SAITAMA, Japan – Nicolas Batum felt a tension he had experienced with the French team.
He won a European name and a pair of bronze medals at the Basketball World Cup, but although France had been one of the most productive groups in the world over the past decade, he continued to stumble in the Olympic quarterfinals.
When the French played that circular on Tuesday behind Italy, Batum described those beyond defeats as a kind of ghost. Another failure would have been unacceptable.
“I couldn’t lose this game,” the team captain said, “we couldn’t lose this game. “
They don’t. Now they can win it all.
Rudy Gobert scored 22 points, Evan Fournier had 21 on the day he agreed to lead the New York Knicks and France complex to the men’s basketball semifinals at the Olympics for the first time since 2000 by beating Italy 84-75.
Thomas Heurtel made the three-point tiebreaker with 2:18 to play after Italy erased a 14-point deficit. Gobert had a few balls beyond to finish it off, adding a rotary slam for the final basket.
Batum finished with 15 problems and 14 rebounds. The French will face Luka Doncic and Olympic newcomer Slovenia on Thursday in the semi-finals.
“I know it’s a game to get through to the final, so for both groups it’s something new,” French coach Vincent Collet said.
Simone Fontecchio scored 23 problems and Danilo Gallinari had 21 problems and 10 rebounds for his Italians, who won one of the 4 qualifying tournaments last month to triumph in their first Olympic Games since their silver medal in 2004.
“I think it was a wonderful summer and of course it’s hard to lose looking at the game, but I think we did a very smart job,” Gallinari said. “It was a very smart procedure and a wonderful Olympics for us. “
France eliminated in the quarter-finals of the last two Olympics and had not gone any further since gaining the gold medal game in 2000.
But the French, champions of EuroBasket 2013, won bronze medals at the 2014 and 2019 Basketball World Cups and possibly despite everything it is time for this organization to burst onto the Olympic stage.
France, which beat the United States in its first game, has strength with Gobert and teammate Moustapha Fall, as well as plenty of strength on the perimeter.
They used to open the game in the third quarter. Gobert scored on a lob and flipped around a three-point play through Batum on a 9-0 run that made the score 56-46.
After a few loose throws by Fontecchio, Fournier and Batum scored 3 direct points to increase the lead to 62-48 with 3:19 in the period.
But Italy opened the quarter with a 12-2 burst, getting the 10 from Fontecchio, to equal it to 66.
“We failed not that far yet,” italian captain Nicolo Melli said. “Of course, it’s better not to pass 14, but we showed once back that we had the character to come back. “
Italy scored the final five numbers of the first quarter and was given the first basket of the moment for a 27-20 lead. France came back here with a 9-0 run that turned a six-point deficit into a 33-30 lead on Fall’s three-point play with 6:02 to play at halftime.
The groups came and went from there until Fournier made the last basket of the half for a 43-42 lead.
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