After an almost smooth preparation, the Blues were brought back to earth by a solid team from Canada for their entry into the World Basketball Championship this Friday, August 25 (95-65). From now on, the France team no longer has the right to make mistakes.
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The French basketball team, a candidate for the title, was brutally brought back to reality, conceding one of the heaviest defeats in its recent history in competition, against Canada (95-65), this Friday for its entry into competing at the World Cup in Jakarta.
The Blues, bronze medalists in 2019 and reigning Olympic vice-champions, will not have the right to make mistakes in their second match. Sunday against Latvia, which largely won its first meeting against Lebanon (109-70), defeat will be prohibited to enter the second round. Only the first two of the group are qualified.
A catastrophic third quarter
Vincent Collet’s men lost all chance of victory in a disastrous third quarter (8-25), at the end of which they were trailing by twenty lengths (48-68) by Canadians and their strong contingent of NBA players but without a common collective experience.
Oklahoma City point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, gradually warming up (8 pts at halftime, 27 in the end), enjoyed himself after the many stray balls from the French (17), already one of their cute sins during the preparation. Captain Kelly Olynyk (18 pts) found solutions inside, where Rudy Gobert (8 pts, 9 rebounds) failed to weigh.
Only Evan Fournier (21 including 19 pts at the break) and to a lesser degree Nando De Colo (12 pts, but three stray bullets) pulled out of the game against the aggressive Canadian defense.