Rudy Gobert: 'The goal is a gold medal, and only that will satisfy me' / News - Basketnews.com

For Rudy Gobert, a victorious EuroBasket final is the only option in this continental competition, no matter who the rival is.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Rudy Gobert is not leaving Berlin without a gold medal around his neck.

Rudy Gobert

Position:CAge:30Height:216 cmWeight:111 kgBirth place:FranceProfileNewsStatistics

"I'm here to win," Gobert was straightforward, per Mozzart Sport. "The goal is a gold medal, and only that will satisfy me.

"I will try to be even better in order to achieve that goal. I believe that this team has enough quality to be the best in Europe. We have to beat Poland and then one more. After that, I will be happy," said the new Minnesota Timberwolves player.

Gobert was making progress from the first EuroBasket day till the semis.

He delivered when it mattered the most. In the Round of 16 and the quarterfinal stage, Gobert averaged 19.5 points, 15.5 rebounds, and 24.0 EFF.

"We have to continue to do well and above all, to believe in ourselves. I have the impression that we are improving from game to game. We knew that as a young team we would make some mistakes. The beauty of it – we can learn a lot from all of this, and it can be seen that we are doing just that," the French center pointed out.

On the other end, Poland shocked the basketball world by upsetting Luka Doncic's Slovenia and advancing to the EuroBasket 2022 semifinals. Could Gobert has imagined such a scenario for this stage of the tournament?

"We knew that everything is possible in basketball. They impressed me with their game, team chemistry, and toughness. I am very happy for A.J. Slaughter, with whom I played in Cholet ten years ago.

Their story is beautiful, but we are looking at ourselves. We have a goal that we want to achieve, and that's a gold medal. In order to win it, we have to play even better basketball in the next game against Poland."

France's path to the EuroBasket Top 4 was complicated, to say the least. The French national team overcame Turkey and Italy in dramatic fashion, winning two overtime thrillers after trailing at the very end of the fourth quarter in both matches.

"We have to reduce the game stretches when we lose focus and intensity, turning the ball over too many times," Gobert responded when asked what needs to be done to avoid the nail-biting endings.

"We just waste what we create early in the game. If we manage to solve that, to find a way to get back into our rhythm faster, it will be much better. We have already played better against Italy, but we want even more," concluded Rudy Gobert.

The France-Poland semifinal is scheduled for Friday (September 16), at 17:15 CEST.

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