JO - Basketball: against the United States, can the Blues (re) create the feat?

Are French basketball players going to live their biggest day of glory on Saturday morning in Tokyo? The band in Batum has the opportunity, from 4:30 in the morning (schedule imposed by the American broadcaster NBC and described as "big shit" by Evan Fournier), to win the most beautiful victory of his career against the United States in Olympic tournament final. The Blues, who released Slovenia (90-89) in the semi-finals, will obviously have a lot to face the American ogre, big favorite in the competition and looking for a fourth consecutive Olympic coronation. But the men of Vincent Collet have quite a few arguments to make.

First, and this is rare enough to be reported, the French remain on two victories in official competition against the Americans, first in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup (89-79), then two weeks ago in opening of the competition (83-76).

Good news that might not in fact be, because for sure, the gang with Kevin Durant, one of the best players in the world, will be revenge.

Since this affront moreover, Team USA has won with more than thirty points difference on average against its opponents.

Against Kevin Durant and his family, France has serious assets

At the individual level, the American team, on paper, has something to be afraid of anyway. She has her bosom Kevi Durant, therefore, best scorer in the history of Olympic tournaments, winner in 2012 and 2016, and who each time scored more than thirty points in the final. No need to look any further for the main threat to France. The Brookyn player is assisted, excuse du peuy, by point guard Damian Lillard, by the NBA champions (with Milwaukee, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, or even Draymond Green and Devin Booker.

But opposite, the French workforce also has serious assets.

With, first, the one who is probably the best defender in the world, Rudy Gobert.

At his side, let us quote Nando de Colo, one of the very best players in Euroleague, and as such prowled by Fiba rules, but also Evan Fournier, best scorer of his family with 19.2 points average since the start of the Olympics. .

Finally, how can we forget Nicolas "Batman" Batum, heroic captain, author of the cons of the victory against Slovenia in the semi-finals, an action which entered directly into the pantheon of French basketball.

"It will take a masterpiece"

Above all, the Blues do not advance as an expiatory victim. "The dream is to win the Olympics against the United States. So here we have to rest, that we try to move on and that we prepare as best as possible because there is a team waiting for us, "said Evan Fournier. Nicolas Batum, him, recalls the experience stored by the Blues over the international tournaments. "We must not make this mistake we made ten years ago," said the captain of the Blues in reference to Euro-2011 when the Blues lost in their last match. That year, "we beat Russia, we are happy and then we make a non-match against Spain in the final."

"We never thought, by beating them at the start of the tournament, that we were better than them. But we keep the ambition to do it again. We will just have to invent a new path. We will have to remain mobilized. to be faithful to our identity ", called Vincent Collet.

"It will take a masterpiece."

For the third time after 1948 and 2000, the Blues will try to finally climb on Olympus, after two failures suffered on the last step, each time against the United States.

But this time, while no one dared bet on a French victory 21 years ago at the Sydney Games, today many are dreaming, more or less openly, of a victory that would be historic.