Olympic basketball: France bullies Germany to advance to gold medal game

PARIS — On paper, the United States has a better Olympic basketball team than France.

So did Canada and Germany. It didn’t matter.

If the Americans reach Saturday’s gold medal game, they better come ready for a ferocious, physical and at times dysfunctional French team that will be waiting for them, spurred on by a raucous crowd here at Bercy Arena.

The French defeated Germany Thursday, 73-69, to advance to the Olympic finals. They did it in much the same manner as they beat a more talented Canadian team on Tuesday, by overwhelming their opponent and getting various players to step up in critical times.

The United States survived a scare from Serbia Thursday evening to set up a rematch of the gold medal game in Tokyo three years ago.

“If we can play like that, with our heart and our head, we can do anything," said France’s Frank Ntilikina.

NBA fans may expect the French team to be led by Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama. It isn’t.

Gobert is a secondary player here, getting just 5:09 of playing time against Germany after 3:41 in the Canada game. Gobert said it was because of a finger surgery, but the French coach cast doubt on that. The team plays well without him.

Wemby, meanwhile, plays more and causes havoc on the court due to his 7-foot-4 frame, but he hasn’t shot the ball well. He had 11 points but was 4 of 17 from the floor. The team did not run through him, although he did manage one of two free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining, allowing France to wilt the game away with fouls.

Instead the hero was Guerschon Yabusele, a 6-8, 271-pound hulk who flamed out with the Boston Celtics and now plays for Real Madrid of the Spanish League. He had 17 points, seven rebounds and played ruthlessly hard on both ends of the court.

Or maybe it was his defensive-end partner in crime, the 6-9, 256-pound Mathias Lessort of the Greek League who powered his way to 10 points and four boards.

Or maybe it was Isaïa Cordinier out of the Italian League, who caught fire for 16 points and seven rebounds.

Or maybe it is just a style of play that has knocked the Germans and Canadians off kilter. The defensive intensity is ridiculous. They blocked five shots and recorded six steals against Germany. The physicality pushes the limits of even FIBA.

“They came out the aggressors and they punched us in the mouth,” Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after their loss to France on Tuesday. “They played with more force. They were the aggressors at both ends of the court.”

The offense is erratic, both the passing and shooting, but it’s hard to settle in against.

The French find a way to make the game ugly and then win that way. That’s the style. That’s the system.

“We thought we were the better team,” Germany’s Andreas Obst said. “But hats off to France, they were the better team today.”

It’s working, spurred on by a chanting, dancing, flag-waving, drum-smacking home crowd. Considering the color-scheme of the uniforms and the unwavering vocal support of the chants, this might as well be Allen Fieldhouse along the Seine.

“Incredible, incredible moment,” Wembanyama said of the crowd. “The fans made it hard for me not to cry. I thank them for being as they are and for enjoying it as much as they do — this chance, this thing that we’re all living.”

It’s a cocktail that worked in an upset of Canada. Then again to upset Germany in one of the better basketball games you’ll ever see.

There is one mega-upset possibility remaining.

Team USA will have a lot of advantages in a potential gold medal matchup.

But they better come ready for a rock fight.