Back to the wall after their defeat against Japan, the French basketball players reacted on Friday by dominating the Nigerians (87-62), but the hardest part awaits them against the ultra-favorite Americans at the Tokyo Games, with always the hope of hang the quarters.
The Blues have their destiny in their hands and can dream of a feat similar to that achieved by the boys on Sunday against the United States.
But on Monday they will not really leave with the favor of the predictions against Team USA, unbeaten in international competition since September 2006, in search of a seventh consecutive Olympic coronation and who qualified for the next round by beating the Japanese (86 -69) in the early afternoon.
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That said, a defeat by the smallest possible gap might not be crippling for the players of Valérie Garnier. In this case they could finish among the two best third, according to the criterion of the "point-average" with their competitors from groups A and C. Another hypothesis, not to be completely excluded and which would even be the best: if the Blue lose face to the Americans, even heavily, and that during this time Nigeria largely beats Japan but not too much, it would be the second place in Group B which they could inherit, by virtue of the difference in points in the direct confrontations between these three teams which would be tied.
To open up these possibilities and possibly embark on these apothecary calculations, the French women had to first imperatively show their true face against the Nigerians. This is what we were entitled to expect from the finalists of the last Euro, beaten a month ago by Serbia, they who reached the last four of the Olympics in London 2012 (silver medalists) and Rio 2016 (4th). And they did it well, during this second game already chopping, in a three-group formula that leaves little room for misstep. Because a defeat would have almost announced a premature elimination. After a festival of missed shots on both sides during the first three minutes where the ball looked like a hot potato, the Blue finally opened the scoring by Alix Duchet with a shot from behind the arc.The leader was one of the great craftsmen of the good first period that was to follow, with 11 points (13 in total, 5 assists) including three award-winning shots behind the arc.
The domineering Miyem-Gruda duo inside
Finding their rhythm in attack, making the ball circulate better, the French accelerated a little in the second quarter to count 17 lengths ahead at the break. A mattress that thickened considerably in the third quarter, up to 31 units (62-31), in the wake of Endy Miyem (13 pts) and Sandrine Gruda (14 pts) domineering inside. Above all, it is in defense that France has regained its virtues, containing the Nigerians with 35% success on shots and in fact winning the physical challenge that was offered to them. This performance has something to reassure the French, like Marine Johannès who was the shadow of herself during a match and a half and showed in this second period what she is capable of (13 pts,4 assists) and also his strength of character to overcome the difficulty. We will have to face the Americans ...