could have turned this match into real trauma.

“We were in too much of a hurry, I don't know why because in addition it is not the characteristic of our team, wonders Fournier. I think of Nando [De Colo] who never loses the ball and who dropped several, me too. Obviously, in a knockout match, the intensity and the tension are more palpable, but it is our role to know how to manage these moments. "

Especially since in front, the Italians did not do anything incredible either.

There is Fontecchio who put two or three award-winning baskets almost blind in front of Rudy Gobert's great arms, but otherwise, it was the Blues who offered the ammunition on a plateau.

“There are individual errors of concentration, but not only during this period.

From the start of the match, this is what prevents us from taking off, recalls the coach.

And then there are faults which cause throws that should not be made.

But we did not panic, we made the efforts to make the stops that give the match.

"

Luwawu Cabarrot's "basket of madness"

“There were a few ghosts from the past, it wasn't easy,” said Batum.

We were able to take things in hand, Tim [Luwawu Cabarrot] puts a basket of madness in the corner while if he misses it, they can regain the advantage behind.

Thanks to him, we immediately regained the ascendancy, and we were able to control the end of the match.

“Failing to be particularly proud of this little fear, the Blues want to retain the small collective gap that they feel they have passed.

🏀 Exceptional 360 ° dunk in the last seconds from the giant Rudy Gobert


🇫🇷 France will meet 🇸🇮 Slovenia of Luka Doncic in the semi-final


▶ ️ Follow the Olympics live - https://t.co/oQuEFfAwUc #Olympic Games # Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/3BNaRN3cpM

- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 3, 2021

"There is no time to cry anyway, you have the opportunity to go get an Olympic semi-final, you go for it.

This match showed that we had a certain maturity of the team now, believes Rudy Gobert.

We were behind by 8 points at one point, we kept a cool head and raised our level.

The same when it is they who came back.

We knew the little things we had given them, the offensive rebounds, the loss of balls.

We had to focus on that.

"

Here, then, come a semi-final of the Olympic Games, against the Slovenia of the mutant Luka Doncic.

But it's not yet time to talk about the phenomenon.

For now, it's just a matter of savoring.

Like Nicolas Batum, Vincent Collet perfectly measures the value of what awaits his team on Thursday.

Our dossier on the 2021 Olympics

“It's going to be the game of a career for me,” he announces.

The Olympics are the best competition for us, which is not necessarily the case for all co-sports.

I am 58 years old, one of the first games I saw when I was a kid was the 1972 final, when Alexandre Belov [with the USSR] put the basket to beat the United States in Munich.

Since then, I have dreamed of going to the final of the Games.

Another step, gentlemen.

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