France make light work of Czech Republic, advance to the quarter-finals / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Media Credit FIBA Media

In a game between two teams that had never faced each other in major events, France (2-0) crushed the Czech Republic (1-1) by 97-77 (22-28, 29-15, 26-16, 20-21) and secured their place in the Olympic Basketball Tournament's quarter-finals.

Player of the Game EFF 18 Evan Fournier Points 21 Accuracy 8-13 Rebounds 2 Assists 3

The Czech Republic had an offensively impeccable first period, but France came back scoring 55 points in the second and third quarter to easily outplay their rivals. Only six players from the losing side managed to score, while "Les Bleus" had many focal points in their game.

With France already through, Team USA and the Czech Republic will play for the second spot in the group. The winner will definitely be in the next phase, but the loser could still advance, as long as they belong to the top two third-placed teams among all three groups.

Ronen Ginzburg used his "twin towers" Balvin and Vesely against France's Rudy Gobert, who was cut off from the rest of his teammates at the beginning of the game. As expected, Satoransky produced the lion's share on offense. Both teams played bad perimeter defense, allowing many open shots.

Evan Fournier found the way to drive to the basket and shoot, scoring the majority of France's points, but the Czechs displayed an outrageous 8 for 9 from 3-point range in the first quarter, on their way to a six-point lead (28-22).

On the other end of the stick, Nando De Colo, after a crucial showing against Team USA, started off on the wrong foot, with 0 for 3 from the field and 3 turnovers. However, the second quarter turned out as a disaster for the Czech Republic. Collet chose full-court press on the ball handlers, in contrast to the "2-3" zone defense preferred by Ginzburg.

The French inevitably had some easy looks and when they managed to run the floor, De Colo hit his first 3-pointer of the game to give his team a 33-32 lead. The French lead added up to 11-0, while the Eastern Europeans saw Balvin win a few battles against Gobert. No matter how bad he was in the first 10 minutes, later Nando De Colo scored 10 points in only six minutes to increase his team's lead to double-digits (36-48) one minute before the half-time break. It was obvious that the Czech's couldn't keep up with the quick pace and their opponents' athleticism.

Czech Republic / Schedule

Iran Czech Republic78-84 Czech Republic France77-97 USA Czech RepublicSat12:00

France had it easy after gaining back their self-confidence. De Colo and Yabusele were all over the place, helping France secure a bigger difference. Heurtel and the second unit used by Collet made sure that the dismantled Czechs were held down on the scoreboard. In fact, Ginzburg's men didn't score a single 3-pointer in three quarters, a factor that largely decided the outcome. All angles were covered, Satoransky had no room to operate leading to turnovers or forced shots.

With 10 minutes remaining on the clock, France were up by 21 (56-77), having found the target on 9 of their 14 attempts over that span. The fourth quarter hid no surprises, while the Czechs were trying to come out with a more flattering margin. However, the French "feast" continued unabated until the final buzzer.

Czech Republic: Vesely 19, Balvin 18 (8 rebounds), Satoransky 14 (8 assists, 4 turnovers), Auda 14, Jelinek 6, Sirina 6,

France: Fournier 21, De Colo 17 (8 assists), Poirier 14 (5 rebounds), Heurtel 11 (7 assists), Cabarrot 9, Batum 9 (5 rebounds), Gobert 6 (10 rebounds), Yabusele 5, Cornelie 3, Fall 2.

UP NEXT:

France play an already eliminated Iran team on Saturday morning (04:00 EEST).

The Czech Republic will try to get back on the winning track in Saturday's game against Team USA (15:00 EEST).

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